The Australian

leads this morning with the biggest domestic story of the week, and reports that
Telstra executives could face jail time after ASIC yesterday launched
an investigation into leaks and negative publicity that’s caused the
telco’s share price to plummet.

The paper also reports that the full
bench of the Federal Court has ruled in favour of former ATSIC chairman Geoff Clarke,
accepting that Indigenous Affairs Minister Amanda Vanstone was wrong to
suspend Clarke for his involvement in a pub brawl. And in television
news, The Aus reports that head of ABC television Sandra Levy has made the switch to Channel Nine, saying that she was sick of taking fire for the ABC’s declining amount of local production.

The Sydney Morning Herald
runs with Prime Minister John Howard’s attack on Telstra, after he
labelled the telco’s tactics “disgraceful,” while also reporting Kim
Beazley’s comments describing Howard as a disgrace. While in
breaking news, the Herald reports that a Sydney man has been arrested at a Rome airport
for allegedly trying to smuggle millions of dollars worth of cocaine in
his luggage. And closer to the gutter, owners of pubs, sex-shops
brothels and strip joints in Sydney’s Kings Cross are being offered one off bonuses if they agree to cease and desist their sordid trades as the area tries to go up-market.

The Age
splashes a big colour photo of our Treasurer looking like a hero in
Indonesia’s Banda Aceh region as he allocates another $88 million in
aid to the struggling country following last year’s devastating Tsunami.
While a new inquiry into Queensland’s Dr Death scandal
could be underway as soon as later this week, according to Queensland
Premier Peter Beattie, after the last one was shut down because the
presiding adjudicator, Tony Morris QC, was found to be biased. And
Michelle Grattan pops up again, reporting that federal Treasury has
agreed to cost backbencher, Malcolm Turnbull’s planned tax reform.

The Daily Tele
also leads with the headline “Telstra: You’re a disgrace,” referring to
the Prime Minister’s comments made to his coalition cabinet colleagues,
and also reports that the legislation to sell the telco was introduced
into Parliament yesterday. And in what’s a huge case for the worldwide music industry,
the Tele reports that record labels will push for more than $1 billion
in damages after the Federal Court ruled that music software company
Kazza had infringed on artists copyrights.

The Herald Sun
leads with the story that two young boys were last night found dead in
a house in Melbourne’s Eastern suburbs, after another family member
came home to find the injured mother at the scene. And in more chirpy news, the Hun reports that Melbourne’s Avalon
airport is being considered as the first place in Australian to play
home to a Disney World.

The Courier-Mail
follows up on Crikey’s find from yesterday and reports the comments
made by the US President’s mother Barbara Bush that the New Orleans
floods have made some of the 18,000 homeless better off, saying: “This
is working very well for them.”

Meanwhile The Advertiser
reports that the Coopers board has rejected Lion Nathan’s $352 million
take-over bid for the family-owned, South Australian beer company. The Mercury
reports that a former Hobart Young Citizen of the Year is in court for
sexually abusing a 19-year old woman as she lay unconscious after
attempting to kill herself. And The West Australian
reports that a key figure in Australia’s biggest corporate collapse, Bond
Corporation executive Tony Oates, will be sentenced by the WA Supreme
Court, after pleading guilty to three counts of using his position to
gain financial advantage.