The Australian

leads with the Howard Government’s decision to seize control of uranium
mining in the Northern Territory to give “certainty” to the industry
with the possibility of a new mine being built within five years. The Oz also reports that Attorney-General Philip Ruddock
departed from the Howard Government’s anti-terror slogan “be alert, but
not alarmed” yesterday when he said Australians had a right to feel
nervous about a terrorist attack. And the ATO says there’s a record
$2.6 billion hole in the federal government’s revenue coffers due to
the popularity of investment property, which has forced a tax office crackdown on capital gains and negative gearing cheats.

The Age
also leads with the government’s seizure of the Northern Territory’s
uranium deposits after the NT Labor government, which is strongly
opposed to new uranium mines, walked away from the responsibility
during a 15-minute meeting. Meanwhile, the loss of the great Antarctic ice shelf
Larsen B – which had existed for at least 10,000 years before
disintegrating – is firming as a milestone indicating that human
activity is warming the world. And Jim Schembri writes about what
it’s like to live in Melbourne in an age of “icon overload.”

The Sydney Morning Herald
says more than half a million taxpayers will be told personally that
the Tax Office is concerned about their work deductions, rental
deductions or declared income, as the ATO cracks down on individual
taxpayers. Meanwhile education minister Carmel Tebbutt
is the latest victim of the NSW Labor reshuffle after her aspirations
to become the state’s first woman deputy premier were dashed by her own
Left faction. And some stay-at-home dads
have found that the format of ubiquitous mothers’ groups didn’t meet men’s
different communication styles, prompting a child and family health
nurse to set up a “dads-only” playgroup where the pace is gentler and
the participants much more laconic.

The Daily Telegraph
splashes with the “TERROR MARSHALS” – Sydney office workers and
residents – who will be responsible for evacuating the CBD in the event
of a terrorist attack. And Surf Life Saving Australia
has backed the placement of new easy-to-understand signs at beaches such
as Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama to warn non-English speaking visitors of
the dangers they could face.

The Herald Sun
splashes with the doctors and nurses who fear hospital rage and are
demanding metal detectors and 24-hour guards in hospitals to shield
them against an epidemic of violent attacks after axes, knives and
other weapons were used to attack medical staff in the emergency
departments. And the Melbourne Cup
is set to raise its international profile when the 18-carat gold cup
goes on a two-month tour of Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong, Ireland and
New Zealand.

The Courier-Mail
goes big with the police officer accused of bashing an Aboriginal man
in the Palm Island watchhouse last year. He repeatedly denied
assaulting the man at the coronial inquest yesterday. The Advertiser
reports that extra water will be pumped from the River Murray to supply
the Eyre Peninsula, despite concerns about extra stress on the ailing
river system. The Mercury
says three doctors who gave a colleague signed blank prescription forms
have told a Medical Complaints Tribunal they didn’t know he might use
them to obtain drugs for himself. The West
reveals the state’s controversial $387 million desalination plant is
under threat after a Perth Aboriginal group applied for protection of
Cockburn Sound and surrounding sand dunes. And the NT News splashes with the federal government’s decision to take control of the Territory’s multi-billion-dollar uranium deposits.