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2 July 2000
Sunday Territorian headlines
'GST slump hits shops'
Depth of analysis continues to be a feature of news heading into the new financial year. 'A last-minute pre-GST spending spree on Friday ended with a trading slump hitting NT retailers yesterday - the first day of Australia's new 10 per cent tax'. Yeh sure. Another three pages of related stories follow but what is very clear is that retailers have been prepared to cop the tax on the chin for a while. Interesting philosophy - supporting your Government by paying your customer's tax. Maybe that was what was wrong with the old system - consumers and wage earners rather than business paid the tax.
'Man falls down cliff at fireworks'
The inevitable stories of fireworks woes have already begun. Front page today features a man who tumbled 15m down a cliff after having stepped over a barricade to pee. His shocked partner was reported to have sobbed 'Thank God he's alive'. I'm sure many other residents weren't so generous in their comments.
'Family terror as cracker hoons blow up mailbox'
'A Darwin family woke in terror at an explosion outside their home - to find cracker louts had blown up their letterbox. 'It was a huge explosion - a horrific bang,' Moira Wigley said as she surveyed the burned postbox hurled off its stand. Meanwhile her husband said that she screamed more loudly than the fireworks. In other stories, there were reports of fires and two injuries in Darwin.
'Petrol sniffing: it's ruining our youth'
'Petrol sniffing is now having the same effect on remote communities as amphetamines with children as young as eight become addicted to inhaling, a remote area police officer said yesterday'. Sgt Dixon was quoted as saying diversionary programs aimed at keeping young people away from petrol were not available in all Territory communities. Need any more be said?
'A glass of red to fight cancer'
Maybe we should introduce red wine to the kids of indigenous communities where chronic diseases start from around 20 years. Only kidding. Researchers from the University of North Carolina believe they have unlocked the mystery of how an antioxidant found in grapes and red wine fights cancer. The compound, resveratrol, acts like an antibiotic to protect grapes from fungus and may turn off a protein that guards cancer cells from cancer-fighting therapies such as chemotherapy.
And from the ABC Internet news
'Beetle to weed out wetlands strangler'
Will the leaf beetle do the same as the dung beetle or will it be another cane toad? A leaf beetle from Mexico is being introduced to fight the weed, Mimosa pigra. The release will occur in the next few weeks.
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