Priest Slams Crash Coverage
Illawarra Mercury
Friday June 9, 2000
Grieving families of those killed in the Whyalla Airlines plane crash sympathised with airline staff who were unfairly criticised after the accident, a Catholic priest said yesterday.
Cleve Catholic minister Father Kevin Matthews hit out at media reporting of the tragedy at a funeral service for two of the eight crash victims.
The main street of the tight-knit town of Cleve was transformed into an outdoor church for the funeral of farmer Peter Olsen, cousin of the South Australian Premier John Olsen, and his wife Wendy.
Unemployment falls to 10-yr low
Unemployment fell to its lowest level for a decade last month, with 12,000 new jobs helping to push the jobless rate down to 6.7 per cent.
But the jobs boom is confined to the eastern states, with employment falling in the three smaller states.
The employment figures reveal a growing national divide. ``There are now two labour-market stories in Australia, one in the mainland eastern states and one elsewhere," BT Funds Management chief economist Chris Caton said.
NSW has the nation's lowest jobless rate despite a slight rise to 5.7 per cent, followed by WA at 6.3 per cent. Victoria was unchanged on 6.9 per cent, Queensland improved to 7.7 per cent, South Australia rose slightly to 8.5 per cent and Tasmania improved marginally to 9.4 per cent.
Illegal immigrants break out
Hundreds of illegal immigrants broke out of the Woomera detention centre in South Australia yesterday, staging a demonstration to demand their freedom in the town's main street.
Almost 500 detainees, mostly Afghanis and Iraqis, staged four separate escapes and chanted ``we want freedom" as they marched through Woomera.
More than 200 people pushed over a fence at the detention centre at midnight and walked into town, 470km north-west of Adelaide, where they held their demonstration demanding freedom and asylum.
Three guards were hurt, one treated in hospital for serious injuries.
© 2000 Illawarra Mercury
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