Talking Points

* WA has collected five major awards at the 2000 Australian Tourism Awards run by the Tourism Council of Australia. The Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk on the south coast won the Significant Regional Attractions Award. Other winners included The Perth Mint, Mounts Bay Village, Leeuwin Estate, and North Star Charters, Broome.

* RMIT University has made changes to its Masters of Financial Planning for 2001, through a combination of text based learning materials supported by web based online learning activities. These changes will mean students can study when they want to instead of rushing from the work to classes at the end of the day.

* THE State Library is having a ‘Discard Book Sale’ on the ninth and tenth of December between 9am and 5pm at the Tom Wilding Pavilion in the Claremont Showgrounds. More than 80,000 books are up for sale.

* The York Small Land Group has received a $5000 grant to assess the feasibility of building houses out of straw. The study will assess the practicalities of the proposed Avon Eco-technology House; a building made of straw, which will promote straw bale technology.