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AUSTRALIA PAYS COUPLES TO BREED

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Facing a falling birth rate, the Australian government has a simple message: Go forth and multiply. And they're prepared to pay new parents who take up the call.

``Come on, come on, your nation needs you,'' Prime Minister John Howard said Wednesday, when asked about a one-off 3,000 Australian dollar (US$2,100) payment for all new mothers announced by Treasurer Peter Costello in the annual budget.

On Tuesday night, a smiling Costello urged reporters in Canberra: ``You go home and do your patriotic duty tonight.''

The father of three suggested that two children per couple wasn't quite enough to combat the effects of an aging population and declining birth rate in this sparsely populated nation of 20 million.

``If you can have children it's a good thing to do. You should have ... one for your husband, one for your wife, and one for your country,'' Costello said.