Media wrap - More good news on employment

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS

Economic matters

Surge in job ads as firms expand – Desperate Sydney employers are feeding a job advertising boom over the traditionally quiet holiday break. Figures supplied to the Sydney Morning Herald by the Olivier recruitment group show ads for positions in NSW jumped a further 2.5 per cent in December after climbing 7.3 per cent in November.

Melbourne leads boom in new jobs – Melbourne employers are feeding a boom in job advertisements that has defied the traditionally quiet Christmas-New Year period – Melbourne Age

Unions lash Kevin Rudd over executive pay – Kevin Rudd's reform credentials on reining in executive pay and tackling extreme capitalism have been savaged, with unions accusing him of being "all talk" – The Australian

Elections

$2m Midland repairs pledge – A Liberal government would spend $2 million to carry out urgent repairs on the Midland Highway if elected in March. Liberal leader Will Hodgman made the pledge yesterday while launching his election campaign with a promise to be positive – Hobart Mercury

Insults fly as Bartlett gets dirty - Despite vowing Labor would avoid dirty tactics, Premier David Bartlett yesterday hit election campaign mode by accusing Opposition Leader Will Hodgman of expecting to "waltz into the job" on the back of his family name and lacking the work ethic required to rule the state. The Premier also took a swipe at Greens leader Nick McKim – Hobart Mercury

State transport ads bill $5.5m – A deluge of television, radio and print ads and outdoor billboards promoting the State Government's recent transport announcements will have cost Victorians $5.5 million by June – Melbourne Age

Polls drained the purse – Heavily  indebted councils want a refund on NSW Electoral Commission elections that were so poorly run that ballot papers ran out – Sydney Daily Telegraph

Political life

Meet the ALP Bunch - Kristina Keneally's relatives in parliament – Forget jobs for the boys - it's all in the family for the embattled NSW Government. Just months after being installed as Premier, Ms Keneally presides over a Labor Government that has no fewer than six ALP heavyweights' relatives acting as ministerial press secretaries – Sydney Daily Telegraph

Political blackmail

Hunger striker Peter Spencer's health a worry – More than 300 people rallied in support of ailing hunger striker Peter Spencer yesterday and all carried the same message - please don't harm yourself – Sydney Daily Telegraph

Hunger strike drives further wedge into Coalition – A hunger-striking  farmer protesting over NSW laws on land-clearing laws has renewed tensions between Liberal and National parties. Protesters cheered the Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce and heckled the Liberal senator Bill Heffernan yesterday as they gathered outside Parliament House in support of the farmer – Sydney Morning Herald

Bill Heffernan demands end to farm hunger strike – Peter  Spencer, the NSW farmer who claims to have been on a hunger strike for 43 days, should be pulled down from his tower, Liberal senator Bill Heffernan said yesterday – The Australian

Foreign affairs

Diplomatic crisis erupts after Indian student's murder – Indian diplomats are expected to meet their Australian counterparts for crisis talks in Canberra today following the murder of an Indian migrant in Melbourne – The Australian

Immigration

Asylum island 'transit lounge' – The federal Opposition is demanding access to Australia's frontline detention centre on Christmas Island amid reports of over-crowding and ethnic tensions – Melbourne Herald Sun

'Full steam ahead' for boat arrivals: Opposition – A group of asylum seekers intercepted south of Cartier Island continues a rush of boats the Federal Opposition says is out of the ordinary – Melbourne Age

Opinions

Student assaults teach some harsh lessons about racism - The brutal killing in Melbourne of Nitin Garg, a young Indian man with permanent residence in Australia, has put added stress on what is a difficult relationship between political leaders in New Delhi and Canberra – Gerard Henderson in the Sydney Morning Herald

Sack the NSW Labor executive before it's too late – Barry Cohen writes in The Australian that no one one believes the NSW government will survive the next election. With one poll showing its primary vote at 26 per cent, it's hardly surprising that some Labor MPs are rumoured to be considering running as independents. The rest look like kangaroos caught in the spotlight hoping for Mary McKillop's intervention. If the polls are even close, Labor is heading for at least eight years in the wilderness and no one has a clue what to do.

Tax-and-bribe is CPRS folly – Malcolm Colless in The Australian writes that the Rudd government's latest attempt to win voter support for its emissions trading scheme just reinforces what a sham this tax-based policy really is.

PM all talk and no action dealing with fat cats - John Sutton, national secretary of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union gives Kevin Rudd a well deserved serve in The Australian.

BUSINESS

Welcome to 2016: Eftpos glitch spreads - The computer bug that brought Bank of Queensland's Eftpos transactions to a grinding halt in the first days of the New Year has hit other banks - including the Commonwealth Bank-owned BankWest – Sydney Morning Herald

Collie miners fume as coal king Ric Stowe hits trouble – The Barnett government has stepped in to guarantee up to $20million in entitlements for 500 workers who fear the sack after the surprise collapse of Western Australia's oldest coalmine – The Australian

Reclusive millionaire's empire sprawls from coal to beef – Ric Stowe has spent 24 years on the BRW Rich List, with his wealth peaking in 2008 at $875 million. The reclusive 66-year-old made his fortune in coal, property, beef, billboards, scaffolding, office products and helicopter leasing. Mr Stowe's empire is made up of Griffin Coal, which operates one of only two open-cut coal mining pits in Western Australia, cattle properties across Western Australia, and a property development arm – Sydney Morning Herald

NAB tipped to take UK bank Northern Rock – National Australia Bank has emerged as the frontrunner to spend up to $2.25 billion to buy Northern Rock, the troubled British lender that became the first major bank in the world to fall victim to the global financial crisis – The Australian

ENVIRONMENT

Billions of litres flow in north-south pipeline – Billions of litres of water are already being pumped down the controversial north-south pipeline while debate continues over whether it is needed – Melbourne Herald Sun

Easier water limits on agenda – Relaxed water restrictions look likely for Melbourne before the November state election, after the State Government indicated it would still take water from the north-south pipeline regardless of whether it was needed – Melbourne Age

MEDIA

Humour can save the daily – Cartoonists may have played a crucial role in the Australian newspaper industry - and they may have been lauded by John Hartigan, chairman and chief executive of News Limited (publisher of The Australian) at an exhibition opening several weeks ago - but the scribblers fear they are being slowly squeezed out of existence. Nevertheless, they believe cartoons could be the key to luring younger readers back to newspapers – The Australian

LIFE

Real estate

Rethink on outer urban expansion – Plans to open Melbourne's urban fringe for 150,000 new households appear doomed for the forseeable future, after the State Government and the Opposition failed to agree on a proposed development tax crucial to the city's expansion – Melbourne Age

Law and order

Cops ponder charging lost bushies after pig escapade - "We don't charge lost people now but it's something we may have to look into," he said. Supt Evans, of the police Territory Support Division, was speaking after police spent many thousands of dollars saving two pig shooters who spent a miserable wet and windy night lost near Berry Springs, 50km south of Darwin – Northern Territory News

Old unmarked vans to be converted to covert speed cameras – Brisbane Courier Mail

Brisbane City Council gets $18 million from parking fines – Brisbane Courier Mail

65 police want to leave city precinct – Dozens of police officers are trying to transfer out of the CBD because of fears they will be ordered to spend more time patrolling the city's notorious trouble spots – Adelaide Advertiser

Child raring

Smack your kids smarter, says research – Smack your kids and they will turn into successful students, a new study suggests – Northern Territory News

Road safety

Road toll focus on tourists – Tasmania is to tackle a growing and deadly menace on the state's roads - tourists who are crashing in increasing numbers. Of the 64 people killed on Tasmanian roads in 2009 - the worst year for fatalities in 14 years - almost one in 10 were visitors to the state. The State Government yesterday announced a series of measures to better educate interstate and overseas drivers, who often don't know the road rules or travel times – Hobart Mercury

Taste

Premier Kristina Keneally gets shirty at Supre T-Shirt slogans Santa's bitch, North Pole Dancer – First it was outrage over baby's T-shirts declaring "I'm a tits man" and "Pardon my nipple breath". Now consumers are split over the sale of T-shirts declaring the wearer "Santa's bitch" and "North Pole Dancer". But the tops, on sale at tweenie chain Supre, have earned the ire of Premier Kristina Keneally. "Children should remain children. These T-shirts are overtly sexual and they're inappropriate. We want to live in a society that values young women - and creates positive images for their development," she said – Sydney Daily Telegraph

Transport

Rail fare hike as queues rise – Cityrail commuters have expressed disgust after being forced to wait for up to 30 minutes to buy tickets yesterday, only to discover widespread fare rises – Sydney Daily Telegraph

An unfare advantage for fare evaders – Many  train ticket inspectors will be unable to detect fare evaders among the thousands of commuters who will get their new myki cards from today. Metro inspectors haven't been provided with enough card scanners – Melbourne Herald Sun

Education

Top private schools lift fees by 6pc – Elite private schools are pushing ahead with hefty fee rises, despite non-government schools winning an estimated $28 billion in taxpayer funding and acknowledging that parents are feeling the pinch – The Australian