Media wrap - Belinda Neal back in the news

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS

Industrial relations

Rio Tinto warns of Pilbara industrial relations war – Mining giant Rio Tinto has warned that growing industrial unrest in Australia's booming resources sector could spread to its critical iron ore mines, as it prepares to start bargaining with unions over workers' pay and conditions for the first time in 15 years – The Australian

Julia Gillard calls time on young Matthew Spencer's job - Matthew and five other youths, all aged between 16 and 18, have been sacked from the Terang and District Co-operative, 210km southwest of Melbourne, because the Rudd government's Fair Work Act won't let them work less than three hours a day – The Australian

Julia Gillard steps in on arbitration – The ACTU will face off against the Rudd government and employers today over the powers of Fair Work Australia, with unions fighting to uphold a ruling that employers fear could lead to compulsory arbitration of workplace disputes – The Australian

Minister aims to target industrial hotspots – Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard has responded to recent unlawful industrial action in Western Australia by unveiling proposals that would allow the government to direct the building industry watchdog to target industrial troublespots – The Australian

Elections

Rank and file ALP members get say on Belinda Neal – An academic on the NSW central coast is the candidate most likely to challenge Belinda Neal for preselection for the marginal seat of Robertson after Labor's Sydney head office took the decision to give rank-and-file members a say – The Australian

We want Belinda Neal out of the House – Meet the two people who have declared war on the unpopular Labor member for Robertson, Belinda Neal. One is mother-of-three Deb O'Neill, and the other is a detective sergeant with more than 20 years in the police force, Darren Jameson – Sydney Daily Telegraph

Barry O'Farrell cuts and runs to China – Liberal leader Barry O'Farrell has been accused of being squeamish about the sight of his own party's blood. As the party prepares to rip itself apart in a bitter preselection battle for prized seats in the NSW Legislative Council, Mr O'Farrell is packing his bags and heading to China and IndiaSydney Daily Telegraph

SA Premier Mike Rann gets a slapping in The Advertiser voter opinion poll – Labor’s vote has slumped and it faces a battle to hold government at the state election as a majority of voters say they do not trust Premier Mike Rann – Adelaide Advertiser

Greens plan to abolish pokies – The Tasmanian Greens propose to remove all the state's poker machines within five years under a new plan. But the plan has been labelled a "massive backflip" from a Greens party in "panic" by a former Greens candidate and staunch anti-pokies campaigner Andrew Wilkie – Hobart Mercury

Bartlett's boost to families – Five more communities will get child and family centres in the next three years, the State Government pledged yesterday – Hobart Mercury

Donation reform threat to ALP links – Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will be asked to sever the ALP's historic financial ties with the trade union movement under a proposal for a $1000 cap on all party donations, expected to be taken to Cabinet on Monday – Sydney Daily Telegraph

Political lurks and perks

Former PM John Howard pumped up water grants – Former prime minister John Howard overruled his own department by granting nearly $100 million in taxpayer funding to questionable water projects in marginal electorates, an audit revealed yesterday – The Australian

Political life

Liberals turn on Opposition finance spokesman Barnaby Joyce – Barnaby Joyce is under fire from his own colleagues, who say he is a ticking "bomb", and the Federal Government, who have branded him a "freak show" – Melbourne Herald Sun

Racism

Brumby defiant on attacks – Premier John Brumby has defended the state's response to attacks on Indian students following a rebuke from India's top diplomat to Australia that Victoria is in denial over the scale of the problem – Melbourne Age

Immigration


Economic matters

Low earners in line for more super savings – Low-income workers would receive more generous superannuation payments as part of plans to make the tax system fairer – Adelaide Advertiser

Building boom running hot, with no cool change in sightAustralia is heading into an unexpected building boom this year, as the federal government's huge stimulus package lifted building approvals to record levels in the last months of 2009 – Melbourne Age

Education

Keneally slammed on school closure – One of Kristina Keneally's first promises as Premier - to save a unique residential school for hundreds of children with severe learning disorders - has been broken – Sydney Morning Herald

Development

SA Government approves new suburb at Buckland Park - Planning Minister Paul Holloway yesterday announced State Government approval for the 25-year project which is being developed by the Walker Corporation – Adelaide Advertiser


Opinions

Coalition needs more than just true believers – Dennis Shanahan in The Australian writes how it is at the local level, where government is attempting to turn action on climate change from prediction into practice, is where the real political impact of climate change policy will be felt. It is one thing to care for the planet, lead an environmentally friendly life near the sea, and support ill-defined action on climate change, and it is another thing entirely to be confronted with massive costs or lose the full use of your house.

Laughter sounds the dog whistle for a silky terrier –That ministers should answer the questions asked is an idea backed by every soul in the House of Representatives chamber, writes David Marr in the Sydney Morning Herald, except Kevin Rudd, his ministers, his troops and the powerless figure (on this point) of the Speaker Harry Jenkins who rejects every try by a terrier like manager of Opposition business Christopher Pyne.

Pesky kookaburra drops one on the debate over copyright law – Richard Ackland writes how while one judge was squeezing tight the copyright regime, another judge of the same court on the same day was letting it all hang out – Sydney Morning Herald

Obama's political stimulus - The political benefit for the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, is clear. Obama is suffering in the polls at home, but his popularity abroad is undiminished and will provide a publicity boost to Rudd at the start of an election year – Jessica Irvine in the Sydney Morning Herald

We are not a redneck mob – says Andrew Bolt in the Melbourne Herald Sun. It’s because so many people want to believe Australians are racist that Jaspreet Singh became the latest fake example of our evil.

Malcolm in the middle – Michelle Grattan previews Malcolm Turnbull’s speech next week supporting the Government’s emissions trading scheme

BUSINESS

Crisis talks plan TCCI rescue – A crisis meeting of the board of Tasmania's major business group was held yesterday in a bid to ward off financial disaster. The Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry faces a cash crunch and looks certain to have to sack staff to avoid further losses – Hobart Mercury

ENVIRONMENT

Libs plan to ban the bag – Plastic bags will be banned and retailers providing them will face hefty fines under a bold new plan by the Tasmanian Liberals – Hobart Mercury

Abbott seizes on Obama emissions retreat - The Federal Opposition has seized on US President Barack Obama's new emphasis on energy from biofuels and burying CO{-2} emissions to portray Kevin Rudd as the world's sole supporter of emissions trading schemes – The West Australian

MEDIA

OECD queries cost of new broadband network – The OECD has questioned Labor's $43 billion national broadband network as the Communications Minister Stephen Conroy fends off an Auditor-General's report that shows $30 million was lost after he ignored public service advice that his original scheme risked failure – The Australian

Fire-optic network backbone begins – The federal government is a week away from seeing the first sod of soil turned in the construction of fibre-optic backbone links for its ambitious $43 billion national broadband network – The Australian

Net piracy fight takes body blowHollywood studios and record labels are being forced to go back to the drawing board to come up with a new way of combating online piracy after the Federal Court ruled that internet service providers are not required to police copyright infringement on their networks – Sydney Morning Herald

LIFE

Law and order

'Perv' cops turn off CCTV – Security cameras that could have been used to stop the alleged TIO bomber before he struck were switched off at the Darwin Police Station on Wednesday because officers had been using them to perv on schoolgirls – Northern Territory News

Search laws go too far, say ex-cops - High-profile former policemen have spoken out about WA's proposed stop and search powers, saying they are open to abuse – The West Australian

Transport

Go card rorters find it's cheaper to pay fine than a fare – Thousands of commuters are exploiting a glaring loophole in southeast Queensland's go card network to get cheaper fares. At least 6000 public transport users are deliberately failing to swipe their go cards each day because the penalty is less than the price of the fare – Brisbane Courier Mail

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