Media wrap - At last we might actually have a contest!
POLITICS AND ECONOMICS
Polls
Climate shifting against Kevin Rudd: Newspoll - Kevin Rudd's personal standing has taken a hammering after his decision to dump his climate change policy last week, and for the first time since 2006 the Coalition has an election-winning lead - The Australian
ALP on slide after dumping ETS - The Labor government has lost its position as the leader on climate change for the first time, following Kevin Rudd's decision to dump plans for an emissions trading scheme - The Australian
Voters turning on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, latest Newspoll shows - After a fortnight of broken promises and backdowns, voters have turned on Kevin Rudd and dragged the Government down with him - Melbourne Herald Sun
Taxation
Mining companies facing double tax slug - Mining companies are facing the prospect of double taxes in the form of raised state royalties, just a day after the Rudd government claimed its new resource "super profit" tax would avoid this by refunding existing royalty payments - The Australian
Australian resource tax system worse than China's, says Clive Palmer - Brisbane Courier Mail
Rudd riles BHP as new tax hits shares - Melbourne Age
Rudd's stumble on detail of new tax - dumped shares of the world's biggest and third-biggest miners, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, accountants slammed the Rudd government's levy on miners, saying it was really a tax on ordinary profits. The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, fumbled his way through several attempts to explain the distinction between ordinary earnings and super profits - Sydney Morning Herald
Mine stocks plunge as PM defends tax - The West Australian
Mining profits belong here: Kevin Rudd - Kevin Rudd has argued big mining companies BHP and Rio Tinto are sending their mega-profits overseas as he defends the Government's 40 per cent hit on the industry - Melbourne Herald Sun
Economic matters
Pressure on Reserve Bank to lift rates - The record 17.6 per cent jump in commodity prices last month - coupled with a sharp 20 per cent rise in house prices in the past year - will pressure the Reserve Bank to lift the cash rate by a further 0.25 percentage points at its board meeting in Melbourne today - The Australian
Less cash would not be super for workers - Low-paid workers will have less cash in their pockets as employers shave future wage rises to cover the extra compulsory superannuation contributions they'll have to make under Rudd's tax reforms. The Australian Industry Group yesterday said the 3 per cent superannuation changes represented a 33 per cent increase on the superannuation costs that employers already faced - Sydney Daily Telegraph
House prices rocket 20% - The weight of financial markets has swung behind an interest rate rise today after official figures showing both house prices and commodity prices climbing at the fastest levels on record - Sydeney Morning Herald
Schools, hospitals, business to reap Brumby rewards - The Melbourne Age previews the Victorian budget
Housing
More Govt backing for NT first home buyers - Territorians earning up to $70,000 a year will be eligible for government assistance under changes to the first home buyers scheme to be unveiled today - Northern Territory News
Opinions
Voters turn off Kevin but not to Tony - A rather measured Dennis Shanahan comments in The Australian that Kevin Rudd has taken a huge hit. The image of him being gutless and not standing for anything after dumping his climate change policy has hurt his standing as Prime Minister like no other.
Admirers suffer a Rudd awakening - Gerard Henderson in the Sydney Morning Herald says that Julia Gillard's agenda is in the tradition of the historic concern by social democrats for the education of children from low socio-economic groups. If Gillard prevails, this will be the most significant reform of Rudd's inaugural term.
How to take a grand vision and smother it - Michael Stutchbury in The Australian believes we are now witnessing the end of a broad-based economic reform agenda and its replacement by narrower and more intense political fights.
Rudd hacks through cynicism - Malcolm Farr in the Sydney Daily Telegraph writes that there is a cynicism about Kevin Rudd's motives which colours every action by the PM, including his stance on tax reform.
PM dumps chance to fix housing - says Julian Disney in the Melbourne Age. Australia's unlimited exemptions from capital gains tax, land tax and the pension means-test help to inflate house prices far beyond the reach of most younger Australians, and artificially divert resources from other key sectors of the economy.
BUSINESS
Mining giants mauled in sell-off after proposed tax - At least $9 billion was wiped off the sharemarket value of the nation's resources companies yesterday amid investor fears of a severe downturn in earnings sparked by Kevin Rudd's planned 40 per cent super tax on profits - The Australian
LIFE
Law and order
John Brumby to staff 20 high-risk stations in bid to combat crime - Melbourne Herald SUn
Victorian police union to sue star chamber - The Victorian Police Association is preparing a legal bid to bring the Office of Police Integrity to account for allegedly misusing its powers, leading to the criminal prosecution of former assistant commissioner Noel Ashby and one-time union chief Paul Mullett - The Australian
Polls
Climate shifting against Kevin Rudd: Newspoll - Kevin Rudd's personal standing has taken a hammering after his decision to dump his climate change policy last week, and for the first time since 2006 the Coalition has an election-winning lead - The Australian
ALP on slide after dumping ETS - The Labor government has lost its position as the leader on climate change for the first time, following Kevin Rudd's decision to dump plans for an emissions trading scheme - The Australian
Voters turning on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, latest Newspoll shows - After a fortnight of broken promises and backdowns, voters have turned on Kevin Rudd and dragged the Government down with him - Melbourne Herald Sun
Taxation
Mining companies facing double tax slug - Mining companies are facing the prospect of double taxes in the form of raised state royalties, just a day after the Rudd government claimed its new resource "super profit" tax would avoid this by refunding existing royalty payments - The Australian
Australian resource tax system worse than China's, says Clive Palmer - Brisbane Courier Mail
Rudd riles BHP as new tax hits shares - Melbourne Age
Rudd's stumble on detail of new tax - dumped shares of the world's biggest and third-biggest miners, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, accountants slammed the Rudd government's levy on miners, saying it was really a tax on ordinary profits. The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, fumbled his way through several attempts to explain the distinction between ordinary earnings and super profits - Sydney Morning Herald
Mine stocks plunge as PM defends tax - The West Australian
Mining profits belong here: Kevin Rudd - Kevin Rudd has argued big mining companies BHP and Rio Tinto are sending their mega-profits overseas as he defends the Government's 40 per cent hit on the industry - Melbourne Herald Sun
Economic matters
Pressure on Reserve Bank to lift rates - The record 17.6 per cent jump in commodity prices last month - coupled with a sharp 20 per cent rise in house prices in the past year - will pressure the Reserve Bank to lift the cash rate by a further 0.25 percentage points at its board meeting in Melbourne today - The Australian
Less cash would not be super for workers - Low-paid workers will have less cash in their pockets as employers shave future wage rises to cover the extra compulsory superannuation contributions they'll have to make under Rudd's tax reforms. The Australian Industry Group yesterday said the 3 per cent superannuation changes represented a 33 per cent increase on the superannuation costs that employers already faced - Sydney Daily Telegraph
House prices rocket 20% - The weight of financial markets has swung behind an interest rate rise today after official figures showing both house prices and commodity prices climbing at the fastest levels on record - Sydeney Morning Herald
Schools, hospitals, business to reap Brumby rewards - The Melbourne Age previews the Victorian budget
Housing
More Govt backing for NT first home buyers - Territorians earning up to $70,000 a year will be eligible for government assistance under changes to the first home buyers scheme to be unveiled today - Northern Territory News
Opinions
Voters turn off Kevin but not to Tony - A rather measured Dennis Shanahan comments in The Australian that Kevin Rudd has taken a huge hit. The image of him being gutless and not standing for anything after dumping his climate change policy has hurt his standing as Prime Minister like no other.
Admirers suffer a Rudd awakening - Gerard Henderson in the Sydney Morning Herald says that Julia Gillard's agenda is in the tradition of the historic concern by social democrats for the education of children from low socio-economic groups. If Gillard prevails, this will be the most significant reform of Rudd's inaugural term.
How to take a grand vision and smother it - Michael Stutchbury in The Australian believes we are now witnessing the end of a broad-based economic reform agenda and its replacement by narrower and more intense political fights.
Rudd hacks through cynicism - Malcolm Farr in the Sydney Daily Telegraph writes that there is a cynicism about Kevin Rudd's motives which colours every action by the PM, including his stance on tax reform.
PM dumps chance to fix housing - says Julian Disney in the Melbourne Age. Australia's unlimited exemptions from capital gains tax, land tax and the pension means-test help to inflate house prices far beyond the reach of most younger Australians, and artificially divert resources from other key sectors of the economy.
BUSINESS
Mining giants mauled in sell-off after proposed tax - At least $9 billion was wiped off the sharemarket value of the nation's resources companies yesterday amid investor fears of a severe downturn in earnings sparked by Kevin Rudd's planned 40 per cent super tax on profits - The Australian
LIFE
Law and order
John Brumby to staff 20 high-risk stations in bid to combat crime - Melbourne Herald SUn
Victorian police union to sue star chamber - The Victorian Police Association is preparing a legal bid to bring the Office of Police Integrity to account for allegedly misusing its powers, leading to the criminal prosecution of former assistant commissioner Noel Ashby and one-time union chief Paul Mullett - The Australian
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