Baird may cut NSW spending
NSW may be forced to reduce government spending after Treasurer Mike Baird pledged to take “whatever action” is needed to retain his state’s AAA credit rating.
Fraud can be curbed by controls
If appropriate controls were in place, MPs like Geoff Shaw and Craig Thomson would be less likely to be caught up in scandals around fraudulent activity, an expert says.
Local companies get inside run on green jobs
Australian companies will be given a greater opportunity to participate in projects that win funding from the federal government’s $10 billion clean energy fund.
A 10-year landfill headache
For Statewide Waste in western Victoria the problem about the carbon price isn’t what it has to pay from July 1 but what it may have to pay in 2022.
Reluctant Wilkie backs pokies reform package
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie will support the government’s poker machine package after a pragmatic acknowledgement that the current policy was the best offer available.
News briefs
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has used her final address to a summit in Chicago on Afghanistan to urge other countries to follow Australia’s example and provide more cash to sustain Afghan security forces.
Fix for executive pay votes
The government is moving to rush through an urgent change to its controversial two-strike rule on executive pay, after previously claiming that a quick-fix was unworkable.
Lib doctor worried about Thomson's health
A Liberal backbencher who is a qualified doctor is concerned for MP Craig Thomson’s mental health.
What he said
CHANGING ECONOMY
Americans wary of recruiters bearing jobs
Pirdy Nelson, 53, and Michael Goody, 32, are both electricians with sparkling personalities. They both work for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in the Houston area. And they both came to the Department of Immigration’s Australian jobs fair at the JW Marriott in Houston at the weekend.
Relocation dislocation
Unlike America, where workers often move interstate for a job, Australians are reluctant to relocate to secure employment.
PPPs need to be more transparent
Infrastructure Partnerships Australia chairman Mark Birrell has criticised the secrecy surrounding projects in public-private partnerships (PPPs).
Surplus a lifebuoy Labor can cling to
“When you are on the high wire,” one Labor figure said yesterday, “it doesn’t matter how high it is, and there is no point looking down.”
Jobless need help and motivation
With the welfare lobby still complaining that Newstart Allowance recipients are on the poverty line, the issue is far from closed.
Thomson’s tears help, in theory
Stokes | If Craig Thomson’s crying helped him find his humanity in the glare of publicity, it may also have helped him appear genuine, thus attracting empathisers.
Economy
Baird may cut NSW spending
NSW may be forced to reduce government spending after Treasurer Mike Baird pledged to take “whatever action” is needed to retain his state’s AAA credit rating.
A 10-year landfill headache
For Statewide Waste in western Victoria the problem about the carbon price isn’t what it has to pay from July 1 but what it may have to pay in 2022.
Politics
Baird may cut NSW spending
NSW may be forced to reduce government spending after Treasurer Mike Baird pledged to take “whatever action” is needed to retain his state’s AAA credit rating.
Local companies get inside run on green jobs
Australian companies will be given a greater opportunity to participate in projects that win funding from the federal government’s $10 billion clean energy fund.
Education
Defend or extend school tests
There were many good points in “Testing the NAPLAN divide” (May 19-20), but if we didn’t have NAPLAN tests how would ministers, parents, students know the literacy and numeracy levels of students?
National briefs
A pathological gambling addict has lost his appeal to recover more than $20 million which he gambled away at Melbourne’s Crown Casino after alleging the casino deliberately encouraged him to indulge in his addiction.
Legal Affairs
Minter Ellison’s brief on beef
Law firm Minter Ellison had a starring role in an episode of the ABC’s 7:30 this week, when it was revealed it was acting for a group of farmers affected by the federal government’s live cattle export ban last year.
Shareholder class actions need to be put to trial
With last week’s reported $200 million settlement of the long running Centro case, another opportunity for the courts to decide on the methodology for assessing damages in shareholder class actions has slipped away.
Workspace
How much Klout do you have online?
Klout measures your social media influence, and “what’s your Klout score?” could well become a regular question in job interviews for positions in sales, marketing or IT.
Nine minutes that could make your career
Some people spend all day advancing their careers, but if LinkedIn’s to be believed anyone can do it – and still have time for real work.
Arts & Saleroom
Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb dies
Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb has died after a long battle with cancer. He notched up dozens of hits with brothers Maurice and Barry, selling more than 200 million records.
Good bones in Australian art, say HK buyers
Sean Cordeiro and Claire Healy were thrust into the international spotlight in 2009, when they were among a group representing Australia at the Venice Biennale. For that show they created a ceiling-high stack of video tapes.
Government Business
Fired, paid out, reinvented, rehired
Burgess | Rehiring public servants can be a good way of retaining skills and managing peaks and troughs, but it can also be a gravy train.
Tight as a drum
Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation is resorting to crushing nuclear waste into tiny, highly compressed blocks encased in concrete so it can continue to store low-level nuclear waste in the heart of southern Sydney at Lucas Heights.
Professional Services
‘Client-centric’ PwC chief axes 211 jobs
Accounting giant PwC Australia has cut 211 jobs, or nearly 4 per cent of its workforce, as part of a restructure at the hand of new chief executive Luke Sayers.
Harbour City drowning, not waving
The Sydney CBD – the Manhattan-like strip of glass rising out of the harbour, and Australia’s one global hub – is losing its magic.
