The journalists might faithfully report question time from the House of Representives as if it is the important part of politics but the real action is very much upstairs in the Senate. The Ruddbank legislation defeated earlier in the week is now being joined in difficulties by the Government’s building trade union proposal and plans for emissions trading.
THE PICK OF THIS MORNING’S STORIES
China hits at BHP-Rio iron ore deal – Chen Yanhai, head of the raw material department of China’s ministry of industry and information technology, told state media the proposed joint venture “has an obvious colour of monopoly” and should be subject to the country’s anti-monopoly laws. Financial Times of London
POLITICS AND ECONOMICS
Australia
Budgets
State of NSW propped up by gambling – NSW Government income from poker machines is on the rise again – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Super bill for NSW public servants up by $14b – Sydney Morning Herald
$290m revelation: NSW accounts to show detail of indigenous spending – Sydney Morning Herald
$1.5b investment to reduce Brisbane’s congestion – Brisbane Courier Mail
Payments stimulate business optimism – Sydney Morning Herald
$1.4bn wasted on cancelled Seasprite – The Australian on the long-awaited final report by the Australian National Audit Office in to the Defence Department’s botched acquisition of the Super Seasprite helicopter
Defence officials kept faults from minister: audit – Sydney Morning Herald
Economic matters
New housing boom set to go through the roof – Sydney Morning Herald
Freedom of information
Rees overhauls FoI laws – Sydney Morning Herald
Ruddbank
Fire sale warning over ‘Ruddbank’ – developers face a “fire sale” of office buildings and apartments following the rejection of a Government scheme to plug the gap if overseas lenders pull out of major projects – Melbourne Age
Schools
Teachers call for revision as Julia Gillard refuses demand for building rethink – The Australian
It’s a bungle out there, says Berwick principal Henry Grossek – The Australian
Political life
Madden: I want to lead Labor – Victorian Minister moving to lower house – Melbourne Age
Political death
Time ticks for Marty – Senior SA Liberals are openly discussing dumping Opposition Leader Martin Hamilton-Smith as the party reels from the backlash of the dodgy documents affair – Adelaide Advertiser
Corners cut in sacking of MP Tony Stewart – NSW Attorney-General is believed to have informed Premier Nathan Rees that his office may have “cut corners” when it sacked former minister Tony Stewart for allegedly touching a staffer- Sydney Daily Telegraph
NSW Minister Linda Burney sues government hospital over husband’s death – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Industrial relations
Coalition to thwart building watchdog bill – The Australian
Opinion
Unionists may kill ALP golden goose – Nick Dyrenfurth in The Australian on the conflict between Labor’s political and industrial wings
Let Telstra get on with what it does best – Kenneth Davidson in the Melbourne Age writes of the Luddites in charge of telecommunications policy.
Building industry bill strikes the right regulatory balance – writes Breen Creighton in the Melbourne Age
Poodle’s bark is worse than his bite – Annabel Crabb in the Sydney Morning Herald considers a Christopher Pyne parliamentary performance
Costello not hungry enough or mean – Costello finally gave up his dream of being PM because he judged the Libs can’t win the next election, even under him writes Andrew Bolt in the Brisbane Courier Mail
The best and the greatest – Terry McCrann gives his verdict on Peter Costello as a Treasurer in the Melbourne Herald Sun
Elsewhere
Iran
Live: confusion and fear in Iran – The London Times
More than 100,000 join defiant silent protest in Tehran – The London Times
Bleak view from within the terrified city of Tehran turning on itself – John Lyons in The Australian
Opinion
Don’t pin hopes on change in Tehran – writes Greg Sheridan in The Australian
BUSINESS
China hits at BHP-Rio iron ore deal – Chen Yanhai, head of the raw material department of China’s ministry of industry and information technology, told state media the proposed joint venture “has an obvious colour of monopoly” and should be subject to the country’s anti-monopoly laws. Financial Times of London
Myer department store sees confidence rising – Melbourne Herald Sun
CSR to unlock value with $1bn sugar spin-off – The Australian
Storm Financial clouds threaten Commonwealth Bank of Australia – The Australian
CBA sorry about Storm, offers help – Sydney Morning Herald
CBA backs down over Storm loans – repayments suspended as the bank admits it made mistakes in the way it lent money to customers involved with the failed financial adviser – Sydney Daily Telegraph
British Airways asks staff to work for free – Melbourne Age
ENVIRONMENT
Labor’s plan to thwart delay to climate bill – Sydney Morning Herald
MEDIA
A woman’s voice joins the chorus in the AFL commentator’s box – Melbourne Age
Broom sweeps through Channel Nine Brisbane as news reader Bruce Paige quits – Sydney Daily Telegraph
LIFE
Relationships
Same-sex couples coy on revealing status to Centrelink – Melbourne Herald Sun
‘Let me marry the man I love’ – SA Labor MP tells the Adelaide Advertiser
Addiction
Money is on rats to help fight gambling addiction – Sydney Morning Herald
Racial relations
Australian bosses are racist when it’s time to hire – Melbourne Age
Taxation
Triple blow for scheme investors – Investors who lost millions in the corporate collapses of managed investment schemes Timbercorp and Great Southern face a final indignity – a bill for millions of dollars from the Australian Taxation Office – Melbourne Age
Swine flu
Swine flu measures scaled back as infection fears diminish – Sydney Morning Herald
Swine drug ‘wasted on mild virus’ – Melbourne Age
Universities
RMIT snared in Singapore degree scam – Melbourne Age
Development
Go-ahead for urban expansion – Melbourne’s urban area will be allowed to grow another 41,000 hectares to accommodate an extra 415,000 people – Melbourne Age
Death knell sounds for Victorian outer suburban ‘Castles’ – Government claims land for new road and rail links – Melbourne Herald Sun
Royalty
Royal family at Ascot – London Daily Telegraph photo shows Her Majestyon Day One at the Royal horse race meeting in a yellow hat. Would she wear that colour again on Ladies’ Day or have we found a false favourite?
Law and order
Moran suspect slipped police net – Melbourne Age
Fadi Ibrahim out of his coma and speaking about that night – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Molester free while angry dad faces jail – a Queensland father who bashed a man caught molesting his 10-year-old son is facing a prison sentence, while the boy’s attacker walks free reports the Brisbane Courier Mail
Toughest new laws for bikies – The Australian reports on WA plans
Call to ban pill presses – Brisbane Courier Mail
Hoon cars to be destroyed – Adelaide Advertiser
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