THE PICK OF THE MORNING’S STORIES
Michael Jackson taken to last concert – The body of Michael Jackson was this evening taking centre stage at a memorial concert in Los Angeles for his final send-off – London Evening Standard
POLITICS AND ECONOMICS
Australia
Banking
Curb the banks, PM told – The growing power of Australia’s biggest banks has been targeted by six influential economists who have petitioned the Prime Minister and the Treasurer to set up an inquiry into Australia’s financial system – the first in more than a decade – Melbourne Age
Interest Rates
Reserve Bank still has rate cut option – Reserve Bank is holding open the option of further interest rate cuts later this year in case the surge in consumer spending and confidence collapses once the government’s cash handouts have been spent – The Australian
Reserve Bank keeps rates on hold – Melbourne Age
Reserve Bank Governor’s statement
Reserve Bank of Australia leaves interest rates at 3 per cent – Adelaide Advertiser
Wages
Wages freeze to protect jobs as Julia Gillard and unions furious at decision – The Australian
Low-paid income will drop: Gillard – The Australian
Fair Pay Commission rules out rise for lowest-paid workers – Adelaide Advertiser
Low-paid workers hit by freeze on wages – Melbourne Age
Economic matters
World needs to be saved from spending spree: PM – The Australian
Politicians hit the road with a truckload of rhetoric – Sydney Morning Herald
Police stations for sale in suburban crime hotspots – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Sainthood
Opposition anger at Rudd’s saintly advocacy – Liberal frontbencher Tony Abbott said that only a prime minister who “thinks not a sparrow should fall without him influencing it would lobby the Pope on such a matter” as Mary McKillop’s sainthood – Melbourne Age
Leadership
WA Premier Barnett takes the razor off Treasurer – WA Premier Colin Barnett has taken control of the government’s most important economic committee, which oversees the government’s razor gang, in a rebuke to Treasurer Troy Buswell – The Australian
South Australian Liberal leadership contenders tarred by brush with fake papers – The Australian
Housing
Cash for homeless released – Canberra yesterday announced the first downpayment on its national homelessness pact with the states and territories, just hours after coming under fire for failing to deliver on the funding promised to the homeless – The Australian
Aboriginal affairs
Govt pushes Bagot to be normal suburb – Northern Territory News
Opinion
It takes more than just a strong leader to win over voters – Shaun Carney in the Melbourne Age argues that People want ideas and policy and the Liberals presently have neither.
Pay freeze trades off money for jobs – Michelle Grattan in the Melbourne Age notes that the short-lived Fair Pay Commission is ending as it began: with a surprise packet. In its first decision, the commission, part of WorkChoices, delivered a bigger-than-anticipated rise. Now, as it goes out the back door, its final decision has come in at zero – below expectations.
Pay attention, or be bamboozled by bread and circuses – Ross Gittins muses about the similarities between political contests and market competition
Ruddbot’s gatecrashing upsets Papal Skills – Annabel Crabb in the Sydney Morning Herald writes that the suggestion that Kevin Rudd would be lobbying for the Mary MacKillop ticket was too much for Tony Abbott – Parliament’s best known Catholic – to bear.
A test for more humane strategy – Paul Kelly in The Australian writes that Kevin Rudd and Stephen Smith now seek to validate the deepest conventional wisdom about unauthorised boat arrivals, that the essence of the solution lies in regional agreements with our Southeast Asian neighbours.
Liberals must defend Howard legacy – Janet Albrechtsen has a swipe at Joe Hockey for some remarks on the Howard government and tax
Harper’s ruling will save thousands – Michael Stutchbury in The Australian writes it has taken a final act of principle from John Howard’s Fair Pay Commission to deliver the blindingly obvious policy truth: that it is madness to force business to pay more to employ low-skilled workers during the deepest downturn in the world economy since the 1930s.
Steady as she goes – we hope – Terry McCrann writes in the Melbourne Herald Sun that some low-paid workers might have been saved from losing their jobs.
Elsewhere
Funerals
King is dead, long live his royalties – For the many fans gathering to watch the Michael Jackson memorial service from the Staples Center in Los Angeles it was about celebrating 50 extraordinary years. But for the lawyers circling his estate, Jackson’s death meant the start of a battle to win control of a fortune worth hundreds of millions of dollars – Sydney Morning Herald
Michael Jackson taken to last concert – The body of Michael Jackson was this evening taking centre stage at a memorial concert in Los Angeles for his final send-off – London Evening Standard
Elections
Yudhoyono set to sweep Indonesian poll – Melbourne Age
World financial crisis
Rudd warns of second recession – Speaking in Berlin on the eve of the Group of Eight talks in Italy, PM Kevin Rudd joined British counterpart Gordon Brown to argue that it is too early for industrialised nations to pull back on fiscal stimulus measures – Melbourne Age
Russia and the USA
Obama: US and Russia not destined to be adversaries – The Independent, UK
Urumqui and China
Urumqi Sweeps Up after Deadly Rioting – Order had returned to Urumqi but most shops remained closed and Internet links were still cut two days after a July 5 riot – By staff reporters Li Weiao and Zhu Tao of Caijing.com.cn
Economic matters
Bulgarian stress test for the Balkans – The Baltic trio of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia are lucky. At the end of the day, they can count on Swedish banks and the full might of the Swedish state to shield them from economic disaster.The picture is messier in the Balkans, a region with eight times the population (55m) and no obvious Big Brother at hand, and messiest of all is Bulgaria – London Daily Telegraph
Leadership
Shortage of candidates to replace unpopular Aso adds to LDP’s woes – Mainichi Daily News
Opinion
From profits to ethics: pope calls for a new political and financial world order – • Global recession caused by greed, says pontiff; • Economic crisis is ‘clear proof of effects of sin’ – The Guardian
BUSINESS
Rio Tinto executives detained in China – the arrest of Rio Tinto’s iron ore sales team – including an Australian – by authorities in Shanghai comes against the background of recent bitter negotiations over iron ore sale contracts and Chinese anger over Rio Tinto’s decision earlier this year to abandon a $US19.5 billion merger with state-owned Chinalco – Melbourne Age
Profit season looming as worst for 20 years – Sydney Morning Herald
Centrebet flags strong profit growth – The Australian
Madden steps in to vet Williamstown tower plan – Melbourne Age
ENVIRONMENT
We need collective climate plan: Kevin Rudd – The Australian
Town in bottled water ban – NSW Southern Highlands village of Bundanoon is poised to become the first town in Australia, and quite possibly the world, to ban commercially bottled water – Melbourne Age
Seabed mining threat to humpback whales – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Tropics on move south causing drier winters, more cyclones – Brisbane Courier Mail
Clean coal plant set to go ahead – a coal-to-liquids plant for the Latrobe Valley promises to produce cleaner coal, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent and extract thousands of barrels of high-grade oil – Melbourne Age
MEDIA
Coalition may talk to editors – the Sydney Morning Herald reports that State Opposition remains opposed to school league tables but could be prepared to back away from fines for newspapers that publish school results. The Premier, Nathan Rees, will reintroduce the league tables legislation to Parliament after the winter break.
LIFE
Health
Drug side effects growing problem – Melbourne Age
Asperger’s
The curious incident of the straight-A student – Alex Goodenough was the cleverest kid in his school – so why didn’t he get a sixth form place? Decca Aitkenhead of The Guardian talks to his family about the impact of Asperger’s
Swine flu
If you’ve got flu, you’ve got swine flu – Melbourne Age
Naval careers
Sex bets will cost recruits, says navy – The Australian
Police careers
Top cop ‘caught on tape’– A leading Territory police officer was stood down after a woman work colleague secretly tape recorded conversations with him, it was learnt last night – Northern Territory News
Law and order
Cyber crime link to social networking – Brisbane Courier Mail
Crime fighter ‘gave lawyer boyfriend drug case info’ – Brisbane Courier Mail
Cycling
How the Crikey indicator rates the chances:
Parking
Forget petrol costs: Sydney shares world top billing for parking fees – Sydney Morning Herald
The drink
Eight is enough for a pub to be blackballed – the Sydney Morning Herald on the number of pubs and clubs that will have to take specific steps to curb violence on their premises
The fags
Even smokers agree: it’s time to feel the pain – Sydney Morning Herald
Eggs
Stem cell researchers change call – Women could make money by selling their eggs for stem cell research under a proposal by one of the pioneers of Australia’s stem cell regulations – Melbourne Herald Sun
Child care
Childcare to cost more under new standards – Brisbane Courier Mail
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