NSW politics stars Della Bosca as hot, sexy and a spunk

John Della Bosca in sex scandal – New South Wales Health Minister John Della Bosca resigned last night, just hours after he was revealed to have been embroiled in a sex scandal – Sydney Daily Telegraph

Secret affair and lust to lead– Sydney Daily Telegraph

Missed appointments and steamy texts – Sydney Daily Telegraph

Della Bosca quits after sex scandal – The Health Minister, John Della Bosca, resigned last night after revelations he had an affair with a 26-year-old woman ended hopes he had of becoming premier – Sydney Morning Herald

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS

Australia

Economic matters

Interest rate genie on the rise – The Treasurer, Wayne Swan, has been playing down the strength of the economic recovery before the publication tomorrow of growth figures that could prompt the Reserve Bank to start increasing interest rates – Sydney Morning Herald

Kevin Rudd trapped by error: Malcolm Turnbull – has warned that Kevin Rudd has condemned Australians to needless debt by making the “political error” of promising a new building for every primary school in the country – The Australian

Leadership

Premier to cabinet: focus on our aims – Nathan Rees told his cabinet yesterday to focus on the achievements and aims of the Government in the first week back in Parliament, during which the Government is expected to reveal the details of the proposed sale of electricity retailers – Sydney Morning Herald

Missing minister Tim Holding tipped to be Labor leader – Determination youth and a steel-trap mind for facts and figures have seen Tim Holding make a meteoric political rise.
The passionate Cats fan has been a State Government minister for seven years, but only celebrated his 37th birthday less than two weeks ago. The Labor Party wunderkind came a long way before getting lost on Mt Feathertop – Melbourne Herald Sun

Political donations

ALP donor projects scuttled – The state’s biggest housing development and a host of other Hunter Valley projects backed by Labor Party donors are facing collapse after a court ruled illegal the agreements negotiated secretly to have them approved – Sydney Morning Herald

‘Land bribe’ exposes Labor’s coziness with property developers – In his withering 33-page decision, Judge David Lloyd never mentions the $143,500 Rose Group donated to the Labor Party in the lead-up to the last NSW election. But he does something more. He describes what happened at Catherine Hill Bay as a ”land bribe” – Sydney Morning Herald

Smitten Sartor went too far, judge rules – The court found the former NSW planning minister Frank Sartor prejudged Rose Group’s application. ”Far from bringing an impartial mind to his determinations, the minister committed himself to bringing a partial mind to the applications,” the judge wrote – Sydney Morning Herald

Lobbying

Former premier paid for lobbying – Former Liberal premier Dean Brown has received more than $400,000 over the past two to three years to lobby on behalf of the state’s drought-stricken communities. A senior Liberal MP, who did not wish to be named, said the lobbying register proposed by Premier Mike Rann had one glaring omission: the need to register lobbyists retained by the Government – Adelaide Advertiser

Political lurks and perks

Minister Kate Ellis’ taxi fare farce – $200 for a cab to wait – Sports Minister Kate Ellis ran up a cab fare of more than $200 after leaving a Port Macquarie driver waiting for four hours – Sydney Daily Telegraph

Political blackmail

Hunters hold Nathan Rees to ransom – Premier Nathan Rees has offered to let hunters into national parks to shoot feral animals on a trial basis in exchange for support in the Legislative Council to reverse the ban on publishing school leagues tables. But the Shooters Party said they will reject all Government Bills until it agrees to support plans for the hunting of feral animals in national parks and the creation of a game park in NSW – Sydney Daily Telegraph

Aboriginal affairs

Jenny Macklin’s housing ultimatum – The federal government has given the Northern Territory four months to lift its game on Aboriginal housing after confirming $45 million was spent on a housing program without a single house being built – The Australian

Some bitter, others sweet over housing – In the first three Northern Territory communities to receive new houses and refurbishments under the $672 million Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program, a mixture of gratitude and resentment greeted the release of yesterday’s review into the program – The Australian

Dry lives without crime – Controls imposed by government on alcohol consumption in indigenous communities in Queensland have been the single most important reason why crime has decreased markedly and the lives of women and children have improved, according to District Court judge Michael Forde, who retired last week – The Australian

Immigration

UK tops (non-NZ) arrivals – There were 30,590 permanent migrants from the UK, 25,042 permanent migrants from India (14.6 per cent of the total) and China 21,831 (12.7 per cent). The biggest group of permanent settlers was New Zealanders, 47,000, who are not counted in the official program – Melbourne Age

Public service

No penalty for officers over equine flu bungle – The federal Agriculture Department will not to take disciplinary action against quarantine officers criticised by a former High Court judge for their role in the equine influenza outbreak that crippled Australia’s horse industry two years ago – Melbourne Age

Premier’s department caught changing Nuttall submission – Anna Bligh’s department has been caught censoring her support of disgraced minister Gordon Nuttall from a public submission to her government integrity review – Brisbane Courier Mail

Australia-India relations

India to open university sector to Australia – On the first official day of a five-day visit to India yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the two countries had agreed to regular ministerial talks that would involve representatives from Indian and Australian universities and industry on ways to build collaboration – The Australian

Opinions

Enter the young conservatives – Gerard Henderson in the Sydney Morning Herald says Brendan Nelson’s resignation from politics also provides Turnbull and the Opposition with an opportunity. A reasonable result in Bradfield would give Turnbull the chance to re-establish some authority in the lead-up to the next federal election.

Questions mount on PM’s spending – Dennis Shanahan believes there is an opportunity for the Coalition to argue that Labor panicked, spent too much borrowed money on non-productive building and has left an unwarranted legacy of debt – The Australian

Hats off to the big spenders – Tim Colebatch in the Melbourne Age reckons the issue that now needs examining is what oppositions should do when governments implement sensible policies.

PM’s abuse apology ignores rape scandal – Piers Akerman in the Sydney Daily Telegraph turns to an obscure text book to find a third party endorsement.

Dinosaurs block the road to change – Malcolm Colless in The Australian argues Communications Minister Stephen Conroy must ignore the temptation to meddle, something his predecessors were unable to resist. Otherwise his dream for a brave new broadband world could well become his worst nightmare.

Labor the competition party? – Michael Stutchbury believes it’s a crucial time for the Rudd government’s policy direction. Does it believe in the Hawke-Keating model of enterprise-driven opportunity and prosperity? Or has it regressed to its base interventionist instincts, blending misplaced Whitlamesque idealism with the cynical politicking of modern Labor? – The Australian

Elsewhere

Japan

Lower House gets facelift: More women and newcomers – A record number of female candidates and a significant number of rookie politicians won Lower House seats thanks to the overwhelming election victory by the Democratic Party of Japan on Sunday – Asahi Shimbun

Israel

Settler burden weighs on Israel – Jason Koutsoukis in the Melbourne Age looks at the financial cost to the Israeli Government of the West Bank settlements.

Opinions

Upheaval in the wrong direction – Peter Hartcher in the Sydney Morning Herald sees a problem in Japan. The new party of government, the Democratic Party of Japan, is promising more welfare capitalism, not less. The change Japan needs is not the change the party is offering. Nor is it change the country can afford.

BUSINESS

ANZ profit heads for $3bn – Melbourne Age

ENVIRONMENT

Climate change headache for Key – The New Zealand Government faces a headache in introducing an important part of its climate change policy on time after a divisive parliamentary inquiry exposed the unwillingness of National’s partners to back its plan for cutting greenhouse gas emissions – New Zealand Herald

MEDIA

Pakistani drowned during reality TV contest – A contestant on a Pakistani reality TV show drowned while performing a challenge for the programme, a spokeswoman for the show’s sponsor said on Sunday. Contestant Saad Khan, 32, was swimming across a lake while wearing a 7kg backpack when he called out for help and then disappeared underwater, according to Fareshte Aslam, information officer for Unilever Pakistan, the show’s sponsor – Dawn, Pakistan

Eddie McGuire in the hot seat for Triple M – McGuire’s show, The Hot Breakfast, will take on the long-time No. 1 team at 3AW – Ross Stevenson and John Burns – Melbourne Herald Sun

LIFE

Marriage

Marriages at 20-year high as break-ups decline – Melbourne Age

Dementia

Dementia epidemic ‘here now’ – Melbourne Age

Law and order

Let’s have peace – The violent schoolyard death of 15-year-old Jai Morcom may come down to a clash between two subcultures – the footy heads and the emos – and a silly fight over who should sit at what table – Sydney Morning Herald

Private school rugby star stabbed in back at wild teen party – Brisbane Courier Mail

Motor cycling

Motorcycles could soon share lanes with buses – Melbourne Age

The punt

Newsagents bristle at loss of lotteries – Large supermarket chains are likely bidders for NSW Lotteries, as the State Government holds firm on limiting to three years the maximum period newsagents can continue selling lottery products after privatisation – Sydney Morning Herald