A Royal tip. A flurry of bets from staff at Buckingham Palace has gone on the Queen’s horse Four Winds in the Hampton Court Stakes to be run at the Royal Ascot race meeting on Friday. The Queen’s first runner at the meeting will be Instalment which is 20/1 in the pre-post market for the Jersey Stakes. The London Daily Telegraph reports that the Monarch is known to put wagers on her own horses.
Personally I would rather get a tip from Her Majesty’s personal staff about what she will wear on Ladies Day than what is expected of her six horses entered over the carnival which dates back to 1711 when Queen Anne drove from nearby Windsor Castle to Ascot with her entourage for a day’s sport organised at her command. Bookmakers have framed a market on the colour of Queen Elizabeth’s Ladies Day hat with yellow being the current favourite at 4/1.
Overnight, Australian speedster Scenic Blast, ridden by Steven Arnold, triumphed in the King’s Stand Stakes ahead of Fleeting Spirit and Anglezarke.
POLITICS AND ECONOMICS
Australia
The Senate
Property rescue plan falls over in Senate – Sydney Morning Herald
Ruddbank future unclear: Gillard – Sydney Morning Herald
Senate defeat for Rudd Bank – The Australian
Political life
Portrait of Collins ‘offensive’ – According to the Opposition, the Northern Territory Government has “eulogised” a suspected pedophile by hanging his portrait in Parliament House – Northern Territory News
Bring out your dead and then sign here – the Northern Territory News reports that an NT politician tabled a petition to parliament containing the names of dead indigenous people.
Rudd may have job lined up for Costello – Sydney Morning Herald
Kevin Rudd sounds out Peter Costello for new role – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Costello’s new job prospects – Melbourne Herald Sun
Dinner with Rudd can be yours for $20k – at Press Gallery mid-winter ball auction – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Budgets
NSW Budget 2009 – what a state we’re in – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Roozendaal Budget at a glance – Sydney Daily Telegraph
State Budget boon for property buyers – Sydney Daily Telegraph
NSW Treasurer sees red and green turning black – Sydney Morning Herald
Limiting pay rises to return to surplus? I’m not convinced – says Ross Gittins in the Sydney Morning Herald of the state budget
‘Beacon of hope’ NSW Budget derided as fantasy – The Australian
Nine years before surplus returns in Queensland – The Australian
Sunshine State beats NSW as sickest – is the verdict on the state budgets by George Megalogenis in The Australian
`No good news’ in State Budget – Townsville Bulletin
Dole queues stretch as Bligh talks up jobs in Budget – Brisbane Courier Mail
Anna Bligh will spend like there’s no tomorrow – Craig Johnstone gives his verdict on the Queensland budget – Brisbane Courier Mail
Logan ratepayers face 6.8 percent rate rise – Brisbane Courier Mail
School rip-offs exposed as Rudd funds wasted – Brisbane Courier Mail
PM’s office rang principal before letter of praise – The Australian on education revolution grants
Banks
Commonwealth Bank scraps lavish staff party – Sydney Daily Telegraph
NAB, Westpac and St George lift fixed mortgage rates – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Racial relations
Bollywood producer Mohit Suri wants movie on Australian racist attacks on Indians – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Industrial relations
Building watchdog loses bite as unions welcome Gillard’s reforms – The Australian
Rudd stares down dissidents over IR – Melbourne Age
Mowbray teachers to walk off job – Melbourne Age
A hint of strange things
Full folly of ‘Dodgygate’ exposed – Adelaide Advertiser on how Opposition Leader Martin Hamilton-Smith had no idea of the source of dodgy documents he used to accuse the Premier of corruption, a letter from his lawyer reveals.
Opinion
Early rate rises threaten recovery – writes Ross Gittins in the Sydney Morning Herald
Good Lord! At this rate he’ll be back in a few days – Annabel Crabb has some further thoughts on Peter Costello in the Sydney Morning Herald
A budget built on hope, not experience – editorial verdict of the Sydney Morning Herald on the NSW Budget
Want the genuine article? You’ve got Buckley’s – writes Shaun Carney in the Melbourne Age about Kevin Rudd
Questions to answer – Julia Gillard has much to explain about school spending says The Australian in an editorial
The great contender – Paul Kelly in The Australian farewells Peter Costello
A typhoon of unreason – Christian Kerr in The Australian finds that spending money in these days of global financial crisis, our rulers have decreed, is patriotic, no matter how badly – or madly – the spending is made.
Elsewhere
Iran
Iran censors media to hide crushing of rebel protestors – London Evening Standard
Iran elections: Khamenei calls for calm as unrest grows – Fears of more violence mount as thousands of supporters and opponents of Ahmadinejad take to the streets of Tehran – The Guardian, UK
Iran opposition keeps up pressure – BBC News
‘Huge’ opposition rally in Tehran – ABC News
Defiance Grows as Iran’s Leader Sets Vote Review – New York Times
BUSINESS
MySpace cuts ‘bloated’ staff – Financial Times of London
Tax policies fuelled credit boom, says IMF on Tuesday as it suggested countries change their tax rules to reduce such incentives – Financial Times of London
THE ENVIRONMENT
Antarctic Ice shelves stable over six years – The Australian says research shows
Reserves to replace lost grasslands in Victoria – Melbourne Age
MEDIA
David Koch hosted Vioxx video for GPs – The Australian
Digital Britain: Landline users to pay £6 tax to fund broadband – Levy of 50p a month on every copper telephone line will help to pay for next-generation broadband – The Guardian
Digital Britain: winners and losers – “A small amount” of the £130m so-called digital surplus will fund ITV regional news pilots in Scotland, Wales and one English region between now and 2013. Post 2013, funding for independently financed news consortia which will deliver local TV services will come from a new “contained contestable element” of the licence fee – The Guardian
Twitter delays maintenance to support Iranian protests – Micro-blogging service Twitter has delayed downtime because of the role it is playing in post-election protests in Iran – The Guardian
ENVIRONMENT
LIFE
Children
Kids watch too much TV, eat too few vegetables – Brisbane Courier Mail
Swine flu
Rising number of nations report swine flu cases – Melbourne Age
Rivalry
Melbourne hits back after Sydney says we cannot have World Cup final – Melbourne’s Herald Sun reports that Sydney has sunk the soccer boot into Melbourne in a weak attempt to claim the World Cup final for itself.
Crowd control
NSW Police water cannon hasn’t fired a drop in anger – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Health care
‘Bogus’ healthcare providers named – Adelaide Advertiser
Law and order
Des Moran gangland killing shapes as family affair – The Australian
Judy Moran dumped car, police tell court – Melbourne’s Herald Sun reports a fire has partly destroyed Judy Moran’s home, just hours after she was charged over the killing of Des Moran
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