Dr Emerson signing Malaysia-Australia Free Trade Agreement side-letters with Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry, Dato' Sri Mustapa Mohamed.(Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade)

Australia and Malaysia have signed a free trade agreement seven years in the making that will allow for duty free exports and improved investment opportunities between the two countries.

The Malaysia-Australia Free Trade Agreement (MAFTA) signed on May 22 in Kuala Lumpur will take effect on Jan 1 next year.

MAFTA is a result of seven years of negotiations, and builds on the 2010 ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.

According to Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the agreement will “open avenues for Australian goods and services into the dynamic Malaysian market” allowing Malaysia, Australia’s 10th largest trading partner, to export all goods duty free into Australia.

Australia’s Trade Minister Craig Emerson called MAFTA a ‘platinum’ agreement. “I don’t know if they’re awarding platinum medals at the London Olympics but I think we’ve achieved it in trade liberalisation,” he said at the signing ceremony.

Both countries will cut tariffs earlier than previously agreed and for a wider range of goods. Tariffs on Australian goods entering Malaysia will be reduced on 97.6 percent, expected to increase to 99 percent by 2017.

The improved market access should benefit Australian exporters of automotive parts, iron, steel and dairy products.

Many industries in Malaysia will also benefit from the agreement. “The major beneficiaries [in Malaysia] will be people in iron and steel, in plastics, in textiles, including in wood and furniture to name a few,” said Mustapa Mohamed, Malaysia’s Minister of International Trade and Industry.

Mohamed said that Australia will receive tariff reductions that have not been offered to Malaysia’s other FTA partners.

Malaysia will allow 100 percent equity holdings by Australian groups in Malaysia’s education and telecommunication sectors, and up to 70 percent in the insurance and investment-banking sectors.

Australia will be offering a range of benefits to Malaysia’s medical sector by allowing investors to participate in hospital services and by helping companies establish traditional and complementary medical services.

Furthermore, Australia is also providing Malaysia with a three-year package of up to 21 short and long-term scholarships, fellowships, awards and exchanges to support Malaysia’s economic reform efforts.

This is ‘unprecedented’, says Mohamed. “We have not signed any FTA agreement where the agreement is accompanied by good offer of scholarships.”

The scholarships are “the best investment that we can make as Ministers and as Governments … in our young people,” said Emerson. “They become ambassadors for Malaysia, ambassadors for Australia, right through their lives and we’ve gone some way in further strengthening that relationship.

“This is a testament of the strength and the warmth of the relationship between Australia and Malaysia,” he added.

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(Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

The Tasmanian Government has announced a budget package that will include measures to ban battery hen farming in the state.

The $A2.5 million package for animal welfare also included plans to fast track the phasing out of pig sow stalls.

In a media release, Bryan Green, Minister for Primary Industries and Water, announced the State Government would work with both industries to ensure their continued growth and the improvement of animal welfare outcomes.

“The Government will support farmers to transition away from practices such as sow stalls and battery hens in response to the growing consumer preference for products that are sensitive to animal welfare,” Mr Green said.

“The demand for locally produced eggs, particularly free range, is growing and the industry acknowledges this change and is eager to work with Government on a transition.”

The announcement was met with some scepticism from egg industry representatives. 

John Groenewold from the Commercial Egg Producers Association said the cost of producing barn laid or free-range eggs is considerably more than caged, and says that market changes should be consumer driven, not Government mandated, reported the ABC.

“We think change should be consumer-led and the Government can promote consumers or encourage consumers to buy non-cage eggs and they’re prepared to pay that premium, which isn’t excessive in most cases, we’re quite happy with that,” said Mr Groenewold.

Greens leader Nick McKim welcomed the announcement, commenting on the “shared commitment” between Labor and the Greens party.

“We are proud that battery hen farming and imprisoning of pigs in sow stalls is now to be phased out, thanks to the Greens’ constructive role in power-sharing government in Tasmania,” Mr McKim said in a media release.

“Soon all Australian consumers will understand that when they buy Tasmanian eggs and pork they are safe in the knowledge they don’t involve cruelty. This is a critical marketing advantage for our primary producers.”

A very different experience than walking on the forest floor. (Chani Blue/The Epoch Times)

If you’re in Australia’s southern most state and driving south of Hobart along the Huon Trail, no doubt you are in search of Tasmania’s world-renown forests and wild rivers. 

The Tahune Airwalk is a fantastic way to get up high in the canopy and see the breathtaking surroundings from a unique vantage point which is only a 90-minute drive from Tasmania’s capital city.

The Tahune Airwalk at 600 meters long is one of Australia’s longest tree top walks. The highlight of the walk is viewing the junction of the spectacular Picton and Huon Rivers from an incredible 45-meter cantilever which protrudes out from the walk. The metal platform is suspended on cables alone, hanging out high above the characteristic tea-coloured water. Standing here gives one a surreal sensation of hovering high above the scene like a bird.

There are several other enjoyable walks to do after the Airwalk, so allow a few extra hours to complete them all. The Huon Tree walk is an easy 20-minute loop following the banks of the Huon river to view the painfully slow-growing but long-lived Huon Pine. 

There is also the swinging bridge walk, which allows walkers to cross the river- Indiana Jones style, providing a great photo opportunity and an adventure for the young ones. All walks are clearly sign posted and although a bit muddy are not difficult, so bring your bush walking shoes.

There are many natural and man-made points of interest along the walks. The wooden entrance at the beginning of the Airwalk is reminiscent of a clinker boat hull. This construction was built by the reputed Franklin Boat School and allows visitors to see how the wood from the local forest is used to build sea vessels employing both high skill and quality resources. This wooden boat building tradition is one of the highlights of the Huon trail and an important part of the history of this region.

" Tahune" is an Aboriginal word meaning "Peaceful place by running water". (Chani Blue/The Epoch Times)

Many trees are labelled including some 60-meter-tall giants: the stringy barks, sassafras and dogwood. Other flora highlights include trees such as the native laurel, blackwood and celerytop pine – known to live for up to 800 years. Samples in the gift shop can be touched and admired for their unique qualities and uses.

On a clear day, bird sightings are plentiful and their bright colours flashing through the green are hard to miss. Finches, blue wrens, as well as the striking Black Cockatoos and Rosellas make up just some of the bird life here. 

If travel time is restricted and you do happen to visit on a rainy day (which is likely as it rains a lot in Tasmania’s wet eucalypt forests) don’t despair. A misty, rainy day can be a magical experience in itself, as the atmosphere is rich and the varied shades of greens in the forests become iridescent. Saying that, there is no need to get soaked-Ponchos can be bought very reasonably from the gift shop.

After you spend a few hours walking in the cool forest, it’s good to warm up beside the fire in the open picnic room where guests can eat their own picnic lunch on wooden tables. There is also a café that sells hot drinks and food, sandwiches and cakes. 

Australians flock to beaches to keep cool. Research concluded that in the past 1,000 years, temperatures have not spiked as dramatically in the Australasian region as they have in the last 50 years. (The Epoch Times)

The past 50 years have been Australia’s hottest weather ever, according to climate records which span over the last millennium.

A recent government-funded study by scientists at Australia’s Melbourne University, used 27 different indicators including tree rings and ice core samples.

The research concluded that in the past 1,000 years, temperatures have not spiked as dramatically in the Australasian region as they have in the last 50 years.

This finding and others coming out of the study will be pivotal in supporting the case for man-made climate change and form an important part of the next United Nations Intergovernmental report on climate change in 2014, reported the ABC.

By using the work of many scientists who had compiled temperature data from before human records started in 1910, scientists of this study were able to reconstruct the earth’s weather changes and patterns over the past 1,000 years.

In an interview with the ABC, co-author of the study Professor David Karoly says that the strength of the work lies in using more direct observations, not just climate modelling.

“Nothing is absolutely certain in science, but we say with very high confidence because we have repeated the analysis alone for the uncertainties that the warming in the last 50 years is very unusual and very likely cannot be explained by natural climate variability alone,” he said.

By analysing the study’s data three thousand different ways, the scientists used a process of elimination to increase the accuracy of their estimates.

“What we were able to see is that in 95 per cent of the reconstructions, we actually see that the post-1950 warming observed in the region is unprecedented in the context of the last millennium so it is not dependent on a loss of records back in time or the different combination of record,” Professor Karoly said.

I grew up in Castlecrag, a suburb designed by Walter Burley Griffin on the north shore of Sydney. The streets are named after parts of Edinburgh Castle in England and many homes in the area are modern castles valued in the millions of dollars.

The Daily Telegraph’s front-page on Thursday May 11, 2012, “We’re not so Shore, Julia. Class-war PM gets a Sydney reality check”, spread over two pages inside, informed their political cartoon and anchored the editorial. The story was a clear violation of the media alliance code of ethics point one: “Do not suppress relevant available facts or give distorting emphasis.”

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott delivered his budget reply the night before and I wondered why the north shore story was bigger than what the Opposition Leader had said about his plans for Australia’s future. Mr Abbott announced only one new policy and described the Labor budget “deliberately, coldly, calculatedly plays the class-warfare card”.

I read all of the Telegraph’s budget coverage; what I noticed was that it completely missed the context of the prime minister’s infamous north shore comment, as well as comments from Liberals who seemed to be on the frontline of the war.

The missing facts in the Telegraph story were headline news around the country on Wednesday night, but never made it into the paper, anywhere, in over 24 pages and three issues of coverage from Wednesday to Friday.

The Australian said it best: “The Coalition slip-ups came as Julia Gillard turned to class-based rhetoric to sell the budget.”

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott (L) talks as Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey looks on during a joint press conference at the Intercontinental Hotel on July 28, 2010 in Sydney, Australia. (Graham Denholm/Getty Images)

These missing “slip-ups” framed Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s “north shore” comments against Joe Hockey, member for North Sydney, and Tony Abbott, member for Warringah, who represent two of Australia’s richest seats, both located on Sydney’s north shore.

Joe Hockey, the shadow treasurer on 3AW: “What’s the difference between the baby bonus that you introduced and the school’s bonus?

“There’s a vast difference – you have to have a baby,” he replied

Tony Abbott, when asked the same question, was more concise: “Well look, they just are.”

Somehow, the Telegraph missed these quotes completely despite being replayed across the country on television news bulletins.

Mr Abbott also made comments about how low-income parents might spend the school kids bonus: “This schoolkids bonus doesn’t have to be spent on schools,” he told a group of mothers, adding that it could be spent at the club or on pokies.

Bill Shorten, a Labor MP, observed: “Is it not class warfare to say the poor will steal money from their kids? What else is it?” This comment eluded journalists at the Telegraph too.

In Parliament, Julia Gillard, referring to Tony Abbott’s and Joe Hockey’s comments and refusal to vote for the “Schoolkids Bonus”, went on the attack saying: “Babies grow into schoolchildren, that’s what happens! How out of touch can these people be?’”

The fact that two elected representatives of the north shore of Sydney were unable to distinguish between the Howard Government’s baby bonus and the schoolkids bonus (to be paid to over a million low-income families) with anything better than: “You have to have a baby,” left Ms Gillard with an opportunity to attack the Opposition.

“Get off Sydney’s north shore and go and talk to some real families, and get himself in the real world.” It was clearly a personal, politically-driven attack referring to the earlier “slip ups”.

She continued her attack in question time: “It is only those who are cosseted on Sydney’s north shore that could fail to realise working families need relief.” Ironically, Ms Gillard is cosseted in Kirribilli, on the north shore, when she visits Sydney.

Paul Fletcher, the member for Bradfield, issued a statement expressing his outrage:
‘”The suggestion the North Shore is not in the real world and not populated by real families is offensive!’” he said.

Refusing to apologise, Ms Gillard has offended a lot of people. Like it or not, the Labor strategy to appeal to “battlers” by redistributing wealth has been at the centre of their rhetoric for months; it is not however new news.

The Telegraph used Mr Fletcher’s statement and turned it into a front-page story. The story takes readers “on a demographic tour of Sydney’s north shore. You’re sure to be surprised … Yes, families on the north shore on average earn more than double the national weekly average.” Wow, what a scoop!

It is disappointing that Australia’s most popular and widely read newspaper so blatantly disregarded journalistic ethics for a story that contributed nothing but fuel to a class-war, which Labor has been running for months.

Tony Abbott’s budget reply speech was front page of the Sydney Morning Herald—Abbott’s vow: “I can save $50 billion.” This story was not deemed important enough for Telegraph readers.

“Last year’s budget reply by the Leader of the Opposition was a national disgrace. I thought last year Tony Abbott had the opportunity to comment on the future of Australia and instead he gave a low-quality political attack on the Government. I hope that this time around, especially as Mr Abbott is so close to being prime minister, that he treats the reply with the respect it deserves and we do get a good idea of what lies ahead,” wrote Bob Gregory, Professor of Economics at Australian National University, on The Conversation website the night before Mr Abbott’s speech.

Walter Burley Griffin moved to Castlecrag in 1925 after tiring of the politics surrounding implementation of his designs for Australia’s capital city. It seems that politics now surrounds the suburb he designed after escaping Canberra; what a shame.

Nigel Gladstone is a freelance writer and journalism student currently residing in Sydney, Australia.

The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.

Perhaps a better way of beginning the film would be to pluralise the introduction, for Café De Flore is in fact two stories about two males, one man and one boy, who are both really boys at heart, and who, despite the sometimes challenging circumstances, are steeped in love and happiness.

Beginning in Montreal, 2011, the film introduces us to successful DJ, Antoine, (Kevin Parent) recently divorced and about to turn 40. Charming, charismatic and coolly assured of himself, the man who, on the surface, has everything anyone would ever hope for, including two beautiful girls and an equally beautiful new girlfriend, is haunted by memories of his first love and wife, Carole.

Very early on, Antoine began to get under this reviewer’s skin. Films about perfect men who are in fact deeply disturbed is nothing new, and his character seemed in many ways too close to Hollywood actor, Johnny Marco, whose malaise formed the entire plot for Sofia Coppola’s brilliant and terribly underrated film, Somewhere.

Luckily for me, the film then cuts to the slums of Paris in 1969 where young mother, Jacqueline (Vanessa Paradis) is faced with the challenge of bringing up her son, Laurent, (Marin Gerrier) who has Down Syndrome alone. Desperately defiant in the face of her situation and the knowledge that Laurent is not likely to have a long life, she colours his world with unconditional love and affection.

Suddenly, any qualms I had about Antoine were quickly brushed away. Both Ms Paradis and Mr Gerrier sink into the very pores of their characters to such a convincing level that their story almost deserves an entire film of its own.

From here on, Café De Flore cuts back and forth between Paris and Montreal, interweaving the lives of Antoine and Laurent. Mr Vallée’s use of cinematography and music is executed to near perfection as he evokes memories of love past and present, carefully guiding the film to a darker place. In fact, the music is so dream-like and diverting that it does a good job of distracting audiences from how loosely connected the threads of both narratives really are.

Without giving anything away, it’s fair to say that Mr Vallée’s attempt to unite the two stories is by far Café De Flore’s weakest point in that it requires audiences to suspend their disbelief to a level that will leave the more cynical, grounded viewer scoffing in contempt.

But then again, it’s unlikely that a film like Café De Flore would attract this kind of cinema-goer in the beginning.

Café De Flore is now showing in Australia.

Mitchell Jordan is an Australian freelance travel and entertainment writer.

Treasurer Wayne Swan speaks at the Federal Budget press conference at Parliament House on May 8, 2012 in Canberra, Australia. (Cole Bennetts/Getty Images)

Wayne Swan’s 2012-13 Budget has achieved the biggest fiscal turnaround for over half a century—turning the $44.4 billion deficit upside-down into a slender surplus of $1.5 billion, seemingly all without the expected pain and suffering.

That is not to say the $45.9bn (3.1 per cent of GDP) materialised from thin air—cuts and sacrifices were made, albeit flying under the radar of most people. Savings totalling a whopping $33.6bn were made.

The defence budget bore the largest weight, copping a $5.5bn budget cut over the next four years. Other savings included scrapping plans to cut company tax by 1 per cent and deferring the scheduled increase in foreign aid. These 3 measures alone produced $13.2bn in savings—all of which probably are unlikely to create a lot of fuss.

High-income earners are likely to create most of the commotion. The super of those earning more than $300,000 a year will now be taxed at double the rate at 30 per cent. Foreign executives will face tighter tax laws. And the private health insurance rebate will now involve a means-test for singles earning more than $83,000 and families earning more than $166,000. Sure enough, this won’t help Labor’s already weak voter base in the high income demographic, but it’ll save over $3.4bn, which will prove clinical when the real budget figures come out in September 2013.

The Labor Government has managed to bring the budget back into the black—even adding a few goodies for the voters.

High-income earners may not like the scorecard, but Mr Swan’s budget will attempt to pull the heartstrings of their voter base of lower to middle income workers—the “working families”—to gain their trust once again. With the Government facing overwhelming political pressures from the people, Mr Swan took a page from ex-Liberal Party Prime Minister John Howard’s 2001 budget and engaged in a spending splurge directed straight to their voter base.

Middle to low-income earners facing higher costs of living and the omnipresent fears of the carbon-tax can now sleep easier as the Government sets up cash benefits to compensate for these worries.

“We understand the pressures Australians face, paying for electricity, housing, groceries, petrol or even a simple family outing,” Mr Swan said in his Budget speech. “That’s why we’ve gone into bat for working families.”

The tax-free threshold is set to triple to $18,200 and cuts for those earning less than $80,000 will be made from July this year. The centrepiece of Mr Swan’s budget initiatives is captured in the popular Labor party rhetoric of—“Spreading the Benefits of the [mining] Boom”. And with the $5bn saved by maintaining the current company tax rate (which was supposed to be funded by the mining tax), Mr Swan moved that to increasing the Family Tax Benefit Part A, offering a “supplement” to students, jobseekers and parents with young children with a new “Schoolkids bonus”.

While many analysts think this extra spending could probably be used in more effective ways, such as investing to promote productivity, paying off debt or aiding companies struggling from the patch-work economy, instead, the Government has opted for a budget aimed to win over the people that have become disillusioned with the party.

Together with “working family” benefits, Mr Swan also managed some room for health schemes. Over the next four years, $1bn will be invested in the National Disability Insurance Scheme(NDIS). The NDIS is set to benefit 20,000 people by 2014-15. Dental Health is set to grab $346m to reduce waiting time and in total, 76 new health care infrastructure projects were added to the agenda.

The 2012-13 Budget puts together some impressive and relatively painless cost-saving measures, adding in some wins for middle to low-income earners.

“On time, as promised,” said Treasurer Wayne Swan, “and surpluses each year after that.”

Whether the budget surplus sticks will be seen in September next year, but for now, Treasurer Wayne Swan can breathe a sigh of relief.

A man walks past the Reserve bank in Sydney, Australia. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

An interest rate cut in May now seems more likely following an unexpected plunge in the March quarter inflation figures, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Tuesday.

The headline consumer price index (CPI)—the key measure of inflation—recorded a meager 0.1 per cent in the March quarter. This figure brings the annualized rate to a relatively benign 1.6 per cent—down from 3.1 per cent, and the lowest rate since the global financial crisis.

These figures took economists, who had forecasted 0.7 per cent inflation over the quarter with an annual rate of 2.1%, by surprise. The rates reflect a larger retraction in the economy than previously anticipated.

However, Treasurer Wayne Swan welcomed the news, saying, “These figures are… very encouraging. They give us a very healthy combination when it comes to our strong economic fundamentals.

“Growth returning to trend, unemployment at 5.2 per cent, solid consumption, contained inflation, a strong investment pipeline. That’s a very, very healthy outlook,” Mr. Swan said in a press conference.

The dive in inflation was largely accounted to a 30 per cent decline in fruit prices, driven by a fall in banana prices of 60 per cent. Audio, visual and computing equipment, as well as furniture, also added to the weak inflation figures, as each deflated around 6 per cent.

Whether the Reserve Bank (RBA) chooses to lower rates will be largely dependent on their own inflation measurements—the trimmed mean and the weighted median. Both are underlying measures of inflation that discount the headline figure by disregarding the most volatile items.

This places the underlying inflation rate at the lower spectrum of the RBA’s target band of 2 to 3 per cent. With the mining boom mark II not producing the inflationary pressures expected and other sectors of the economy continuing to decline, a rate cut now seems likely if the RBA is to protect its inflationary target. It’s anticipated to be the first rate cut of many.

“With inflation concerns clearly on the sideline, the RBA it will be free to consider cuts beyond the 50bps [basis points] we envisage for the near term,” said Westpac chief economist Bill Evans.

TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA: Logging trucks share the road with a cyclist. Conservation 'peace deal' with logging industry at stalemate. (Clive Mason/Getty Images).

The debate over forest conservation has been an ongoing cause of tension and unrest within Australia’s most southern community, Tasmania for more than 30 years.

On one side there is the Forestry Industry wanting to fulfill the demand of timber mills and maintain jobs for local families. On the other side are environmentalists, contending that thousands of hectares of forest with high conservation value are paramount for the ongoing protection of species and diversity, which are under threat from logging activities.

Recently, the state and federal government released a new report, which documents the conservation value of the contested forest regions together with the logging industry. This was followed with a $276 million package -- a ‘peace deal’ aimed at preparing and transitioning the timber industry to plantation felling only.

While seeming to offer a clear-cut solution and way forward, the dimensions and complexity of the debate coupled with genuine resentment from both sides, has hampered the agreement.

The success of the peace deal is contingent on negotiations between both parties to agree on the nuts and bolts which propose a restructure of Tasmania’s forest industry, relied on for generations by scores of working class people.

As reported by the ABC, the Federal Regional Development Minister, Simon Crean said that the A$275 million given to this process of adjustment will help to create thousands of new jobs for Tasmanians.

“With $20 million that can produce more than 4,000 jobs, imagine what you could do with $100 million,” he said.

The package if adopted effectively locks up high conservation forest with timber to be sourced from plantations only. Conservation groups are optimistic but it remains to be seen whether the shift will be profitable and whether the two sides can work together toward a common goal.

“(The report) has now independently and externally verified those tensions and provides a very detailed analysis that we can use and see whether or not there is space to reach a mutually acceptable agreement” he said in a report by the ABC.

Despite good intentions from both sides, no substantial ground has been made with both parties failing to meet in person to advance discussion.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute leading index, which gives an estimated pace of economic activity for the next three to nine months, released this week bore bad news. In February, the Leading index measured in at 2.4 per cent annual growth—below its long-term trend of 2.9 per cent. It was the sixth consecutive month of below trend growth for the index.

“The growth rate has picked up somewhat from the absolute low in November last year,” Westpac Chief Economist, Bill Evans said in the study, “but the modest decline in February does not encourage too much optimism that growth is likely to exceed trend any time soon.”

Mr. Evans highlighted the alignment between the results of the index and Westpac’s forecast of 3 per cent growth this year, which is pushing Australia to post its fifth consecutive year of below trend growth.

The index monthly components revealed a searing weakness in the Australian economy—the housing sector. Dwelling approvals in February suffered a contraction of 7.8%, whereas all other monthly components remained relatively benign.

With the Reserve Bank set to meet on May 1, Mr. Evans believes that given the sluggish growth, multi-speed nature of the economy and the imminent fiscal tightening in the upcoming Federal Budget, Australia’s central bank -the RBA has been given ‘adequate scope’ to hit the accelerator on the economy and cut interest rates.

The ABS figures released today show the growth was driven by both full-time and part-time employment, leaving the unemployment rate steady at 5.2 per cent and outperforming economist’s expectations of a rise to 5.3 per cent.

March saw an increase of 15,800 full-time employed and 28,200 person rise of part-time employment. These figures defined the rise in the number of people employed to around 11.5 million.

It was welcome news for Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who said at a press conference: “We have an economy, the fundamentals of which is strong, and that’s been reaffirmed today by our unemployment figures.”

The participation rate rose in March, indicating an increase in the number of people searching for jobs. This signals increased confidence within the economy, and is the reason why the strong figures did not shape a fall in the unemployment rate.

In terms of states, Victoria lagged behind whilst New South Wales showed the strongest labour market results.

Victoria’s unemployment rate jumped 0.3 per cent to 5.8 per cent in March. Victoria has lost around 20,000 jobs since October, according to the ABS. Western Australia’s jobless rate also rose to 4.1 per cent in March from 3.9 per cent.

In contrast, NSW managed to shave 0.3 per cent off its jobless rate in March to post a rate of 4.8 per cent. Queensland posted similar gains with unemployment falling to 5.5 per cent from 5.7 per cent.

In South Australia, the rate was yet again unchanged at 5.2 per cent, along with Tasmania which has the highest unemployment rate in the country with a rate of 7 per cent.

While the positive news eases pressure on the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates in May, just before the Federal Budget, the central bank will be watching the upcoming inflation figures to determine the next interest rate decision.

Not quite Hollywood, but a welcome mat from the heart. (Catherine Johnson)

Kempton is not one of those places that springs quickly to mind when planning a motoring holiday in Tasmania, yet the little community has had the welcome mat out since the mid-19th century, when it was the first overnight stop for horse-drawn coaches making their way along the rough dirt road north from Hobart to Launceston.

In those days, it was a lively settlement dotted with coaching inns where travellers could eat well, quaff their thirst, sleep, and rest their horses.

The welcome mat is still out, despite the highway now bypassing the town. And it’s not so much a mat, but a giant hillside sign of white-painted car tyres that have been arranged to read “Kempton Welcomes U.”

The classified historic town–population around 400–is 49 km north of Hobart and marks the start of the Silhouette Trail on The Heritage Highway. That trail runs 23 km to Oatlands, a larger colonial-era village of Georgian architecture put on the media map in recent times by the restored and working wind-powered Callington flour mill, and then on to Ross and eventually to Launceston.

Cut-out of history: The start of the Silhouette Trail at Kempton. (Catherine Johnson)

In the paddocks along the highway between Kempton and just north of Oatlands, 15 larger than life black steel cut-outs define the Silhouette Trail and reflect on the region’s frontier days: stage coaches in full flight, bush rangers, sheep farmers, gold panners, surveyors, convict road gangs, railway workers, soldiers, a hangman, emus and Tasmanian Tigers among them.

A cut-out stage coach at the highway exit to Kempton marks the start of the trail. The first significant building is Dysart House, a large stone two-storey Georgian inn built in 1842 and regarded as one of the finest coaching inns on the old Midlands Highway.

Wilmot Arms Inn was built by convicts in 1844 – and a good place to stay today. (Catherine Johnson)

It is now a private residence owned by Leo Schofield and a good spot to park the car and take a stroll into the village. The square tower and tree-lined entrance of the 1844 sandstone St Mary’s Church of England heads the list of other noteworthy buildings, along with the Congregational Church, built in 1840, and the 1844 Wilmot Arms Inn, built by convicts and operated as a licensed inn until 1897.

It was restored in 1978 and today is part of Tasmania’s Colonial Accommodation Circuit for a cosy and comfortable stay, with five double rooms, modern facilities and an overnight tariff that includes a full English breakfast of home-made muesli, fresh eggs from the Inn’s chickens and hostess Dot’s home-made jams.

A small room at the top of the stairs has facilities for making hot drinks as well as a comfy chair and a fridge for guests’ own food and drink. A sitting room was once the inn’s main room, but is now used for group dining and as a guest lounge.

The big garden out the back is filled with cottage garden flowers, roses and European trees, but it’s a giant Tasmanian Blue Gum that dominates.

A contrasting standout building though is the weatherboard ex-Presbyterian Church, now community hall, painted blue and known affectionately as The Blue Place. The interior is beautifully preserved Baltic pine.

Clinging to its accommodation history yet adapting to modern travel, Kempton has created an off-road, no-charge park for campervans, including for the third Sunday of the month when a popular local market is held at the Blue Place. And during the third weekend of September “A Kempton Affair” really turns it on, with three art exhibitions, a film show, a quilting display, Raku firing, local artists stall, music, historic town walks, coach museum and historic house inspections.

On one of the walks, the former Catholic Church garden and the Anglican cemetery reveal graves from the First Fleet.

The organising committee is staking claim to the Affair’s Cafe providing “the best coffee and scones this side of the island”, but dropping in at Kempton at other times, the local pub, the Huntington Tavern, serves lunch and dinner (from Wednesday to Sunday).

And we’re told that in the weeks leading up to the Affair–one of the 28 arts events in 12 locations across Southern Tasmania–the white tyres on the hill into town mysteriously rearrange themselves into “A Kempton Affair.”

David Ellis is a freelance writer who hails from Australia. He can be reached at David Ellis Associates Pty Limited: ellispr@bigpond.net.au.

The unusual refugee case, which involves eight Falun Gong practitioners and two other Chinese asylum seekers, will be represented pro–bono by David Manne from Melbourne’s Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre.

They are extremely thankful for the compassionate treatment of the Australian Government.

—John Andress

“I can confirm that we have agreed to provide legal assistance to the clients as requested,” Mr Manne told The Epoch Times. He declined to give further information until the case is better established.

The ten Chinese nationals were rescued off the shores of Australia on April 5 after they sent out an SOS message. Their vessel, travelling from Malaysia, had run out of water and was in need of urgent restocking and repairs.

The asylum seekers originally insisted on travelling further to New Zealand in their small yacht, which was bought by one of the refugees in Malaysia.

John Andress, the Queensland Falun Dafa Association spokesperson, said the group was originally prepared to risk the dangerous journey, fearing that being in the Australian refugee detention system would remind them of the persecution they experienced in China.

However, after an intense meeting with the immigration officials last week, which lasted over six hours, the group agreed to apply for refugee status and is now believed to be in low-grade detention at the Darwin Airport Lodge.

“They are extremely thankful for the compassionate treatment of the Australian Government and are prepared to follow all the laws in order to receive refugee status here,” said Mr Andress.

There are believed to be eight Falun Gong practitioners—five members from a family of six—and three non-related adults. The tenth person is a democracy activist.

The practitioners said they are escaping persecution in China for their beliefs in Falun Gong–an ancient spiritual discipline, which is based on the principles of truth, compassion, and tolerance, and a set of meditative exercises.

Falun Gong saw unprecedented popularity in China in the 1990s when the number of practitioners reached up to 100 million. However, then-leader of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin launched a violent campaign of persecution against the practice in 1999, which has continued unabated.

Human rights groups have reported the widespread use of torture against Falun Gong prisoners in China’s notorious labor camp system, including harvesting organs from still living practitioners to sell for profit.

Mr Manne, who will represent the group, has been an avid fighter for the rights of refugees in Australia. Last year he challenged the Federal Government’s proposal to process asylum boat arrivals in Malaysia in Federal Court and won the case on grounds that Malaysia lacked necessary domestic and international laws to protect refugees.

Lake Mývatn and black lava fields, according to Nordic Christian lore, is the place where Satan landed.(Mitchell Jordan)

Akureyri may be small, but Iceland’s northern region has a big heart.

There is no bus to take travellers from the airport of Akureyri, Iceland’s second-largest city, to the town centre.

I know this because I waited for 30 minutes, watching passengers who, like myself, had flown from the country’s capital, Reykjavik, climb into taxis or collect their hire cars and head in an assortment of directions while I stood, like a character in a Beckett play, waiting for something that was never going to appear.

When I finally resorted to asking, an airport employee explained that I could either take a taxi, or walk the 20-minute distance along a flat road. My suitcase was large, my backpack bursting, but Iceland is an expensive country and I could not justify paying a taxi for such a short distance; so I, like those I had flown with, made my way on to the road, guided by the sight of a small fishing town surrounded by snow-tipped mountains and a shimmering blue waterfront.

A tourist must see: The 12-metre-tall Godafoss waterfall.(Mitchell Jordan)

With no pedestrian path, it was a matter of either taking my chances dodging cars by walking on the road, or dragging my suitcase along the grass. Luckily, I was spared the tough decision when, in a matter of minutes, a car caught sight of me and stopped, motioning for me to get inside.

I have lived in Australia all my life and, like most Australians, know all too well the dangers of hitchhiking. The notorious and gruesome backpacker murders, which occurred in the early nineties when I was a child, are still fresh in my mind.

But Iceland is a different country. If you ignore the volcanic explosions that caused commuter chaos, and the global meltdown that changed so many lives across the country years ago, Iceland is a safe place. The safest, certainly, that I have ever been to.

Indeed, offering strangers a lift is part of the culture: no money is expected and, in my case, was kindly declined when I offered. If that seems strange then you should remember that this is also a country where babies are left to sleep in cots in the street of a day so that they can enjoy the brief but beautiful Scandinavian sunshine.

Things are different here, but sadly a lot of people are unaware of this because so many travellers who visit Iceland confine their trip to Reykjavik and its surrounds. These are beautiful places, of course, but Iceland is a country of extremes and Akureyri, only 45 minutes by plane, in the country’s north, seems a world away.

To call Akureyri a city is perhaps misleading. For a start, the thought of Iceland even having a city is strange, considering that Reykjavik has a population of around 120,000. In 2009, McDonalds chose to exit Iceland, and, unlike most European cities, there is no sign of the popular clothing store H&M, though not even Akureyri has escaped from the omnipotent Subway franchise.

The small city of Akureyri lies between the water and the snow capped mountains.(Mitchell Jordan)

The streets here are–not surprisingly–quiet, but far from still. In one back lane, the words: MAKE LOVE, NOT LAWS have been sprayed in black paint across a closed-down building. In the main street, Hafnarstraeti, lined by cafes and restaurants, young actors with white-painted faces are playing a game of hide-and-seek that makes good use of its passers-by; for a few seconds my body serves its purpose as a hiding place until someone else suddenly becomes more appealing. You get the impression that this street theatre is as much for the people as it is for the actors.

It’s all too easy to paint Iceland in a picture-perfect light, when it is common knowledge that Scandinavian countries experience high suicide rates, and drug and alcohol problems. Reasons for these are many and varied, but, on several occasions in Iceland, I found my sense of aloneness amplified and the distance between me and the rest of the world both exhilarating and torturous at times.

But, oddly, buses do not travel in closer proximities. Before leaving Akureyri, I double-checked with the tourist information centre if it was true that there is no bus from the town to the airport.

“Yes,” the attendant confirmed. “But you can always hitchhike.”

Mitchell Jordan is a Sydney-based writer with an interest in arts, culture and travel.

Snorklers are seen exploring the reef at Lady Elliot Island, in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. A high tourism area on the East coast of Australia. (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

With one of the world’s most pristine marine environments in close proximity to a major oil and gas drilling exploration program, conservationists are concerned that environmental damage could be devastating.

In November last year, the Australian Government awarded Woodside Petroleum three exploration leases 260 kilometres off the Western Australian coastline, just to the west of Rowley Shoals. Now, three more leases are up for tender to the east, with a buffer zone of only three nautical miles around each atoll.

According to the West Australian Department of Environment and Conservation’s website, Rowley Shoals’ pristine coral reef ecosystems contain 233 species of coral, 688 species of fish (including many species not found on nearby reefs) and offer “some of the best diving in Australia.”

Ecological damage caused by the 2009 Montara oil spill off Western Australia is fresh in environmentalists’ minds who are sensitive over the Government’s decision and who are questioning the lack of public consultation.

Paul Gamblin of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) told The Australian that development in such close proximity to the reef would be devastating.

“The Rowley Shoals is a very clear example of what should be a no-go area for the oil and gas industry.”

“Instead of that, we are seeing the Government use the acreage release program, which has no public comment opportunity and no environmental assessment, to roll out the opportunity for industry to undertake exploration activity and production,” Mr Gamblin said.

“It starts a process that is pretty much unstoppable.”

The ABC reported Martin Ferguson, Federal Minister for Resources, stating that the areas lessee will need to have an environmental plan assessed by regulators before any mining activity takes place.

An Australian navy boat cruises by Christmas Island on Feb. 29. A boatload of asylum seekers from China decided to seek refugee status in Australia rather than attempt the dangerous journey onto New Zealand. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

In an unusual Australian refugee case, eight Falun Gong practitioners and two other Chinese asylum seekers had a closed-door meeting in Darwin with immigration officials today, as they tossed up whether to continue on a dangerous voyage by boat to New Zealand or stay in Australia.

The meeting commenced at 9 a.m. Darwin time and continued for several hours as each member of the group was interviewed separately. Officials expressed earlier that they were concerned the group would not make it to New Zealand, as their boat is too small and conditions too perilous for the voyage.

Queensland Falun Gong practitioners have been in constant contact with the arrivals. John Andress, the Queensland Falun Dafa Association spokesperson, said the group was originally prepared to risk the dangerous journey, fearing that being in the Australian refugee detention system would remind them of the persecution they experienced in China.

However, the group has now decided to stay in Australia until their asylum case is accepted, says Mr Andress.

“They are extremely thankful for the compassionate treatment of the Australian Government and are prepared to follow all the laws in order to receive refugee status here,” said Mr Andress.

The group was allowed onshore and has been supplied with water, food, and a mobile phone since their arrival. They have also been appointed a legal representative for the claim.

“They would never have received such treatment in China. They now trust the Australian government. They are very grateful,” says Mr Andress.

The ten Chinese nationals were rescued off the shores of Australia on Thursday after they sent out an SOS message. Their vessel, travelling from Malaysia, had run out of water and was in need of urgent restocking.

There are believed to be eight Falun Gong practitioners—five members from a family of six—and three non-related adults. The tenth person is a democracy activist.

The practitioners said they are escaping persecution in China for their beliefs in Falun Gong–an ancient spiritual discipline.

While Australia has seen a sharp increase in refugee boat arrivals in the last two years, under relaxed Government policies, none have insisted upon travelling another 5,000 km to New Zealand

The fact they were willing to risk their lives is a real indicator of the severity of the persecution they received back home.

“The fact they were willing to risk their lives is a real indicator of the severity of the persecution they received back home,” says Mr Andress.

Falun Gong saw unprecedented popularity in China in the 1990s when the number of practitioners reached up to 100 million people. However, then leader of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin launched a violent campaign of persecution against the practice in 1999 which has continued unabated.

Human rights groups have reported the widespread use torture against Falun Gong prisoners in China’s notorious labor camp system, including harvesting organs from still living practitioners to sell for profit.

One of the asylum seekers, Mr Ling Hongbin, said was tortured in China during his seven years in jail. “When the persecution first started I was in my twenties and had a small baby. When I got out, my child was all grown up,” he told Queensland Falun Gong practitioner, William Luo.

Ling said while in detention he saw many torture methods used on Falun Gong practitioners and was most afraid of his organs being harvested—a common practice used on China’s prisoners that is worth billions of dollars to the regime.

The same fears were expressed by his fellow asylum seeker, Wu Xiaohong, who nearly died after being beaten with electric batons, hung up for hours, and made to sit on a so-called “tiger bench”–a wooden plank where the hands are tied behind the back.

“These people have been through the most horrific situation. They did not know if they’d be pulled out [at] any time to have their organs removed,” said Mr Andress.

The Australian Government has indicated that the trip to New Zealand is out of the question and the group will remain in Darwin for further processing of their refugee status.

“They respect the law. They trust the law, they will do whatever is needed. Obviously they prefer not to stay in mandatory detention here for more than a short period,” said Mr Andress.

The group had planned to continue to New Zealand, but told the Queensland Falun Dafa Association they feared the seas could be too treacherous, particularly for a 60-year-old woman and two children aged six and eight. Therefore, they will be seeking asylum in Australia on Wednesday.

All 10 travelled from Malaysia where they were granted United Nations refugee status. At least two have spent long periods in China’s notorious labour camp system where they were repeatedly tortured, according to the Queensland Falun Dafa spokesman John Andress.

“We hope that the immigration department will not put them in detention, but allow them to stay in community accommodation until their cases are resolved, particularly because of the children and their grandmother,” Mr Andress told The Epoch Times.

According to various accounts gathered by the ABC, the Chinese nationals had planned to travel direct to New Zealand but ran into trouble at sea on Thursday and were picked up by Australian customs. 

They have now set up camp at Darwin ferry terminal and some have been given restricted visas, which give them until Saturday to move on or file as refugees.

Members of refugee support group the Refugee Action Coalition met with the group in Darwin. The lobby group said the Chinese nationals had planned to travel to New Zealand because they were concerned about Australia’s mandatory detention laws for asylum seekers.

But if they were to continue to New Zealand across the Tasman Sea, they would face treacherous conditions at this time of year.

The Chinese regime has led a violent campaign against Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, since 1999. The Falun Dafa Information Centre has documented at least 3000 Falun Gong deaths in police custody and 63,000 cases of torture. 

Falun Gong practitioners have successfully settled as refugees in Australia, New Zealand and other countries. 

Australian authorities said they were powerless to detain the group until they applied for asylum.

Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company arrive in Melbourne, Australia, April 10. (Scott Hu/The Epoch Times)

MELBOURNE—Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company arrived in Melbourne, Australia, April 10, direct from sold-out performances in seven Taiwanese cities.

A New York-based performing arts company, Shen Yun is dedicated to the revival of the 5,000-year-old traditional, divinely-inspired Chinese culture and presents classical Chinese dance, music and song, short stories depicting Chinese myths and history, and ethnic and folk dance. Each year the company presents an all-new program.

Shen Yun premieres its Australian leg of the 2012 World Tour at the Regent Theatre, Melbourne, on Wednesday April 11.

Shen Yun tours with a live orchestra, which combines classical Western and traditional Chinese instruments.

Conductor Ms. Ying Chen spoke to The Epoch Times, at the airport, on the company’s arrival in Melbourne. This is Ms. Chen’s second visit to Australia. She said she was very happy to be performing in Australia and loves the Australian audiences.

“I felt the audience not only appreciated the auditory and visual beauty of the show, they also understand the deeper meaning of the show and the Chinese culture,” Ms. Chen said.

Referring to the Taiwan performances just completed, she said, “We were very happy to see Shen Yun receive excellent feedback from our audiences.”

People who have seen Shen Yun before “will find many surprises” in this year’s performance, she said. And those who have never seen Shen Yun, “he or she will be very touched.”

“So I really hope people don’t miss the shows in Australia, as we’d like to bring this beautiful performance to the [Australian] audiences,” she added.

Also with the company is Jared Madsen, one of the Masters of Ceremonies, who has been on three previous Shen Yun tours to Australia. Mr. Madsen said he really enjoyed being in Australia and felt that Australians would really appreciate this year’s Shen Yun performance.

“I really love the energy of the people,” he said about the Australian audiences. “We have some interesting ethnic dances and some really interesting story dances this year.”

Tickets are still available for most performances, book online at ShenYunPerformingArts.org

Reporting by Jade Xiao and Leigh Smith.

Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, tours the world on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company will perform in Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and New Zealand.

For more information visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org

Off duty Australian Navy personnel enjoy some relaxation diving into the Indian ocean near by a Australian Navy boat used to intercept asylum seekers, docked at the Flying Fish Cove, Christmas Island, Australia.

Boats holding more than 1,500 asylum seekers have been intercepted on their way to Australia this year, following the navy’s capture of a third boat this week, and politicians continue to argue over how to solve the problem.

The HMAS Maryborough intercepted a boat carrying an estimated 71 asylum seekers on Thursday, near Scott Reef about 300 kilometres north of the Western Australia coast.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said in a statement that arrivals this year were already up 87 per cent on the same period last year, with more than 1,500 people arriving in just over three months.

He blamed the Federal Government for dismantling the Liberal Party’s Pacific Solution when it was elected in 2007, which was a policy of transporting asylum seekers to the Pacific island of Nauru for processing.

But Federal immigration minister Chris Bowen pointed to his Labor Government’s proposed arrangement with Malaysia last year, through which Australia would send 800 boat arrivals to Malaysia in exchange for 4,000 processed refugees.

“The consequence of Tony Abbott’s relentless negativity is there for all to see–the government has always said that without a real deterrent the boats would continue to arrive,” Mr Bowen said, according to The Daily Telegraph.

“This latest boat is a sad reminder of Mr Abbott’s political calculation that more boat arrivals are in his best political interest despite the national interest, despite the risk to life.”

The restored Ida Bay Tram is an enduring link to the history of the Ida Bay area and surrounds. (Chani Blue/The Epoch Times)

In the far southeast corner of Tasmania are several sleepy settlements spotted around the banks of the Lune River. One of those, Southport, claims to have Australia’s most southern drinking establishment and just over the river lies an even smaller settlement called Ida Bay, retains its link to history with Australia’s most southern Railway.

The Ida Bay railway tram was originally a steam locomotive with tracks built along the Ida Bay estuary to transport Limestone. After World War II, the steam tram was updated with five Malcolm Moore petrol locomotives, which were Army surplus.

On first appearance, the tram looks surprisingly tiny, too small for use in the mining industry. Its wheels ride upon a mere 2-inch gauge line and it looks more like a toy train. Train lovers young and old will get a kick knowing they are riding on Australia’s oldest original bogie flat wagons (an open style wagon for carrying freight).

The tram driver shows the passengers the graves of some early convict settlers, whose grave stones date back to 1883. (Chani Blue/The Epoch Times)

Back in the early 1920’s, the tram line was constructed to transport limestone, which was mined from quarries southeast of the Lune River. Once the tram delivered the load to the wharf at Brick Point nearby, it was shipped by river vessel to the nearby town of Electrona, just north of Snug. The limestone was used to make calcium carbide. In those days it was a keystone ingredient in the steel industry, and for the production of synthetic rubbers and plastics.

The changing times saw the Ida Bay tram destined for retirement, as new roads with faster trucks took over the workload. But this dear little “chugger” was simply too important to lay to rest and just two years on in 1977, it was purchased and restored for use in the tourism industry. The re-opening of the Ida Bay railway for day-trippers, and international travellers alike, illustrates Tasmania’s changing needs, a sign of what was to come; an emerging tourist industry.

Now, people of all ages can ride on the train for a genuine, historical river experience, run by local people. The restored open carriages allow passengers to feel the wind in their hair, smell the fragrant bush flora, and be as close as possible to the natural surroundings, which have hardly changed since the line was first constructed in 1922.

A glance from the tram of the placid estuary, Ida Bay. (Chani Blue/The Epoch Times)

As the tram follows along the river bank, the Lune River meanders towards the sea, and widens quite considerably. Along its banks are several hidden coves and inlets with pristine white sand. The views along the river’s edge are spectacular as the tiny tram cuts through the pretty native bushland. The tram allows passengers to access an untouched world that would ordinarily only be accessed by boat. The open carriages give people remarkable views of the pretty native scrub, allowing people to get close enough to spot the abundant bird life and admire the native flowers.

As the rickety train noisily rattles through the bush at a slow and easy pace, one can sense how slow and labour-intensive the work would have been for those limestone miners back in the 1920’s. Couple that with the cold temperatures of the southern Tasmanian climate and you can, for a brief moment, imagine what work would have been like for those hardworking men.

The whole experience is a round trip and takes two hours to complete. The friendly train conductor makes a couple of stops along the way to explain the history and show the places important to the people of Lune River, including some very old early settler graves and Aboriginal midden sites.

More wild and remote scenes unfold as you continue further along the river, and the further you venture from civilisation, the more spectacular. Next to travelling directly by water vessel, the tram is a great way to really get a taste of the pristine rivers of southern Tasmania.

Passengers are invited to bring a picnic lunch to enjoy once you arrive at Deep Hole, at the end of the line, or you can take advantage of the BBQ facilities under a sheltered gazebo. Adventurous bush walkers can continue walking towards the point, Southport Bluff, and see the King George Monument which was built in honour of the 134 souls lost at sea aboard the convict ship King George III in 1835. But remember to bring a warm wind proof jacket, as even in summer, the cold wind can whip up at anytime. There is a fully enclosed carriage at the end of the tram for the elderly or mothers and babies to ride in.

Departure times vary in winter to summer so check the timetables online: www.idabayrailway.com.au

The Ida Bay Railway is a two-hour drive south of Hobart. Other places of interests nearby are the Hastings Caves, a thermal heated swimming pool and a museum of natural minerals, including fossils.

Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the number of men teaching in the non-government sector has grown by 25 per cent since 2001. Public schools have seen a drop of 2 per cent over the same period.

The data suggest that the traditionally female-dominated teaching profession is failing to lure men, who are eager to earn higher wages offered by private schools.

In 2011 ABS data shows there were 15,274 male teachers at public schools, about 27 per cent of the public teaching workforce. This is down from figures in 2001, when male teachers made up around 31 per cent of teaching staff in the public sector.

By comparison, in 2001 there were 9734 male teachers in the non-government sector, making up about 30 per cent of the private sector teaching workforce.

Meanwhile, West Australian teachers have become the highest paid in the country, after striking a deal with the WA Teacher’s Union last week.

The Union has agreed to a 12 per cent rise over three years. Education Minister Liz Constable said the deal would ensure WA’s 27,000 teachers and administrators would remain the highest paid in Australia.

“The majority of teachers will be earning in excess of $99,000 per annum by December 2013,” Dr Constable said, according to AAP.

The new pay deal includes wage increases of 3.75 per cent in the first year, four per cent in the second year, and 4.25 per cent in the third year.

Victorian teachers are expected to strike in late May over unresolved pay rises. They are calling for a 30 per cent pay increase and say the Government has broken their election promise of making Vic teachers the highest paid in the country.

After more than seven months of negotiations, the Australian Education Union state council voted unanimously on March 30 to take industrial action if their pay dispute was not resolved by April 16, reports The Age.

The head office of Chinese telecom giant Huawei in Shenzhen, on Feb. 21, 2011. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

A diplomatic row is growing in Australia after the Prime Minister Julia Gillard rejected Chinese technology giant Huawei’s bid to tender for the National Broadband Network (NBN) scheme, which has promised internet to over 90 per cent of households in Australia.

Huawei Technologies, a company that has been shrouded in secrecy even in China, was banned from supplying equipment for the $36 million NBN project over concerns of cyber security.

The Australian Financial Review reported on Monday that ASIO advice provided the basis for the ban.

A spokesman for Attorney-General Nicola Roxon told AAP the NBN was the “backbone of Australia’s information infrastructure” and as such the government had a responsibility “to do our utmost to protect its integrity and that of the information carried on it.”

Prime Minister Gillard defended her decision to bar Huawei from entering Australia on Thursday.
“The decision we have taken is not in breach of any trade rules or trade regulations with China.”

Gillard told reporters in Sydney, according to Bloomberg. “We’ve taken it for the right reasons, through the right process, based on the right advice.”

Huawei has insisted it will comply with all security checks and will open up its code. It says the company has provided similar technology for broadband service in the UK and Singapore.

Consulate General in Sydney has insisted “Australia will take positive measures and create a fair and non-discriminatory market environment for Chinese enterprises,” according the Business Spectator.

This was the second ban Huawei received in six months in Australia. In October last year it was told that bidding for the NBN was off the table. Huawei has also been blacklisted in the US over cyber security fears.

The Australian NBN network would provide fibre-optic access to about 3.5 million premises in Australia by mid-2015, Gillard said. The NBN plans to roll out fibre to 93 per cent of Australia’s population during the next decade, with the rest served by wireless and satellite.

The Australian ban adds to political woes for Huawei, the world’s second largest vendor of phone network equipment with US$32bil in sales last year.

The technology giant employs 140,000 staff, with almost half dedicated to research and development. It sells everything from mobile mast radios to software, data-centres and laptop dongles

Huawei is headed by a former Red Army engineer, Ren Zhengfei and has been accused of having links to China’s military—the claim it denies.

Huawei is not listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, unlike other Chinese IT firms, such as the PC maker Lenovo. It has been under a shadow of secrecy since its founding in the 1980s, when China first started to emerge with its “opening up” policy. The names of its board members were only published for the first time last year.

Cyber Security

China has notoriously been involved in cyber attacks on Government websites in the US, stealing billions of dollars worth of sensitive information, technology developments and intellectual property data.

Last year the Australian Parliament system was also compromised, with MP’s emails hacked and information possibly stolen. The hackers were traced to China.

In 2010 two sophisticated attacks against Google’s systems stole some of the internet giant’s program code. The violation also hacked into G-mail accounts of hundreds of people, including senior US government officials, military personnel and political activists.

This month a congressional report in the US on cyber security has stated that Beijing can “pose genuine risk to U.S. military operations in the event of a conflict,” just as the country prepared to pass a major cyber-security legislation.

A building owned by the manufacturer Huawei is pictured on Nov. 28, 2010 in Shenzhen, China. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

Chinese communications giant Huawei has denied it poses a threat to Australia’s national security after the federal government refused to allow it to supply equipment to the country’s National Broadband Network (NBN).

Acting on the advice of intelligence agency ASIO, Julia Gillard’s Labor Government intervened late last year despite the government-owned NBN co-endorsing the equipment maker, according to the Australian Financial Review.

The company is owned by former People’s Liberation Army member Ren Zhengfei, who has never agreed to a media interview in China or abroad. It supplies equipment to government projects in the United Kingdom, but has made few inroads into the United States over fears of its connection to the Chinese regime and possible cyber attacks from China.

But Huawei executives, including former Victoria Premier John Brumby and former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, hit out at the move.

The government’s move was “complete nonsense”, Mr Downer told Australia’s national broadcaster.

“This whole concept of Huawei being involved in cyber warfare … based on the fact that the company comes from China and everybody in China who’s involved with information technology is involved in cyber warfare…is just completely absurd,” he said.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the Government had made a “prudent decision to make sure that that infrastructure project does what we want it to do.”

Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, visits the Longwarry Food Park on March 26 in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Mr Abbott and other Federal and State Members are visiting towns as part of the annual Pollie Pedal ride, a charity fundraising event that will benefit Carers Australia this year. (Lucy Liu/The Epoch Times)

Federal Opposition leader Tony Abbott had on his populist hat, or should we say cycling helmet, when the annual Pollie Pedal charity fundraising bike ride visited Gippsland’s Longwarry Food Park in Melbourne’s outer eastern suburbs.

This year, the Pollie Pedal event began in Geelong, Victoria on March 25 and will finish in the capital city of Canberra on April 1.

Mr Abbott is a veteran of the very first Pollie Pedal back in 1998, when Federal and State members came up with the idea of an extended bike ride to raise money for charities.

Since then, over $2 million has been raised for a variety of causes, and in 2012 the beneficiary will be Carers Australia, the national body representing Australia’s 2.6 million carers who voluntarily look after around 4 million Australians with physical and mental disabilities.

In conversation with The Epoch Times, Mr Abbott declared the carers to be “exemplars of compassion” whose contribution to society was not always fully recognised, stressing that Pollie Pedal’s mission was “to raise awareness as well as money.”

Former cabinet minister and member for Menzies, Kevin Andrews, was also along for the ride, saying, “It’s great to meet different Australians in different places where they live.”

Mr Andrews added that another purpose of the ride was to set a good example for the community about keeping fit. “It’s important to walk or swim or run,” he said, “or do something just to keep healthy.”

The shadow Minister for Regional Communication and Sport, Luke Hartsuyker, echoed the sentiments expressed by Kevin Andrews.

“It’s tremendous to see our Opposition leader out on the road raising money for charity”, and also setting a “great example to exercise and keep fit”, Mr Hartsuyker said.

Alongside raising money for charity, the Pollie Pedal gives politicians the opportunity to mingle with the public in a more casual manner than when they are out on the campaign trail.

One stop on the biking trail was the Longwarry Food Farm, a local dairy plant, where staff were impressed to see the politicians out there raising a sweat and doing their bit for the community.

Longwarry’s Managing Director Rakesh Aggarwal explained that the business had gone through a tough time with a fire in the factory only a month ago. He proclaimed the politicians’ visit as being “very good for our staff and their motivation”.

He went on to say that, notwithstanding the setback of the fire: “Our industry is doing well. The demand for our products is quite solid all over the world and we are optimistic for the future.”

Mr Andrews praised the business for “helping farmers and increasing exports to other countries,” while Mr Abbott stated that it was remarkable how a virtually derelict site had been transformed into a modern plant.

He praised the “innovative, creative, adaptable and go ahead” attitude of Mr Aggerwal’s team and local dairy farmers, saying the dairy industry can expect a bright future in Gippsland despite setbacks in recent years.

Before getting back on his bike, Mr Abbott had a final message of hope for all those present: “Please don’t ever lose faith in our future. Don’t ever lose faith in our country.”

Protesters hold placards during a rally in Sydney on July 1, 2011 against Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's plans to introduce a carbon tax. (Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images)

Many small and medium businesses are unaware of the implications of Labor’s carbon tax that will come into effect in July of this year, a major study reveals.

The survey, ‘Australia’s Carbon Tax,’ was conducted by the Australian Institute of Management Victoria and Tasmania (AIM VT), and received responses from 936 business leaders across all industry and Government sectors.

The survey looked at the flow-on impact of the carbon tax, and whether businesses were prepared for it.

Almost 50 per cent of managers were unaware that the carbon tax starts this year, and most were against the tax even though the majority wanted to reduce carbon emissions.

Furthermore, less than a quarter believed their businesses were prepared for the implications of the carbon tax. Only 14 per cent of smaller enterprises (51 to 100 employees) believed they were ‘prepared’, while the largest enterprises (more than 5,000 employees) fared better with 31 per cent, saying they were ‘prepared’.

Susan Heron, CEO of AIM VT, said that large businesses are taking steps to reduce their emissions and many are asking their suppliers to do the same.

“We’re seeing many of the larger companies already developing codes of practice–supplier codes of practice–which are asking their suppliers, the small and medium-scale enterprises, to be able to measure and minimise their carbon footprint,” Ms Heron told the ABC.

More major corporations are looking to show the community their sustainability credentials ahead of the carbon tax. By contrast, about thirty per cent of managers surveyed said their organisations had not begun planning for the requirements of the carbon tax or its flow-on impact.

“The trend is the larger the organisation, the more likely it is to have started work preparing for the onset of the tax,” the report said.

Ms Heron believes many small and medium-sized organisations are “not ready” for the flow-on implications of the tax, and that business owners may be able to raise more awareness among their employees by engaging more with their workforce.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard during a press conference following her victory in the Labor leadership challenge at Parliament House in Canberra, on Feb. 27, 2012. (Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images)

The Australian Federal Government is attempting to gain more benefit from the country’s resource boom by enacting a controversial tax on mining profits.

Mining companies such as Fortescue Metals have threatened legal action against the move, which will impose a 30 per cent tax on the profits of coal and iron ore miners once they exceed AU$75 million in profits a year.

The opposition has also vowed to repeal the tax if it is elected.

“Australians know how important the mining industry is, but they also know that we can only dig up and sell the resources once,” said Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in a statement.

“The Minerals Resource Rent Tax will deliver Australians with a fair return on the resources they own 100 percent.”

The tax is expected to raise AU$11 billion within three years from when it starts in July, which will bring the budget back into surplus and pave the way for tax cuts to around 800,000 small businesses.

But the conservative opposition and mining groups claim it will reduce Australia’s ability to compete with other countries for international investment.

Stiffer mining taxes have been a hot topic since first announced by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in 2010. His planned Resource Super Profits Tax drew a backlash from the powerful mining industry involving a multi-million dollar advertising campaign that contributed to him being ousted by his own party.

It was a pleasant surprise that the independent Australian media inquiry, examining print, online and the role of the self-regulatory body, the Australian Press Council, was, for the most part, a satisfying document.

It was hard to know what this Inquiry might deliver, given the political events leading up to its announcement. Its timing was in the wake of the phone hacking scandal that closed Britain’s News of the World. Closer to home, Greens’ Leader Bob Brown was sparring with News Limited journalists, collectively labelling them the “hate media”; while, Prime Minister Julia Gillard waged her own battle with Murdoch’s Australian accusing it of publishing a false report about her “in breach of all known standards of journalism”. Her message was “don’t write crap”.

Five months on, the Inquiry, led by former justice of the Federal Court Ray Finkelstein QC, with the assistance of academic Dr Matthew Ricketson, has opted in favour of spending taxpayers’ money to replace the Australian Press Council (APC) to improve media accountability. It is a brave and definitive stance. It is preferable to beefing up the existing Press Council, which has been dogged with its “toothless tiger” tag for too much of its 36 years. The recommendation to create the cross-media super regulator, the News Media Council, is a reason for cautious optimism.

I say “cautious” because even during the short five months it took the Inquiry to travel the major cities, hear submissions and produce its impressive 468 pages, there have been shifts in the Australian media landscape.

Billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart, who joined WA protestors to chant against the Federal Government’s mining tax, last month lifted her five per cent shareholding in Fairfax Media to 14 per cent. Already with a 10 per cent share in television network Ten, the move raised questions of whether these media share acquisitions were a strategy to get her voice better heard above the din.

Back in 1981, Justice Ralph Norris warned of the potential for harm to society when too few own too much. The retired Supreme Court judge had reviewed Victoria’s print media and identified that concentration of ownership was “high”–and that was before News Limited acquired the Herald and Weekly Times. Loss of diversity in the expression of opinion was one concern, he stated. The second was “the power of a very few men to influence the outlook and opinions of large numbers of people, and consequently the decisions made in society”.

If that sounds familiar, it might be because on March 5, speaking on radio and writing in the Monthly magazine, Federal treasurer Wayne Swan accused a number of Australia’s wealthiest citizens–Rinehart, Clive Palmer and Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest–of overstepping their reach and using their wealth and influence to alter public policy to serve their self-interests.

Yet, concentration of media ownership was not the focus of this latest media review. This is despite the jaw-dropping fact Australia has the highest concentration of print ownership of any democracy, with the duopoly of Fairfax Media and News Limited (Murdoch) accounting for 90 per cent of its daily newspapers.

It is true that the latest Inquiry did acknowledge concentrated ownership shrinks the number of independent voices available to readers. And, it did find that this is particularly problematic in regional Australia where many towns have fewer media choices than the city; and where local outlets were likely to be under-resourced and understaffed. But, while the Inquiry understood that this could be damaging to the democratic function of our society, disappointingly it passed the buck to Government to investigate with “some urgency”.

The Inquiry’s recommendations are a departure from the desirable model of self-regulation that works well in many democracies. Nonetheless, the new super-regulator will be taxpayer-funded, and at arm’s length from government. This is better than a compulsory media-levy option because it will not disadvantage start-ups or small outlets. The proposal to have an independent panel appointing a broad mix from within the industry and community is also a positive move.

Unlike the APC, no longer will media proprietors have the option of withdrawing their participation, or much-needed funds. This makes it a fairer system for consumers, and a more even playing field for media organisations. The perhaps unfair exception is that fly-by-night bloggers, often responsible for much vitriol, and the ‘lonely pamphleteer’ will not be held to account if their audiences are small.

The report is the product of hard work, and should be compulsory reading for any student of journalism. Filled with case studies, overseas comparisons and media history, it is far from the stodgy document you might expect to be handed to Government. If the proposals are enacted, let’s hope these new measures can curtail the ‘crap’.

Andrea Carson is a lecturer in Media, Politics and Society at the University of Melbourne

Read the original article at The Conversation.

(William West/AFP/Getty Images)

According to Wendy Bacon, head of The Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ) and a Walkley award-winning Professor of Journalism at Sydney’s University of Technology, “… journalism in Australia today is heavily influenced by commercial interests selling a product, and constrained and blocked by politicians, police and others who control the media message.”

Spinning the Media, a joint research project by ACIJ and Crickey.com.au of 2,203 stories across 10 newspapers, found nearly 55 per cent of stories analysed were driven by some form of public relations. The highest, The Daily Telegraph, had 70 per cent of its stories triggered by public relations. The Sydney Morning Herald had the lowest proportion of PR-driven stories at 42 per cent.

Chris Mitchell, editor of The Australian, explained the situation to one of Bacon’s students: “It’s very difficult I think, given the way resources have drifted from journalism to public relations over the past 30 years, to break away as much as you really want to … I guess I’m implying, the number of people who go to communications school and go into PR over the years has increased and the number in journalism has shrunk even more dramatically.”

Former Federal court judge Roy Finkelstein chaired an independent Australian media inquiry, examining print, online, and the role of the self-regulatory body, the Australian Press Council (APC).

Released at the end of February, the Finkelstein report briefly touched on how packaged news releases and opinion pieces are not always easily identified.

“Media proprietors often defend their adherence to standards by reference to their readers. So, rejecting any suggestion of bias against the government on the part of News Limited, (then News Limited CEO) Mr Hartigan said such claims were an insult to readers, who were capable of making up their own minds.

“Often, however, readers are not in a position to make an appropriately informed judgment. They expect news stories they read to be accurate. Usually only the authors/publishers and the subjects of the story know the extent to which a story lives up to that expectation.”

The media inquiry mentioned “spin” and “public relations” less than a dozen times.

Judge Finkelstein quoted recent studies, which found there has been a lack of fair and impartial reporting on important issues of public policy.

Australian newspapers responded to the Finkelstein inquiry with a typical variety of headlines such as “Labour plan to control media” from the Australian Financial Review, “Leave the newspapers alone to do their job” from the Sydney Morning Herald, “Finkelstein media recommendations would poison our democracy” from The Australian, and “Challenge to a free media” from the Herald Sun.

Despite these headlines, the Finkelstein report did not propose a censorship body, rather a new independent regulator to redress inaccuracy and other issues. The report concluded that current self-regulation is ineffective. The report goes further to propose no government involvement beyond funding a new body, independent from both industry and Labour.

According to Johan Lidberg, Senior Lecturer in Journalism at Monash University and quoted on The Conversation, “pretty much all the media company submissions to the inquiry recommended the status quo.”

A research project by the ACIJ concluded in December that News Limited newspapers, including The Australian, had “campaigned” against Carbon Tax policy rather than providing reasonable coverage for readers.

“The issue here is not … the right of these individuals to push their ideas,” Bacon said “It is whether an overwhelmingly dominant company using its market power to build support for particular policies and ideas gives citizens access to a satisfactory range of perspectives on important issues.”

The Australian’s editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell rejected the research, saying “The carbon tax is one of the biggest concerns for business in this country and it is only proper that a newspaper such as ours reports those concerns.”

The Finkelstein report concluded: “… in the case of newspapers, self-regulation by code of ethics and through the APC has not been effective. To do nothing in these circumstances is merely to turn a blind eye to what many see as a significant decline in media standards.

”Mainstream newspapers may disagree with many of the conclusions in the Finkelstein inquiry but it seems impossible to deny that the public relations industry is so closely tied to journalists now that it’s becoming harder to separate the spin from the ‘free speech’.”

Nigel Gladstone is a freelance writer and journalism student currently residing in Sydney, Australia.

The Cunard super liner 'Queen Mary 2' berths opposite the Sydney Opera House on March 7, 2012. (Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images)

Tourism Australia (TA) plans to expand its campaigns into China’s fastest-growing second-tier cities, after research found growing interest in Australia as a travel destination among Chinese travellers.

China is currently Australia’s most valuable tourism market, worth more than AU$3.8 billion (US $4 billion) in 2011, an increase of 15 percent from 2010. More than 558,000 Chinese visited Australia in the 12 months up to Jan. 31, 2012.

The research, released on March 12, is part of the first TA study on the tourism behaviour and travel preferences of travellers from China’s rising secondary cities. The 13 cities studied include Shenzhen, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Suzhou and Tianjin–many of which have larger populations than New York City, which is home to 8.1 million people.

Conducted in late 2011, the findings are based on more than 2,800 Chinese leisure travellers aged 30 to 49 years old with an above-average annual household income of more than $A25,000.

The study found that many respondents viewed Australia as an “aspirational, highly regarded” destination, and wanted to visit Australia to see the iconic Sydney Opera House and the Great Barrier Reef, reported AAP.

“The response in China to Tourism Australia’s current ‘There’s nothing like Australia’ campaign has been better than anywhere else overseas, with over 90 percent of those who see the campaign confirming they had started researching a future trip to Australia,” said Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy in a statement.

“We plan to use these findings to help prioritise our marketing activities in China,” he said, adding that a greater understanding of Chinese people’s travel habits will be critical to the long-term success of the campaigns.

Mr McEvoy says TA will make a “further record investment” in marketing resources in China in 2012. TA has previously focused their campaigns on China’s first-tier cities, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

Addressing the Australian Industry Group at their Annual Economic Forum this week, Mr Lowe highlighted a need for structural changes in the manufacturing industry.

“Manufacturing still has an important role to play in the Australian economy … ,” said Mr Lowe. “[But] the high exchange rate means the manufacturing industry has little choice but to move up the value-added chain in order to compete.”

Put simply, our current manufactured goods can no longer compete in world markets. But the growing market of professional, scientific and specialised machinery may be the way forward, as Australia’s high standard of education, research and development is a distinct advantage.

Is the Dollar Too High?

With Australia being a destination for ‘hot money,’ the Australian dollar has been known to overshoot its real value. However, Mr Lowe argues the dollar hasn’t been overvalued, as with the unprecedented boom in the mining sector, the dollar has produced positive spillover effects for the economy.

“[Mining] has delivered a very substantial increase in Australia’s real income and this increase has boosted spending,” said Mr Lowe.

With GDP close to trend, inflation around the target band and unemployment consistently low (between 5 to 5.25 per cent in the past year), there are no obvious signs that the Australian economy has suffered a contractionary effect from the high Australian dollar.

However, fear of the ‘dutch disease’ or hollowing out is still prevalent, as the retail, manufacturing and tourism sectors continue to suffer.

A recent survey conducted by credit reporting agency Dun & Bradstreet found that 37 per cent of small companies consider the strong dollar a big concern.

These concerns suggest the Australian economy has hit a turning point in its evolution. Structural change is inevitable, and if our industries fail to adapt, those industries will suffer.

The life-saving product–human albumin, which is utilized to treat trauma patients who have lost a lot of blood–was noted as being contaminated in January. However, company officials only notified the Federal authorities on Wednesday this week.

Low Levels of Contamination

According to the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Baggoley has declared that “CSL advised that the levels that they’ve detected of ethylene glycol are very low and therefore adverse clinical effects are unlikely to occur. But what they can’t tell us is which batches and the exact level of contamination.”

Professor Baggley then went on to explain that if someone were to suffer adverse clinical effects, it has two main effects. One is that it is an alcohol, therefore people can have symptoms like being drunk as they would with ordinary alcohol.

“So they can appear intoxicated, dizzy and lack coordination,” he said.

But it also gets transformed into an acid and that’s where it becomes the problem. Its toxic effects can increase heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing. It can also cause muscle spasms and the acid can have an effect on the kidneys.

Leaking Coolant

According to Professor Baggley, CSL is still trying to figure out what had happened. It is believed that ethylene glycol, a coolant utilized in the production process, leaked through a breach in one of the welds of a tank.

The problem was originally discovered in December of last year and all batches made between the middle of December 2011 and January 2012 were not released for clinical use.

On Monday, CSL’s in-house testing on previous batches of human albumin from 2011 also came back showing low levels of contamination and these results were then forwarded to the Commonwealth Department of Health on Wednesday afternoon.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is investigating the incident and CSL‘s Human Albumin will be taken out of circulation.

Mining equipment is submerged by flood waters on Jan. 6, 2011 in Rockhampton, Australia. (Jonathan Wood/Getty Images)

The value of Australia’s resources and energy exports in 2011 increased by 15 per cent from the previous year, to a record $190 billion.

According to the Resources and Energy Statistics December quarter 2011 report released on March 8 by the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE), increases in both prices and production levels saw 2010 earnings surpassed by $24 billion.

Upon releasing the report, BREE Executive Director and Chief Economist Professor Quentin Grafton made comments via a media release.

“The record value of resources and energy exports in 2011 reflects increased earnings for the vast majority of resources and energy commodities, including iron ore, coal, liquefied natural gas (LNG), oil and base metals,” he said.

The strong increase was underpinned by the value of iron ore exports, which rose by 20 per cent to $59.3 billion, thermal coal up 18 per cent to $15.6 billion, and LNG up 16 per cent to $11.1 billion.

Resources that recorded sizeable declines in export earnings included iron and steel down 22 per cent to $1.1 billion, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) down 10 per cent to $969 million, and refined silver down 39 per cent to $144 million.

BREE said Australian production of energy and mineral resources was mixed in 2011, with increases in iron ore, copper and nickel offset by lower output of coal and oil.

“Increased iron ore production was underpinned by the start up of new capacity in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, while coal production was affected by flooding in Queensland in early 2011,” said Professor Grafton in the release.

The merger represents the biggest investment by a Chinese state-owned company into the Australian coal industry.

“The merger will also allow Yancoal’s parent company, Yanzhou Coal Mining Company Limited, to achieve a listing [on the Australian Stock Exchange] of its Australian operations by the end of 2012, which was a condition of its acquisition of Felix Resources Limited in 2009,” said Mr Swan in a statement.

Mr Swan said that an extra 12 months, to the end of 2013, was given to Yanzhou to reduce its economic ownership of Yancoal to less than 70 per cent, which was stipulated as a condition of its acquisition of Felix.

Yanzhou will be required to quarantine the voting rights of any shares that it holds above 70 per cent in the listed Yancoal at the end of 2012.

Other conditions of the merger include that the entity keep its headquarters in Australia, and use a predominantly Australian management and sales team.

The Foreign Investment Review Board will require Yanzhou and Yancoal to report annually on their compliance with these conditions.

Trees cocooned in spiders webs in Sindh, Pakistan in December 2010. (Russell Watkins/Department for International Development)

The New South Wales town of Wagga Wagga, which last week survived severe flooding that led 9,000 people to evacuate, is now facing another natural phenomenon—millions of tiny spiders have invaded the region, blanketing some areas with hundreds of metres of webs.

Known as “ballooning”, the massive webs are formed when the small hairy-legged creatures are forced to climb up shrubs and trees, looking to escape the rising waters.

Millions of spiders have woven blankets of silky webs across the fields just outside of Wagga Wagga, the state’s largest inland city. Flood events typically trigger mass ballooning.

“They often do it as a way of dispersing and getting into a new area but, in an event like this, they are just trying to escape the floods,” Graham Milledge, entomology collections manager at the Australian Museum in Sydney, told AAP.

“They often land in the same place and that is why you get this large mass of them.”

Wagga Wagga was one of dozens of towns affected by floods in New South Wales in the last week. The Natural Disaster Council declared a state emergency on Tuesday, as rivers spilled over the plains after heavy rainfall persisted in 75 per cent of the state.

Typically harmless to humans, the spiders from the Linyphiidae family, grow only up to one centimetre in length. They are commonly referred to as sheet weavers because of the shape of their webs, or money spiders due to a superstition that the creatures bring good fortune if they land on you.

A similar phenomenon was seen in Pakistan in 2010, after floods ravaged the country.

Unprecedented monsoons dropped nearly ten years’ worth of rainfall on Pakistan in one week, swelling the country’s rivers. Spiders and other arthropods were reported to have climbed up trees, creating cocoons of webs.

Aerial view of The Great Barrier Reef are seen off Cairns, Australia. (Phil Walter/Getty Images)

A delegation from UNESCO, the United Nation’s top environmentalist group, has arrived in Australia to investigate environmental damage on the Great Barrier Reef.

The visit was announced last year, following UNESCO’s “extreme concern” over the Queensland Government’s controversial approval of liquid natural gas (LNG) developments and port facilities on Curtis Island.

An official report will be finalised later this year and handed to the World Heritage Committee, which will decide whether the reef should be classified as a “Site in Danger.”

The delegation’s arrival has already been branded as “embarrassing” by conservation group WWF, according to AAP.

Environmentalist groups are calling on the state government to suspend all mining developments on the reef.

“(The mining boom) is a reckless expansion that will have direct impacts both in terms of the dredging as well as the increased shipping, as well as the impact of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef,” said John Hepburn from Greenpeace Australia.

According to a report by the The Australian National Committee of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (ACIUCN), the reef will face “death by a thousand cuts” as a result of pressures from the increasing population coupled with the mining boom.

The report predicts that a population boom in Queensland’s coastal areas and a large increase in shipping through the reef will become major concerns.

“There are figures being quoted between a four-fold increase in shipping and a more than ten-fold increase,” said Professor Richard Kenchington, chair of the ACIUCN.

Despite the controversy, Premier Anna Bligh expressed confidence in the state’s environmental standards.

“I think we’ve got a very good track record of getting it right,” said Ms Bligh. “If they’ve got insights that we can learn from then of course we want to hear about that.

“(But) what I think they will find is a very impressive set of government regulations that protects this reef at a level beyond anything that you would see in just about any other part of the world.”

However, Greens Senator Larissa Waters said that evidence found at Gladstone Harbour, where marine life has found with skin lesions and cloudy eyes, suggests otherwise.

She said the UNESCO delegation will “see the scars on Curtis Island, they’ll see the increased boat traffic which is contributing to wildlife deaths and squeezing out the tourism and fishing industries,” according to AAP.

The Federal Government has uncapped the number of university places and is aiming for a 40 per cent degree-qualified workforce in a shift from limited enrollments to a demand-driven system.

In his keynote address at the Universities Australia Conference in Canberra on March 6, Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans spoke about the vision for universities to attract a broader range of students.

“For the first time in history, public universities will be funded for undergraduate student places based on student demand.” he said.

“By 2025, we will be in a position to reach the national target of 40 per cent of all 25- to 34-year-olds holding a qualification at bachelor’s degree level or above.”

As a large number of new students are likely to be unprepared for tertiary studies, universities will implement strong support programs and intensive teaching methods to help these students meet the standard to complete their degrees.

The Group of Eight, a coalition representing Australia’s top research universities, says it is too early to assess the impact of the forthcoming expansion on the higher education system.

“More open access to higher education will require a sharper focus on learning outcomes and exit standards than has yet been in evidence,” it said.

However, the Government is confident that a funding system dependent on enrollments is a positive step for Australian universities.

“The new demand-driven system will free up universities more to make the right strategic choices to better deliver on their unique goals and to better meet the needs of their student body,” said Senator Evans during his address.

While the Government has invested more than $37 billion over the last four years, Senator Evans made it quite clear that universities will need to be accountable.

“And, like students, I too will be asking questions about the value for money the Commonwealth is getting from the range of programs that we have in place to support higher education,” he added.

October’s Base Funding Review Report acknowledges that, “Universities are likely to face new challenges in meeting the educational needs of low SES students as the proportion of low SES students enrolling in higher education increases.”

The Government will hold targeted consultations with stakeholders during March.

Locals look on as the Hawkesbury River rises completely covering the Yarramundi Bridge, on March 3, 2012, in Richmond, Australia. (Marianna Massey/Getty Images)

Heavy rainfall in the past week has led to thousands of emergency calls and evacuations across Australia’s eastern states. New South Wales has evacuated thousands of residents, while Queensland braces for high winds and a possible cyclone. Victoria floodwaters are now receding.

Queensland–Cyclone Threat 50 Per cent Chance, Says Bureau

The Bureau of Meteorology issued a top priority severe weather warning Monday for heavy rain in the Sunshine Coast region–the Southeast Coast district and parts of the Wide Bay and Burnett district. Meteorologists warn of flash flooding, and damaging winds peaking at 90km/h about the coast, islands, and nearby inland areas.

A low pressure system was over near Double Island Point at 1:30pm AEST Monday, and is expected to move in a northerly direction overnight and during Tuesday. Vikash Prasar from the Bureau told AAP there is a 50 percent chance this could develop into a cyclone off Fraser Island.

Sunshine Coast Airport was closed and all scheduled flights were cancelled on Monday.

Three Sunshine Coast evacuation centres have been set up. The Noosa junction, Nambour Civic and Lake Kawana Community Centres.

Victoria–Water Levels Receding Slowly, Towns Remain Affected

Towns in Northeast Victoria remain affected by floods, and the State Emergency Service (SES) says in some places the flooding has exceeded both 1974 and 1993 flood events.

More than 300,000 sandbags have been filled as a last line of defence in Northeast Victoria where several families may be isolated for days.

Floodwaters may take a little over a week to drain away after the peak has passed. There will be no further rain forecast for the next four days.

New South Wales–Thousands Evacuated

More than 5,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate flood-stricken areas across NSW, and nine more government areas have been declared disaster zones in the past week.

The State Government has so far this year declared more than 35 local government areas as disaster zones, and the State Emergency Service (SES) has performed at least 105 flood rescues and received more than 3000 calls for assistance.

About 5,000 residents across NSW were ordered to leave more than 2,000 properties, and 2,000 mostly rural properties remain isolated in the waters.

The Murrumbidgee River is expected to peak at 10.6 metres on Tuesday morning in Wagga Wagga, which is a marked increase from the Bureau’s 10 metres forecast Sunday night. More than 1,000 residents have evacuated from Wagga Wagga’s north and east, and neighbouring Gumly Gumly, as well as surrounding rural properties.

“Our last flood was in December 2010–we got through that okay, but … this will be a lot worse,” said Wagga Wagga mayor Kerry Pascoe, according to AAP.

Canberra–Wettest Week in 60 Years

Canberra has recorded its wettest week in more than 60 years, reaching nearly 200mm at Canberra Airport during seven days up until Sunday. This is half of Canberra’s average long-term annual rainfall recorded in just over two months.

The ACT State Emergency Service received 941 calls for help over the past week.

Lake Burley Griffin remains closed to the public as contaminated water flows in from the flooded Molonglo River.

This is Australia’s second summer in a row seeing wet and cool conditions accompanied by heavy rains. The years 2011 and 2012 have been the wettest two-year period in Australia’s history, a record previously held in 1973-1974. Queensland is still recovering from devastating floods that affected much of the state early last year.

Farm land shows signs of flooding in Richmond Lowlands as the Hawkesbury River continues to rise and threaten residents on March 3, 2012 in Richmond, Australia. Over 1000 people have been evacuated as record rainfall continues across at least three quarters of the state of NSW. (Marianna Massey/Getty Images)

Local residents across large tracts of New South Wales and Victoria are under threat as major floods hit.

Three men were reported missing at 7.30pm Saturday night as they attempted to cross Araluen Creek, south of Braidwood in NSW’s Southern Tablelands.

Their 4WD became stuck and when they exited the vehicle were washed downstream.

Two of the men were rescued and taken to Braidwood Hospital suffering from hypothermia and other injuries. A body of an unidentified man, believed to be the third member of the party, was recovered at Majors Creek in Araluen this morning, a police spokeswoman told AAP.

Meanwhile, residents in Wagga Wagga and Gundagai are getting help from 100 army staff to sandbag properties against the nine metre flood peak expected Sunday night.

A flood evacuation sign is seen near Yarramundi Bridge on March 2, 2012 in Richmond, Australia. (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

The ABC reported that close to 2000 people from the Hawkesbury Nepean Valley area, near Sydney have been called to evacuate from their homes, and up to 1,500 in Cooma and Cowra are still prohibited to return to theirs.

“There is the possibility of some heavy rain down there (Cooma) tonight and as a consequence we have asked those people to remain evacuated.” says State Emergency Service spokesman, Phil Campbell.

Up to 170mm was recorded in the Riverina and 300 properties in Lockhart were evacuated overnight.

There have been 265 calls to the SES assistance overnight and as close to 30 rescues were carried out according to News.com.au.

In several parts of north-east Victoria, rainfalls of up to 100 millimetres are expected tonight.
Katamatite, north of Shepparton, is currently in isolation whilst the highway in Bundalong has already been cut three ways. Patients from Numurkah District Hospital near Shepparton have been evacuated.

The Bureau of Meteorology. who’d described this event as “unprecedented”, predicts that the rainband will weaken later into Monday.

File photo of members of the Dumesny family fill sand bags to protect their home from the rising flood water in the Victorian town of Horsham last summer during heavy rains. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)

Australia is on red alert, as floods continue to ravage parts of Victoria, the Northern Territory and three quarters of New South Wales, with some areas reporting the heaviest rains in over 80 years.

The Special Emergency Services (SES) said about 800 residents in Sydney’s far west are expected to be flooded today, with major roads and bridges at the suburbs of Windsor and North Richmond submerged.

Warragamba Dam, the main water reservoir that feeds Sydney, is expected to overflow today as heavy deluges persisted through the night. The dam has not been at full capacity for over 14 years.

“We initially thought the dam would spill earlier, but there was a slight reduction in rain in the catchment—we were expecting more than 140,000 megalitres to flow into the dam before 10pm, but it now looks like that will be 130,000 megalitres,” Sydney Catchment Authority spokeswoman Karen Smith said, according to The Telegraph.

Millions of litres of rain have fallen in the last three days. The SES said it had responded to more than 100 calls for help and 22 flood rescues on Thursday night. More than 1600 people have been forced to evacuate their homes in Goulburn, Cowra, Cooma and Bega since Tuesday.

SES Deputy Commissioner Steve Pearce said 75 per cent of New South Wales is either flooded or on flood alert. Seven river systems—the Murray, Hawkesbury-Nepean, Lachlan, Queanbeyan and Molonglo, Tumut and Murrumbidgee, Bega and Snowy—are under flood warning.

Victoria has also not been spared, as SES is reported to be preparing 30,000 sandbags to combat the damage.

Of most concern were the areas of Yarrawonga, Beechworth, Yackandandah, Myrtleford, Bright and Mt Beauty—that had already been drenched with up to 200mm of rain this week.

Mt Buffalo had a whopping 125mm of rain yesterday, causing a mudslide which trapped 30 people.

Meanwhile, the central outback areas have also received unusually high rainfall, forcing road closures. Some areas in Central Australia had had more than 100mm of rain in the past two days. Typically, the Alice Springs district receives about 286mm a year.

Australia’s east coast has been under the influence of higher ocean temperatures, which has increased the amount of evaporation in recent months.

Weather Channel meteorologist Tom Saunders is reported as saying that the Indian Ocean has been steaming over 3^oC higher than normal. This has saturated the atmosphere with moisture, triggering heavy rain and flooding.

The majority of Australian workers accumulate their savings in default super funds, which are nominated by their employer. Research by the Australia Institute showed that fewer than 10 per cent of workers actively chose their own superannuation fund.

At present, the only restriction is that employers choose a default super fund that complies with prudential standards. Clearly, the Government’s view is that prudential compliance is not enough and that efficiency demands more. The inquiry is made difficult by the crucial role of defaults in the superannuation system, the number and variety of stakeholders and the huge differences between the funds being assessed against any new criteria.

While the inquiry terms of reference are strictly confined to awards, the consequences for the superannuation industry are more far-reaching. First, awards are a key reference point for much of the rest of the labour force, including for the many workers covered by enterprise agreements and individual contracts. Second, no funds want to be disqualified for a default fund business by failing to meet the Commission’s criteria.

Managing the funds of the majority of super fund members who choose not to choose is the industry’s bread and butter. Default funds are necessary in a mandatory system like the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) and in Australia they have become core business.

In 2010, the Cooper Review estimated that almost all super fund members go with the superannuation fund chosen by their employer. Most also let the fund decide where to invest their savings. This puts around 60 per cent of members and $600 billion in retirement savings in “default” investment options in “default” superannuation funds.

Funds are very happy to look after pots of money for members who don’t keep a close eye on performance.

Funds management equals fees and fees are easier to collect when people are not watching.
Funds are very happy to look after pots of money for members who don’t keep a close eye on performance. Funds management equals fees and fees are easier to collect when people are not watching.

For a typical superannuation fund member, there are plenty of players taking a cut: the super fund trustees, insurers, investment managers, custodians, asset consultants, actuaries, auditors, stockbrokers, financial planners and so forth. With so many disengaged members and a contribution rate now rising from 9 per cent to 12 per cent, the superannuation default business can be “rivers of gold” to the finance sector.

If members are not monitoring their own money, it remains to be seen whether any review of super funds against assessment criteria can keep a lid on fees and costs.

Setting standards with real teeth will be challenging. The inquiry has considerable scope: criteria can address the default investment option, investment performance, fees, scale, insurance, governance and costs to employee mobility. That’s a lot of features to consider. Some funds must be feeling nervous about the looming exam.

To gauge the potential threat, bear in mind that funds currently vary hugely on these measures.
For example, in 2010, the average asset allocation of default investment options was a ratio of around 65 to 35 growth to conservative assets, but individual default allocations ranged from 100 per cent in Australian equities to 100 per cent in cash. (All of these allocations could be right for one member and wrong for everyone else at the same time.) The number of investment options offered ranged from 1 to 2801! Annual rates of return went from low negatives to highs of 25 per cent.

Expenses and fees also varied enormously. As a percentage of net assets, total operating expenses ranged from almost zero to 9 per cent with an average of about 1 per cent. Investment expenses, which include manager, custodian, property manager and asset consultant’s fees, averaged around 0.2 per cent, but went as high as 2 per cent.

Cost ratios can make huge differences to retirement nest eggs when accumulated over a working life, but funds will argue that their particular settings provide the right options for their members or that they offer a higher level of service, or greater flexibility, or better in-house financial advice.

Truly discriminating criteria that can be applied across the industry will be difficult to find, but will certainly shape future superannuation fund practices and reporting.

This article was originally published at The Conversation.

Professor Susan Thorp receives funding from Australian Research Council Discovery Grant 1093842. She holds the Chair of Finance and Superannuation, University of Technology Sydney and receives support from the Sydney Financial Forum (through Colonial First State Global Asset Management), the NSW Government, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), the Industry Superannuation Network (ISN), and the Paul Woolley Centre for the Study of Capital Market Dysfunctionality, UTS.

This photo taken in 2010 shows remote-controlled stackers and reclaimers moving iron ore to rail cars at Rio Tinto's Port Dampier operations in Western Australia's Pilbara region. (Amy Coopes/AFP/Getty Images)

An unnamed former Australian senator has declared that China’s mining companies are “shocked” by the lack of bribery in the Australian mining industry.

According to a series of emails published by Wikileaks on Feb. 27, the former Australian senator—dubbed “source CN65″—describes China’s mining sector as deeply corrupt.

The emails were an exchange between the senator and Stratfor—an international intelligence analysis company. Stratfor provides daily intelligence, security, and financial briefings to clients, including the Australian Defense Force.

The Senator stated, “Where foreign companies do get access to tenements, they always seem to lose out because the mining sector in China is one of the most corrupt sectors of all.”

The former senator then went on to state: “They simply cannot get it in their heads that the rule of law applies to mining projects in Australia. They refuse to believe that they have a right to receive a mining lease subject only to complying with relevant environmental permitting conditions. They think you have no credibility unless you tell them that you need to bribe someone.”

Bribery, or “guanxi” as it is known in China, is a common problem. In 2010, four officials of an Australian-based mining company Rio Tinto were arrested in China and reportedly admitted taking bribes of over $10 million.

The leaked information was part of a Wikileaks release of The Global Intelligence Files. Over five million emails from the Texas headquartered Stratfor were made public. The emails date between July 2004 and late December 2011.

The emails show Stratfor’s web of informers, pay-off structure, payment laundering techniques and psychological methods, according to Wikileaks.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard arrives with supporters for the caucus meeting on Feb 27 in Canberra, Australia. Prime Minister Gillard received 71 votes to Kevin Rudd’s 31 in the leadership ballot today, securing her position as Australian Labor Party leader and prime minister. (Alan Porritt-Pool/Getty Images)

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has won leadership of the Labor Party in a ballot against opponent Kevin Rudd.

Ms Gillard received 71 votes, beating Mr Rudd’s 31 votes, in a meeting of the 102 caucus members in Parliament House today.

Labor MPs had been split in recent days over the leadership contest, which Ms Gillard had been tipped to win with at least two thirds of the vote.

Ms Gillard’s victory is the biggest win in a leadership ballot for 30 years.

Mr Rudd, who lost his position as prime minister to Ms Gillard in a surprise shake-up in 2010, resigned as foreign minister on Wednesday Feb 22. Mr Rudd announced on Friday Feb 24 that he would contest Ms Gillard’s leadership, despite comments the previous week that there was “no challenge on.”

“We have a prime minister, I am the foreign minister,” Mr Rudd told Sky News on Feb 19, just three days before his resignation.

Following his defeat, Mr Rudd said he would not contest the leadership again before the next election.
A Newspoll published earlier today showed that 53 per cent of respondents prefer Mr Rudd over Ms Gillard, who received support from only 28 per cent of respondents.

Senior Labor MPs are taking sides ahead of a vote, on Monday Feb. 27, to decide between the leadership of former prime minister Kevin Rudd (L, pictured in 2010) and Prime Minister Julia Gillard (R, pictured in 2009). (William West/AFP/Getty Images)

Cabinet-level ministers should continue serving in their positions irrespective of the results of Monday’s leadership contest, urges Chris Bowen.

Despite being a Kevin Rudd supporter, the Immigration Minister says that he will remain in his current role if Julia Gillard wins the battle for Labor Party leadership.

“I think Kevin has indicated he would want a government of all the talents and he would invite senior ministers or ministers to continue to serve … I think there’s an obligation on those of us at cabinet level to continue to serve, regardless of whether our preferred candidate (wins),” he told Sky News on Sunday.

Mr Bowen has suggested that he hopes Wayne Swan would stay on as Treasurer if Mr Rudd won.
Like many senior ministers in the past few days, Mr Swan has criticised Mr Rudd’s leadership style as prime minister.

Human Services Minister Brendan O’Connor, another strong Gillard supporter, also expressed his thoughts surrounding the upcoming leadership spectacle.

“This is about who should lead the nation,” he told the Nine Network on Sunday.

“Getting things done and doing things in the nation’s interest is not always immediately popular but it’s very important.

“That’s why she’ll be endorsed on Monday.”

This opinion is also shared by Queensland Premier Anna Bligh who told the Seven Network on Sunday, “I think it is shaping up as a pretty clear outcome at this stage for the prime minister.”

“But you never know with these sorts of ballots… I do think many people will be weighing up some difficult things,” she added.

Despite Mr Rudd’s popularity in opinion polls, Ms Gillard is tipped to be the victor.

According to the Herald Sun, it is estimated that Ms Gillard will receive around 70 votes, while Mr Rudd is tipped to receive around 30 to 35.

However, not all hope is lost, as Mr Rudd’s “people power” has won the support of key Labor MP Anthony Albanese.

“Monday’s ballot is the only opportunity I have … to express my dissent from the action of that night. And I intend to do so. I also believe our future prospects would be stronger with Kevin Rudd as leader,” said Mr Albanese.

Betting agency Betfair has halved Mr Rudd’s chances of winning on Monday after Mr Albanese declared his confirmation, reported the Herald Sun.

Support for Mr Rudd is also notable from Labor frontbencher Robert McClelland who says that the ALP should consider the opinions of the general public suggesting that, “They will come at us with baseball bats if we execute him a second time.”

Kevin Rudd speaks during a press conference on Feb. 24, 2012 in Brisbane, Australia. (Matt Roberts/Getty Images)

Three polls released overnight put Kevin Rudd as preferred Labor party leader ahead of Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

The Newspoll and Galaxy Poll published by News Limited and the Nielsen Poll published by Fairfax, have former Prime Minster Rudd at 52 per cent, 53 per cent and 58 per cent respectively.

Julia Gillard only managed 30 per cent, 26 per cent and 34 per cent according to AAP.

Mr Rudd’s strong results also put him clearly ahead of Mr Abbott as preferred Prime Minister 58 to 38 per cent.

But according to the Nielsen Poll, only half of respondents want to see Labor swap leaders again, with 47 per cent stating that they’d prefer to stick with Ms Gillard.

However, the current Prime Minister is believed to have the majority support from the party and these figures are not expected to influence the MPs’ decision on their new leader.

The Daily Telegraph quoted Galaxy’s David Briggs saying these figures confirmed Mr Rudd has the ability to put the damaged ALP back in the spotlight for the coming election.

“Despite Kevin Rudd’s leadership style being the subject of some scathing criticism this week, confidence in the former leader has not been diminished” he said.

“The criticism of Rudd’s leadership style by senior Labor figures in recent days has done little to undermine confidence in the former leader.”

According to the Neilsen Poll, the Liberal/National Coalition still leads on a two-party preferred basis, 53 to 47 per cent, but the margin has tightened since Mr Rudd’s announcement for leadership challenge.

The woman was taken to safety from her home in Boreen Point by a rescue helicopter at around 3.30am (AEST) Feb 25.

Earlier in the evening, another rescue had taken place in the region’s hinterland less then 100km away. Authorities noticed a 30-year-old woman was holding onto a tree at Harpers Creek Bridge, Conondale, south-west of Nambour, at around 8:00pm (AEST).

In an incident at Pomona, four people were rescued from inside a bus.

The ABC quoted a Bureau of Meteorology spokewoman as saying some parts of the hinterland collected more than 140 millimetres of rain overnight.

“It was extremely intense, particularly in the Nambour area and on the Sunshine Coast hinterland further west,” says Michelle Berry.

“[At] Nambour, our automatic weather station recorded about 108 millimetres in one hour.

Local emergency services responded to almost 180 calls for help across the Sunshine Coast until 7.30am.

Tewantin was the worst affected, receiving up to 52 requests for emergency help. Cooroy, Coolum, Maroochydore and Caloundra each received 12 requests.

Cooroy recorded 335 millimetres from 9am Friday to 4am Saturday, while at Noosa Heads, there was 263 millimetres.

The damage resulted in 2,500 homes in the area without power says the ABC.

No serious injuries have yet been reported according to The Brisbane Times.

Alan Rogers from the Sunshine Coast Regional Council told the ABC a local disaster management centre is monitoring the situation.

“The plan is that we’ll run the centre until midday Saturday when we believe the forecast is that the rain will ease and we’ll then reassess the situation,” says Alan Rogers, Sunshine Coast Regional Council.

Rain and several isolated thunderstorms are predicted to move inland overnight.

Children in the small Dixon Creek Primary School some 50km north-east of Melbourne. (Paul Crock/AFP/Getty Images)

A new report says Australian governments must adopt a new funding model for schools, expected to cost an additional $5 billion a year, that involves a set dollar amount of funding per student.

The Gonski report released on Feb 20 also recommends more funding for schools with high numbers of disadvantaged students, to address factors such as low socio-economic background, indigenous background, disability and poor English skills.

It says that such factors have contributed to a “significant” gap found between the highest and lowest performing students, and a general decline in the performance of Australian students.

“Particularly compelling is the evidence that suggests that all students, regardless of their own background, seem to perform better in schools with a higher average socioeconomic background,” the report says.

The report was released after 18 months of extensive research led by businessman David Gonski and is the most far-reaching review of school funding since 1973. It has found the current system “unnecessarily complex”, lacking “coherence and transparency” and lacking coordination between governments.

In response to the report, the federal government has promised a round of consultations on the recommendations, while stressing that the first priority is to get the budget back in surplus.

The Opposition says adopting Gonski recommendations may discourage private investments in schools, and that the current funding system is fine.

A Portrait of Lindy Chamberlain with husband Michael and children. In 1980, Lindy Chamberlain reported that her baby had been taken by a dingo. A new report offers evidence supporting her case. (Patrick Riviere/Getty Images).

Lindy Chamberlain, the Australian mother who famously blamed a dingo for her baby’s death more than 30 years ago, will submit new evidence in the case, according to media reports.

Stuart Tipple, lawyer for Lindy and Michael Chamberlain told the Herald Sun newspaper that he will submit a report that offers more proof that a dingo took the couple’s nine-week-old infant, Azaria, in 1980.

“The significant thing that has basically happened since the last inquest is that there have been at least 12 significant attacks, three deaths,” Tipple told the paper.

Tipple said the evidence proves that dingoes may be a danger to humans.

“There are still a lot of people out there who don’t understand the danger that dingoes present to humans, particularly in the situation where they have been conditioned by human contact,” he told the Australia Broadcasting Corporation.

Lindy Chamberlain said she saw her daughter being taken away by a dingo from their tent. “I could have lost three children that night—it could have been worse,” she said in a recent interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.

She was convicted for Azaria’s death but the verdict was overturned three years later when her daughter’s jacket was found around two miles from the campsite.

Michael Chamberlain said that the government may have had a hand in the trial because if it were proved that dingoes could attack children, then tourism in the Australian backcountry would take a hit.

“I think someone said to them ‘Fix this up—it might affect tourism, you have to get a conviction because you can’t have dingoes, or the fear of them, running around killing kids,’” he told the Morning Herald.

 The case was massive news in Australia and earned worldwide fame after the 1988 Meryl Streep movie about the case, “A Cry in the Dark.” One of Streep’s lines from the film— “a dingo ate my baby”—has become immortalized in pop culture. 

Sydney Central Station. Ms Berejiklian announced an overhaul of Railcorp, citing unsustainable operating costs. (The Epoch Times)

Bush work near the new Sydney Inner West Light Rail extension has been suspended after the discovery of harmful contaminants in the soil.

NSW Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian announced that preliminary test results of soil samples taken from land adjacent to the defunct freight line, where rail extensions are now planned, showed “concerning levels” of lead, arsenic and asbestos.

Copper and hydrocarbons were also detected in the soil.

The government has immediately stopped volunteer bush rejuvenation efforts from individuals and community groups within Bushcare “at any RailCorp site across the State until further advice, and consultation with other Government agencies.”

“The land where stations will be built will be properly remediated as part of the construction, but I am acting today to minimise any potential risk to members of the community who have selflessly given their time to make their local environment more beautiful,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“I want to ensure no-one is exposed to any unnecessary risk either in the inner west, or elsewhere.”

Earlier this month, Ms Berejiklian announced an overhaul of Railcorp, citing unsustainable operating costs. She said RailCorp is one of the least cost effective systems in the world, operating at $10 million per day.

What’s more, it is very, very bad for media coverage of climate change and the physical environment in which we all live. Rinehart is a confirmed opponent of the carbon tax, with a track record of successful activism – upholding the interests of mining billionaires in thwarting the original mining super profits tax and contributing to Rudd’s downfall. Her latest bid signals a growing appetite for political influence.

Fairfax journalists must also be rather worried at the prospect. Her recently acquired directorship on the board of Ten Holdings (with 10% of the company shareholding) reputedly aided the launch of the TV career of tabloid warrior/columnist, Andrew Bolt, providing a soap box for right wing commentary and coalition politicians.

A 10% shareholding in Ten Holdings gained her a place on the board. A similar shareholding in Fairfax Media could do the same trick for her there (though one of Fairfax’s biggest shareholders says it wouldn’t support a board spot), making her the company’s biggest single investor. Fairfax Media has a history of rejecting bids for power by individual directors. But Gina Rinehart’s rapidly growing billions – which look set to make her the world’s richest woman – could be the acid test.

It will come as no surprise to anyone that rich people resent paying tax. But the pathway to media power and political influence that Rinehart is embarking on to remedy this irritant will have serious ramifications for us all.

Opposition treasury spokesman, Joe Hockey, says he is “comfortable with the country’s richest person increasing her stake in Fairfax Media”. But many of the public will be feeling decidedly uncomfortable. They have good reason, given Rinehart’s recent activism against both the mining tax and the carbon tax, measures taken by a Labor government in the public interest.

Rinehart’s close relations with Coalition politicians – three of whom accompanied her to a lavish wedding in Hyderabad last year – is further evidence of her aspiration for political influence, if any was needed.

Given the parlous state of print media revenue streams, her bid is certainly not financially motivated. But the additional media power of Fairfax board membership would position Rinehart well to form sweetheart deals for “her lobby group”, Australians for Northern Development and Economic Vision. These might include locking in Coalition climate change policy toward a low-to-no-action agenda with taxes on mining magnates reduced or counter balanced in other ways.

The 2011 Lowy Poll indicated that the Australian public is losing conviction that urgent action is needed on anthropogenic climate change. This is even as climate scientists offer evidence that time for remedial action is all but gone.

Adaptation, not mitigation, is now the focus of many government agencies. But this shift seems largely lost on the general public, if the Lowy Poll findings are anything to go by. The passing of the carbon tax should have marked a turning point in the public conversation, moving us all more in the direction of “what” we can do, rather than pointing us in the opposite direction of “why” do anything. Rinehart’s business interests undoubtedly lie with that backwards vision.

That an unelected person can so expediently buy her way into a position of political influence says as much about the shortcomings of our regulation of media ownership as it does about Rinehart’s ambitions. Senator Conroy’s comments regarding the need for a public interest test on media diversity could yet produce some public benefit.

Front-page news coverage of climate change to date has tended to be dominated by politics and controversy rather than by the science or the alternative courses for action. But environmental journalists employed by Fairfax newspapers – businesses that pride themselves on their editorial independence – have consistently reported the broader issues and the ramifications of climate change (though these stories rarely make the front page).

It would be nice to think that public support for Fairfax’s culture of editorial independence will help the company to resist any attempts by Rinehart to call the shots. But it is going to be left to the current board members and senior staff to play that role, an unenviable one by any measure.

Mary Debrett is a Senior Lecturer in the Strategic Communications program at La Trobe University.

This article was originally published at The Conversation.

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Greg Combet during last year's announcement of the Carbon Tax, on July 10, 2011, in Canberra. (Stefan Postles/Getty Images)

SYDNEY—The Federal Government has announced it will spend $340 million on three new energy efficiency programs to assist local governments, community organisations, low income households and smaller businesses.

In a joint media release on Feb 9, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Greg Combet, Minister for Regional Australia Simon Crean and Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change Mark Dreyfus announced the programs package.

“The community accepts the need for action on climate change and the programs announced today are another step in the transition to a cleaner economy”, said the statement.

Local governments, not-for-profits and community organisations were allocated the majority of the funds, with $200 million to upgrade energy efficiency in public infrastructures such as council buildings, stadiums, education facilities, town halls and nursing homes.

A further $100 million was committed to support low income households across Australia and $40 million to support small- and medium-sized businesses and community groups through information and advice on energy efficiency options.

Submissions for funding from the programs, to be delivered as grants, will open on Feb 13.