PM stresses support for blue collar jobs - Business Spectator

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has further entrenched her appeal to Australia's blue collar workers by reiterating her support for auto industry subsidies and saying her job is to run the economy “in the interest of working people”, while accusing the Coalition of supporting wealthy voters at the expense of blue collar workers, according to a report by The Australian.

Ms Gillard dismissed Coalition claims that Labor's carbon tax will hurt the country's already weakened manufacturing sector, calling it a “disgusting” example of scaremongering.

However, Coalition leader Tony Abbott's claims were supported by Alcoa managing director Alan Cransberg, who yesterday said the carbon tax would increase pressure on his company, which yesterday announced a review into the future of its Point Henry aluminium smelter at Geelong.

“Obviously post July 1 that will make life more difficult for us,” Mr Cransberg said, according to The Australian, referring to the carbon tax. “Post July 1 we have obviously got another challenge to overcome and we're very keen on doing that.”

But yesterday Ms Gillard insisted her government supporting the manufacturing sector.

“We, unlike Mr Abbott, believe that the economy should be run in the interest of working people, that we should have a diverse economy for the future, that manufacturing should take its part and that the car industry needs to be part of that.”

Be the first to comment on this story.

Wright By:kevin,Tags:ed hardyed hardy clothingChristian Audigier

Victorian man found dead in Laos hotel room - Ninemsn

The bodies of a young Melbourne backpacker and a woman have been found in a Laos hotel room.

Staff at a hotel in the central province of Luang Prabang came across the bodies at the weekend, a spokesperson from the Provincial Tourist Police told ninemsn.

It is believed the bodies had been in the room for several days before staff noticed and called police.

ninemsn has received unconfirmed reports the woman was his Dutch girlfriend.

The Dutch embassy in Bangkok indicated they were aware of reports of a missing person in Laos, but they would not provide further details.

"We can't give you any information about any person at this time because of privacy," a Dutch embassy spokesman said.

Do you know more? Let us know by sending an email to news.feedback@ninemsn.com.au

The 22-year-old is the third Australian to die in Laos in the past month.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade today confirmed the death but would not disclose how the man died.

"Consular staff in Australia are providing assistance to the man’s family," a spokesperson told ninemsn.

DFAT learned of the death yesterday from the Foreign Relations Office in Laos.

The family, who live in the inner western suburb of Yarraville, have been informed of the tragedy.

The death comes after 19-year-old Melbourne man Daniel Eimutis was found in a river three days after going tubing with friends in Vang Vieng two weeks ago.

Daniel, a strong swimmer, did not return to his guesthouse after he went tubing and is believed to have drowned.

Earlier in the month, 26-year-old Sydneysider Lee Hudswell was also killed while tubing in Vang Vieng.

It is believed he landed badly after jumping off a tower into the river.

Wright By:kevin,Tags:ed hardyed hardy clothingChristian Audigier

Land-rights protesters confront Premier - ABC Online

Print Email

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Broadcast: 08/02/2012

Reporter:

Western Australia's Premier Colin Barnett has been confronted by about 50 protesters who describe a billion-dollar native title deal as a sham.

TONY JONES, PRESENTER: West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has been confronted by protestors opposing a prospective billion dollar native title deal.

About 50 protestors voiced their anger outside a meeting between the State Government and the South-West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council.

Protestors say the deal covering Perth and the state's south-west is a sham and won't benefit the majority of the region's Indigenous people.

Mr Barnett waited inside for half an hour due to security concerns before being escorted to his car.

PROTESTOR: In 10 years' time there'll be nothing for our generations after us.

COLIN BARNETT, WA PREMIER: Yes, there are protestors, there are people who don't agree. There are people in the white community, if you like, who don't agree with this settlement either, but the vast majority of people do support it.

TONY JONES: Some protestors carried a small tent which they later set up at state Parliament.

Today's events came just a fortnight after angry protests in Canberra about the future of the Aboriginal tent embassy.

Do you have a comment or a story idea? Get in touch with the Lateline team by clicking here.

Wright By:kevin,Tags:ed hardyed hardy clothingChristian Audigier

I'm not a wowser, Newman tells Christians - Brisbane Times

If you have trouble accessing our login form below, you can go to our login page.

Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.Wright By:kevin,Tags:ed hardyed hardy clothingChristian Audigier

Search for husband of dead Greta woman - Newcastle Herald

A MAJOR search is under way for the husband of a Hunter woman found strangled in the back shed of her grandmother’s house as investigators reveal they have no ‘‘formal’’ suspects in the murder.

Darren Fishburn, 42, has not been seen since the body of his wife, Tammy, was discovered by her daughter on the floor of the back shed of the Greta home on Tuesday morning.

The search is centred on bushland at the southern end of Lake Macquarie, near Wyee and Morisset, after Mr Fishburn’s mobile phone was tracked to the area.

The phone signal has not moved since it was discovered on Tuesday.

Mr Fishburn is a known four-wheel drive enthusiast and police are also seeking his missing red 1989 model Nissan Patrol with registration plates YAE-923.

Strike Force Wintervale detectives will only say they hold concerns for the welfare of Mr Fishburn after confirming they were now treating his wife’s death as murder.

Mrs Fishburn, whom relatives said also went by her maiden name of Sindermann, is believed to have been killed on Monday night and left on the property owned by her elderly grandmother, Irma Sindermann.

Mr and Mrs Fishburn had been living at the Wyndham Street property.

Early autopsy results have confirmed the 43-year-old was strangled.

Irma Sindermann, who has lived in Greta for more than 50 years, was found unharmed inside the house and is being cared for by relatives.

Hunter Valley crime manager Detective Inspector Trent King said it was too early to release how relatives had known to look in the shed for Mrs Fishburn or any motive for the murder.

Detective Inspector King said investigators were starting to take formal statements from relatives and friends.

They did not have any formal suspects.

The Polair helicopter joined members of the Public Order and Riot Squad and other police in searching bushland near the banks of Lake Macquarie near Wyee yesterday after failing to find any trace of Mr Fishburn on Tuesday afternoon. The riot squad was called as part of its charter of being search experts.

A triangulation of Mr Fishburn’s mobile signal identified an area around the south-western edge of Lake Macquarie and across the water to Swansea as being where the mobile could be.

Neighbours say the couple were friendly, with Mr Fishburn enjoying showing people his large live snake collection at the Greta property.

Information should be forwarded to Hunter Valley police or Crime Stoppers on 1800333000.

Wright By:kevin,Tags:ed hardyed hardy clothingChristian Audigier

Detention centre running costs reach $1bn - Sydney Morning Herald

If you have trouble accessing our login form below, you can go to our login page.

Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.Wright By:kevin,Tags:ed hardyed hardy clothingChristian Audigier

Defence apologises to whistleblowers - Adelaide Now

Defence Minister Stephen Smith said Defence secretary Duncan Lewis had written apology letters to the three. / AAP Source: AAP

DEFENCE has formally apologised to three whistleblowers who revealed how incorrect and even fabricated data was regularly inserted into security vetting applications.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith said Defence Department secretary Duncan Lewis had written apology letters to the three yesterday.

Those letters were either delivered or in the post, he said.

Mr Smith said the recommendation to apologise to the three defence officials was in his view absolutely correct.

"And that's been done," he told ABC Television.

The issue emerged last year when the three Defence Security Authority (DSA) workers from the vetting centre in Brisbane told the ABC they regularly faked information, such as addresses or previous workplaces, on security documents. Defence initially rejected these claims.

In a report tabled in Parliament yesterday, Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Dr Vivienne Thom confirmed that was exactly what happened.

The problems arose because security vetting forms required applicants to provide a very detailed account of their life, including full dates and details of education, previous employers and overseas travel.

Many applicants simply didn't know all this information and left fields blank.

However the electronic forms would not upload to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) unless all field were filled.

So vetting centre employees resorted to what were termed "workarounds", inserting their own data, sometimes moving dates to fill gaps or fabricating addresses or employers.

Defence is now undertaking the arduous task of checking all the applications for incorrect data.

Mr Smith said he could give no guarantee that someone had not slipped through the vetting process.

"My own judgment is in the high or top security levels, there is a low risk," he said.

"But that is not a risk that we can either be complacent about or take for granted and we simply have to go through security assessment by security assessment individually to ensure that each and every one are eliminated."

Mr Smith said 3100 of 5300 applications had been checked with no change to the outcome.

"I hope that is the outcome for all of them. My own judgment is we are dealing here with a low risk but it is a low risk which, if it comes to pass, there are high and adverse and serious consequences," he said.

Wright By:kevin,Tags:ed hardyed hardy clothingChristian Audigier