Media wrap - Listing Labor's broken promises
POLITICS AND ECONOMICS
Elections
Kevin Rudd's 795 days of empty promises – Kevin Rudd has started the year with a broken promise, adding to a lengthy list of abandoned pledges made by the Government since he was sworn in on December 3, 2007 - 795 days ago – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Trail of broken promises – Kevin Rudd is yet to deliver on dozens of election commitments, leaving a trail of backflips and broken promises as he prepares to fight for a second term. An analysis of Labor's 2007 election commitments reveal many have been quietly axed or are far from being met – Adelaide Advertiser
Belinda Neal battles as Labor revolts against her – Controversial Federal MP Belinda Neal's own branch members have called on her to resign for "the good of the nation" in an unwanted pre-election headache for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Attorney General Mike Atkinson meets his invisible man, Aaron Fornarino - "Reports of your non-existence are greatly exaggerated" declared Attorney-General Michael Atkinson as he came face to face with the man he publicly said did not exist. The state's top legal officer met blogger Aaron Fornarino at Queen St cafe yesterday afternoon in the electorate of Croydon, where they both live – Adelaide Advertiser
Mandatory jail terms 'lazy' - Attorney-General Rob Hulls has turned up the heat on the law-and-order debate before this year's state election, declaring that mandatory sentencing is the ''recourse of lazy politics'' – Melbourne Age
Political life
The Castle star Anthony Simcoe trains Queensland ministers – Five junior Queensland Cabinet ministers have undergone intensive training with one of the stars of Australian film The Castle to help them joust more effectively with the media and Opposition – Brisbane Courier Mail
Joyce in firing line after aid blooper – The government is demanding the opposition restate its commitment to increasing the foreign aid budget after its finance spokesman, Barnaby Joyce, advanced an argument for paring back aid levels to pay off debt and fund Coalition election promises. In a National Press Club address yesterday, Senator Joyce also took aim at the public service, flagging large-scale job cuts should the Coalition be elected – Sydney Morning Herald
I knew nothing more about Fitzgibbon and Liu, says Gillard – The Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, says she knew nothing about allegations of undisclosed aspects of the association of the Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon and the businesswoman Helen Liu, even though her office had been handling media inquiries and freedom-of-information requests about the issue for eight months – Sydney Morning Herald
Economic matters
Opposition 'Henry Review' wants income tax cut to 20% - While attacking the government for not releasing the Henry tax review, the Coalition has for 13 months been sitting on a report that recommends taxing the family home, extending payroll tax and cutting income tax to 20 per cent – Sydney Morning Herald
Defence
Kevin Rudd's secret war on Iran – Four Australian shipments to Iran
Foreign affairs
Diplomat to fly out as India revs up criticism over students – India ’s high commissioner, Sujatha Singh, will return to Delhi for talks next week amid rising diplomatic tension over attacks on Indian students in Australia Melbourne , labelling Victoria
Indian envoy attacks Victoria over violence – India’s top envoy to Australia has delivered a stinging complaint to Governor-General Quentin Bryce over attacks on Indians in Melbourne, labelling Victoria a state ''in denial'' over the severity of the problem. Revelations about the top-level meeting came as it emerged Sujatha Singh would return to Delhi next week for talks on Australia's response to the attacks and Premier John Brumby became embroiled in a stoush with India over the handling of the issue – Melbourne Age
Joyce questions foreign aid cost in time of debt - Shadow finance minister Barnaby Joyce has called into question Australia
Surprise peace talks in Canberra over Fiji diplomatic ties – Canberra has announced a surprise peace offering to Fiji
Education
NT students up there with the best, say Govt – The Government is crying foul over figures compiled by the opposition that show urban Territory schools are failing to meet the national average in country-wide tests – Northern Territory News
Industrial relations
Business to appeal against 'flawed' Fair Work ruling – In a new test of federal Labor's workplace laws, employers will challenge a Fair Work Australia decision to throw out an agreement between one of the nation's biggest aged-care operators and two unions that would have allowed employees to work more flexible hours without paid overtime – The Australian
Opinions
Coalition making sceptics of us all – Peter Hartcher in the Sydney Morning Herald writes that it was a puzzle until Barnaby Joyce solved it for us. Tony Abbott's Coalition doesn't believe that man-made climate change is real. He translated the Senator’s National Press Club address as meaning we're doing it because we have to pander to the electorate's views, even if we think they've been gulled by a giant fraud.
Give good teachers a gold star and put the bad ones out to pasture – is Miranda Devine’s solution – Sydney Morning Herald
Disbelieving fans put faith in the lord – David Marr goes and listens to Lord Christopher Monckton talk at Canberra
Burying it won't solve the carbon problem - writes Peter Cosier in the Sydney Morning Herald of the Opposition’s policy to pay farmers, through a tender system, to store carbon in agricultural soils.
Barring disabled migrants makes Australia the loser – Alecia Simmonds writes in the Melbourne Age that a Senate committee inquiry into the migration treatment of disability in Australia is revealing that Australia
Hot air will fill election year – Peter van Onselen in The Australian writes that despite the intricacies of the climate change debate, details could be light on the ground, with both sides fearing they will get caught up in John Hewson-style 1993 GST election complexities.
Don't count your trees, forests aren't that green - New research suggests that forests are not the carbon sinks they were assumed to be, writes Gary Johns in The Australian. Climate change policy-makers will have to return to the drawing board.
Opposing plans compatible – Kevin Rudd's emissions trading scheme and Tony Abbott's "direct action plan" are being pitted against each other as if they are polar opposites, but most developed countries plan to use a bit of both to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions – Lenore Taylor in The Australian
France's burka ban a boost for equality – says Greg Sheridan in The Australian. French republicanism demands something of the citizen and asserts certain fundamental values.This is most evident in the law banning the hijab, or Muslim headdress, from state schools.
Mad mullahs believe bad science is gospel – Global warming believer Kevin Rudd has adopted the strategies of radical ayatollahs to push his agenda for a huge new tax on Australians and a global wealth redistribution scheme – Piers Akerman in the Sydney Daily Telegraph
BUSINESS
Federal Court blocks CSR break-up over asbestos victims – Industrial giant CSR is facing a major battle to offload its sugar business, following a shock court judgment yesterday that blocked its $3 billion demerger plans amid concerns about potential asbestos claims – The Australian
Unholy alliance scuttles CSR bid - An unlikely coalition of the NSW government and James Hardie has helped scuttle a plan by the former asbestos miner and manufacturer CSR to split into two companies – Sydney Morning Herald
Caught on film, future in balance - The future of a Macquarie stockbroker hangs in the balance after he was caught on national television ogling semi-nude pictures of model Miranda Kerr on his work computer – Melbourne Age
ENVIRONMENT
Coalition plan 'to lift carbon output 13pc' – Kevin Rudd has sought to torpedo Tony Abbott's new climate change policy, releasing normally confidential advice saying the plan would not slash the nation's carbon emissions, but drive them up by 13 per cent. But the opposition has rejected the Department of Climate Change brief as dodgy, branding the government as desperate to counter a public backlash against its planned carbon emissions trading scheme – The Australian
Rudd Government says Opposition Leader Tony Abott's climate-change plans will not cut emissions – Tony Abbott says he has "a chance of winning" this year's election but his climate change credibility will come under fire today with the Rudd Government claiming the Opposition's plan will not cut emissions – Melbourne Herald Sun
Hole in Abbott's climate fix – Tony Abbott's "simple" plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions cannot achieve the cuts claimed and will instead result in an increase in national carbon dioxide emissions, new confidential modelling obtained by The Adelaide Advertiser shows.
'Mad Monk' meets Monckton - A day after releasing his climate change policy, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has met the world's most famous climate change sceptic, Christopher Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley – Melbourne Age
Tony Abbott's compost idea is not so corny - Peter Cosier, from the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, yesterday welcomed the Coalition's commitment to increasing carbon stored in Australian soil and vegetation – The Australian
MEDIA
Aborted broadband plan cost us $17m – The Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, ignored repeated warnings from the public service that his initial broadband network proposal was doomed to fail, costing taxpayers $17 million by the time the plan was aborted – Sydney Morning Herald
LIFE
Law and order
Top Queensland cop warned of dirty officers – Queensland
Geelong star Mathew Stokes facing life ban from AFL over drug-dealing charges – Melbourne Herald Sun
Child rapist made hundreds of dollars in phone sex calls from taxpayer-funded cottage outside Ararat Jail – Melbourne Herald Sun
Pilot Frederick Martens sues over false rape case – A Queensland pilot wrongfully jailed for nearly 1000 days on false child-rape claims says the Australian Federal Police made a decision to "get the bastard" before their bungled case was exposed – Brisbane Courier Mail
Terror strikes the streets of Darwin – Terror hit the streets of Darwin
Real estate
Repossessions and mortgage stress soar – The number of Queensland
The drink
TV violence fuels nastier bar brawls – Hoteliers have told a federal government inquiry into youth violence that pub brawls had not increased but attacks were more vicious and visible – Sydney Morning Herald
Comments