Media wrap - A score card on the State economies
Economic matters
NSW economy is the worst – A lack of Government planning over the past decade to cater for increasing population growth has seen NSW emerge as the worst performing economy of all the states and territories, according to a report prepared by CommSec – Sydney Daily Telegraph
NSW last in ranking of state economies – Sydney Morning Herald
Queensland's economy dormant as the state slips in ratings – Brisbane Courier Mail
WA tops nation for economic growth – The West Australian
WA, ACT enjoy top economies – The Australian
Graduate skills shortage looming – Queensland
Political lurks and perks
Queensland MPs keep perks as federal salaries get overhaul – Queensland MPs are pocketing $34,000-a-year more than their counterparts in Canberra
Elections
Business seeks SA Parliamentary reform – Radical changes to South Australia
State's public service too bloated – Billions of taxpayer dollars that could be spent on health, education and public transport are being wasted by bloated State Government bureaucracies, Business SA chief executive Peter Vaughan says – Adelaide Advertiser
Facebook cheat hijacks Premier's identity – Premier Mike Rann's name and image have been hijacked by a Facebook user pretending to be the Labor leader – Adelaide Advertiser
Security
Airport staff face tighter checks - As Transport Minister Anthony Albanese met US Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute yesterday to discuss tighter airport security, government sources doused suggestions Australia
Transport
Brace yourself for the Metro meltdown – Tens of thousands of Sydney
Foreign relations
Japan pins whale row on Gillard – Japan
Australian consular staff contact accused man in India – Australian consular officials have visited a Gold Coast man jailed in India Australia and India
Anger at funeral of murdered man – There were scenes of grief mixed with anger at the funeral of Nitin Garg at his home in Jagraon in the northern Indian state of Punjab yesterday, as well over 600 people came to pay their last respects – Sydney Morning Herald
Jaspreet Singh's burns raise questions – Family and friends of an Indian man who alleges he was set on fire by four men have steadfastly rejected suspicions that the fire was of his own doing – The Australian
Book claims 1969 snub set Malaysia's Mahathir against Australia - Barry Wain, an Australian journalist who has watched Dr Mahathir over 37 years of living in Asia, provides some of the answers to the mystery, revealing in a book an Australian diplomatic faux pas dating back almost 40 years – Melbourne Age
Health and hospitals
Doctors demand free aircon to save elderly - Doctors are demanding free airconditioners be installed in all public housing for tenants over 75 and $1000 means-tested rebates for other elderly people, to help defray the cost of heat-protection measures such as block-out blinds – Melbourne Herald Sun
Probe into prostheses inserts urged - The National Joint Replacement Registry, run from the University of Adelaide
Industrial relations
Opposition dismisses 'cheapskate' leave model – The woman charged with crafting the Coalition's paid parental leave policy has dismissed Labor's proposed scheme as a ''cheapskate'' model which does not allow new parents enough time with their babies – Sydney Morning Herald
Union body wins $10m of Fair Work campaign funds – A $10 million chunk of the money earmarked by the Government for explaining its new Fair Work laws will go straight to a union trust fund, outraging small business and the Opposition – Melbourne Age
Opinions
Harming a cause with a thoughtless, stupid stunt – Alison Rehn in the Sydney Daily Telegraph writes that today is day 50 of Peter Spencer's hunger strike. Supporters of the 58-year-old have decided that to mark the occasion, they'll hold a big picnic right under his nose.
Police must act on thugs – Who controls Melbourne
Those waging war on society shouldn't have access to its law – Paul Sheehan argues in the Sydney Morning Herald that the greatest single burden in making a more effective response to terrorism is the West's own legal system.
Self-serving advertisements a shameful exploitation of power - The rules on government communications seem to allow blatant politicking writes Tom Ormonde in the Melbourne Age
Violence in the streets injures us all – Russell Gruen in the Melbourne Age writes of the the appalling outcome of thoughtless actions.
Leaders place plain speaking on the agenda – Japan
BUSINESS
Qantas digs in for battle in Vietnam – Qantas expects the investigation into its Vietnamese joint venture, Jetstar Pacific, to run for months. It emerged that the interrogation of its two Australian executives is the latest in a string of concerns raised by authorities recently – Sydney Morning Herald
Swan warned that tax rulings deter investors – The nation's ability to fund billions of dollars in much-needed infrastructure is under threat because of tax rulings designed to crack down on private equity raiders, the Treasurer Wayne Swan has been warned – Sydney Morning Herald
ENVIRONMENT
Anti-whalers claim victory despite boat loss - Anti-whaling activists believe they have prevented the Japanese from slaughtering any more whales following Wednesday's violent clash that saw the protesters' boat the Ady Gil sliced in two and eventually sunk – The West Australian
Rich nations 'ganged up' in Copenhagen - In the first detailed, post-Copenhagen interview with the Western media by a Chinese official, climate change ambassador Yu Qingtai told The Melbourne Age that the summit was ''a step in the right direction''. But he repeatedly accused rich countries of ganging up on China
MEDIA
Seven off and rating early with some of its biggest television shows - Among the top picks that viewers will get to see earlier than expected are Cougar Town, the new comedy starring Friends actor Courteney Cox as a woman on the prowl, and My Kitchen Rules, a reality cooking show that turns couples' homes into restaurants for the night. Both will go to air before the official start of the ratings season on February 8 – Melbourne Herald Sun
LIFE
Law and order
Australia's baby-faced thugs - young kids in AVO epidemic – Kids as young as 10 are turning to the courts to protect them from fellow students, with 613 taking out apprehended violence orders against other children last year – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Call for croc trap spy cams – Croc traps should be equipped with hidden cameras to help prosecute "idiots" jumping on the life-saving cages, according to a Territory politician – Northern Territory News
Consumer affairs
Motorists burned at bowser, says RACQ – Queenslanders are paying up to 9¢ a litre too much for premium unleaded fuel, the RACQ says. And motorists have little choice but to pay inflated prices, with more service stations removing regular unleaded bowsers – leaving just premium and ethanol-blended fuel, E10 – Brisbane Courier Mail
Retail and travel top consumer complaints - he collapse of whitegoods manufacturer Kleenmaid and budget airline Indojet along with many shonky services and scams sparked a whopping 10,077 formal complaints to Consumer Protection in 2009 – The West Australian
Racism
Are Victorians racist? – Melbourne ’s new kids on the migrant block are from India Victoria
Real estate
End of the $200 rent in two years for Adelaide – Tenants have fewer than two years to find a home to rent for less than $200 a week in Adelaide
Taxis
More taxi drivers 'are not licensed' - While the number of unlicensed drivers is small, taxi industry figures say the problem is getting worse, especially at night when little or no policing is done – Melbourne Age
Comments
Some people speak about shortages as though they represent some absolute, readily identifiable lack of desirable services. Price is rarely accorded its proper importance in their discussion.
If you start raising wages and improving working conditions, and continue doing so, you'll solve your shortage and will have people lining up around the block to work for you even if you need to have huge piles of steaming manure hand-scooped on a blazing summer afternoon.
And if you think there's going to be a shortage caused by employees retiring out of the workforce: Guess again: With the majority of retirement accounts down about 50% or more, most people entering retirement age are working well into their sunset years. So, you won’t be getting a worker shortage anytime soon due to retirees exiting the workforce.
Some specialized jobs require training and/or certification, again, the solution is higher wages and improved benefits. People will self-fund their re-education so that they can enter the industry in a work-ready state. The attractive wages, working conditions and career prospects of technology during the 1980’s and 1990’s was a prime example of people’s willingness to self-fund their own career re-education.
There is never enough of any good or service to satisfy all wants or desires. A buyer, or employer, must give up something to get something. They must pay the market price and forego whatever else he could have for the same price. The forces of supply and demand determine these prices -- and the price of a skilled workman is no exception. The buyer can take it or leave it. However, those who choose to leave it (because of lack of funds or personal preference) must not cry shortage. The good is available at the market price. All goods and services are scarce, but scarcity and shortages are by no means synonymous. Scarcity is a regrettable and unavoidable fact.
Shortages are purely a function of price. The only way in which a shortage has existed, or ever will exist, is in cases where the "going price" has been held below the market-clearing price.