Media wrap - Now it's time for broken promises

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS

Broken promises

Broken childcare, insulation promises humiliate PM - The Rudd government has broken a key election promise on childcare, and abandoned its commitment to revive its disastrous home insulation scheme, in a day of humiliating backdowns - Melbourne Age

Insulation, childcare pledges axed as poll looms - Sydney Morning Herald

Pork barrels

Audit finds roads scheme slush fund - The former Howard government's $400 million roads funding scheme could be seen as a political slush fund, according to a scathing audit report that shows projects in Coalition-held electorates had a much greater chance of being funded - Melbourne Age


Privatisation

Treasurer accused of misleading Parliament over Lotteries sale - NSW Treasurer, Eric Roozendaal, has been accused of misleading Parliament after he told the Legislative Council: ''No complaint has been made by any of the unsuccessful bidders about the Lotteries sale process'' - Sydney Morning Herald


Child care

Vacancies? Show me, says mother - Prue Warrilow, national convenor of Australian Community Children's Services, which represents not-for-profit childcare centres, said the data used to justify the decision was superficial - it did not specify the days or hours of availability, nor for what aged children - Melbourne Age


Political life

Wentworth is 'Hamlet with no prince' - The preselection process for the federal Sydney eastern suburbs seat of Wentworth is in effect on hold while Malcolm Turnbull considers requests to reverse his decision to retire at the election this year - Sydney Morning Herald

Economic matters

Australia 8th-richest: IMF - Australia has vaulted back into the top 10 of the developed world's rich list, the International Monetary Fund estimates, because it survived the global financial crisis while others went under - Melbourne Age

Health and hospitals

Rudd's prescription for Tassie - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd spent yesterday in Tasmania promoting the benefits of his $5 billion national health plan - Hobart Mercury


Welfare

Coalition dole reform push boosted by 'disengaged' youth - Nerly 40,000 young Australians aged between 15 and 17 are neither at school nor at work, bolstering the Coalition's push for reform of the welfare system - The Australian



Opinions

PM on the run from policy failures - Dennis Shanahan points out in The Australian that a clear-cut image of providing help and an expectation of a longer-term revival of a government subsidy plan to boost an industry brought to its knees yesterday became an empty stunt with the expectations completely unfulfilled.



Spoils to the patient party - Michelle Grattan in the Melbourne Age argues Tony Abbott is best advised to turn his attention to matters other than health.

A charter of rights is divisive? The vast majority think not - Frank Brennan in the Melbourne Age argues that the refusal to frame a human rights act ignores the will of the people.

Insulation bungle a case study in bad management - writes Mark Davis in the Melbourne Age

Accepting the reality of healhcare costs - Malcolm Farr in the Sydney Daily Telegraph wraps up the COAG health decisions

The pot takes on the kettle - Ted Baillieu berates Labor's secrecy and cries cash-for-access, so why the determined coyness over Liberal fund-raisers? - Paul Austin in the Melbourne Age

BUSINESS

BHP boss 'concerned' - BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers has sent a memo to all staff expressing ''great concern'' at the Cambodian ''tea money'' scandal and reminding them that working with integrity is ''critical to our success'' - Melbourne Age

ENVIRONMENT

Greens to push $40bn fast-rail link to Sydney - Today, Greens Leader Bob Brown will launch a campaign at Southern Cross Station for a major concept study into a high-speed rail link between Australia's two biggest cities, which his office has costed at $40 billion - Melbourne Age

Wilderness Society hit as leaders lose battle - Leaders of the strife-torn Wilderness Society are digging in, despite losing in court yesterday to internal opponents who want their resignations - Melbourne Age

LIFE

Real estate

First home owners' charge into market drives loan stress  - A combination of bigger loans and rising interest rates is likely to make first home owners vulnerable to mortgage stress - Melbourne Age

Sport

Melbourne Storm stripped of everything - The biggest scandal in Australian sporting history is threatening to wipe out Melbourne Storm, rugby league's most successful team of the past decade, after it emerged the club had won two titles while massively cheating on salary cap rules - Melbourne Age

The drink

Clubs are getting tough on drunks - Clubs are slapping bans ranging from a decade to life on booze-fuelled troublemakers and forcing new members to do a hard-hitting course on safe drinking as they try to tackle alcohol-related violence - Sydney Daily Telegraph
Suburban footballers will get SMS messages warning them to drink safely - Tens of thousands of suburban footballers will get weekly text messages from the State Government telling them to drink responsibly after games. Taxpayers will fork out $180,000 so that an SMS can be sent to 57,000 footballers, who are signed up to receive updated ladders via text message. It is part of the Championship Moves campaign and the Brumby Government's controversial "respect agenda" - Melbourne Herald Sun

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