Pressure is growing on controversial Victorian Liquor Licensing director Sue Maclellan over her enforcement of the state government’s liquor licensing laws following a backflip on live music by the Brumby government.
February, 2010
The pink list: Centrelink couples register scaring the pants off gays
I know it’s supposed to be all hugs and puppies for the gay community these days, but the ‘pink list’ being created by the government through Centrelink is a huge cause for concern, writes Sue-Ann Post.
Video of the Day: A musical ode to Paul Krugman
NY Times columnist and Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman may not seem like usual song fodder. But after a chance encounter with Krugman on a train, Loudon Wainwright III penned The Krugman Blues.
The problems are bigger than
Garrett
The problems of the insulation program won’t go away. They’re what happens when we try to re-engineer our energy consumption with limited capacity, and they will keep happening.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Peter Garrett and the “responsibility” paradox
Crikey readers weigh in on Garrettgate, Mary Mackillop and the changes to Sydney transport.
Morning Market Report: Market, Wall St Down as more results flood in
Wall Street fell 19 overnight. First down day in 5. It was a quiet session, traded in a narrow range with low volumes.
Business As Usual: Heroic work at Fairfax … Insurance slug on the way … Party poopers in the UK
Heroic cost-cutting at Fairfax Media; insurance costs ready to rise; the job market conundrum for the ageing; Chinese bankers take a new tack; and it’s still the status quo in the UK … that’s grey skies in case you were wondering.
Media briefs: Not-so-deadly boat hoons, National Enquirer gets respect, mobile pay hope
Dicing with death … at six nautical miles an hour, plus more vox pop gold from NT News, the National Enquirer tipped to win the Pulitzer prize, plus other media tidbits.
Terror white paper: shiny new language, same old laws
The counter-terrorism white paper issued today is long overdue and foreshadows a welcome shift in discourse on terrorism, writes Greens Senator Scott Ludlam.
Garrett is soiled but solid
Peter Garrett’s fate has nothing to do with the merits of his case and everything to do with how long he deprives the Government of clear air in its task of attacking Tony Abbott.
The Libs and the Scientologists — the film they’re happy for you to see
NSW Liberal Party members are hosting Scientology propaganda screenings in Parliament House, but insist it is the same invitation they would extend to any “community group”.
Can wind farms make people sick?
The wind turbine industry is not exactly an industry with a reputation for mendacity, but trust is fragile commodity.
Rudd navigates the thicket of early election timing
Rudd is a natural conservative, a low-risk player, and early elections are a risky strategy. If Rudd decides that the advantages of boosting the minor party strength in the Senate outweigh the disadvantages, he can do it.
I signed up for private health insurance. Means test the leech
This morning I dashed into Medibank in order to (finally) take out private health insurance and avoid (another) 2% bump in premiums before my birthday tomorrow. And then I logged on to the Age to read (another) op-ed telling me (again) what I already believe: that private health-care is an evil publicly funded leech that plays […]
Political snippets: Why Minter Ellison?
You have to wonder why a major law firm was needed to do the kind of work that should be a bread-and-butter task for the public service itself. Plus, the wailing over whaling and Roskamgate.
Guy Rundle: Rundle’s UK: Gordon Brown inhabits dark and deep waters
Gordon Brown is by all accounts socially awkward, outside of a close clan, bad-tempered, suspicious and constantly plotting. In other words, he’s a professional politician, in a position of great strain.
Kerry Stokes’ Caterpillar: the 1000 pound dozer in the room
The question remains, who benefits the most from Kerry Stokes’ WesTrac shuffle? Seems clear that the big winner will be Stokes himself.
Ombudsman and daughter: ABC conflict the talk of Victorian politics
Tension between government media units and senior journalists is hardly a revelation, but is there a legitimate perception issue when it comes to ABC state political reporter Josie Taylor’s family connection or just sour grapes from the Brumby government?
Tips and rumours: Tips and rumours: The mess in the NSW Libs
It seems its not just the NSW ALP who’ve had internal fighting, with a a humiliated and wounded Alex Hawke too embarassed to show up to a Liberal Party meeting, following his failed attempt at a spill.
Crikey Says: When it comes to the GFC, G=Greenspan, F=Fed, C … that’s your call
Who should take the rap for the Global Financial Crisis?
Garrett is safe but the problem will get worse, Stokes digging deeper, family matters at the ABC
The unsung Olympic spectacle: the kiss-and-cry
It seems that ice skating at the Olympics is not just unique for its sequined costumes and homophobic commentators. The “kiss-and-cry” area for ice skaters provides fodder for some of the most awkward moments in the whole Olympics.
Regulatory capture, American Airlines style
There has been some ugly reporting lately of a problem largely hushed up in Australia, which is the regulatory capture of air safety authorities by the airlines they are supposed to regulate. Ben Sandilands explains.
