More speed cameras among new measures to cut road toll

MOTORISTS will be fined millions of dollars more as speed camera surveillance of Victoria's roads spreads.

The State Government will announce an expansion of its automated speed enforcement program in an effort to cut the road toll.

It is believed this will include more point-to-point and combined speed and red light cameras, as well as an increase in the number of hours mobile cameras will operate, including greater use of them at night.

More than 1.3 million motorists paid almost $270 million in traffic camera fines in Victoria in 2011-12.

Under the Coalition's four-year road safety plan to be launched, the Government will:

SPEND $1 billion over the next decade to fix the state's roads.

ORDER every motorcyclist and scooter rider to wear boots when riding or face an expected $176 fine.

MAKE all drivers and riders carry their driving licence or face an expected $140 fine.

CREATE more 40km/h speed zones and scrap 90km/h and 70km/h zones, by raising or lowering those limits by 10km/h.

INTRODUCE changes that give priority to trucks and cars on some routes and to public transport, pedestrians and cyclists on others.

The Baillieu Government is aiming to slash the road toll by 30 per cent, from 282 last year to fewer than 200, within a decade.

It also wants to reduce the number of serious injuries on our roads from the current 5500 a year to below 3850.

The boost in the use of speed cameras is among a suite of planned radical new measures in its road safety plan.

The plan commits it to "increase our use of automated speed enforcement, including point-to-point, mobile, speed and red light camera systems".

Regional roads in particular will be improved by sealing road shoulders, installing rumble lines, wire rope barriers or guard rails, and improving intersections.

The plan also confirms the introduction of several measures that were revealed exclusively by the Herald Sun this week.

These include all drink-drivers being ordered to fit alcohol interlock devices to their cars, at their own cost; every P-plater being banned from using hands-free mobiles while driving; the automatic 30-day impounding of vehicles belonging to drink-drivers who blow .1 or over; and the creation of a new "cocktail offence", carrying a minimum $2800 fine, for motorists caught with both alcohol and drugs in their systems.

The new measures are based on the findings of last year's road safety survey, which was published in the Herald Sun.

Speeding and drink- and drug-driving motorists in particular are targets of the Baillieu Government's strategy.

Excessive speed contributes to nearly 100 road deaths and 1700 serious injuries a year.

And drink-driving accounts for about 30 per cent of the road toll. The plan also focuses on cutting serious injuries on the roads.

"In the last 25 years, the road toll has been reduced by 60 per cent but the 'hidden road toll' of serious injuries has only been reduced by around 45 per cent in the same period," the plan says.

"We'll also give people tools to make more responsible choices, for example - Intelligent Speed Assist, which will help drivers comply with speed limits."

Vehicles fitted with ISA can detect the relevant speed limit and alert the driver if it is being exceeded.

The system can even override the driver by automatically reducing the vehicle's speed.

British research shows ISA could reduce the number of injury crashes by 36 per cent and the number of fatal crashes by 59 per cent.

The State Government's strategy says: "Where people do the wrong thing and put their own and others' lives at risk, we will come down hard with stronger enforcement and tougher penalties."

heraldsun.com.au 28 Feb 2013

One of the greater lies perpetuated by government and supported by their lap dogs, the corporate media.

The installation of more speed cameras is a revenue grab, and not of the concern of the public's safety.

The New South Wales government has deactivated many speed cameras as it was concluded that they are not effective in the so called campaign to reduce the road toll.

Ex police whistle blowers have confirmed that there is a policy to fraudulently report that an accident was caused due to speeding rather than the real reason of driver error.

No corporate entity can expose the government fraud relating to speed cameras and their inaccurate operation, as this would show a lack of integrity on the government's behalf to the uneducated masses, a matter that no one really cares about anyway.

Australia is truly a police state, with various degrees enforced on the masses from within the states and territories.

Apple to settle lawsuit on app purchases by kids

Apple could pay up to $US100 million after it agreed to settle a class action lawsuit that said customers were charged when their children unwittingly bought apps from the company's online store, a court filing shows.

Under the proposed settlement, Apple has agreed to provide a $US5 iTunes store credit to as many as 23 million affected customers, the court filing said. The final settlement figure may vary.

Also, those claiming $US30 or more from Apple may choose to receive a cash refund instead of an iTunes store credit, according to the filing.

The lawsuit, filed by five parents in 2011, involved allegations surrounding purchases in certain downloaded apps, which plaintiffs claim were made by children without the knowledge or permission of the account holder.

The lawsuit also alleged that "Apple failed to adequately disclose that third-party game apps, largely available for free and rated as containing content suitable for children, contained the ability to make in-app purchases."
The proposed settlement requires court approval. The court will hear the settlement on March 1.
Apple could not immediately be reached for comment outside of regular business hours.

brisbanetimes.coma.au 27 Feb 2013

A misleading and deceitful practice supported by Apple sees a class action lawsuit.

Apple is not a stranger to controversy, and breaches of privacy of its customers.

Apple was caught out using customer information from the stocks app.

The world has to wake up that Apple is using customer's private data from 'the cloud' storage, a technology that is supported by many manufacturers in order to gain access to private information.

Rapist 'mad dog' on the run from police

One of Victoria's most violent criminals, labelled sadistic and depraved, is on the run, and police fear he may be a public threat.

Antonio Loguancio is wanted for breaching the conditions of a supervision order, and is alleged to have assaulted a woman at the weekend.

Police have issued an arrest warrant for 40-year-old Loguancio who lives in West Heidelberg.

The fugitive task force has been searching Logunacio's usual haunts in the Heidelberg, Craigieburn and Dandenong areas.

Police say Logunacio is not allowed to leave Victoria, but may be driving a blue 1998 Ford Fairmont with the registration ZAY-968.

He is described as southern European in appearance, about 180cm tall with a medium build, approximately 90kg.

Loguancio, nicknamed 'Mad Dog', was jailed for a maximum of 12 years in 1998 for a string of violent offences, including rape and brutal attacks.

News Ltd reports his crimes range from kicking, punching and beating his female victim with a plank of wood to shooting arrows at her, and choking her with a belt.

On one occasion while armed with a shotgun he forced his victim to her knees, News Ltd reports.

Loguancio's convictions include six counts of rape, six of intentionally causing injury, four of threatening to kill and 11 assaults.

He has a lengthy criminal history, with a list of 30 convictions, including intentionally causing injury, dating back to 1995.

Some of his crimes are so shocking they have never been reported publicly.

Despite his vile crimes, he was granted early release in 2008.

Commander Doug Fryer said there is a risk to the community and Loguancio should not be approached.
"There is a risk to the community," he said.

"He is a violent individual with significant priors for violence, not just on women, but on people within the community.

"Make no mistake he has a history of being armed with weapons, both knives and possibly firearms."
Loguancio was once described by a police officer as the most unpredictable and vengeful criminal he has ever dealt with.

Police have warned the public not to approach Loguancio but immediately call Triple-0 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

"We don't want the public to approach him. We want them to contact us if they see him," Commander Fryer added.

au.news.yahoo.com 28 Feb 2013

A 'typical' story how the government lets criminals escape, just that this one has gained corporate media notoriety.

The government (deliberately) fails the general populous by lax sentencing, with a policy not to incarcerate criminals of Loguancio's calibre.

The police tried to cover up the failure to capture him, once it was noticed he was missing, and as a result put the community in danger.

Installation of speed cameras (read revenue raising equipment) is important in order to keep the community safe, but the notification of a danger to society and alleged rapist, Loguancio is not.

Husband loses property fight with ex-wife after judge accepts he was often absent on business

A HIGH-FLYING businessman has lost his property fight with his ex-wife who will get the kids, the house, and the diamond jewellery despite siphoning more than $200,000 from their joint account to pay her debts. 
 
One payment of $100,000 went to her father who had agreed to pay for the couple's wedding eight years earlier on the condition she give the money back if her husband ever "walked out".

The bizarre litigation came to a head in the Family Court, which handed the former wife 53 per cent of the property pool, including an $11,500 "prestige watch" bought for her by her ex-husband. She also received $1.7 million property, a $10,000 diamond bracelet and a $37,000 prestige car.

Justice Stuart Fowler ruled in her favour after hearing she raised the children, including one child with a severe illness, while her husband was on regular overseas business trips.

Disputes had erupted several times before the 2011 split with the husband spending long periods overseas.

One clash occurred after the husband shifted a large sum of cash out of an overseas bank to avoid the global financial crisis.

With his business on the brink of collapse, he returned to Australia, but found himself locked out of their property.

"(The) wife discovered the . . . property was not registered in joint names and lodged a caveat . . . there was an incident at the property involving the husband taking the keys and allegedly being assaulted," Justice Fowler said.

He said the wife withdrew almost $240,000 from the mortgage redraw facility and bought a $37,000 motor vehicle, paid $30,000 in legal expenses and "allegedly paid her father $150,000".

The husband tried to withdraw $500 from an ATM and discovered there was insufficient funds.

"The division of assets would see the wife receive $1,234,370 worth of the net assets and the husband receive $1,094,630 . . . I determine that result to be just and equitable," Justice Fowler wrote in his judgement on the case.

The ruling left the husband with a $1 million property given to him by his late father. He also kept a motorbike, a luxury car and artwork worth $25,500.

couriermail.com.au 26 Feb 2013

Another classic example of how the (government) law rules against the male in the family courts.

If one is not obedient to one's employer then one can quite easily be found on the streets with no job or career prospects.

The judge deliberately undermined the person as a primary financial provider for the family, and punished him for that.

Courts taking away ones rights.

Coles and Woolies bully tactics are fair game: manufacturer

WOOLIES and Coles may be bullying manufacturers but customers are the winners at the end of the day, says Sydney-based manufacturer. Suppliers to Woolworths and Coles are complaining about the bully tactics the two supermarket giants are using on them.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced last week that they are going to investigate "unconscionable conduct" by the supermarket giants and since then a bunch of suppliers have come forward to complain about Woolies and Coles bully tactics on pricing.

But Woolworths chief Grant O'Brien yesterday blamed the pricing pressures on suppliers on the entry of global rivals such as Aldi into the market.

"Welcome to the real world – it's competition my old sons"
One major Sydney-based manufacturer who has supplied the supermarket giants for 30 years says it is fair game.

He said that consumers will be the ultimate winners in this spread of house brands and the losers will be the big international brands.

"There's nothing that can be done about it and they're doing nothing outside the law," said the manufacturer. "It's a free market and what Coles and Woolies are ultimately doing is making products cheaper for the consumer. What is the ACCC going to do? Ask Coles and Woolies to put their prices up?"

The comments come as the ACCC vowed to protect suppliers who came forward with information about bullying tactics from the big supermarket chains, which control more than 70 per cent of grocery spending in Australia.

The Sydney-based manufacturer said however that the market domination of Coles and Woolies and their buying power only transcends into cheaper products for the consumer as they have worked out how to take the power out of the brands.

"What Coles and Woolies have done is taken the profit out of the word "brand" and they're fully within their rights to do that," he said. "Coles and Woolies have to compete with Aldi, which entered the market in 2001 and stock no brands at all. Now they also have to compete with Costco."

"If brands like Heinz for example want to open their own store and stock Heinz beans throughout the store they can do that.

The customers will decide
This is backed up by research released today by Nielsen which shows Australian shoppers are choosing home labels rather than well known brands to save money.

More than 11,600 Australian household shoppers were surveyed to identify the key attitudes and behaviours when it comes to shopping.

It found that Australian shoppers are choosing home brands and allowing discounts to influence their purchase decisions.

About 70 per cent said they often compare prices of private labels with manufacturer goods and many (60 per cent) believe supermarkets offer similar quality.

It will come right in the end
"It will come to an end when there is nothing left to squeeze out of the manufacturers and it will be back to an even playing field again," he said. "It's simply a period in history where it is better to be a supermarket than a manufacturer. I've been in the game 30 years and if I had my time again I would have bought shares in Coles and Woolies rather than go down the path I did. But that was my choice."

"Manufacturers are being screwed to the wall but it's a free market and will eventually come to an end when there is nothing left to squeeze out of them," he said.

DO YOU THINK IT'S FAIR GAME? Tell us below

"Manufacturers will have to adjust their investment decisions in Australia - lower - as recognition that the manufacturers profit margins, previously enjoyed, will not return," he said. "The current over supply of manufacturing capacity will, in time, diminish which in turn will lead to better pricing and result in better ROI [return on investment] for the manufacturers."

"The prices of some products are the same as they were 10 years ago. If it's arising in cheaper products for the consumer - isn't that what Coles and Woolies are supposed to do?"

The medium-sized manufacturer also said that it is a bad time for manufacturers but consumers are the winners in the war between the supermarkets and manufacturers and the only losers are the brands.

Coles and Woolies domination of grocery and fresh food market gives them the buying power which transcends into cheaper products for the consumer.

"Isn't that the end game? To make things cheaper for the customer?" he asked.

"I've been on the receiving end of the supermarket negotiation tactics all my life - it's a game of poker, it's not much fun but it has to be done."

He said that manufacturers need to be smarter with their costings and not send weak sales people into the field.

"Eventually the prices will go back up because manufacturing will be too tough a game to enter and there will be less players in the market," he said.

"Competition is being brought into areas like milk and bread – but the customers aren't complaining because they can get bread for a dollar a loaf. The farmers are crying poor but – ‘welcome to the real world - it's competition my old sons."

news.com.au 22 Feb 2013

What a load of rubbish that is perpetuated by the corporatocracy.

 

In this pretend (price) war, the customer apparently wins.

The end game is to destroy independent farmers, in order for the (colluding) duopoly to control the supply of food to the masses.

US govt wins electronic eavesdropping case

The US Supreme Court has blocked a lawsuit brought by human rights groups and others challenging a US government electronic surveillance program set up after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In a 5-4 ruling on Tuesday, the justices said the plaintiffs - which include Amnesty International USA and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) - had no legal standing to bring the case because they could not prove that they personally suffered from the government program.

The program at issue is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which was expanded in 2008 to let US intelligence agencies monitor international phone calls and emails in hopes of thwarting potential terrorist plots.

The justices did not address whether the program is constitutional, but rather whether the plaintiffs could present their constitutional challenge.

The decision was split along ideological lines, with the conservative majority ruling in favour and the four moderate judges voting against.

In the case, Clapper v Amnesty International, the administration of President Barack Obama asked the top US court to throw out the suit.

Government lawyers argued on behalf of James Clapper, director of national intelligence, and maintained that because the surveillance targets foreigners, the plaintiffs had no standing to sue.

The plaintiffs, which also included lawyers representing prisoners in Guantanamo and media organisations, maintained they could sue because their own private communications could also be intercepted in the electronic monitoring.

"We hold that respondents lack ... standing because they cannot demonstrate that the future injury they purportedly fear is certainly impending," read the majority ruling, written by Judge Samuel Alito.

"It is highly speculative whether the government will imminently target communications to which respondents are parties," Alito wrote.

An appeals court had earlier ruled in favour of the plaintiffs, stating that their fear of being monitored was not "paranoid or unreasonable".

Justice Stephen Breyer, writing the dissenting opinion, said there is "a very high likelihood" that the government will intercept "at least some of the communications, which include discussions with family members of those detained at Guantanamo, friends and acquaintances of those persons, and investigators, experts and others".

ninemsn.com.au 27 Feb 2013

In line with current new world order policies, no one can be hidden from authorities or corporations, everyone must be transparent.

Courts are government instruments that have a policy to work against the masses to rule in favour of the corporatocracy.

The always plausible excuse of 'terrorism' is given in order to 'protect' the general populous, but criminal organisations still flourish .

Another farce in the face of the gentiles (cattle).

Foreign workers manipulating controversial visa

THOUSANDS of foreign cooks, management consultants, accountants, recruitment experts and hotel bosses are getting work in Australia under the controversial 457 visa program.

And it is believed that many former overseas students, who otherwise don't qualify to remain here, are using the skills visa for "backdoor immigration".

heraldsun.com.au 26 Feb 2013

The actual figure is in the tens of thousands.

The government releases false information in order to cover up the real figures, in order to keep the 'sheeple' docile.

Unemployment figures are deliberately falsified to mask 'failure' of government.

Door shuts on thousands of cheap foreign workers

EXCLUSIVE: THOUSANDS of low-paid foreign workers will be stopped from coming into Australia and taking local jobs under a crackdown on visas. 
 
Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor revealed to the Herald Sun that growth in the 457 visa program was "out of step" with skills shortages and said the Gillard Government had evidence "rogue employers" were abusing it to get cheap labour.

The number of 457 visas has soared from 70,000 to 100,000 in the past two years.

Mr O'Connor said while some industries and regions had genuine shortages that needed temporary foreign workers, laws and regulations needed to be beefed up to stop rorts and close loopholes.

He predicted this could stop "thousands" of foreign workers taking jobs from locals.

"Rogue employers are deliberately employing people from overseas without giving a local a chance," he said.

It is the second time in three days the Gillard Government has moved to stem pain on a hot political issue after it reversed a $107 million funding cut to Victorian hospitals.

The changes, to be announced today by Mr O'Connor, include:

EXTRA investigation powers for inspectors to get information from bosses they suspect of being dodgy.
A NEW test to prove jobs were for "genuine" skills shortages because some employers were creating positions that were really "unskilled and possibly not even a real job".
CLOSING loopholes that allow foreign workers to be paid less than an Australian citizen by increasing from $180,000 to $250,000 the threshold at which they must pay "market rates".
STOPPING employers creating their own market to manipulate pay rates.
RAISING requirements for foreign workers to speak English.
RESTRICTING foreign workers being on-hired to a different employer in regions where there are not skill shortages.
CHECKING that employers offer training for locals to fill skills shortages before they seek foreigners.
"The Government cares about Australians getting jobs first," Mr O'Connor said.

"It has become clear that the growth in the 457 program is out of step with genuine skills shortages and the Government has evidence that some employers are using 457 visas to employ foreign workers over locals."
It has found skilled Australian tradespeople earning $220,000 were under-cut by foreign workers willing to accept $180,000.

Pay levels have been especially manipulated in the IT industry in Melbourne.

Low-skilled jobs have been dressed up as high-skilled ones with one company winning permission to bring in administrators who were really unskilled security guards.

And a Melbourne "start-up" company that didn't make money was created just to secure a cheap foreign worker for other duties.

Mr O'Connor also said the Government would examine the 457 visas of four Filipino welders at the centre of protests at a Werribee water project amid claims the system has been abused because there is no shortage of those skills in the area.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said last year there was "room for expansion" of the 457 program and said claims the market was being flooded with foreign workers was "ridiculous".

heraldsun.com.au 23 Feb 2013

Another enormous lie perpetuated by government and the corporate media.

The politics behind the globalisation trend is to disperse the trash population to first world countries, in order to devalue the worker's pay rate.

This action is supported by governments, politicians, corporations and businesses.

An example of this is China, where the human rights of workers are being violated on a grand scale, resulting in suicides, working for companies which produce products for example for Apple, etc.

There is no United States military invasion to free the slaves of the corporatocracy, as these 'illegal' actions are supported by governments.

The next article featured in the Herald Sun states that workers are still entering via government created 'backdoors'.

See article:

Foreign workers manipulating controversial visa 

Vodafone faces multimillion-dollar class action

Lawyers launching a class action over claims Vodafone did not offer a reliable mobile phone network will seek "tens of millions" of dollars on behalf of thousands of customers.

Law firm Piper Alderman announced on Tuesday it would go ahead with the long-mooted class action after it secured funding from Litigation Fund LCM to sue the telco.

This class action is going to take a long time to play out and there are no guarantees for consumers that they will receive compensation if it goes to court - our fears are that this will turn into a lawyer's picnic. 
Elise Davidson, spokeswoman for the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network

Sasha Ivantsoff, a partner with the law firm, said it planned to launch the action in the next three months after emailing 23,000 Vodafone customers who completed a survey and indicated their intention to join the class action.

Legal action against Vodafone was first threatened more than two years ago when issues with its network were brought to light by customers and the media.

The action was threatened over dropped calls, bad reception and poor data performance, but stalled after the firm failed to secure funding to back it.

Mr Ivantsoff said the action would cover people who were Vodafone customers in 2010 and 2011.
"They will need to re-enter their details, provide us a bit of information about how much money they were spending each month with Vodafone and that's pretty much it," Mr Ivantsoff said.

Vodafone reported that it lost 443,000 customers in the 2012 calendar year, with customers deserting the telco in droves since network issues were first brought to light

On its website, Litigation Fund LCM states it "prefers" to undertake projects in which the relevant legal claim is for at least $2.5 million. Gordon Grieve, Piper Alderman's chairman, could not quantify exactly how large the damages claim against Vodafone would be, but estimated it would be "in the order of tens of millions" of dollars.
Mr Ivantsoff said the firm has agreed to give Litigation Fund LCM 15 per cent of the total amount of damages if the matter settles successfully before the end of May or 33 per cent thereafter.

Vodafone would have to pay at least $50 million in compensation for 23,000 claimants to recover the cost of a two-year contract. If Vodafone paid this, LCM would take $18.15 million, plus legal costs, leaving about $30 million to be shared among 23,000 people.

Vodafone said in a statement that Piper Alderman had not contacted it about the action, but it was aware the firm the firm was set to announce a lawsuit. The telco said the law firm was known for promoting class actions, but had not "sought to discuss" claims of any customers with it.

Asked why it took more than two years to put together a class action, Mr Ivantsoff said that it took "a lot of work" to investigate the nature of the claims against Vodafone.

"We envisage being able to approach Vodafone sooner rather than later with the nature of the case, open some discussions and if they are unsuccessful then our objective is to file proceedings within three months," he said.

Elise Davidson, a spokeswoman for the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, the peak body that represents consumers on communications issues, said that instead of taking part in the class action customers unsatisfied with Vodafone's network should contact the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, a free service set up to resolve complaints.

"This class action is going to take a long time to play out and there are no guarantees for consumers that they will receive compensation if it goes to court – our fears are that this will turn into a lawyer’s picnic," Ms Davidson said.

Clarification: This story originally stated Piper Alderman was after "at least" $2.5 million in damages. Mr Ivantsoff originally said the firm was after that amount but this was later clarified as being "tens of millions" of dollars by Piper Alderman chairman Gordon Grieve.

smh.com.au 26 Feb 2013

The Australian legal system under it's general policy favours corporate fraud committed against the masses.

The Australian consumer watchdog the ACCC should have been taking Vodafone to the courts.

Any puny sums won in the class action law suite would be an insult.

The corporate media make it sound like an exorbitant amount of money the 'tens of millions', to the 443,00 unsatisfied customers.

Meanwhile lawyers charge 'funny money' to appear in court.

Another win for the legal system and not for the peasants.

Authorities investigate how Orbost Regional Health job given to fugitive Ashton Foley

MEDICAL authorities are investigating how an alleged con artist and fugitive was hired to run one of Victoria's top rural health services. 

 
American health bureaucrat Ashton Foley, 40, was employed as Orbost Regional Health (ORH) chief executive in December.

This is despite being wanted for breaching a community order by fleeing the state two years ago and being jailed in the US over fraud and identity theft.

ORH senior vice-president Andrew Martin said they were not aware of Ms Foley's history at the time and were running a "formal investigation" into the recruitment process.

"We will be meeting with the recruitment company next week to ensure all procedures were followed during the recruitment process," Mr Martin said.

He was unsure whether a police check was conducted.

Ms Foley yesterday faced Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court where Western Australian detectives applied for her extradition on charges of attempted extortion.

Police allege she demanded money she was not entitled to from her former WA employer, threatening to go to the media with confidential documents if they didn't comply.

The mother of seven, from Lake Bunga in the state's east, was granted bail and told to appear at a Perth court on March 1.

It is the second time this week she has faced a Victorian court. She was fined $1000 on Wednesday after pleading guilty to breaching a community-based order by leaving for WA in 2011.

That matter dated back to April 7, 2011, when she was put on the order for dishonesty offences, which had gained her a total of $4400 her lawyer said in court.

The Sunday Herald Sun understands the charges stemmed from not providing goods sold on eBay.

Recruitment company Health Financial managing director David Wenban believes all the correct procedures were followed when putting Ms Foley forward for the Orbost position, adding 10 references were checked.

But no calls were made to her former WA employee, who has since accused Ms Foley of providing false qualifications to get her job.

Ms Foley has been in the public spotlight since testifying in October to a WA Parliamentary committee about allegations of misconduct at the same workplace. She remains adamant she has done nothing wrong and the company is out to get her.

news.com.au 23 Feb 2013

That's no problems, as Australia employed Solomon Trujillo for the position of  CEO at Australia's largest telco Telstra, who was wanted the United States for questioning in relation to allegations of fraud, while he was in charge at a utility company. 

The information was posted at one time on wikipedia, and since then has been removed, due to threats made by Solomon Trujillo.

The previously deleted information from wikipedia can be found at:

http://solomontrujillo.blogspot.com.au/

CASH GRAB: Inactive bank accounts to be seized

HOUSEHOLDS face losing up to $109 million from their family savings as the Federal government moves to seize cash from inactive bank accounts. 

After legislation was rushed through parliament, the government will from May 31 be able to transfer all money from accounts that have not been used for three years into their own revenues.

This will mean that accounts with anything from $1 upwards that have not had any deposit or withdrawals in the past three years will be transferred to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.

The law is forecast to raise $109 million this year as inactive accounts for three years or more are raided by Treasury.


The money can be reclaimed from ASIC but the process can take months.

Experts warn this will have a negative impact on people that may have put money away in a special account for their children's education or decided to put an inheritance in a separate account for a rainy day.

The previous legislation allowed for bank accounts to remain inactive for up to 7 years before the money was transferred to ASIC.

Australian Bankers Association chief executive Steven Munchenberg said there is no benefit for consumers from the changes.

"It is very hard to see why this needed to be rushed through but there have been suggestions it was done more for the government's own financial circumstances rather than customers needs," he said.

Mr Munchenberg warned that unaware customers face having accounts frozen and could face months of delays trying to reclaim their won money from ASIC.

This cash grab comes as economists warn the government is on track to hand down a $15 billion budget deficit in May as company tax receipts collapse.

Before Christmas, Treasurer Wayne Swan junked the government's previously "rock solid" promise to produce a surplus in 2012-13.

The government had also been committed to surpluses in future financial years, too.

But despite the introduction of some tough cost-cutting measures, the latest research from global bank UBS forecasts the May budget will show a $12 billion black hole in revenues and cost overruns of about $3 billion. The biggest pain is coming from the expected $8 billion fall in taxes from the corporate sector.

heraldsun.com.au 26 Feb 2013

Australia, a unique microcosm, where politicians apply laws solely to the financial benefit of their corporate brethren.

Theft from private individual's bank accounts will now become an acceptable law, and completely legal.

Here are some responses to the article posted on heraldsun's website:

Daniel Joe Average of Swindletown Posted at 12:33 PM February 26, 2013

I can't believe the way this country is going. we have big government people and it needs to be trimmed. not only do we not have any real property rights. we now no longer have any real rights to our finances. this undermines capitalism in australia and the security of the banking establishment in my opinion. Back to the Moneybox.

blah d. blah Posted at 1:40 PM February 26, 2013

What is this cr@p? The government shouldn't be even looking at our accounts to see whether they are active or not. Keep your mitts of our money you dogs.

Frederick Masters of Melbourne Posted at 1:58 PM February 26, 2013

This is absolutely outrageous. Bank accounts are private property. No government or governmental body has any right whatsoever to seize the money in a bank account, let alone after 3 years. It is clear that we Australians have become dangerously complacent when it comes to just what politicians in this country think they can do in terms of our assets and finances. It is time a line was drawn fimrly in the sand.