Triple price rise for families

FAMILIES are facing a triple blow as yet another interest rate rise looms, petrol prices appear certain to jump, and inflation goes through the roof.

Economists say there is a 50-50 chance of a rate rise next month after inflation jumped above 4 per cent -- its highest level in almost seven years.

Another increase of 25 basis points by the Reserve Bank will take the average mortgage interest rate to 9.75 per cent.

Even if rates remain on hold, the 4.2 per cent inflation figure yesterday dashed hopes of a rates cut until well into next year.

And petrol prices are expected to climb to $1.60 a litre within weeks after a surge in crude oil prices.

The Consumer Price Index has jumped 1.3 per cent since December, driven by higher food, fuel and housing costs.

Just last week, most economists believed interest rates had probably peaked.

Treasurer Wayne Swan said inflation was "unacceptably high".

"I think they (prices) demonstrate the pain that people are feeling around the kitchen table, because they're simply unacceptably high," Mr Swan said.

"They underscore the need for a responsible Budget that gets spending under control and that tackles inflation and interest rate challenges."

The Treasurer is due to hand down his first Budget on May 13.

The Singapore Tapas price -- used by oil companies to set wholesale prices -- hit a record $124 a barrel yesterday.

Motorists were paying up to 155.9c a litre at the bowser, and the RACV warned the price could climb another 5c by early next month.

"If the crude price is sustainable, that is if it lasts for more than a week, that will flow through to motorists some time in May," RACV spokesman David Cumming said.

He said most Victorians had already filled up for the long weekend starting tomorrow.

"All the service stations I drove past on Tuesday night were completely packed. Motorists know that Tuesday is the best day to fill up," Mr Cumming said.

"That's why I don't understand why some stations put their prices up so high.

"They're not going to sell much fuel at those prices.

"Only a small number of people don't care about petrol prices."

CommSec equities economist Savanth Sebastian said the chance of a May interest rate hike had increased.

"The Reserve Bank aims to keep inflation between 2-3 per cent, but that goal is likely to remain out of reach without any lift in interest rates," Mr Sebastian said.

ANZ head of research Warren Hogan said homeowners would get no relief this year.

"There are no rate cuts coming before Christmas with inflation at these levels," Mr Hogan said.

Welfare groups said many families were struggling to cope with rising bills.

"For the first time ever, people who are on relatively good incomes are coming in to see welfare sector financial counsellors," Cath Smith of the Victorian Council of Social Services said.

Mr Swan said the latest inflation figures showed the Opposition failed to understand the pressures facing families.

"(Treasury spokesman) Malcolm Turnbull doesn't even recognise there's an inflation problem," he said.

Mr Turnbull, who in February said inflation was at manageable levels, yesterday said he had always emphasised the gravity of inflation.

But he said many of the underlying causes of inflation, such as oil prices, were beyond the control of government.

"The global credit crisis is going to put more upward pressure on rates and slow economic growth," Mr Turnbull said.

"That is why I encouraged the Reserve Bank not to raise official rates earlier this year and wait to see how the international situation developed."

Asked if the May Budget would now be even tougher, Mr Swan said: "We will be taking difficult decisions in this Budget when it comes to spending."

Herald Sun 24 Apr 2008

Police: McKenney Had 10 Doses of GHB

With each new day, more information is emerging about what happened in the crucial hours before Todd McKenney was discovered allegedly unconscious in Rushcutters Bay Park last Friday afternoon.

The Daily Telegraph today states that police have revealed McKenney had a glass vial containining 20ml of GHB in his pocket when he was arrested by police. Paul Dillon from NDARC says this is the equivalent of 10 doses, with a street value of $400.

More details have also emerged of what happened in the 12 hours before he was picked up. Witnesses have come forward to confirm McKenney was seen at DTPM’s Anzac Day Eve party at Tank the night before (click here to view Same Same’s photos from DTPM).

After Tank, he went to a friends place to “crash”, and also attended a party in Potts Point on Friday. The report says he left the party at 2:30pm, before being discovered banging his head against a fence fifty minutes later in Rushcutters Bay Park.

McKenney maintains his claim that he was the victim of a drink spiking. However, for the first time since he was arrested, McKenney has stopped talking to the media on instructions from his new lawyer and yesterday cancelled an afternoon press conference.

In a rather ironic twist, McKenney is scheduled to appear in the Adelaide Police Tattoo show this weeekend.

samesame.com.au - Christian Taylor, 29th April, 2008

Mc Kenney also referred to it a "G". So familiar with it, he called it by it's first name.

Todd McKenney loses licence for drink driving

V and radio host Todd McKenney is off the road for three months after pleading guilty to drink driving.

The Dancing with the Stars judge is used to handing out of his own verdicts, but today it was his turn.

Todd McKenney has been ordered to pay a 375 dollar fine and has lost his licence until July for a drink driving offence in March.

His lawyers tried to argue he needed the licence to from Bondi to Ryde to host a breakfast radio show.

But now the entertainer says he'll be looking for alternate transport.

“Maybe I’ll put an ad in the paper, maybe you can drive me…”

Livenews.com.au : http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/04/07/Todd_McKenney_loses_licence_for_drink_driving

Contempt of court

Meet lawyer Mark Morgan. He acted for a Victorian woman who was beaten up by police. Just last week Mark Morgan was given a four month suspended sentence for contempt of court: he could lose his practising certificate and he owes the state government hundreds of thousands of dollars. And the police who bashed his clients? They've never paid a cent. And neither has the State of Victoria.

The Law Report, 11 Sept 2007

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/lawreport/stories/2007/2028246.htm

Another typical example of an oppressive biased law system.

New Big Brother shapes up as cruellest yet

Big Brother has started with a new focus on suffering — with housemates already given the task of deciding who will be evicted on the first morning.

The housemates — including a squeaky-voiced call centre operator, a "cranky" grandmother and a self-confessed bitch — have unknowingly been locked out of the house for the first night

ninemsn 28 Apr 2008

Frontline News on ninemsn National Nine News. The most important ground breaking news in the World. I cannot continue with the rest of this Entertainment Diarrhea.

Legal Aid Victoria supports criminals

Amidst speculation and pressure that Legal Aid Victoria is in support of Criminals, there is mounting evidence, that public monies are spent on protecting criminals.

Conversely, a recent matter indicates that a client requested legal aid for being unlawfully dismissed from the workplace. The client alleged that sexual harassment, discrimination and victimisation occurred within a Telecommunications giant. The client requested legal assistance, and after many telephone calls, none of which were returned by Legal Aid Victoria, the response given, after the client made a complaint to the Attorney Generals Department, Rob Hulls, was that Legal Aid decided that the matter was not in the interest of the public.

Legal Aid seeks to protect criminals who murder people, where there is overwhelming proof of the alleged crime, whereas it’s not a matter of protecting the individual that raises a concern against a corporate giant, but as a result this would have implications within the Industrial Relations Law reforms, which would benefit the general public as a whole. This is clearly an action / matter / trend that the government does not want to see the light of day, as it will give more rights to the worker, a move that is detrimental to the corporate community.

This clearly indicates that the Legal Aid is designed to protect criminals.

Insider dishes dirt on Big Brother's secrets

A giant bed, a conveyer belt for food and a "dwarf contestant" are some of the secrets Big Brother has been trying to hide in the lead-up to its 2008 debut, an insider says.

Big Brother returns for its eighth series tomorrow night, hoping to reignite the excitement it generated in its early days.

The show's producers have already unveiled several contestants, including a Pauline Hanson supporter, an Aboriginal health worker and notorious teen Corey Worthington.

ninemsn 27 Apr 2008

WOW !! A giant bed, and a conveyor belt for food, and most importantly of all LOSER EXTRAORDINAIRE, Corey. I cannot bring myself to even finish the cut and paste of this mental rape!

Carbon price to cost households: report

The introduction of an emissions trading scheme (ETS) in two years could cost poor households up to $1,300 a year, mainly through higher fuel costs, a report says.

The research released Sunday by the Brotherhood of St Laurence found a price on carbon would add an average $938 a year to low-income households in Victoria, or $18 a week.

Assuming a carbon price of $35 a tonne and no government benefits or changed behaviour, poor rural residents would be hardest hit, with household costs ballooning by an annual $1,173 to $1,306.

In outer Melbourne suburbs where people are more reliant on cars for transport, expenses are forecast to rise by $1,164 to $1,220 a year.

The report found carbon use was 10 per cent below the state average closer to the centre of Melbourne, where public transport is superior.

The charity said the information suggests people on low incomes prefer public transport where it is available.

The study uses National Institute of Economic and Industry Research estimates of expenditure by household types, using data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

"Brotherhood research last year showed that imposing a carbon price will take a much bigger proportion of the income of poorer households than wealthy households, despite smaller 'carbon footprints'," Brotherhood executive director Tony Nicholson said.

"The latest findings show that those households in areas with little or no public transport or services will be even worse off."

He said the research was further evidence that emissions trading must be accompanied by measures to counter the impact on the poor and help them reduce emissions.

"We can no longer allow new communities to be built without ensuring public transport and other services are also in place."

Federal Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said the government was aware of the need to look after low-income earners once emissions trading began in 2010.

"In developing the ETS we've basically said that the scheme has got to be based on economically responsible principles but also equity," he told ABC TV.

"We are conscious of the need especially to protect our energy-intensive export-exposed industries but also individual households."

Asked if emissions trading would push up petrol prices, Mr Ferguson said: "Energy generally will potentially increase in price."

Fuel companies have said in submissions to the Garnaut Review that a carbon price would push up petrol prices by 10 to 17 cents a litre, based on carbon pricing of $40-50 a tonne.

Economist Ross Garnaut, who will report to the government later in the year on climate change policy, has recommended in a discussion paper that transport, including private cars, be part of emissions trading.

Consumer Affairs Minister Chris Bowen was noncommittal on whether petrol would be included or excluded from the scheme.

"We're working through all these issues ... we're putting out a white paper later in the year," Mr Bowen told Sky News.

"There's more to do and more detail to be revealed."

ninemsn 27 Apr 2008

Just another tactic by the financiers to hit the people who cannot fight back. The people are being punished for a system that does not provide adequate transport to the outer suburbs, hence people must rely on their own transport.

KAZ exploits 3 month ‘probation’ loophole.

The government made a law that required employers to employ a prospective employee for a 3 month ‘probation’ period. This meant that during this time, the employee could get sacked without any repercussions to the employer.

The IT industry is generally an outsourced industry with both full time and contract employment. Professional employment within the IT industry is usually handled via agencies.

Agencies can charge a fee of a few hundred dollars, for a successful placement of a contract candidate, up to anything between $5,000 to $10,000 for a full time professional.

One way to exploit the system is that a firm may have a contract position that they outsource to the clients. As a contract position it may be worth $90-$100k to the contractor, and if it were full-time staff employment, it would be $50-60k. Instead of contracting it out, the company hires the employee as a permanent full-time, through an IT agency. If the employee gains successful employment, the IT agency then requires a service for providing the employee, for the sum of $5-10k. Successful employment is based upon the 3 month probation period.

A quick financial calculation will show that if a company hires a contract position at the full time rate, changing employee 4 times per annum (by not paying the agency, using the three month exploit) they can save : 40K salary + (4 x $10k) = $80,000 maximum, on the one position.

KAZ hired a person for a full time position, then terminated their employment, on the day the three month probation period ended. The excuse given was that it was performance based (which can be easily fabricated internally), but since this person was mainly on-site, the references received from the customer were quite the opposite.

KAZ pays out for unfair dismissal

In one year, approximately ¼ of the workgroup left from KAZ. Some of it was voluntary, some of it was forced and some of it was against the law.

One person that decided to take the matter further was someone by the name of abcdefghi”j”. Let’s call that person “J”. KAZ sacked “J” in a manner that was in breach of the law. The matter was then handed over to “J’s” lawyers, who found there was enough cause to take it further. Prior to the matter going to court, and therefore made public, “J” was given ‘hush money’ of approximately 9 months of his salary to not to take the matter further.

KAZ has struggled to obtain new customers, and their share prices have fallen from $1.40 to $0.12.
Telstra bought KAZ for a figure over $333 million, but it was once commented that $400 million was paid.