Holden get $275m from the government

A $275 million taxpayer lifeline will save GM Holden from shutting down its 156-year-old Australian operations and secure its car-making operations at least until 2022, the federal government says.

Labor will provide $215 million, with the South Australian and Victorian governments contributing the remainder, to help Holden build two next-generation cars in Elizabeth, SA.

Holden has agreed to spend more than $1 billion to ensure it continues to provide jobs in Australia designing, engineering and building cars until at least 2022.

"This funding is not a handout - it is a strategic investment that will boost our economy, foster innovation, build new business opportunities and promote adoption of new fuel-saving and safety technologies," Prime Minister Julia Gillard said in Canberra on Thursday.

The Australian car maker, owned by General Motors of the US, had indicated to the government 12,000 jobs could be shed if there was no government support. It estimates $4 billion will be injected into the economy over the life of the new vehicle program.

As well, the federal and Victorian governments are going to provide $35 million to help auto parts companies break into the global market and supply other industries such as mining.

Industry Minister Greg Combet said without the deal Holden would "most likely have closed its Australian manufacturing operations".

The new cleaner and greener models - the design of which Holden has yet to disclose - will bring "economic, environmental and innovation benefits", he added.

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, whose uncle worked for Holden for 50 years, said he had a message for the Holden's workers: "We've secured your future."

However, asked whether the company - which shed 100 jobs at its SA Elizabeth plant earlier this year - would cut more workers in the future, managing director Mike Devereux could not give any guarantees.

"If you can tell me what the Australian dollar is going to be seven, eight, nine years from now, what all of my competitors are going to do in terms of launching cars, how many cars might be sold in Australia, what interest rates are going to be, I might be able to tell you how many vehicles I would be able to produce and therefore how many employees I might have," he said.

But in the short term the company had a "pretty strong business model", he said.

Mr Devereux also said Holden would look at ways of using its Australian operations to connect with and enter new markets in China, India and ASEAN nations.

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union vehicle division federal secretary Ian Jones told AAP job numbers would depend on how well Holden's future products sold, saying conditions now were "tougher than in the GFC".

"What we've sought is a product guarantee from them, which we've got," he said.

"And the only thing that determines whether you've got jobs is how well the product is received in the marketplace."

The Australian automotive industry directly employs 55,500 people and supports around 200,000 additional jobs.

As the federal coalition reviews its industry support policy to find spending cuts, Mr Devereux said industry and government "co-investment" is critical to the future of the car industry.

"Australia does not compete on a level playing field, and without co-investment this country would struggle to attract new capital investment," he said.

Australian Greens MP Adam Bandt says any funding for Holden should be conditional on the car maker producing electric vehicles.

Opposition industry spokeswoman Sophie Mirabella said there hadn't been a cost-benefit analysis, and it wasn't clear where the money was coming from or the criteria under which it was granted.

"It is policy on the run - it is shambolic," she said.

Mr Combet told reporters the final contract with Holden, which is yet to be signed, would indicate the program's exact financial impact on the federal budget over coming years.

ninemsn.com.au 22 Mar 2012

Another scam that the mass media is keeping a lid on.

The monies are going straight into the coffers of the unions.

Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu sets up a razor gang

TED Baillieu is setting up a new razor gang to slash public service costs as the state's financial liabilities soar by $10 a day for every man, woman and child.

The gang will seek savings across the public sector without touching frontline workers such as nurses, teachers and police.

The Government is scrambling to balance the books and contain debt. It has ruled out lifting taxes, fees or fines above inflation.

Premier Baillieu said his taskforce would look to the private sector and other governments for better ways of delivering services.

The Government yesterday released its mid-year report, which detailed an operating deficit of $341 million as of December.

But it predicted a surplus of $148 million by the end of the financial year, thanks to the arrival of delayed grants from Canberra and land tax income.

Net government debt has grown by $3.5 billion in just six months.

It $15.3 billion by the end of December.

"The debt is increasing because Labor's infrastructure commitments were unfunded," Mr Baillieu said.

Net financial liabilities soared by $10 billion in the six months to December - a rise of $10 a day for every Victorian - to a staggering $51.4 billion, largely due to a $6.5 billion increase in superannuation liabilities.

Revenue from stamp duty on property sales was down $360 million last year compared with 2010.

Despite the gloomy indicators, Mr Baillieu said he did not believe Victoria was heading for recession.

"I don't believe that's the case," Mr Baillieu said.

"I think every Victorian family is concerned about jobs, and we remain concerned about jobs, and that's why we want to ensure we have a sustainable budget position."

The Government's mid-year Budget update, released in December, saw the "sustainable government initiative" introduced, which included 3600 public service job cuts.

Community and Public Sector Union state secretary Karen Batt said job reductions would only worsen economic circumstances.

"(Now is) not the time to be laying off more public sector jobs and withdrawing that spending power from struggling regional communities," Ms Batt said.

Shadow treasurer Tim Holding said the mid-year report was bad news for Victorian families.

"The Budget position is deteriorating, and investment in infrastructure is deteriorating. The economy is grinding to a halt," Mr Holding said.

heraldsun.com.au 16 Mar 2012

Watch taxes go through the roof, as the sector's jobs decline and overworking current employees without financial reward occurs across the board.

Another government scam, that is putting employees into slavery, for the fear of loosing their jobs instilled by the employers.

Union fees rorted, says report

VICTORIAN health workers' union fees were misused including to fly officials and their spouses to a wedding, an investigation has found.

During a spending spree of unauthorised payments, union officials also gave $5000 to a colleague so she could campaign for US President Barack Obama.

A Fair Work Australia investigation found the Health Services Union Victoria No.1 branch failed to keep records on thousands of dollars of credit card transactions and "paid lip service" to proper accounting practices.

Former branch secretary Jeff Jackson and then-assistant secretary Shaun Hudson were slammed by the findings.

The report says in 2008 Mr Jackson authorised $5000 of union funds to be paid into colleague Alex Hicks's personal bank account "because Ms Hicks was campaigning for Barack Obama in the United States of America".

FWA also found HSU funds were used to pay for airfares and accommodation for Mr Jackson, Mr Hudson and their spouses to attend a colleague's Sydney wedding in 2008.

The report says during an interview over the spending, Mr Jackson said it was "appropriate" for the HSU to pay for an official's spouse to travel to a wedding of a union employee.

Dozens of other examples of broken rules are laid out in the FWA report, tabled by a Senate committee yesterday.

Mr Jackson told the Herald Sun last night he was "grateful" it had been released so former colleagues' claims could be tested in the Federal Court.

He said his enemies in the union movement ran a political campaign against him, and he would contest claims in court rather than through the media.

The Herald Sun was unable to contact Mr Hudson.

The FWA investigation is one of two into the HSU, and took almost three years to complete.

The other investigation involves embattled Labor MP Craig Thomson and is looking at allegations his credit card was misused to pay for prostitutes when he was HSU national secretary.

Opposition workplace relations spokesman Eric Abetz said the report provided an "insight" into union abuse of workers' money and should be referred to the tax office, Victoria's fraud squad and the Director of Public Prosecutions.

heraldsun.com.au 17 Mar 2012

Another government sponsored fraud, that the 'authorities' are letting slip by them.

Green's Supreme Court battle for myki report

THE Baillieu Government's biggest secrets could be busted open by court action.

Greens MP Greg Barber has taken the Government to the Supreme Court, seeking release of the secret review of myki by consultant Deloitte.

After the report the Government did an about-face and decided to keep the fare smartcard.

Mr Barber sought a copy of the Deloitte report through the Legislative Council, which moved a motion requiring it to be tabled.

But Treasurer Kim Wells declined to release the document because it was prepared for Cabinet decision-making.

The report sought by the Council's order was prepared for the purpose of submission for consideration by a committee of Cabinet, Mr Wells said in a letter responding to the original demand for documents.

As such, the Council does not have the power to require the production of the document.

In his affidavit, filed at the Supreme Court yesterday, Mr Barber said there were no sessional orders of Parliament setting out a procedure to deal with the Government's refusal to release the report.

An order dealing with claims of executive privilege was no longer in force, he said in the affidavit.

Outside court, Mr Barber said the ramifications could go beyond the secret Deloitte report.

"This is not just about myki, it's about smart meters, the desalination plant, secret deals with coal companies and anything that governments assert that they can withhold from the Parliament and the people of Victoria," Mr Barber said.

"This case is about the information that the Parliament, standing in the shoes of the people, needs in order to hold the Government to account.

"Without information, our democratic system ceases to function.

"I can't comment on the detailed legal arguments, as that is what I have asked the courts to adjudicate on."

heraldsun.com.au 20 Mar 2012

Another cover up of fraud, money for mates deals, irrespective of what documents exist.

The true extent of fraud will never be revealed to the masses

A farce in the face of the masses.

Two injured in Lygon St motorcycle crash

A MAN and a woman are in hospital after their motorcycle collided with a car on a busy inner city intersection.

The incident happened at 9.30pm on the corner of Lygon and Princes St, Carlton.

The motorcycle was travelling south along Lygon St when it slammed into the car, injuring the male driver and his female passenger.

heraldsun.com.au 19 Mar 2012

Thorpe misses 200m final, likely Olympics

Ian Thorpe's chances of London Olympic qualification have plummeted after he failed to qualify for Saturday night's 200m freestyle final at selection trials in Adelaide.

Thorpe faded late in his semi-final, clocking one minute 49.91 seconds to finish sixth in the race and only managing 12th fastest time to miss out on the eight-man final.

The 200m was considered Thorpe's best chance at qualification and his hopes now ride on finishing top six in a strong field for the 100m freestyle, starting on Sunday.

"I'm terribly disappointed with that. I thought I could and I thought I would swim a lot quicker, much quicker," Thorpe said.

"... The fairy tale has descended into a nightmare."

ninemsn.com.au 16 Mar 2012

What a joke and an absolute media hype riding on fat and unfit Thorpe.

There never was any real hope of him getting there.

It never really was a 'fairy tale', just false expectations.

Baillieu suppresses key report on corruption commission

THE Baillieu government has been accused of shrouding its much-vaunted anti-corruption commission in excessive secrecy after suppressing a key expert report advising the Coalition on the body's most controversial aspects.

Last year the government asked a panel of four experts, headed by former Court of Appeal judge Stephen Charles, QC, to consult lawyers, judges, academics, police, the journalists' union and public service representatives about the powers and scope of Victoria's first anti-corruption watchdog.

Setting up the watchdog was one of Premier Ted Baillieu's core election promises.

The government has confirmed to The Age the report will never be made public, citing cabinet confidentiality.

The report provides options to the government on 41 issues such as whether the commission should cover government contractors, and rules governing the seizure of sensitive documents and entering premises.

The report also covers whether hearings should be private or public, coercive questioning, the legal rights of those who appear before the commission, its oversight and whether staff should carry weapons.

The Accountability Round Table, a national group of academics, lawyers, and others dedicated to enhancing ministerial responsibility, has called on Mr Baillieu to release the report. The group says Victorians should know the advice informing the legislation that has been introduced to set up the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC). The second of the IBAC bills is likely to be debated in the state upper house this week.

In an article in The Saturday Age, some of Australia's top anti-corruption and accountability experts - including Douglas Meagher, QC, one of two key advisers to the government on the commission - raised concerns about the body's narrow scope and warned the wording of the second bill may lead to legal challenges for the new commission.

The commission is due to start operating in the middle of this year with a four-year budget of $170 million. Mr Meagher said the government ''would be well advised to save its money and abandon the project''.

Accountability Round Table spokesman and emeritus professor David Yencken said: ''The secrecy shrouding every aspect of the consultation carried out by the government is a matter of great concern.

''These are very important bills. Many distinguished lawyers and well-qualified groups have pointed out deficiencies in the drafting of the second bill. The public has a right to know to what degree those who participated in the formal consultation influenced the government's policies and the drafting of the bill for good or ill,'' Professor Yencken said.

James Talia, a spokesman for Andrew McIntosh, the state minister responsible for establishment of an anti-corruption commission, said the report would not be released because it was cabinet-in-confidence and stakeholders who participated in the consultation did so on the basis that their views would remain confidential.

But one of those stakeholders, Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance secretary Louise Connor, told The Age she was contacted last year by the panel to ask if she had any objection to the union's views being made public.

The panel's consultation process was secret from the beginning. Its 33-page stakeholder consultation paper, obtained by The Age, was marked confidential. Many of those who put their case to the panel - such as the Victorian Bar Council - will not release submissions because of the confidentiality surrounding the process.

The Age has seen a copy of the Bar Council's submission, which argued Supreme Court judges should not come under the commission's purview as the government had promised, and that legal professional privilege - the confidentiality between lawyers and their clients - should be respected by the anti-corruption commission, despite it having little weight in anti-corruption bodies in other states.

Labor's spokeswoman on the anti-corruption commission, Jill Hennessy, accused the Coalition of a cover-up and said there was no credible reason for the report to remain secret.

''The expertise and advice in the report could help clear up the many questions and criticisms of the government's commission,'' Ms Hennessy said. ''The secrecy surrounding the report only taints the formation of a body that's meant to improve public integrity.''

The expert panel was chaired by Mr Charles and included retired judge and former Victorian government solicitor Gordon Lewis, Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation member Gail Owen and former State Services Authority chairman Peter Harmsworth.

The commission will cover 250,000 public sector employees, MPs, judges, police, local government and contractors and is running a year behind schedule.

theage.com.au 12 Mar 2012

Another corrupt so called 'watchdog' working in conjunction with the brotherhood for the multinational corporations together with local (unseen) criminal gangs.

The legal system is all for corporate crime.

Families of murder victims plea for justice in sentencing

FAMILIES of murder victims yesterday called for an overhaul of Victoria's judicial system to remedy disparities in crime sentencing.

The annual Flight of the Angels memorial service, held on the steps of Parliament House, brought together families who have lost loved ones to homicide or culpable driving.

It was hosted by Order of Australia recipients Noel and Beverley McNamara.

Mr McNamara said it was disappointing that "sentencing is all over the place".

The Crime Victims Support Association event, in its 18th year, was held in memory of the McNamaras' daughter Tracey, who was brutally murdered 20 years ago, and whose killer, Noel Meyers, received a 10-year minimum sentence.

Also at the event were Allan and Shirley Irwin, whose daughters, Colleen, 23, and Laura, 21, were raped and murdered by William Watkins in 2006.

Watkins had previously been convicted of the rape of a woman at her home in 2000, but served only a two-year jail sentence.

"Events like this are important so we can be ourselves and get our voices heard," said Mrs Irwin.

Broadcaster Derryn Hinch attended to add his voice to the call for reform.

heralsun.com.au 12 Mar 2012

Just another timeless example of how the Australian legal system treats the victims like criminals and protects the criminals.

Military 'heat ray' to disperse rioting crowds

This is the moment before dozens of people are hit with a new "heat ray" being trialled by the US military which has the power to instantly disperse riotous crowds.

The new "Active Denial System" shoots electronic waves at people, instantly heating their skin to a temperature of 54C.

When the ray is fired, the targeted people are subjected to the feeling of standing in front of an open fire and instinctively run away, the Globe and Mail reports.

The high-energy system has been calibrated at a frequency that penetrates about 4mm into the skin — a depth that researchers say will shock people without injuring them.

It was unveiled by the US military this week after it was tested on thousands of willing participants.

"You're not gonna see it, you're not gonna hear it, you're not gonna smell it — you're gonna feel it," Marine Colonel Tracy Taffola said.

The ray, which has been in development for 15 years, can reach distances equal to seven football fields.

It is now ready for action and is predicted to be used for crowd control and perimeter security.

The military has not commented on whether the device could be altered so that it could burn crowds en masse or whether heating a crowd may incite mass panic.

14 Mar 2012

These are the new weapons that will be used for protestors, i.e. anti government demonstrations, as the economic climate of the world worsens where people may take to the streets in protest of the global financiers.

Welcome to the new police state.

What the military are not saying is that the new weapon can fry your insides.

ASIC will not investigate securency issue

The corporate watchdog says it will not investigate bribery allegations against Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) note printing subsidiaries.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said on Monday the decision not to pursue the matter came after a review of material provided by the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

"In line with its normal practice, ASIC has reviewed this material from the AFP for possible directors' duty breaches of the Corporations Act and has decided not to proceed to a formal investigation," ASIC said in a statement.

Seven former employees of the two companies - Securency International and Note Printing Australia (NPA) - and the companies themselves were charged by the AFP with bribing foreign officials to secure contracts to print bank notes.

The RBA owns 50 per cent of Securency and 100 per cent of NPA.

It has since sought to sell its stake in Securency.

ninemsn.com.au 12 Mar 2012

Another example of high level corruption with the entire support of the brotherhood from the legal system

These people are above the law and truly untouchable.