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Betting ban doesnt need federal approval
A ban on live odds betting during sports broadcasts does not require commonwealth legislation, South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill says. Mr Weatherill on Monday said he wanted to ban such advertisements before the end of the AFL season, but federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said on Tuesday he preferred the matter be dealt with by the commonwealth, because of the involvement of ...
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Gillard sends condolences over US tornado
Prime Minister Julia Gillard says authorities are not aware of any Australian victims of the United States tornado. The tornado in the US state of Oklahoma killed at least 91 people, with at least 145 people injured including 70 children. "I express my condolences and sympathy to the families of those killed and injured in the Oklahoma tornado," Ms Gillard said in a statement. ...
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Ruralco blames hot weather for loss
Hot and dry conditions have burned agribusiness Ruralco's earnings, sparking a half-year loss only a year after it yielded a $10 million profit. Managing director John Maher said warmer weather had dried up the demand for agricultural chemicals and suppressed livestock prices. "Livestock gross profit and rural supplies sales had been seriously affected by unusually dry and hot ...
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No sign of missing Vic paraglider
The 66-year-old South Australian man, named in media reports as Bruce Ottaway, and Torquay man Rob Lithgow, 53, failed to return from a tandem paragliding flight near Warrnambool on Saturday afternoon.Mr Lithgow's body and part of the paraglider were found in water on Sunday morning, but Mr Ottaway remains missing.The air, land and sea search was called off on Monday afternoon because of ...
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Man stabbed during Sydney home invasion
The man, whose age was not immediately known, was attacked at a home in Morrisey Way in Rouse Hill about 3.30pm (AEST) on Tuesday.Police say he was stabbed multiple times during a home invasion and was rushed to hospital.His injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.An investigation is underway with detectives at the ...
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Schools get guide for indigenous languages
The draft framework released by the Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority (ACARA) on Tuesday is the first national curriculum document outlining how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages can be taught and supported in schools.It proposes three pathways to cater for students who speak an indigenous language at home or in their community, for those learning languages which are in ...
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No jail time for man over Qld car death
IT was a momentary, panicked, alcohol-fuelled decision that ended with one man dead, his girlfriend in jail and her teenage brother serving his sentence in the ...
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Chinese companies treated unfairly
CHINA'S state-owned companies may be deterred from investing in Australia because they are being treated unfairly, a Chinese business leader ...
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Environmentalists warn of Qld oil spills
MORE oil spills will occur in western Queensland if the state government dilutes Labor's environmental protection laws, the Wilderness Society ...
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Asia Markets Hong Kong Sydney stocks fall Tokyo ends up
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Australian stocks declined, and Hong Kong equities snapped a three-day winning run on Tuesday, weighed by overnight losses on Wall Street and uncertainty over U.S. monetary ...
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Smith McCabe still a chance for Lions
George Smith's hopes of playing for the Wallabies against the British and Irish Lions for a historic second time remain alive after scans on his knee revealed he could be back on the park within a month.The news is even better for teammate and fellow Wallabies squad hopeful Pat McCabe, who could return in as little as two weeks after also hurting his knee in the Brumbies' 28-22 loss to ...
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Gillard takes vote pitch to western Sydney
Prime Minister Julia Gillard will take her pitch for better schools funding and to tackle law and order issues to western Sydney on Wednesday.Ms Gillard will hold a community cabinet at the Regents Park Christian School in the safe Labor seat of Blaxland, with a public forum starting at 6pm (AEST).It's been two months since the prime minister conducted a week-long western Sydney blitz in a ...
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Explainer Ocean energy in Australia
Renewable ocean energy harnesses the power of the oceans to produce electricity. This can be done in several ways, but the resources that have the most immediate potential in terms of energy production for Australia and globally are: waves: using wave energy converters (WEC) to generate electricity tides: using tidal barrages, fences and turbines to generate ...
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Come On Give the Aussie Dollar a Break Pros
Australia's dollar has received its fair share of whacking lately and perhaps it's time to give the currency a bit of a break, currency strategists say. The Aussie dollar has shed almost 5 percent in the past two weeks against the U.S. dollar, hurt by signs of weakness in the Australian and Chinese economies, broad strength in the greenback and a continued fall in commodity prices. It ...
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NRL issues time-wasting crackdown
The NRL has issued a crackdown on time-wasting in a bid to regain an estimated eight minutes of match time every game. Rules being introduced this week will require teams to be ready to pack for a scrum within 30 seconds of one being awarded, and the 40-second time limit for line drop-outs has also been cut to 30 seconds. Failure to do so will result in a penalty, but only from round 15 ...
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$A rises above 98 US cents
The Australian dollar has pushed back above 98 US cents amid weakness in its US counterpart. At 1700 AEST on Tuesday, the currency was trading at 98.17 US cents, up from 97.57 cents on Monday. OzForex chief currency strategist Jim Vrondas said the Australian dollar had regained some of the ground it had lost over the past fortnight. The Australian dollar lost around six US cents in the two ...
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Raider McIlwrick dumped for Manly clash
Canberra hooker Matt McIlwrick has been dropped in one of just two changes for his side's NRL clash against Manly on Saturday. Veteran utility Shaun Berrigan has been named at hooker as McIlwrick's replacement, although Raiders assistant coach Brett Kimmorley said Glen Buttriss was still an outside chance of recovering from a calf injury for the match. "Berro's got a lot of ...
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Folau deserves Wallabies call-up SBW
Sonny Bill Williams says he is impressed with the ease in which Israel Folau has adjusted to rugby union as the NSW Waratahs fullback moves closer to his Wallabies debut. All Blacks World Cup winner Williams trod a similar path to Folau when he left Canterbury during the 2008 NRL season to join French side Toulon. But what has made Folau's transition so impressive is that he spent two ...
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Were the Usain Bolts of gardening
An ecstatic team of Australians has won the best-in-show medal at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show - the Ashes of horticulture. "We're the best in the world - we're the Usain Bolts of gardening," shouted Wes Fleming, head of Fleming's Nurseries. It was Fleming's last try for the medal after nine attempts. The 18-strong team hugged and broke into a spontaneous ...
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Tax review must include GST Tax Institute
A review of the taxation system must include everything, even the impost that is treated like Harry Potter's arch-enemy by federal politicians, a professional tax body says Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey has flagged the GST will be included in a review of tax reform if the coalition wins the September 14 election. Any changes would have to be driven by the states as they are the main ...
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Aust stocks close lower
The Australian market has closed around half a per cent lower, dragged down by weakness among the banks and industrial stocks. CMC Markets trader Ben Taylor said the local market finished in negative territory, following weak global leads. He said markets were anticipating that US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke would announce more quantitative easing (QE) in his speech to Congress on ...
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Aust bonds prices weaker
Australian bond futures prices are lower as traders wait for key events over the next fortnight. Nomura head of fixed income Jon Linton said it had been a quiet trading session, though futures prices weakened as the market prepared for an announcement regarding Australian government bonds. The Australian Office of Financial Management will announce the price of its new April 2025 bond on ...
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Rudd steals PM thunder on school funding
Kevin Rudd says his decision to support same-sex marriage is not about the Labor leadership, but a matter of conscience. Seeking an edge over the coalition, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has spent the week campaigning on her schools improvement plan and talking up the prospects of a coalition government raising the GST rate. She visited Melbourne on Tuesday to pressure the Victorian government ...
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Court ruling puts Tarkine mine on hold
Justice Shane Marshall has extended an injunction that halts work on Shree Minerals' proposed iron ore mine at Nelson Bay River in the state's northwest,The injunction is in place until the court decides whether an action by green group Save The Tarkine is successful.A temporary injunction was imposed 10 days ago.Save The Tarkine is challenging federal Environment Minister Tony ...
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No conflict of interest for NSW staffer
APPROPRIATE measures are in place to ensure there's no conflict of interest between a senior political staffer's final months at parliament and his new corporate job, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell ...
Brisbane Digest
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Cost of driving is becoming punitive in Brisbane
Is driving in Brisbane becoming punitively expensive? With the recent toll increases, on top of those made in 2006 and 2008, as well as last year, and the recent mis-management surrounding the privatisation of major roads in Sydney, it seems that using major roads in Brisbane is going to become even more expensive.
Brisbane, like many cities across Australia, is facing a mounting budget deficit in the wake of the near-crippling financial crisis and ensuing recession, as the state capital, it must also oversee Queensland’s plunge in revenues, which has created a budget deficit of over $2.3 billion for the state. Read more
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