Thursday, May 24, 2007
The wife of Labor leader Kevin Rudd owns a company which removed employees' penalty rates, overtime and allowances for an extra 45c an hour.
Multi-millionaire businesswoman Therese Rein owns the firm Ingeus, which turned over $170 million last year.
A deal offered by Ingeus subsidiary WorkDirections offered a $30,000 annual salary, or $576.93 a week, barely better than the legal minimum applying to the most junior class of worker in the industry.
Mr Rudd says "this was obviously an honest mistake and she sought to rectify this as soon as she had (information) available to her."
A statement by the company said that the company took steps to comply with a pay increase in line with the award in 2006, and that it was then discovered that some staff had been underpaid because "their duties had not previously been classified correctly in accordance with the award". It said that "all those employees still working for the company were recompensed in full for under-payments by 20 April 2007."
(Source: Herald-Sun)
Multi-millionaire businesswoman Therese Rein owns the firm Ingeus, which turned over $170 million last year.
A deal offered by Ingeus subsidiary WorkDirections offered a $30,000 annual salary, or $576.93 a week, barely better than the legal minimum applying to the most junior class of worker in the industry.
Mr Rudd says "this was obviously an honest mistake and she sought to rectify this as soon as she had (information) available to her."
A statement by the company said that the company took steps to comply with a pay increase in line with the award in 2006, and that it was then discovered that some staff had been underpaid because "their duties had not previously been classified correctly in accordance with the award". It said that "all those employees still working for the company were recompensed in full for under-payments by 20 April 2007."
(Source: Herald-Sun)
Monday, May 21, 2007
Prime Minister John Howard is to get a bigger private dining room in his Parliament House suite, at a cost of at least $540,000.
The building work alone will cost $475,000 - more than the price of a house in most capital cities.
Senate President Paul Calvert refused to table the document outlining the estimated cost.
(Source: Herald-Sun)
The building work alone will cost $475,000 - more than the price of a house in most capital cities.
Senate President Paul Calvert refused to table the document outlining the estimated cost.
(Source: Herald-Sun)
Saturday, May 19, 2007
The average stay-at-home mother works a 92 hour week, according to a new survey.
The survey by company salary.com spoke to 40,000 American mothers. It found that, if stay-at-home mothers were paid for their work, they should earn US$168,000 per year (over $200,000 Australian).
A similar survey carried out in Australia for Kellogs has found that 74 percent of women who work full-time, also do most of the housework in their home.
(Source: MX)
The survey by company salary.com spoke to 40,000 American mothers. It found that, if stay-at-home mothers were paid for their work, they should earn US$168,000 per year (over $200,000 Australian).
A similar survey carried out in Australia for Kellogs has found that 74 percent of women who work full-time, also do most of the housework in their home.
(Source: MX)
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Macquarie Bank chief executive Allan Moss has received a pay rise of $12.3 million, making his total remuneration for the 2006-07 financial year $33.5 million, according to the bank's annual report.
Mr Moss thus 'earned' over $90,000 per day, including weekends and holidays.
(Source: Daily Telegraph)
Mr Moss thus 'earned' over $90,000 per day, including weekends and holidays.
(Source: Daily Telegraph)
A senior Victorian policeman who was appointed to clean up the armed offenders squad has been charged with bashing a suspect during questioning.
Detective Inspector Bernie Rankin is the most senior officer charged by the Office of Police Integrity since it was formed by the Bracks Government three years ago. He has been charged along with suspended detective Robert Dabb and former detectives Mark Butterfield and Matthew Franc.
The hearings revealed secret video recordings of officers 'allegedly' slapping, punching and kicking an armed robbery suspect in an interview room.
Rankin, a former head of the homicide squad who is now on secondment with the Australian Federal Police in the Solomon Islands, is facing charges of "counselling or procuring" the alleged bashing.
His charges stem from tapes aired at the public hearings in which he was 'allegedly' heard speaking to a suspect who was later 'allegedly' beaten with a telephone after asking to make a call.
On the tape, Rankin 'allegedly' said: "I suggest you listen to some of the advice the boys are going to give you. It might be a lot less painful and a lot easier for you, all right?"
Rankin was appointed by force command to reform the controversial armed offenders squad, which was disbanded by Ms Nixon shortly before the public hearings.
The other three former squad members have been charged with a total of 23 counts of unlawful assault.
(Source: The Age)
Detective Inspector Bernie Rankin is the most senior officer charged by the Office of Police Integrity since it was formed by the Bracks Government three years ago. He has been charged along with suspended detective Robert Dabb and former detectives Mark Butterfield and Matthew Franc.
The hearings revealed secret video recordings of officers 'allegedly' slapping, punching and kicking an armed robbery suspect in an interview room.
Rankin, a former head of the homicide squad who is now on secondment with the Australian Federal Police in the Solomon Islands, is facing charges of "counselling or procuring" the alleged bashing.
His charges stem from tapes aired at the public hearings in which he was 'allegedly' heard speaking to a suspect who was later 'allegedly' beaten with a telephone after asking to make a call.
On the tape, Rankin 'allegedly' said: "I suggest you listen to some of the advice the boys are going to give you. It might be a lot less painful and a lot easier for you, all right?"
Rankin was appointed by force command to reform the controversial armed offenders squad, which was disbanded by Ms Nixon shortly before the public hearings.
The other three former squad members have been charged with a total of 23 counts of unlawful assault.
(Source: The Age)
Saturday, May 12, 2007
The Victorian government has apologised to physically and mentally abused former occupants of institutions and foster homes - but has refused to voluntarily compensate them, and is vigorously fighting any legal claim.
Leonie Sheedy, co-founder of Care Leavers of Australia Network (CLAN), said she had received hundreds of calls following the announcement that there would be a push for a class action against the Victorian Government seeking compensation for alleged physical and mental abuse suffered in orphanages and institutions around the State.
"The oldest who phoned me is 96 and the youngest, 27," she said.
About 90,000 Victorian children were placed in institutional care either by the State or voluntarily by families and others between 1928 and 1992.
Children were raped, bashed and flogged with canes, straps and stakes. Punishments included 48-hour solitary confinement and being put in to a large industrial washing machine which was then turned on.
Victims' lawyer Angela Sdrinis said claims spanned from 1930 to the late 1980s.
"The State Government has provided counselling assistance, helped locate records and given an apology of sorts," she said.
"But it demands that individual claimants put in individual claims, and is fighting them quite vigorously. "
"We are hoping to get a critical mass and will then decide about a class action, but the rules make it difficult, especially when the Government invokes the statute of limitations. "
"I would like to see a process where claimants can lodge a claim without going to court, where the abuse is acknowledged and an apology given."
"People need redress - words are cheap."
Ms Sheedy said many older victims feared the possibility of having to go into a nursing home.
"Many of them tell me they will drop off the Westgate Bridge or swing from a tree out the backyard rather than go into another institution," she said.
"It reminds them of their childhood too much."
(Source: The Senior)
Leonie Sheedy, co-founder of Care Leavers of Australia Network (CLAN), said she had received hundreds of calls following the announcement that there would be a push for a class action against the Victorian Government seeking compensation for alleged physical and mental abuse suffered in orphanages and institutions around the State.
"The oldest who phoned me is 96 and the youngest, 27," she said.
About 90,000 Victorian children were placed in institutional care either by the State or voluntarily by families and others between 1928 and 1992.
Children were raped, bashed and flogged with canes, straps and stakes. Punishments included 48-hour solitary confinement and being put in to a large industrial washing machine which was then turned on.
Victims' lawyer Angela Sdrinis said claims spanned from 1930 to the late 1980s.
"The State Government has provided counselling assistance, helped locate records and given an apology of sorts," she said.
"But it demands that individual claimants put in individual claims, and is fighting them quite vigorously. "
"We are hoping to get a critical mass and will then decide about a class action, but the rules make it difficult, especially when the Government invokes the statute of limitations. "
"I would like to see a process where claimants can lodge a claim without going to court, where the abuse is acknowledged and an apology given."
"People need redress - words are cheap."
Ms Sheedy said many older victims feared the possibility of having to go into a nursing home.
"Many of them tell me they will drop off the Westgate Bridge or swing from a tree out the backyard rather than go into another institution," she said.
"It reminds them of their childhood too much."
(Source: The Senior)
David Hicks' military lawyer appears to have been punished by his superiors, for effectively defending his client.
Major Michael Mori's defence of Hicks is considered instrumental in Hicks' relatively lenient sentence.
He is believed to have been offered such postings as Guam or Chile, with only limited options for remaining on the US mainland.
He has also believed to have recently been rejected for promotion, and refused an application to attend a course which would have qualified him as a military magistrate.
Colonel Dwight Sullivan, who is chief counsel for the Guantanamo Bay detainees, confirmed that four of the six military defence counsel who have been considered for promotion had been passed over.
Colonel Sullivan, a military reservist from a civil liberties background who has headed the legal team since 2005, would not speculate on whether the US military was deliberately sidelining lawyers who took a public stand in defence of detainees.
Colonel Sullivan said he believed the team selected to represent the detainees was warned that 'representing al-Qaeda' could be detrimental.
Former US deputy assistant secretary of defence for detainee affairs, Charles Stimson, has suggested that US law firms should not be involved in the habeas corpus defence of detainees and suggested corporations might boycott those firms.
A colleague of Major Mori's who defended Salim Hamdan - the al-Qaeda member and driver in Afghanistan for Osama bin Laden - said late last year he might have to get a new job.
Lieutenant-Commander Charles Swift, whose challenge on behalf of Hamdan brought down the first round of military commissions, was named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the US but was passed over for promotion.
(Source: The Age)
Major Michael Mori's defence of Hicks is considered instrumental in Hicks' relatively lenient sentence.
He is believed to have been offered such postings as Guam or Chile, with only limited options for remaining on the US mainland.
He has also believed to have recently been rejected for promotion, and refused an application to attend a course which would have qualified him as a military magistrate.
Colonel Dwight Sullivan, who is chief counsel for the Guantanamo Bay detainees, confirmed that four of the six military defence counsel who have been considered for promotion had been passed over.
Colonel Sullivan, a military reservist from a civil liberties background who has headed the legal team since 2005, would not speculate on whether the US military was deliberately sidelining lawyers who took a public stand in defence of detainees.
Colonel Sullivan said he believed the team selected to represent the detainees was warned that 'representing al-Qaeda' could be detrimental.
Former US deputy assistant secretary of defence for detainee affairs, Charles Stimson, has suggested that US law firms should not be involved in the habeas corpus defence of detainees and suggested corporations might boycott those firms.
A colleague of Major Mori's who defended Salim Hamdan - the al-Qaeda member and driver in Afghanistan for Osama bin Laden - said late last year he might have to get a new job.
Lieutenant-Commander Charles Swift, whose challenge on behalf of Hamdan brought down the first round of military commissions, was named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the US but was passed over for promotion.
(Source: The Age)
Intelligence has nothing to do with wealth, according to a new study.
"People don't become rich because they are smart," said Jay Zagorsky, research scientist at Ohio State University whose study appears in the Journal Intelligence.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics survey included 7,403 Americans who have been interviewed repeatedly since 1979. Based on 2004 answers, people who are now in their mid-40s showed no link between intelligence and earning-power.
"Your IQ has really no relationship to your wealth", Zagorsky said.
While people with very high IQs tended to earn more than people of average intelligence, there was no difference in total wealth (ie once factors such as debts and inherited wealth were considered).
(Source: Yahoo! News)
"People don't become rich because they are smart," said Jay Zagorsky, research scientist at Ohio State University whose study appears in the Journal Intelligence.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics survey included 7,403 Americans who have been interviewed repeatedly since 1979. Based on 2004 answers, people who are now in their mid-40s showed no link between intelligence and earning-power.
"Your IQ has really no relationship to your wealth", Zagorsky said.
While people with very high IQs tended to earn more than people of average intelligence, there was no difference in total wealth (ie once factors such as debts and inherited wealth were considered).
(Source: Yahoo! News)
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Quote of the Moment:
"We've got to find flexibility for our friends in the mining community who need flexibility."
Labor leader Kevin Rudd hints that the party may modify its opposition to individual workplace agreements.
"We've got to find flexibility for our friends in the mining community who need flexibility."
Labor leader Kevin Rudd hints that the party may modify its opposition to individual workplace agreements.
U.S. President George Bush will not rule out military action against Iran, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.
"The American president will not abandon the military option and I believe that we do not want him to do so," Rice said in an interview with Al Arabiya television.
(Source: Reuters)
"The American president will not abandon the military option and I believe that we do not want him to do so," Rice said in an interview with Al Arabiya television.
(Source: Reuters)
Saturday, May 05, 2007
A U.S. Marine unit broke international humanitarian law by using excessive force during a shooting spree that left 12 people dead, an Afghan human rights group has claimed.
The troops fired indiscriminately at pedestrians, people in cars, public buses and taxis in six different locations along a 10-mile stretch of road in Nangahar province after an explosives-rigged minivan crashed into their convoy on March 4, according to the report by Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission.
Six people were killed near the blast site, while the other six died on the road as the troops sped away, said Ahmad Nader Nadery, the group's spokesman.
The dead included a 1-year-old boy, a 4-year-old girl and three women, the report said. Thirty-five people were wounded in the shootings.
The group said its report was based on interviews with victims and their families, witnesses, local community leaders, hospital officials and police.
A U.S. military commander has also determined that the Marines used excessive force and referred the case for possible criminal inquiry,.
The group said it interviewed a member of Afghanistan's National Police criminal investigations office who said his unit had searched around the site after the incident, but that "[NATO] forces had collected all shells, magazines, cartridges from the spot and we could not find any trace or sign of them.''
(Source: The Guardian [UK])
The troops fired indiscriminately at pedestrians, people in cars, public buses and taxis in six different locations along a 10-mile stretch of road in Nangahar province after an explosives-rigged minivan crashed into their convoy on March 4, according to the report by Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission.
Six people were killed near the blast site, while the other six died on the road as the troops sped away, said Ahmad Nader Nadery, the group's spokesman.
The dead included a 1-year-old boy, a 4-year-old girl and three women, the report said. Thirty-five people were wounded in the shootings.
The group said its report was based on interviews with victims and their families, witnesses, local community leaders, hospital officials and police.
A U.S. military commander has also determined that the Marines used excessive force and referred the case for possible criminal inquiry,.
The group said it interviewed a member of Afghanistan's National Police criminal investigations office who said his unit had searched around the site after the incident, but that "[NATO] forces had collected all shells, magazines, cartridges from the spot and we could not find any trace or sign of them.''
(Source: The Guardian [UK])
A report on terrorism in Europe has found that, of nearly 500 terrorist incidents in a year, one was committed a by Muslim group.
The report by international police organisation Europol, on terrorism in the EU, found that there were 498 terrorist incidents in Europe in 2006.
Basque seperatist group ETA committed 136 of these attacks, including the only fatal incident.
One incident was committed by a Muslim group.
However, roughly half of the people arrested on suspicion of involvement with terrorism were Muslims.
(Source: Respect Coalition website [UK])
The report by international police organisation Europol, on terrorism in the EU, found that there were 498 terrorist incidents in Europe in 2006.
Basque seperatist group ETA committed 136 of these attacks, including the only fatal incident.
One incident was committed by a Muslim group.
However, roughly half of the people arrested on suspicion of involvement with terrorism were Muslims.
(Source: Respect Coalition website [UK])
