A Ruddy spectre still haunts PM

Julia Gillard’s hold on her job is slipping, even though her undeclared rival, Kevin Rudd, is not likely to mount an early challenge.

Despite an improvement in the latest Herald Neilsen poll, published in The Sydney Morning Herald  today, Labor still trails the Coalition 47 -53.

Ms Gillard also saw a 6 point rise in her approval as Prime Minister.

Even on these figures, though,  Labor would still be soundly defeated in a general election.

Even so, that was still an 8 point improvement for Labor.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has also virtually ruled out an attempt to bring down the Gillard government, by mounting a no confidence motion, when parliament resumes this week.

Instead, the Prime Minister told reporters she was looking forward to a planning session with Labor MPs, when she arrived for a Caucus meeting yesterday.

The meeting decided to attack the opposition on the economy, with MPs saying Mr Abbott had failed to set out an alternative plan for Australia’s economic management, when he addressed the National Press Club last week.

Ms Gillard told the meeting that Labor needed to present its message more clearly.

She also called for discipline, warning MPs to stop backgrounding reporters.

Meanwhile the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, who strongly supports Ms Gillard, reminded the public of Labor’s achievements, since it took office.

Mr Swan said families with a typical $300,000 home loan,  are now saving $3,000 a year on repayments, through lower interest rates.

He also said the Reserve Bank’s marker cash rate, which had been 6.75 per cent, when Labor came to power, is now 4.25 per cent.

Mr Swan also described Australia’s big four banks as “hugely profitable.”

He said they would be well able to pass on any rate cut the Reserve Bank might announce on Tuesday, in full. (see separate story)

Mr Swan claimed, too, that the government’s record of job creation is “outstanding” with 700,000 Australians gaining jobs over the past four years.

Tony Abbott, though, insisted that Australians still  needs a “better government right now.”

“I think we need an election,” Mr Abbott said.

However, Mr Abbott  said that while ever Craig Thompson is in Parliament “I think this government is firewalled against a no confidence motion…”

In a television interview, Mr Abbott also accused Fair Work Australia “or elements of it” of collusion with the government, in the Craig Thompson case.

Fair Work Australia has been investigating allegations that Mr Thomson, now a Labor MP,  misused union credit cards.

However FWA has not yet produced a report on the case, despite long proceedings.

Mr Rudd, the Foreign Minister, who is overseas on duty, did not attend the Caucus meeting, which was followed by a barbeque Ms Gillard held for Labor MPs, at the Lodge.

Although she is likely to survive as Prime Minister, at least in the short term, Ms Gillard’s position remains weak.

Both public and private polling has shown, consistently, that she does not have the public support she would need, to win the Federal election due next year.

That polling also shows that Kevin Rudd, the man she deposed from the nation’s top job, would have a much better chance of victory in that election.

Ms Gillard dismisses talk of a Rudd challenge as media “chatter.”

But Labor party bosses are not completely convinced.

And the chance of even a highly embarrassing victory next year, with a recycled Rudd leading the campaign still tempts them.

Related stories:

1. The spectre haunting Julia Gillard
2. Gillard:Australia’s new PM
3. Help:come back Kev!

On line share traders beware:the scammers are out

On line share traders beware.

Scammers are about – and the watchdog is barking.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is making a big noise, to warn of the dangers..

In a statement released today, ASIC said clients of online stockbroking firms should urgently review their account security.

Why?

Well, the Commission says that “during regular surveillance” it has “become aware of several stockbroking account intrusions involving unauthorised access and trading.”

ASIC is urging on line traders to take urgent action.

Specifically, it says that “as soon as possible” traders should:-
*…ensure their computer virus software is up-to-date;

*…change their passwords and

*…check their transaction history.
It says traders should take these steps regularly.

“If you become aware of any unauthorised trading on your account, you should contact your stockbroker immediately,” ASIC says.

This will help to ensure that any further unauthorised activity can be prevented.

ASIC says it already is working with online stockbroking firms to help those whose clients who have been hit.

It says it is also also “working with other authorities” to identify and catch the scammers.

Related stories:

1. Fighting on-line fraud
2. Tax cheque late? Check this!!!
3. New home loan calculator

Our banks:the big risk ahead

The excellent reputations of Australia’s banks could be jeopardized, if they proceed with the big job cuts they are considering.

Their -hard earned -reputations are their greatest treasure.

Big job cuts, in any industry, inevitably carry the smell of failure.

But that is precisely what the banks are considering.

Perhaps that is inevitable.

There is, after all, great instability in world financial markets.

We are also likely to see higher risks,  factored into interest rates.

And one of the banks’ biggest customers, the building industry, is still producing speckled performances, at best.

So it’s hardly surprising, in this climate, that startling reports of job cuts in Australia’s banking and finance industries are now  starting to appear.

The current talk is of up to 7,000 banking – and finance – jobs being lost over the next two years.

The ANZ, for example, is making no secret of the fact that it is planning big staff cuts, over that time.

And the other big banks are under the same pressures as the ANZ.

But this,  also, is surely the time to pause and think.

So far, Australia’s banks, have mostly been able to produce impressive profits.

Big job cuts, though, reported day after day, would certainly carry more than a whiff of panic, on the part of the banks.

Just the thing, really, that the finance industry most needs to avoid, in times like these.

It wasn’t always so.

In the Great Depression of the 1930s, the “bank Johnnies” mostly kept their jobs.

Your correspondent knows this, painfully.

It was that observation, on his father’s part, that saw him join the dear old Commonwealth Bank, as a staffer, on leaving school, despite an absolute lack of talent for that kind of  work.

The banking industry – somehow – survived that challenge, however narrowly.

It will, undoubtedly, survive present challenges, too.

Australia’s banks, after all, are well managed.

The Federal government has always acknowledged that.

Even though its Industry Minister, Kim Carr, recalled today that the government had stood ready with “very, very considerable assistance” in the dark days, immediately after the global financial crisis.

Even so, Australia’s banks have much to be proud of, in their performance, over the past few years.

Big job cuts, though, inevitably carry the appearance of some kind of failure.

And banking, above all, is an industry in which appearances matter.

That must never be forgotten.

Related stories:

1. Swan: Boggy fields ahead
2. Rudd pressures banks
3. Shifting risk

Tony Abbott among MPs named and shamed

The Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, the Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, and former prime ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating are among those who have claimed parliamentary expenses but not verified them, according to the Canberra Times.

The paper was quoting from a list published by the Department of Finance.

It noted that serving and former parliamentarians are entitled to hundreds of thousands of dollars in allowances a year for domestic and overseas travel, office fit-outs and family travel expenses.

“ For example, Mr Abbott was paid about $590,000 in entitlements for the first half of 2011, according to the department’s report, and Ms Roxon claimed about $190,500 for the same period.”

But for the first time the department has published a ”name and shame” list of the politicians who failed to examine the bill they ran up and check it off against their own accounts.

Every parliamentarian is provided with a six-monthly account, called a ”management report”, of what he or she has spent and asked to certify that the expenses were paid for proper reasons.

But politicians including Adam Bandt of the Greens, the Deputy Opposition Leader, Julie Bishop, and the Immigration Minister, Chris Bowen, have not yet tallied their accounts for the public record, according to the department’s list.

Signing off on the accounts is not compulsory but in a 2009 Senate estimates hearing, Labor senator John Faulkner advocated for the ”naming and shaming” list as an important transparency measure.

”I certainly would not want to be a parliamentarian so named and that of itself, I think, would be a significant sanction,” he told the hearing. ”What people want to see is the management reports certified and provided to the department.”

A 2009-10 Auditor-General’s report pointed out weaknesses in the self-certification system, including that compliance by parliamentarians was voluntary.

Queensland Labor senator Claire Moore has spoken on this issue in Senate estimates and, together with Senator Faulkner, has advocated for greater accountability.

Related stories:

1. Tony Abbott lets his anger show
2. Tony Abbott slips on policy costings
3. Tony Abbott may have the edge

The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard’s, New Year’s Message

The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard’s,  New Year’s  Message

The New Year is a time to look with gratitude on the good things of the last 12 months and look forward with confidence to the year that stretches before us.

It’s a time for new hope and new beginnings.

Perhaps a personal resolution like spending more time with family or a big life decision like starting a university or TAFE course or opening a business.

Whatever the New Year holds for you, I trust it will be a safe and happy one.

Let’s also remember that the 1^st of January is the anniversary of Australian nationhood.

So let’s also resolve to make this great country of ours even stronger.

Yes we’ve achieved remarkable things in our nation’s journey.

But I firmly believe that even better days lie ahead.

Together let’s make 2012 a year of which every Australian can be proud.

Related stories:

1. Spending cuts “will hurt”:Prime Minister
2. Ten years older – and deeper in debt
3. Angela’s cautious message

Widespread hacking hits credit cards

Wayne Swan says allegations of credit card hacking must be “thoroughly investigated.”

The Treasurer was responding to reports that both Malcolm Turnbull and the businessman David Smorgon are among the victims of widespread hacking.

The reports said both men had their credit card details published on the internet by hackers.

Replying to a reporter in Brisbane Mr Swan said: “…I think the first thing is we’ll have to establish how that hacking occurred,”

“Obviously there’s a breach of the law.

“This will need to be thoroughly investigated and then prosecuted,”Mr Swan added:

A spokesman for Mr Turnbull confirmed that the former Opposition Leader’s private details had been published.

Mr Smorgon said he had cancelled his credit card upon hearing the news.

“I was advised by Stratfor -a  US security firm – a few days ago on what had happened,” Mr Smorgon said.

“I was totally surprised.”

“… I have cancelled my American Express credit card and I was obviously not the first to do so.

“This is a warning bell for everyone and I guess it’s the cost of doing business online.”

A loose-knit hacking movement  called Anonymous claimed on Sunday through Twitter that it had stolen thousands of credit card numbers and other personal information belonging to clients of Stratfor.

Hackers posted a link online to what they said was Stratfor’s private client list.

They also posted images claiming to show receipts for donations made to charity using credit cards belonging to Stratfor clients, including the US Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security.

The Australian Department of Defence has a contract with Stratfor for a database subscription until November 2012.

Related stories:

1. Credit cards:the coming crunch?
2. Credit cards:Australians discover caution
3. New credit card curbs

Christmas crackdown on dangerous toys

A national crackdown on dangerous toys will make this Christmas safer for Australian children.

Federal and State authorities  removed some 500 lines of dangerous toys from the nation’s shops, in their joint operation.

Shoppers, though, should still be careful to avoid other dangerous children’s gifts, which might have escaped.

The authorities targeted 3,000 suppliers.

They studied toys ranging from small stocking fillers to bicycles.

The joint operation was conducted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commision and fair trading regulators in each State and Territory

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer David Bradbury said most of the dangerous had been found in “$2 discount variety stores.”

They had included basketball rings and aquatic toys without appropriate labelling, face paints with dangerous levels of lead and toys with small parts that posed choking hazards to young children.

“This was the first pre-Christmas surveillance operation under the Australian Consumer Law, which came into effect from 1 January this year,” Mr Bradbury said.

“For the first time we have nationally consistent product safety laws so that all products can be assessed against the same set of rules, regardless of which State or Territory they are sold in,” he added.

He said suppliers who sell dangerous toys could face fines of up to $1.1 million.

However Mr Bradbury said parents still have responsibilities, too.

“Parents should take steps to make sure that the toys their children are playing with are safe,” he said.

“Remember to always read the warning labels, check for small parts,” Mr Bradbury said.

Related stories:

1. What they got for Christmas
2. Retailers face a bleak Christmas
3. Your rights at the mall

ABC fends off Murdoch

The ABC will keep Australia’s international television service, the Australia Network.

The Network supplies non stop television programs to more than 44 countries across Asia, the Pacific and Indian subcontinent.

The Federal government had put the service out to tender.

That attracted a bid from Sky Television, in which Rupert Murdoch has a significant stake.

However the government announced tonight, after a Cabinet meeting, that it had decided that the Australia Network would become “a permanent feature of the ABC. “

The Communications Minister Stephen Conroy admitted that there had been problems.

“The Government was hoping that the tender process for the Australia Network would have been completed in good faith,” he said.

“ However, several leaks have compromised the process and prevented a fair consideration of the bids,” he added.

“The Government believes it is unfortunate that this process did not reach a satisfactory solution, Senator Conroysaid.

“However, in light of the circumstances it is now in the national interest to make a clear decision about the future of the service rather than allowing uncertainty to continue,” he said

“Having reflected upon the process to date, and what the service really needs to provide, the Government has determined that Australia’s international broadcasting service should be delivered by the national broadcaster.” he said.

Senator Conroy described the Australia Network as “a major public diplomacy platform.”

“And, as is the case with comparable operators such as the UK’s BBC World Service and Germany’s Deutsche Welle, the Government believes the service should be provided by Australia’s national broadcaster, the ABC,” he said..

The Senator said this decision provides certainty for the future.

“It also allows the ABC to get on with the job of delivering an outstanding international broadcasting service for Australia,” he said.

“The Government also believes that the ABC is well placed to explore the opportunity to combine the Australia Network with its current international radio service,” Senator Conroy said.

Related stories:

1. High speed network gets off to a slow start
2. Fast internet closer
3. Super-speed internet coming