POLITICS & POLICY

The employment surge this month also translates to a wake-up call for the Australian parliament to consider its policy on migration as the country now succumbs to higher demand for labour since 2006.

Special entitlements for Queensland employees have been approved by the state parliament as the government announced on Friday that this year’s Christmas and New Year holidays would cost taxpayers up to $19 million in penalty rates.

The chairman of coal to supermarkets conglomerate Wesfarmers (ASX: WES) has joined the BHP CEP in supporting the idea of a carbon tax but thinks Australia should wait for other countries to introduce a levy first.

The Coalition said on Tuesday that it remains firm on its earlier elections stance that the Fair Work Act must be left unchanged for a maximum of three years in order to encourage certainty in the business environment.

The Reserve Bank of Australia surprised the market on Tuesday by keeping the official cash rate at 4.5 per cent and granting borrowers a reprieve.

The issues involving meager hospital staff compensation and benefits and the lack of medical supplies and equipment are not far different between those who signed for the National Health and Hospitals Network agreement and those who refused.

The Wilderness Society in Queensland expressed confidence that the state’s five-year-old Wild Rivers Act would breeze through a scheduled federal scrutiny as it stressed that the legislation not only protects rivers systems in Cape York but also encourages sustainable development.

Testing of a dengue control experiment will be conducted first in Cairns this January. The experiment comes as the only solution to the rising cases of dengue infection in Australia's favorite tropical holiday destination in far north Queensland.

New Zealand's low borrowings and excellent fiscal policy and monetary position have convinced Moody's Investors Service to give it the highest rating of Aaa credit rating.

Australian politicians are in agreement that the country’s good and services tax (GST) should be left untouched following recommendations made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on its report made public on Wednesday that calls for the further strengthening of consumer-based taxes.

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) must think twice prior to its alleged plan of laying off thousand of workers as federal senators urged the company to consider first its corporate and social responsibility of providing stable employment in Australia.

The Australian Stem Cell Centre (ASCC) continues work on four collaborative streams as the U.S. government gets court approval for its stem cell research.

An increasing number of older people are participating in Australia's labour force, fresh data shows.

Fast-becoming giant mining firm Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) declared on Wednesday that the new players in the mining industry were poised to be penalised by the federal government proposed minerals resource rent tax (MRRT) while giant mining firms were set to gain more benefits once the measure is implemented.

Treasurer Wayne Swan has told parliament on Wednesday that the local economy was built on solid foundations and that Australia can be positive about its outlook.

Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett said on Wednesday that it is time for all parties concerned on the state’s timber industry to finalise their discussions so the sector can move on and secure its financial security.

Net overseas migration continued its downward movement to the end of March 2010, according to preliminary data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Giant telecommunication firm Telstra Corporation (ASX: TLS) is upbeat that the $11 billion non-binding agreement it struck earlier this year with the federal government on the implementation of the national broadband network (NBN) would soon roll over into a formal deal beneficial to both parties.

Premier Anna Bligh and health minister Paul Lucas begin a campaign to transform Queenslanders into the nation's healthiest group of people.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Queensland (CCIQ) said on Tuesday that the government failed on its effort to check the state’s deteriorating red tape incidence as it cited that bureaucratic burden further ballooned with the introduction of more legislations in the past financial year.

A Tasmanian opposition leader said on Tuesday that amidst it difficult financial condition last year, Aurora Energy still managed to give out hampers of up to $120,000 to its staff as Christmas gifts.

Independent finance forecaster Access Economics said on Tuesday that Australia would likely return to a budget surplus in 2012/13 but that would be easily eaten up by the following year due to weaker commodity prices.

The Northern Territory government said on Tuesday that it would block any plans of establishing a uranium mine site in the area following revelations that Cameco Corporation is mulling an exploration project on the Angela Pamela deposit near Alice Springs.

The Public Service Association (PSA) accused the South Australian Government of avoiding an intensive analysis of its budget.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and ice cream company Ben and Jerry settled for dropping the phrase 'all natural' from all product labels.

Greenpeace protesters are up against the selling of Wyeth's S-26 baby formula in supermarkets.

A steadily growing Australian economy would likely call for tighter monetary policy entailing two interest rate increases in 2011, the futures market has anticipated based on the Reserve Bank of Australia's economic outlook.

Treasurer Wayne Swan stressed the Gillard government has the right economic plan to address concerns that a second minerals and energy boom will create stark differences in economic prospects across states and even regions.

In defence to recent accusations her government was based on a lie, Prime Minister Julia Gillard explained it is not her fault that she may introduce a carbon tax.