Vittorio Hernandez

In a bid to make the carbon tax more acceptable to Australian households, the Gillard government started to send on Thursday payouts of the Schoolkids Bonus. The yearly payouts, at $409 per child in primary school and $818 per child in high school, are part of the Family Tax Benefits Plan A.

The Australian share market is back in the red today, after US investors gave a muted response to the Federal Reserve's latest plan to stimulate the economy. Instead of announcing fresher, bigger measures such as the much hoped for QE3 stimulus program, the Fed opted to extend its asset purchasing program (Operation Twist) for another six months. At lunchtime in the East, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 20.5pts or 0.5pct to 41536.3.

Although the Tuesday temblor that shook Victoria was the biggest earthquake to rock the state in three decades, the buildings suffered only superficial damage. A construction expert explained the strength of Victoria buildings to changes in building regulations in the aftermath of the magnitude 5.6 earthquake in Newcastle in 1989 that killed 13 people.

Although there were objections to the multi-million dollar expansion of a Sydney brothel, the Land and Environment Court ignored the opposition on moral grounds.

The performance of the Australian sharemarket continues to be heavily influence by offshore developments. Last night, most global markets improved strongly (up by as much as 2 pct). A Greek coalition seems close to being announced and there has been speculation the Europeans will use a chunk of their bailout funds to buy Italian and Spanish debt (no confirmation). The bad news for the Greeks is that they will need to face the Germans this Friday in the European football championships (a coincide...

The country's farm exports is forecast to go down 5 per cent for 2012-13 to $34.4 billion from $36 billion. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) issued the downgrade on Tuesday in its March forecast.

Thousands of public employees in Queensland are in danger of losing their jobs following a state Commission of Audit finding that the previous government employed 20,000 more workers than it could afford.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) announced on Tuesday that the 31 remaining All GAME stores in Australia would be closed after failure to find a buyer. PwC was appointed administrator of the video games retailer after All GAME's British parent company collapsed and placed into administration.

Local stocks are staging a rebound today on the back of positive moves on offshore markets. US shares rose on hopes of further stimulus from the Federal Reserve while European markets rallied to a one month high. Mid-session, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is firmer by 21.6pts or 0.5pct to 4189.

Cracks are showing on the Coalition climate change stand as the party's support for the 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target (RET) was questioned by backbenchers.

The thought of battling out a lawsuit from Australia's richest woman has apparently struck fear in the hearts of Fairfax Media directors. Before they would allow Georgina Rinehart, the largest stakeholder in the company, a board seat, the directors are said to be seeking immunity from a Rinehart lawsuit, The Australian reports.

After a stellar start to the trading week, the Australian market lost a little ground today. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) fell 0.4 pct or 16.5 pts to 4167.4. It was another quiet day on the market with only around $3 billion worth of shares exchanging hands today. When discussing markets, the negative seems to receive significantly more attention than the good. Yesterday, the XAO rose by around 1.9 pct thanks to the victory by a pro-Euro and pro-bailout party in the Greek elections.

Chevron sold on Tuesday its 10 per cent stake in the Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Western Australia to Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) of Japan for $4 billion.

The Australian Senate approved on Monday night legislation that sets an R18+ rating for video games sold in the country. The rating system will inform buyers, parents and retailers about which games are suitable or not for minors to buy or play. Video games with R18+ ratings would not be sold to minors.

Local stocks are reversing some of yesterday's spectacular gains, pulled back by weakness in offshore markets overnight. European markets ended mixed despite Greece's pro-bailout New Democracy party claiming victory in the weekend poll, as Spanish borrowing costs jumped pressuring markets. A rally on US Markets was limited as investors feared the Euro debt crisis would continue to worsen. At lunchtime in the East, the broader All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 17.8pts or 0.4pct to 4166.1.

Australian politicians are again playing the blame game just barely two weeks to the collection of the carbon tax on July 1. Coalition Senator George Brandis on Tuesday pointed to the carbon prices as the reason behind Fairfax Media's woes.

Victorian Ports Minister Dennis Napthine said on Monday that the state government would keep the Port of Melbourne in public hands and would even invest $400 million at Webb Dock.

Even if Australia's richest woman Gina Rinehart invested $86 million into Fairfax Media last week after she upped her stake to 19 per cent, the company still needs to wield its axe and chop off some jobs and costs.

The Australian sharemarket gained strongly today thanks to a largely positive result from the Greek Presidential elections this weekend. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose 1.9 pct or 76.9 pts to 4183.9.

The Gillard government has pruned to 294 the number of entities that it would collect the carbon tax beginning July 1. The list includes 34 local councils with landfill sites or produce natural gas.

While the yearly gathering last week of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in Beijing, China drew delegates from different airlines around the world, in the next 12 months attendees in the next summit could be down.

A comparison website noted the growing gap of rates between small business loans and residential mortgages. When banks pass on Tuesday the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) overnight cash rate cut to small businesses, the average rates for secured loans would have gone down by 100 basis points to 7.53 per cent.

The local share market has staged a relief rally on news Greece appears set to remain in the Eurozone. The pro-bailout New Democracy party claimed victory this morning and appears likely to form a government, sparking a buying frenzy across Asia as investors pick up assets which have been heavily battered over the past month. At lunchtime in the East, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 55.9pts or 1.4pct to 4162.9.

Australian consumers should anticipate another round of marketing war between the country's supermarket giants as Woolworths (ASX: WOW) disclosed plans to boosts its market share of fresh food to 36 per cent from the current 28 per cent.

Unveiling of the carbon tax policy in 2011 failed to dampen resource exploration spending in Australia. Treasurer Wayne Swan pointed out that mineral exploration spending in the country rose 35 per cent since then.

Greens candidate Cathy Olke unveiled an ambitious plan to create community-based solar farms on vacant roofs and lands in Melbourne. The plan is part of her political agenda as she campaigned for the by-election in the city on July 21 after Labor MP Bronwyn Pike resigned.

The Australian sharemarket managed to improve for the second time this shortened trading week. It certainly was quiet over the past four days, partly due to the Greek Presidential elections which will take place this Sunday. Markets were closed on Monday due to the Queen's birthday. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose 0.4 pct or 17.2 pts to 4107.

Fair Work Australia (FWA) favoured Qantas in the air carrier's row with aircraft engineers on the need for maintenance checks on newer jets before takeoff. Instead of engineers performing the check function, it would be done by the pilots.

Fifteen days to the carbon tax's implementation, its $23 per tonne price is being used as scapegoat by different groups for pending increases in prices such as rent and electricity prices.