Officials only acted after 17 fires - in The Australian
OFFICIALS charged with rolling out the government's troubled $2.45 billion insulation scheme were slow to react to the risk of homes burning down turning their minds to the issue only in September last year, after there had already been 17 fires.Minutes of the project control group that ran the scheme reveal the first time it focused its attention ...
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'Lib 'army' in fight for green vote - in News Ltd papers
By Brad CrouchSunday Mail and News Ltd papersA 15,000-STRONG "Green Army" of environmental workers would be enlisted by a federal Coalition Government to work on 6000 projects over four years. ?>Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt outlined details of the army - which has previously been referred to in general terms by Opposition Leader Tony ...
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Ten News - Kevin Rudd’s leadership
Presenter: Senior ministers have reassured the Prime Minister he will take Labor to the next election, despite rumours of a backbench-led revolt. It comes amid bad polls, which have left some MPs fearing for their own jobs.
James Boyce: If headlines had a vote in caucus Kevin Rudd would be handing the office keys to deputy, Julia Gillard. The ...
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Top insulators breached safety - in The Australian
?>By Nicola Berkovic
THE top 100 businesses that received about $360 million from the government's insulation program had among the highest incidence of safety breaches, damning new figures reveal. ?>The data, released under freedom of information laws to the Australia Institute, shows more than 70 per cent of the top firms, which insulated more ...
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'Sparkies angry at payments delay' - in The Australian
By Nicola Berkovic ELECTRICIANS who have inspected 23,000 homes with foil insulation for potentially deadly problems have not been paid by the Rudd government. They say Kevin Rudd has broken an election promise for the government to settle all small business bills in 30 days. In October 2008, the Prime Minister said if any contract worth less ...
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Life's not so swell on the beach at Portsea - in The Age
? span-11 prepend-5>By Adam Morton? span-11 prepend-5> ? span-11 prepend-5>PORTSEA once had two contrasting stretches of beach - the ''front beach'' facing Port Phillip Bay and the ''back beach'', buffeted by ocean surf.These days it is getting hard to tell them apart.Since July last year the once serene bay beach behind the Portsea Hotel has been ...
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'Furious insulators to rally in Canberra' - in The Australian
By Patricia KarvelasANGRY insulation installers will descend on Parliament House today to demand Kevin Rudd personally apologise for sending their businesses to the wall, as they continue to threaten a class action against the government. The insulation businesses were given personal assurances from the Prime Minister, at a Parliament House ...
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'Hunt plans running to schedule' - in The Age
Once he has sold his climate change "direct action plan", federal shadow minister Greg Hunt wants to redefine liberalism in the post-Howard era.
Hunt plans running to schedule By MICHAEL GORDONALAN Hunt is an old-school Lib-eral who served in the State Parliament for 31 years. His son, Greg, is a new-school Liberal who, at the age of 44, is ...
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The Australian: Rudd accused of setting up slush fund as Combet admits funding error
By Nicola Berkovic
KEVIN Rudd has been accused by the opposition of hiding money in an election slush fund after the government provided more than $130 million in the budget for a program that was axed last September. The government was last night forced to admit that the money was allocated in error. The Low Emissions Assistance Plan for Renters ...
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'Bankstown insulation batts fraud being investigated by Federal Police'
Canterbury-Bankstown Express
By Joanne Vella
FEDERAL police are investigating a person who used a false identity to scam $500,000 of taxpayers’ money using the Federal Government’s now-axed insulation batts scheme by selecting vacant properties - including one at Bankstown - online. Bankstown agent Mark Newey, of W.T. Newey and Co, said two ...
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'Prosecute Japanese whalers: Opposition' - on SMH website
Japan can no longer claim it hunts whales for scientific reasons and Australia should prosecute it in the international courts, says the federal opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt.Japanese whalers have begun their annual hunt, with a quota of 935 minke whales, 20 fin whales and 50 humpbacks.Last week, Environment Minister Peter Garrett said ...
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'Prime Minister Kevin Rudd soft on Japanese whales slaughter' - in The Daily Telegraph
By Sue Dunlevy
THE Rudd Government has reneged on a promise to send an Australian ship to monitor Japan's annual slaughter of 1000 minke, humpback and fin whales. The Opposition said an Australian ship must be sent to gather evidence for use in a promised international courts case to stop the whaling.The annual Japanese whale kill is in full swing ...
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