7-Eleven chairman Russ Withers and chief executive Warren Wilmot resign

Extract from ABC News

Updated about an hour ago

Photo: Standing down ... Russell Withers (left) and Warren Wilmot. (AAP: Julian Smith)

Related Story: 7-Eleven vows to fully refund all exploited workers

The chairman and chief executive of 7-Eleven have both resigned in the wake of the worker exploitation scandal at the company's Australian stores.

Chairman Russ Withers and chief executive Warren Wilmot have stepped down from the board of the company effective immediately.
It follows a Four Corners/Fairfax investigation into under-payment of wages and exploitation of workers.
"Mr Wilmot offered his resignation following the recent realisation of the extent to which 7-Eleven franchisees had underpaid workers," a statement released by the company said.

7-Eleven investigation

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• Labor urges Government to give amnesty to students forced to breach visa rules
• 7-Eleven chairman denies widespread wage rorting claims, says 'relatively few' franchisees at fault

"Mr Wilmot acknowledged it would be difficult for him to play a central role in navigating the company through the current challenges it faces given his long-standing executive role and that a new independent CEO was appropriate in the current circumstances."
Former iiNet chairman Michael Smith will become the new 7-Eleven chairman and Bob Baily has been appointed interim chief executive.
"Mr Smith will lead an executive search process to identify a permanent candidate for the CEO role," the statement said.
The convenience stores came under scrutiny following an ABC Four Corners investigation which revealed the company was systematically paying its workers about half the minimum wage.
Many of the staff were foreigners who were being forced to work in contravention of their visa conditions.
An inquiry into Australia's temporary work visa program found the underpaying of staff in the convenience store chain was systemic and had been happening for decades.
Mr Withers told a Senate committee last week the behaviour was abhorrent.
"I want to stress that this has been highly embarrassing and I apologise unreservedly to any worker that has worked in a 7-Eleven store who has not been paid correctly," he said.

Investigation into true extent of underpayment of workers

Mr Withers will remain chairman of the group holding company that has as its investments 7-Eleven and Starbucks together with real estate and a share portfolio.
"Naturally this is a major decision for me to stand aside, however I will continue to be a shareholder and I am determined to make sure the company is in the right hands to move forward," he said in a statement.
Mr Smith said 7-Eleven had implemented a number of actions to identify the true extent of the underpayment of staff by franchisees and implement appropriate remedies, including refining the business model in cooperation with franchisees.
The company said that before the scandal broke it had been working closely with the Fair Work Ombudsman in conjunction with accounting firm Ernst & Young to investigate the allegations.
It has also recently appointed Professor Allan Fels to chair an independent panel to identify underpaid workers and determine how much they are owed.

He won't snipe yet Tony Abbott is striving to prove that his ousting was pointless

Extract from The Guardian

His message is clear and a more potent attack for its apparent reasonableness: the electorate has been duped – Malcolm Turnbull won’t change anything

Tony Abbott: in the warm embrace of a 2GB ‘interview’ he starts nailing down his legacy. Photograph: Marianna Massey/Getty Images

Lenore Taylor Political editor

@lenoretaylor

Tuesday 29 September 2015 11.37 AEST

Inside the 2GB micro-climate, the injustice of Tony Abbott’s ousting is a given.

The former prime minister thanks Ray Hadley and his listeners for their “support and encouragement”. Obviously. They are in furious agreement that nothing has changed with the change in the prime ministership. Hadley seems to concur with Abbott that he would have won a presidential-style victory at the next election. By implication – that whole leadership-change thing was pointless.

Abbott does not directly attack or snipe, in fact he refuses to do so. He urges people to continue to support the Coalition.

But his message is clear and a more potent attack for its apparent reasonableness. The Liberal party and the electorate have been duped. Malcolm Turnbull has not, should not and will not change anything. Nor would he have reason to, because Abbott’s two years in government were a triumph. In fact Turnbull only moved when he did because the Canning byelection was about to vindicate Abbott’s election-winning abilities.

Outside the studio, of course, recent events look very different.

The Coalition immediately jumped to an election-winning position in the polls. Turnbull’s approval ratings as prime minister skyrocketed. A clear majority of voters supported the change. Backbenchers contemplated the assassination only because they believed that without it their own demise was inevitable.

But the new prime minister is in a tricky period of transition. Having promised proper consultation and having sat in the cabinet that agreed all the current policies, he cannot lightly ditch them. He has to unpick them carefully. But he is also managing an enormous expectation that things will change.

Turnbull’s internal critics have the same plan as Labor – to use this transitional time to convince the electorate that it’s all a con, that nothing is really any different. And so Abbott, in the warm embrace of a 2GB “interview”, starts nailing down his legacy. “The interesting thing is that no policy has changed since the change of PM,” he remarks, interspersed by Hadley’s enthusiastic approval.

“Protection policy, the same. Climate change, the same. Border protection policy, the same. National security policy, the same, and if you listen to the PM and the treasurer they’re even using exactly the same phrases that Joe Hockey and I were using just a fortnight ago.

“We did stop the boats, we did get the big new roads starting, including the Badgerys Creek airport [in Sydney], we did make a very, very good start to budget repair, we had the three free trade agreements that had eluded previous governments, we effectively ended business welfare, we started the trade union royal commission, which is doing great work and will continue to do great work, we ended the green veto on big projects,” he continued, untroubled by diversionary fact-seeking responses, such as: “But there was never any green veto on big projects and your ‘lawfare’ amendments aren’t going to pass the Senate.”

The point, of course, is to make it harder for Turnbull to unpick things. And that, in turn, would lead to the conclusion that the coup was illegitimate.

Evidence of liquid water found on Mars; scientists say 'long way to go' to say whether Red Planet could support life

Extract from ABC News

ABC Science

By Stuart Gary

Updated about an hour ago

Gallery: Evidence of liquid water on Mars

Scientists analysing NASA data say they have found evidence of flowing water on the surface of Mars, but caution there is a "long way to go" before they can say if the Red Planet could support life.

Chemical analysis of dark streaks on the surface of the planet has identified the presence of hydrated salts that are the signature of liquid salty water.
"We can safely say that some sort of liquid water activity is involved in the formation mechanism of these," researcher Lujendra Ojha of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta said.

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"It's been three years of trial and error to get these readings."
Since the discovery of the dark streaks on Martian slopes over a decade ago, astronomers have debated what caused the structures, dubbed "recurring slope lineae".
Are they really a sign of flowing water or are they simply caused by dry grains of material rolling down the slopes of a freeze-dried planet surface?
To date, observations have lacked the fine resolution needed to determine the chemical composition of the streaks, which are typically less than five metres wide.
But today, in findings reported in the journal Nature Geoscience, Mr Ojha and colleagues have solved this problem by combining data from two different instruments aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.

What do you think of the discovery? Do you think it means there could be life on Mars? Have your say in the comments below.

Analysis of chemical composition of streaks

Photo: Dark, narrow, streaks on the slopes of Horowitz crater. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Mr Ojha and colleagues analysed the chemical composition of streaks at four different locations on the Martian surface, near the equator (see interactive map below).
"By using the HiRise visible light camera and the CHRISM spectrometer aboard the same spacecraft, we could look at the same surface and acquire both pictures and ... spectra data to tell us about the chemical information at the same time," Mr Ojha said.

Water on Mars

• Geological features which could only be carved out by flowing water suggest Mars was once a warm wet world.
• Most of the water left on Mars today is either frozen in the planet's polar ice caps, or below the surface as permafrost.
• Mars has only 1/99th the air pressure of Earth, which would prevent liquid fresh water from pooling on the surface.
• Salty water can remain liquid at lower temperatures and pressures than fresh water.
• The warmth of sunlight alone can liquefy salty water in the Martian soil, allowing it to seep out of the ground.
• When salty water evaporates it leaves a film of salts behind.
• These salts can also absorb water out of the Martian atmosphere,

The researchers found hydrated salts, which precipitate from water, on all the streaks they examined.
"We detected magnesium perchlorate, magnesium chlorate and sodium perchlorate," Mr Ojha said.
By contrast, the terrain surrounding the transient streaks lacked any spectral signatures for salts.
Mr Ojha and colleagues argue the range of surface temperatures over which the streaks appear supports the hypothesis that water is seeping down slopes on Mars during warm seasons and drying up when the seasons get colder.
On Mars, water freezes into ice at 0 degrees Celsius, and boils at just 10 degrees Celsius because of relatively low air pressure.
But, said Mr Ojha, water containing salts like sodium perchlorate can stay liquid down to minus 70 degrees Celsius, and will not start boiling until temperatures reach as high as 24 degrees Celsius.
Mr Ojha said the perchlorates were also "hydroscopic".
"They can absorb atmospheric moisture, a really amazing process called deliquescence, where they absorb the water vapour from the atmosphere and create a water flow," he said.

Life on Mars? NASA says it's possible

Photo: Dark narrow streaks coming out of the walls of Garni crater on Mars a few hundred metres in length. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Earlier this year NASA's Mars Curiosity discovered calcium perchlorates in the soils of Gale Crater, unrelated to the dark streaks.

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Those findings, also reported in Nature Geoscience, indicated that the right temperature and humidity conditions existed in Gale Crater at night and just after sunrise during the Martian winter for moisture in the atmosphere to be absorbed by the salts and potentially form salty liquid water.
Mr Ojha said this new discovery meant some places on Mars were more habitable than previously thought, but that did not mean there was life on Mars.
"We're just starting to scratch the surface about these features, and there's a long way to go before we can safely say it is a habitable place or it has biological potential," Mr Ojha said.
"However, if humanity ever goes to Mars, this is probably an excellent source of water for consumption or rocket fuel."
NASA's planetary science director Jim Green described the discovery as revolutionary.
"Mars is not the dry, arid planet we thought of in the past ... it once had extensive water resources," he said.
"Mars suffered a major climate change and lost its surface water. Today we're revolutionising our understanding of this planet."
NASA's associate administrator for science John Grunsfeld added: "It suggests that it would be possible for life to be on Mars today."
Dr Grunsfeld said NASA would not be rushing out to search the newly discovered saltwater residue for life just yet.
"If I were a microbe on Mars, I would probably not live near one of these [sites]," he said.

"I would want to live further north or south, quite far under the surface and where there's more of a freshwater glacier. We only suspect those places exist and we have some scientific evidence that they do."
Astrophysicist Professor Geraint Lewis of the University of Sydney said the new findings were "critical evidence" for the streaks on Mars having formed by flowing, "or at least dribbling" water.
"This new result bolsters the argument for water on the surface of our planetary companion," he said.
Dr Amanda Bauer from the Australian Astronomical Observatory added: "I can simply say that the potential presence of liquid water on the surface of Mars is incredibly exciting because water is essential for life as we know it to exist.
"More work is needed to understand how exactly these seasonal salty water streams are formed on Mars, but the new evidence for water flow is certainly an exciting step forward in understanding water activity on Mars."
University of Arizona planetary scientist Alfred McEwen said it was still unknown whether minerals were absorbing water vapor directly from Mars' thin atmosphere, or if there was a source of melting ice beneath the surface.
Whatever the water's source, the prospect of liquid water, even seasonally, raises the intriguing prospect that Mars, which is presumed to be a cold and dead planet, could support life today.
"It's not necessarily habitable just because it's water - at least to terrestrial organisms," he said.
Scientists have been trying to figure out how Mars transformed from a warm, wet and likely Earth-like planet into a cold, dry desert that exists today.
Billions of years ago, Mars, which lacks a protective, global magnetic field, lost much of its atmosphere.
Several initiatives are under way to determine how much of the planet's water was stripped away and how much remains locked in ice in underground reservoirs.

Image: Mars water discovery mapped

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Bill Shorten, address to the inaugural country Labor forum.

CASINO, NEW SOUTH WALES

SATURDAY, 26 SEPTEMBER 2015


I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and I pay my respects to their elders both past and present.
I want to acknowledge all our Labor candidates here today, especially our host, the former and future Member for Page, Janelle Saffin.
Thank you Joel for the kind introduction.
And thank you for all the effort you have put in as Labor’s spokesman for Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
Joel – and the Country Caucus he leads – are tireless champions for rural Australia.
And they are relentless.
Whenever I or any one of my colleagues are having a conversation about policy…sometimes even in the middle of speeches…Joel, or Justine Elliot, or Lisa Chesters will suddenly chime in and say:
“That all sounds good, but what about the regions. Don’t forget the regions!”
I can ever hear Janelle saying it!
The fact that so many of my Labor team are here today is a reflection of our shared faith in the potential and possibility of country Australia.
My colleagues and I are here because – like all of you – we believe Australians on the land and in our country towns deserve a stronger voice and a better deal.
We refuse to accept, all of us, that any party has a monopoly on the interests of rural Australia.
Especially not the Nationals.
Not Warren Truss…certainly not Barnaby Joyce.
In fact, on the train on the way here, I thought to myself that the Nats are a bit like the Liberal party’s faithful old working-dog.
You can picture it, can’t you.
There’s the Liberals, in their Rodd and Gunn vests, jumper knotted around their shoulders just like the old boarding-school days, driving the ute.
And there’s Warren and Barnaby, tied up in the tray at the back, like Pistol and Boo.
Sure, every so often the Liberals look in the rear view mirror to make sure the Nats are still there.
But the fact is, the Nationals don’t get a say in where they’re going…they don’t help steer or navigate…they’re just along for the ride.
I think Australians are hungry for a better alternative, for a party that truly cares about delivering better results and real progress for hard-working Australians in the bush.
Before entering Parliament, I spent 14 fantastic years in the AWU, which gave me the opportunity to visit a lot of rural workplaces throughout Australia:

• fruit pickers
• dried-fruit packers
• winery workers
• broiler chicken growers
• civil construction workers
• wild dog trappers
• tomato pickers and plenty more.

I represented shearers and my time on the boards of the shearing shed gave me an understanding of the hard work that shearers, roustabouts, wool classers and farm families do.
I got a glimpse of an Australia that a lot of people born and raised in our cities don’t know enough about…or perhaps think has gone.
And I understand that if Labor is going to win government, we need to speak for this Australia.
We need to represent the best interests of Australians like you.
We need to be a party as big, as bold and as diverse as the country we love and seek to serve.
We must engage with the challenges faced by communities beyond our suburbs.
And we must offer ourselves as proud, forceful advocates for the jobs, infrastructure, services and investment regional Australia needs to succeed.
Friends
Australia is so much more than three big cities on the east coast.
And if we’re going to compete and win in a global economy…
If we’re going to seize the opportunities of having the world’s largest marketplace on our doorstep…
If we’re going to boost our productivity and care for an ageing population…
Then we need to tap into the potential of our whole continent.
We need to invest in our regions, in people’s innovation and their innate capacity.
We need everyone connected – and pulling in the same direction.
This is true for free trade.
Labor has a proud history of support trade liberalisation – in the national interest.
We understand good free trade agreements are good for farmers and agriculture.
In government, we laid the groundwork for the Japan and Korea agreements.
And we supported them in Opposition.
We support the China Free Trade Agreement too.
We’re aware of the benefits it offers grain exporters and dairy.
But we are equally determined to make sure the right safeguards are put in place to uphold Australian conditions, Australian safety standards and Australian jobs.
Without our safeguards, on any project worth more than $150 million, for example a new aged care facility or a major new dairy processing plant or abattoir.
The company would be able to fly in construction workers from overseas, without having to check if Australians were available to do the job.
Labor will not be pressured into settling for a deal that sells Australia short, or cuts Australian workers out.
We want the benefits of the deal to include everyone.
On CHAFTA, as with everything else, we believe in making economic change work for all Australians – so people don’t get left behind.
This has never been more important.
Because inequality in our society is at a 75 year high.
And as so many of you know, there is a creeping inequality of geography gripping our nation.
A new ‘tyranny of distance’, where jobs, growth and opportunity are not fairly shared across our country.
For example, a recent PWC report found that in the last 15 years, the Australian economy has grown by around 46 per cent.
But while economies in our capital cities grew by between 37 per cent and 76 per cent.
Rural economies contracted by between 25 and 61 per cent.
And that economic gap is repeated for so many of the indicators we use to measure ourselves as a society:
In our schools, Year 12 completion rates and NAPLAN results decline, the further you go from our cities.
Fewer students from the regions get the chance to go to uni, and if they do go, fewer students complete their degree.
Life expectancy is lower – and the rates of chronic disease are higher.
Unemployment is around 2 per cent higher on average – and youth unemployment in our regions is far too high, across the board.
There is the national shame of family violence, which we must all strive to eliminate.
The challenges of mental health, depression and suicide – a sense of loneliness and isolation often compounded by physical remoteness.
And the new scourge of ice, a low-cost drug, ruining lives and tearing families apart.
Too many Australians feel like they have to leave the community they love, to get a decent opportunity.
As Labor people, as the party of fairness and equity, we cannot, we will not stand for this inequality.
Choosing a life in regional Australia should never mean second-tier healthcare, second-class education and a second-rate NBN.
And under Labor, it never will.
This is why we voted against the Liberal-National cuts to the pension and their cuts to family support.
It’s why we have stood against the Liberal-National cuts to dementia support.
It’s why we oppose their plans to slug sick Australians with a GP Tax – either upfront or by stealth.
And it is why Labor is committed to an economic and social program for revitalising our regions.
We have a plan for high-quality infrastructure decision-making, boosting productivity in our regions and linking our country towns to services in our cities.
We need our super funds investing in our regions – especially in infrastructure.
Right now only 0.3 per cent of Australia’s superannuation funds go back into vital construction in the bush – this has to lift.
Labor created a school funding model to break away from the politics of public vs private vs church schools – and the big beneficiaries are country kids.
And unlike the Liberal-Nationals, we will give students and teachers in our country schools the right resources and support – with schools funding based on need.
I’m proud to have played a part in the creation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme – a system of tailored support, empowering people with disability, their families and carers.
Ending the exile of a second class life – and resolving the midnight anxiety of elderly parents, worrying about who would care for their child with disability, when they no longer could.
And we will fight for the full, timely roll-out of the NDIS to our regions – no cuts, no delay.
We will support universal Medicare and proper funding for our public hospitals.
Because it is your Medicare card, not your credit card that should guarantee access to quality healthcare.
We will always stand for a fair pension and strong super, because Australians who have worked hard all their lives and paid taxes all their lives deserve dignity and security in retirement.
And this means providing decent aged care too, learning from successful programs like multi-purpose services.
Labor has a plan to invest in our universities, increasing access and boosting quality.
We will never support $100,000 degrees.
We want downward pressure on the price of university.
More young Australians from our regions and more mature-age students upgrading their skills, having the chance to go to university and graduate with a good degree.
We’re backing skills and apprenticeships, with support for public TAFE, because the pendulum has swung too far to dodgy private providers.
We believe in a first-rate National Broadband Network, bridging the digital divide with fibre to the premises.
Not just in one or two lucky towns like Armidale – but in every community: connecting businesses, schools, hospitals and homes to the world.
Friends
Farmers know, better than anyone, how important sustainability is.
Farmers care for 61 per cent of our continent – and 94 in every 100 farmers actively undertake natural resource management.
And you have every right to insist that projects like the proposed Shenhua Mine follow the proper processes.
The Liverpool plains is part of the largest groundwater system in the Murray Darling – and we should treat this precious resource with the utmost respect.
Sustainability goes beyond conservation.
Every day Australia fails to act on climate change exposes our farmers to more risk and it hurts our economy.
Every day we choose not to act, we are choosing more floods, more droughts, less certainty for cropping, less feed for livestock.
The benefits of taking action are immense.
If we embrace renewable energy, solar and wind power will create new jobs and new opportunities in our regional centres.
And it will add new value to existing industries, like the bio-digester being constructed at Inverell.
This will reduce emissions, put the business back in charge of energy costs, reduce unit costs, and it will produce clean water and bio-fertiliser.
We want to support more great projects like this.
And we will give more homes and businesses the chance to take control of their power bills with rooftop solar and more farmers the chance to earn new income by putting turbines on their land.
Our vision for Australia isn’t confined to one segment of our country or one set of postcodes.
We believe in growing our economy by extending opportunity.
And I want to assure you, more than ever, this will includes rural and regional Australia.
Friends
Paul Keating once said that ‘true believers’ were the people who kept the faith in difficult times.
I can’t imagine it’s ever been easy to be a true believer, or a Labor branch member in your communities.
And the task before you in the coming year is a mighty one indeed.
You and I know that for Labor to win the election, we have to stand up and be counted in the regions.
This means asking people who have never voted Labor before in their lives to trust us with their support.
And we are counting on you to help us achieve that.
We are counting on you to start conversations and to change minds.
We’re counting on you to be the standard-bearers for our message, for our policies and plans.
Your advocacy, your authenticity, your understanding of the real lives of your friends, colleagues and neighbours will be essential to our success.
And when they ask you: what does Labor stand for?
What does Labor believe?
You know the answer – you have lived it all your lives.
Labor stands for

• Good Jobs
• Quality Healthcare
• Great education
• And fairness for all

This is our Labor vision for Australia’s future.
A vision that spans our continent and includes every community.

This is our plan, to advance Australia.

Doctors group condemns Medicare review as an attack on GP integrity

Extract from The Guardian

Australian Medical Association says reviewing every item on the Medicare benefits scheme on safety grounds suggests doctors use it as a cash cow

The federal minister for health, Sussan Ley, has announced the government will review the entire Medicare benefits schedule. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Shalailah Medhora

Sunday 27 September 2015 17.46 AEST 

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has condemned suggestions that a review into Medicare would improve patients’ safety, saying the consultation is a “direct attack on the integrity of the medical profession”.

The health minister, Sussan Ley, on Sunday announced that the government would review all of the nearly 5,800 items on the Medicare benefits schedule (MBS) as part of a consultation process aimed at weeding out unnecessary, unsafe and outdated procedures.
She rejected suggestions that the consultation process was a cost-cutting measure.
“It’s definitely not about winners and losers,” Ley told reporters on Sunday. “It’s about patient safety. It’s about building the best possible health system for the 21st century.”
Ley cited figures released by the chair of the review task force, Bruce Robinson, which found that 30% of expenditure on the MBS was for services or technologies that were out of date, unnecessary or harmful to patients. A wholesale review of the system has not taken place since it was introduced in the early 1980s.
The consultation “allows us to reinvest in new technologies, new services and new procedures,” Ley said, despite the terms of reference of the review saying that the addition of new services to the MBS was outside its remit.
The president of the AMA, Dr Brian Owler, said that doctors “cannot accept” the suggestion that they are using Medicare as a cash cow and, in the process, putting patients in harm’s way.
“This is a direct attack on the integrity of the medical profession. It is an approach that undermines the confidence that patients have in their doctors. It’s unacceptable,” Owler told reporters on Sunday.

The AMA had signed up for review of the remuneration paid to doctors for MBS services, Owler said. It had been hoped that the review would recoup some of the money lost in the budget when the government was forced to scrap its GP co-payment in December last year.
Ley has not yet had discussions on the direction of future health policy with the freshly-sworn in cabinet, and denies that the new treasurer, Scott Morrison, has asked her to find savings in the $70bn health portfolio.
Owler said the review announced on Sunday aimed to take a scalpel to services provided under Medicare.
“It’s clearly a cost-cutting exercise. It’s about removing services for patients,” Owler said.
Ley admitted that there were savings to be found from the review.
“Yes it is about harvesting efficiencies, and we know that there are large inefficiencies in the system already,” the health minister said, adding that cost-saving was not the main point of the exercise.
Labor’s health spokeswoman, Catherine King, acknowledged that there was scope to undertake a review of certain procedures, but said that the wholesale nature of this consultation raised questions about its main goal.
“It is clear that this MBS review is only an excuse to find further savings in health,” King told reporters on Sunday. “[The government] can’t be trusted when it comes to Medicare.”
Earlier in the day, the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, tweeted his criticism of the review.
King said that Labor had undertaken reviews of Medicare services “quietly” when it was in power, and that the government needed to engage with the medical profession in the consultation process.
The review is being led by Robinson, the dean of Sydney University’s medical school, and calls for input by doctors and specialists. The taskforce has met with several doctors’ groups including the AMA already.
Early intervention tonsillectomies for children, high density bone scans for seniors and tests on lower back pain are just a few of the services that could be in danger when the taskforce reports back at the end of the year.
The chief executive of the Consumers Health Forum, Leanne Wells, welcomed the review.
“We know there are tens if not hundreds of items on the schedule that need revising. We can stop wasting money on items that are not effective and that money can be reinvested into new items. This should ensure Australians in the future have access to the best treatment options that are available,” she said.

Owler said the health minister was “pre-empting” the outcome of the review by highlighting procedures she thought were unnecessary, effectively “politicising” the process.
The relationship between the AMA and the Coalition soured shortly after the government introduced a $7 GP co-payment in the 2014 budget.
The group waged a strong campaign against the co-payment which, paired with opposition from voters and the Senate crossbench, lead to the government dropping the payment in December of that year.
It was replaced with a plan to give doctors $5 less in rebates, leaving it up to them as to whether they passed on charges to their patients.
A subsequent plan, to cut short visits to the GP by $20, was also scrapped in January after it faced fierce backlash.
Ley, who came into the health portfolio in December, promised to consult more with doctors and patients before formulating policy.

Cutting penalty rates would hit most vulnerable, unions warn

Extract from The Guardian

Malcolm Turnbull and Josh Frydenberg have indicated a cut to Sunday rates is being considered, but ACTU says it would exacerbate inequality

Hospitality staff are among those whose Sunday rates could be cut under recommendations in the productivity commission’s draft report. Photograph: Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle/Corbis

Shalailah Medhora

Monday 28 September 2015 07.08 AEST

Cutting penalty rates would exacerbate inequality and disadvantage, the Australian Council of Trade Unions has warned, as a cabinet minister reopened the controversial debate by urging a rethink on the existing penalty system.
The energy and resources minister, Josh Frydenberg, told Channel 10’s The Bolt Report on Sunday that the government was re-examining industrial issues, including penalty rates.
When pressed by host Andrew Bolt on whether the government should cut Sunday rates, Frydenberg answered: “It’s an area to look at”.
The energy minister’s comments come just days after the new prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, indicated that cuts to Sunday rates may be on the cards.
“All of these matters are under consideration but it is very important that we proceed in an orderly way,” he told Sky News last week.
Frydenberg said that cutting rates could mean more jobs and a stronger economy, but the ACTU refutes that.
In its submission in response to a draft report by the productivity commission on workplace relations, the union questioned whether cutting rates would actually lead to more jobs.
Instead, it argued that the lowest paid workers are the ones most likely to feel the pinch of the removal of penalty rates and loading.
“The productivity commission makes clear that it understands that its preferred losers are the workers who are already at the sharp end of Australia’s inequality problem, and it even accepts that the penalty rate cuts it advocates for are not expected to improve business profitability,” the ACTU submission said.
Inequality is the “elephant in the room”, the unions warn.
“Australia’s workplace relations system is a crucial plank in the bulwark against growing inequality but it needs strengthening, not weakening,” the submission said. “We are concerned that many of the recommendations in the productivity commission’s draft report will compound people’s existing disadvantage and contribute to a more unequal society overall.”
Cutting Sunday rates for workers in the entertainment, hospitality and retail sectors, while retaining them for other industries like health care and emergency services, was one of the 46 recommendations unveiled in the productivity commission’s draft report into workplace relations last month.
The trade unions drew parallels between the proposed changes and the unpopular Howard-era WorkChoices policy, which former prime minister Tony Abbott famously described as “dead, buried and cremated”.
Malcolm Turnbull last week signalled a change in tone from his predecessor on industrial relations, promising a more flexible and productive workforce without having to “wage war with unions”.
The Senate has twice voted down legislation that would impose tougher oversight on union officials. The registered organisations bill is now a potential double dissolution trigger for the government.
The productivity commission’s final report on workplace relations is due to be handed down in November.

Mahdist War: Siege of Khartoum

"It is not often that nations learn from the past, even rarer that they draw the correct conclusions from it." - Henry Kissinger

Major General Charles "Chinese" Gordon.  Photograph Source: Public Domain

Kennedy Hickman

Military History Expert

Siege of Khartoum - Conflict & Dates:
The Siege of Khartoum lasted from March 13, 1884 to January 26, 1885, and took place during the Mahdist War (1881-1899).
Armies & Commanders
British & Egyptians

• Major General Charles Gordon
• 7,000 men, 9 gunboats

Mahdists

• Muhammad Ahmad
• approx. 50,000 men

Siege of Khartoum - Background:
In the wake of 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War, British troops remained in Egypt to protect British interests.

Though occupying the country, they allowed the Khedive to continue overseeing domestic affairs. This included dealing with the Mahdist Revolt which had commenced in Sudan. Though technically under Egyptian rule, large parts of Sudan had fallen to Mahdist forces led by Muhammad Ahmad. Considering himself the Mahdi (the redeemer of Islam), Ahmad defeated Egyptian forces at El Obeid in November 1883 and overran Kordofan and Darfur. This defeat and the deteriorating situation led to Sudan being discussed in Parliament. Assessing the problem and wishing to avoid the cost of intervention, Prime Minister William Gladstone and his cabinet were unwilling to commit forces to the conflict.

As a result, their representative in Cairo, Sir Evelyn Baring, directed the Khedive to order the garrisons in Sudan to evacuate back into Egypt. To oversee this operation, London requested that Major General Charles "Chinese" Gordon be placed in command. A veteran officer and former governor-general of Sudan, Gordon was familiar with the region and its peoples.

Leaving in early 1884, he was also tasked with reporting on the best means for extracting the Egyptians from the conflict. Arriving in Cairo, he was re-appointed Governor-General of Sudan with full executive powers. Sailing up the Nile, he arrived at Khartoum on February 18. Directing his limited forces against the advancing Mahdists, Gordon began evacuating women and children north to Egypt.

Siege of Khartoum - Gordon Digs In:
Though London desired to abandon Sudan, Gordon firmly believed the Mahdists needed to be defeated or they could overrun Egypt. Citing a lack of boats and transport, he ignored his orders to evacuate and began organizing a defense of Khartoum. In an effort to win over the city's residents, he improved the justice system and remitted taxes. Recognizing that Khartoum's economy rested on the slave trade, he re-legalized slavery despite the fact the he had originally abolished it during his earlier term as governor-general. While unpopular at home, this move increased Gordon's support in the city. As he moved forward, he began requesting reinforcements to defend the city. An initial request for a regiment of Turkish troops was denied as was a later call for a force of Indian Muslims.
Increasingly agitated by Gladstone's lack of support, Gordon began sending a series of angry telegrams to London. These soon became public and led to a vote of no confidence against Gladstone's government. Though he survived, Gladstone steadfastly refused to become committed to a war in Sudan. Left on his own, Gordon began enhancing Khartoum's defenses. Protected to the north and west by the White and Blue Niles, he saw that fortifications and trenches were constructed to the south and east. Facing the desert, these were supported by land mines and wire barriers. To defend the rivers, Gordon retrofitted several steamers into gunboats which were protected by metal plates. Attempting an offensive near Halfaya on March 16, Gordon's troops faltered and took 200 casualties. In the wake of the setback, he concluded that he should remain on the defensive.
Siege of Khartoum - The Siege Begins:
Later that month, Mahdist forces began to near Khartoum and skirmishing commenced. With Mahdist forces closing in, Gordon telegraphed London on April 19 that he had provisions for five months. He also requested two to three thousand Turkish troops as his men were increasingly unreliable. Gordon believed that with such a force, he could drive off the enemy. As the month ended, the tribes to the north elected to join with the Mahdi and cut off Gordon's lines of communication to Egypt. While runners were able to make the journey, the Nile and telegraph were severed. As enemy forces surrounded the city, Gordon attempted to convince the Mahdi to make peace but with no success.
Siege of Khartoum - Fall of Khartoum:
Holding the city, Gordon was able to somewhat replenish his supplies by raiding with his gunboats. In London, his plight was played up in the press and eventually Queen Victoria directed Gladstone to send aid to the beleaguered garrison. Acquiescing in July 1884, Gladstone ordered General Sir Garnet Wolseley to form an expedition for the relief of Khartoum. Despite this, it took a substantial amount of time to organize the needed men and supplies. As the fall progressed, Gordon's position became increasingly tenuous as supplies dwindled and many of his more capable officers were killed. Shortening his line, he constructed a new wall inside the city and tower from which to observe the enemy. Though communications remained spotty, Gordon did receive word that a relief expedition was en route.
Despite this news, Gordon greatly feared for the city. A letter that arrived in Cairo on December 14 informed a friend, "Farewell. You will never hear from me again. I fear that there will be treachery in the garrison, and all will be over by Christmas." Two days later, Gordon was forced to destroy his outpost across the White Nile at Omdurman. Made aware of Gordon's concerns, Wolseley began pressing south. Defeating the Mahdists at Abu Klea on January 17, 1885, he men met the enemy again two days later. With the relief force approaching, the Mahdi began planning to storm Khartoum. Possessing around 50,000 men, he ordered one column to wade across the White Nile to attack the city's walls while another assaulted the Massalamieh Gate.
Moving forward on the night of January 25-26, both columns quickly overwhelmed the exhausted defenders. Swarming through the city, the Mahdists massacred the garrison and around 4,000 of Khartoum's residents. Though the Mahdi had expressly ordered that Gordon be taken alive, he was struck down in the fighting. Accounts of his death vary with some reports stating he was killed at the governor's palace, while others claim he was shot in the street while trying to escape to the Austrian consulate. In either case, Gordon's body was decapitated and taken to the Mahdi on a pike.
Siege of Khartoum - Aftermath:
In the fighting at Khartoum, Gordon's entire 7,000-man garrison was killed. Mahdist casualties are not known. Driving south, Wolseley's relief force reached Khartoum two days after the city's fall. With no reason to remain, he ordered his men to return to Egypt, leaving Sudan to the Mahdi. It remained under Mahdist control until 1898 when Major General Herbert Kitchener defeated them at the Battle of Omdurman. Though a search was made for Gordon's remains after Khartoum was retaken, they were never found. Acclaimed by the public, Gordon's death was blamed on Gladstone who delayed forming a relief expedition. The resulting outcry led his government to fall in March 1885 and he was formally rebuked by Queen Victoria.

Inquiries into possible changes to Queensland Parliamentary terms

• Inquiry Overview
• Related Publications

About the inquiry

The Finance and Administration Committee is inquiring jointly into the following matters involving possible changes to the duration of terms for the Queensland Parliament:

• a general inquiry into the introduction of four year terms for the Queensland Parliament
• the Constitution (Fixed Term Parliament) Amendment Bill 2015
• the Constitution (Fixed Term Parliament) Referendum Bill 2015

The Committee is required to report on each of these matters by 9 November 2015.

Inquiry into the introduction of four year terms in Queensland Parliament

On 15 September 2015 the Parliament resolved that the committee inquire into the introduction of four year terms for the Queensland Parliament.  In undertaking the inquiry, the committee is to consider, but not be limited to:

• a comparison of three and four year parliamentary terms, including advantages and disadvantages
• a comparison of parliamentary terms in other Australian jurisdictions
• mechanisms for determining the referendum question that will be put to the Queensland public
• the possible starting date of any new arrangements, if adopted.

Private Members Bills

On 17 September 2015 Ian Walker MP, Shadow Attorney-General and Shadow Minister for Justice, Industrial Relations and Arts, introduced the Constitution (Fixed Term Parliament) Amendment Bill 2015 and the Constitution (Fixed Term Parliament) Referendum Bill 2015.  These bills have been referred to the committee for detailed consideration.  The Parliament resolved that the Committee consider these bills as part of its general inquiry into four year terms and report by 9 November 2015.

The policy objectives of the Bills, as outlined in the explanatory notes, are to:

• provide that a general election must be held on the second Saturday in March in the fourth calendar year after the calendar year in which the last election was held.
• provide that the Legislative Assembly expires on the day that is four years from the day the writ for the general election was returned for the Assembly (thus ensuring a fixed, four year term).
• provide for exceptional circumstances in which the Governor must dissolve the Legislative Assembly and issue a writ for a general election.
• provide that the Governor may, despite the advice of the Premier of the day or the Executive Council, dissolve the Legislative Assembly and issue a writ for a general election, in accordance with established constitutional conventions.
• provide that the amendment Bill is not presented to the Governor for assent, unless it has been passed by the Legislative Assembly and has been approved by a majority of electors at a referendum (held on a Saturday at least 2 months after the Bill has been passed by the Legislative Assembly).
• provide for the facilitation of a referendum (if the Constitution (Fixed Term Parliament) Amendment Bill 2015 is passed), including when the referendum is to be held and who is eligible to vote.

Public forums

The Committee will be holding public forums in Brisbane and regional areas between 30 September and 16 October 2015 as detailed here.

Issues paper

The committee will shortly release an issues paper to facilitate the committee’s call for public submissions and discussion at upcoming public forums. When available, it will be accessible from this page.

Call for submissions

The Committee invites submissions addressing any aspect of the terms of references for the inquiry and the two Bills from all interested parties.   Guidelines for making a submission to a parliamentary committee are available here:  Guide to making a submission. 

Submissions closing at 4.00pm, Tuesday 20 October 2015.

Please note that late submissions may not be accepted unless agreed to prior to the closing date.

Submissions should be sent to:   

Email:   fac@parliament.qld.gov.au 

Post:     Research Director
             Finance and Administration Committee
             Parliament House
             George Street
             Brisbane Qld 4000

Fax:       3553 6699 

Inquiry timeline

Submissions close on:             4:00pm Tuesday 20 October 2015
Public forums:                         Schedule can be viewed here
Public hearing date:                Wednesday 28 October 2015 (to be confirmed)

Reporting due date:                Monday 9 November 2015

General News June 1, 1895

*THE WORKER*

BRISBANE, JUNE 1, 1895.

General News Summary.

FOR THE WEEK ENDING MAY 29.

Landslip at Broken Hill.

Victorian Parliament opened.

Heavy snow fall at Otago, N.Z.

Gold rush to the West Leichardt.

A Narrabri selector shoots himself.

Good prices offered at London wool sales.

Republic declared in the island of Formosa.

Premier of New Zealand refuses knighthood.

Secretary of State for the United States dies.

Australian tin quoted in London at £67 per ton.

Meat works at Mareeba in course of erection.

Reductions of rates on the Queensland railways.

No Birthday honours for the Queensland Fat Men.

A lunatic murders his wife in South Australia.

Successful agricultural show at Wellington Point.

Sydney milksellers fined for using too much water.

Reported rich discovery of gold at Montalbion.

Railway Hotel at Laidley burned to the ground.

Rumoured early dissolution of British Parliament.

Nugget weighing 196oz. Found at Marble Bar, W.A.

Oscar Wilde sentenced to two years' imprisonment.

Collision between a steamer and ketch at Sydney Heads.

Population of South Australia on March 1^st last was 347,065.

People of Toowoomba offer to pay Mrs. M'Naught's fine.

Italian general elections result in favour of the Government.

Drunken kanakas attack the white residents of Maryborough.

Discovery of alluvial wash near Jembaicumbene, N.S.W.

Victorian Government going to sell gunboats by public auction.

Michael Davitt lectures on the Labour question in Melbourne.

Two white men lynched in Illinois, U.S., for assault on a woman.

A silly parson in London advocates a holy war against the Turk.

English shipping companies raise the freight on cargo to Australia.

A little Gympie girl's clothes take fire and she dies from injuries.

Big fire near Woodstock impedes railway traffic for a short time.

Alfred Taylor, the associate of Oscar Wilde, sentenced to two years.

Emperor of China promises in future to pursue a policy of reform.

A Tasmanian mother drowns herself and seven month's old infant.

Cape Colony Government about to impose an import duty on frozen meat.

A miner named Manual King robbed of £321 in a Melbourne coffee palace.

Ex-secretary of the Queensland Club arrested on a charge of embezzlement.

Body of an unknown man found with his throat cut in West Australia.

One hundred and thirty men entombed in a West Virginia mine are rescued.

William Chisholm knocked down and killed by a railway train near Melbourne.

A coloured man savagely assaulted by Chinese in a Sydney gambling den.

Judge Molesworth sends a very warm letter to the Victorian Attorney-General.

Christchurch, N.Z., city rate collector gets two years in gaol for embezzlement.

Conflict between French troops and a number of people in French New Guinea.

Public meeting at Georgetown advocates the extension of a railway from Croydon.

Ex-clerk of the Calliope Divisional Board gets 17 months in gaol for embezzlement.

The Duke of Buckingham collides with another steamer in the English Channel.

Rockhampton again protests against the building of the Hughenden-Winton railway.

Owing to bad season in America prices in England for Australian wheat are on the rise.

French newspapers demanding that Great Britain evacuate the valley of the Upper Nile.

Florrie Morgan, aged 17, commits suicide at Windsor, N.S.W., by taking a dose of strychnine.

Early Closing Association hold a successful concert in the trades and Labour Hall, Brisbane.

English War office accept the tender of a Victorian firm for supply of Australian Brandy.

A town in Turkey destroyed by earthquake and a number of people killed and seriously injured.

A plague of mice doing much damage to the farmers in some parts of the Riverina, New South Wales.

Terrible boiler explosion on board a Danish torpedo boat; six men killed and a number of others injured.

Japanese of Thursday Island, headed by a brass band, pays their respect to the Government Residents.

A boy 14 years of age committed for trial at Dalby charged with putting an obstruction on the railway line.

Walter Besant (novelist), Henry Irving (actor), and W.H. Russell (war correspondent), created Knights.

A big N.S.W. canegrower says if the duties be abolished the sugar industry in that province will be extinct in 1899.

W. Robertson, B.A., secretary to the Queensland Civil Service Board, arrested on a charge of embezzlement.

John Stuart and Maurice Leahy arrested on a charge of stealing gold from the Queen Constance battery, Mareeba.

An Irish Justice of the peace, going to attend a court session in the County Cork, is fired upon by disguised men.

A lengthsman on a tricycle collides with another man on the Deep Creek railway bridge and both are seriously injured.

Bill introduced in English House of Commons providing for the appointment of Australian judges to the Privy Council.

The people of Formosa object to the cession of their island to Japan and have established a Republic. The Japanese fleet is now round the island.

New Zealand Government takes possession of the Midland railway on the ground of unreasonable delay on the part of the company constructing the line.

Secretary to the Colonial Office stated in the House of Commons that the question of the separation of Queensland had not reached the stage for action to be taken by the Imperial Government.

COLUMN-U.S. and China team up on global warming

Innovation and Intellectual Property | Fri Sep 25, 2015 4:05pm EDT

Extract from Reuters

(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a third-party columnist for Reuters.)

By David Sandalow
(Reuters) - - Tensions between the United States and China are running high on issues including cyber security, the South China Sea and currency values. So why are the U.S. and China working so well together on climate change? And what does it mean for the world?
Today, President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping announced an important climate agreement. If that sentence sounds familiar, there's a reason.
At their first summit (in California in 2013), President Obama and President Xi announced plans to cooperate in phasing out HFCs, a super-pollutant with huge global warming impacts.
At their second summit (in Beijing in 2014), the two leaders reached an historic agreement to limit total emissions of heat-trapping gases in each country.
Expectations for progress on climate at a third summit were low, in part because the two previous summits had already accomplished so much. Yet today the two countries announced major new steps to cut emissions.
Most striking, the Chinese government announced plans to launch a nationwide emissions trading program for heat-trapping gases by 2017. The Chinese government also announced that its utilities will give priority to renewable energy when purchasing electricity, a technical but hugely important policy change. Both countries announced plans to control emissions from heavy trucks, a major source of pollution, as well as common positions on key issues in the international climate talks.
All these announcements come on top of a package of pledges to limit emissions from major cities, announced by the two countries in Los Angeles last week.
Why all these steps forward together? Because U.S. and Chinese interests are aligned on climate change in three important ways.
First, both countries face serious threats from climate change, including heat waves, droughts and sea level rise that could displace millions. Both governments recognize those threats and have repeatedly stated their commitment to addressing them.
Second, both countries would face international condemnation if they failed to address climate change. China is the world's leading emitter of heat-trapping gases, with total emissions last year roughly equal to those of the U.S. and EU combined. The United States is the leading historic emitter of heat-trapping gases (which can remain in the atmosphere for a century), with one of the highest per capita emission rates in the world.
Emissions from both countries have global consequences. Failing to limit their emissions at home would undercut both countries' diplomatic objectives on a range of issues.
Third, both countries are seeking areas where they can work well together. Despite the significant tensions in their relationship, the United States and China need each other and know it. Their economies are deeply intertwined, with enormous trade and capital flows between them. Areas in which the two countries work productively together can help in managing the many difficult issues in the bilateral relationship.
Other factors also play a role. China's local air pollution crisis grips the nation. Most measures to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases also help reduce local air pollutants. The United States has an impressive record cleaning the air in its cities and U.S. companies are eager to help China address its air pollution challenges.
Furthermore, a series of smaller confidence-building measures during the past decade helped lay the foundation for the current cooperation on climate and clean energy. These date back to 2007, when U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson gave priority to these issues by launching a Ten-Year Framework for Cooperation on Energy and Environment with Chinese counterparts. President Barack Obama dramatically accelerated work in this area, launching a U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center and more than a half-dozen related programs at his first summit with a Chinese leader in 2009.
What does U.S. and Chinese cooperation on climate change mean for the world?
It offers hope in addressing one of the world's most challenging problems. That's not just because the U.S. and China are responsible for almost half the heat-trapping gases released into the atmosphere each year.
It's also because the U.S. and China have complementary strengths when it comes to addressing the problem. The U.S., for example, has an unrivalled capacity for producing the technological innovations that will help drive solutions to global warming. China has a large and growing market for those technologies, which often get cheaper as they are produced in large volumes. Working together, the two countries can do far more than acting alone.
It also offers hope that the global climate negotiations in Paris this December will produce a positive result. When the world's two largest emitters come together as they did today, that provides important momentum to the negotiations.
Yet on this front, caution is advisable. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change does not operate by majority rule. For an accord to be reached, the convention's rules require "consensus," which is defined as agreement among all or almost all countries. That will be challenging, to say the least, even when the U.S. and China agree on key issues.
Against a backdrop of serious tension in the bilateral relationship, the U.S. and China are working well together on climate change and clean energy. That offers benefits not just for the two countries, but the world.

(David Sandalow is the Inaugural Fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy. He has served in senior positions at the White House, State Department and U.S. Department of Energy.) (Editing by Alden Bentley)