Prison officers at risk as prison population grows

Sedney : When a frustrated prisoner threw a billiard ball at Jason Gould it cost the prison officer the sight in his left eye.”An inmate was having a bad day,” says Mr Gould. “He threw a pool ball at me and got me in the left eye and ruptured the eye ball and the iris […]

Soft budget and rate cuts bring swinging voters back to Abbott government

Perth : Swinging voters driven to back Labor by the unfairness of the Abbott government’s first hard-cutting budget have swung back after a “softer and milder” 2015 budget giving them “less to worry about”. Exclusive focus group testing of the nation’s swinging voters commissioned by Fairfax Media shows the 2015 budget was viewed in direct […]

Decades-long wait pays off for Australian koi fish champion breeder

Sydeny, 17 May : Measuring 63cm and with brightly coloured white and orange porcelain skin, Australia’s grand champion koi fish for 2015 is a scale of beauty and elegance. “It’s been a long wait but it’s very rewarding and I’m very happy,” said owner and first time winner Agus Djafar.Mr Djarfar said he has been trying […]

Peter Hartcher: ‘He has given himself a fighting chance’

Sydney, 17 May : The federal budget has put Tony Abbott back in the game. The Steve Jobs of the political world, he was responsible for his fall and has now engineered his comeback.The Abbott government is now back at parity with the opposition for the first time since last year’s budget. On the election-deciding […]

Smoking taxes make cigarette smuggling an increasingly attractive option

Sydney, 17 May : When a government treats citizens like criminals they tend to respond like criminals. The federal government, as large and intrusive as it has ever been, has helped create an underworld trade that is costing multi-billions of dollars.Every week, the equivalent of one full container of illicit cigarettes is smuggled into Australia. […]