Backbencher

The Age is a newspaper from Melbourne, Australia. It was similar to other newspapers found anywhere around here. While browsing through the paper I found a couple of articles that were related to topics Dr. Isern has mentioned in class, and one that I just wanted to share.

An article I thought Dr. Isern would find particularly interesting was called "'Audacious' investment baron lines up to revive The Bulletin." I remember him saying in a lecture how it had to shut down. Well, there is a guy Peter Hall who is planning on buying it and plans to revive the "bushman's bible that became an emblem for 'Australian-ness' and a platform for the country's best writers." It will become a weekly journal (did it used to be daily?). Hall referred to the magzine as having a "financial bloodbath" before it shut down, and says it will take some work to get through the economic issues of this magazine. The Bulletin will focus on the environment, politics and business, and the feel of it will be spiky, irreverent and fun, not stodgy. He is very excited about The Bulletin and feels that there will be quite a bit of residual loyalty from readers. A media & advertising agent said that reputation doesn't always guarantee success and that times have changed how people consume news. Let's just hope that Australia's oldest magazine can make a successful revival.


Next, I came across an article that referred to Anzac Day which seemed fitting since we just discussed Anzac Day about a week ago. It was titled, "Statue of NZ digger installed on Anzac Bridge." The Anzac bridge is in Sydney, Australia and currently has an Aussie digger statue at the bridge entrance. The statue of the NZ digger was installed opposite the Aussie digger, and had sand from Gallipoli placed at it's feet. The NZ digger won't be unveiled until a special ceremony with Prime Minister Helen Clark and NSW Premier Morris Iemma in attendance. The reason for adding the NZ digger in Sydney is to honor the close ties between Australia and NZ. The article stated how the 2 countries' troops have served side by side on many occasions from Gallipoli and the Western Front to peacekeeping operations today. I didn't realize just how close they were; I guess I've heard about different times in history & from different people, so I'm bound to get different points of view.


Lastly, I found the article "Tax relief for working mums." This article isn't directly related to specific topics we've mentioned in class, however, it provides some interesting information I just thought I would share. A federal government tax cut and daycare changes have been promised by the Rudd government to Australians. Treasurer Wayne Swan said that in the past mums haven't been compensated for working extra hours outside of the home. The money from working the extra hours often goes towards the daycare costs. Swan said that people are under great pressures such as rising interest rates, fuel, groceries, and other expenses. So a rise in a childcare rebate of 30-50%, which will save about $29 per week for a mum working 2 days/week or $95 per week for a mum working 5 days/week. In addition, there will be a tax relief for working mums. If there are 2 children in daycare 2 days/week the relief will be $71 per week, or if they're in daycare 5 days/week the relief will be up to $136 per week. This would certainly be a welcome relief to American families with the falling economy/recession (whatever they want to call it). It's nice that Australia is doing this for their citizens and realize that their working families are indeed working hard and earned this relief.