I wonder how useless you have to be as a banker before they don鈥檛 give you a bonus.
If you turned up for work drunk on Special Brew and Dubonnet, and wet yourself over the computers causing the FTSE to short circuit, bankrupting Brazil and forcing the defence ministry to pawn its tanks at a Cash Converters in Southend, maybe they鈥檇 say: 鈥淵ou get just half a million this year, until you wipe yourself down with a sponge.鈥
996
Beloved Land: Stories, Struggles & Secrets From Timor-Leste
Gordon Peake
Scribe, 2013
250 pages, $29.95 (pb)
East Timor is a tale of two statistics, says Gordon Peake in Beloved Land, his engaging blend of history, memoir and travelogue about the former Portuguese and Indonesian colony.
One of the world's poorest nations, East Timor ranks a lowly 120th of 169 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index, but scores high on corruption at 15th on the World Bank鈥檚 business transparency report.
In the third attack on the ABC by a government minister in the last month, Defence Minister David Johnston said on February 7 that reports that asylum seekers had their hands burned by navy personnel warrants an investigation into the national broadcaster.
"If ever there was an event that justified a detailed inquiry, some reform, an investigation of the ABC, this event is it," he said.
This follows comments by Prime Minister Tony Abbott on January 29 when he said the ABC 鈥渁ppears to take everyone鈥檚 side but Australia鈥檚 and I think it is a problem鈥.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA)聽has approved plans to dump 3 million cubic metres of sand and mud in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
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This waste will come from dredging the sea floor during construction of the Abbot Point coal terminal near Bowen and will be dumped about 25 kilometres away within the boundaries of the marine park.
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Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt initially approved the proposal, before passing it on to the聽GBRMPA聽to make the final decision.
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More than 100 people from Mackay, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney joined local activists in Maules Creek, NSW last week to bring attention to a battle that goes to the heart of Australia鈥檚 confrontation with climate change.
Maules Creek is the site of a proposed new coalmine to be operated by Whitehaven Coal. The proposal to build this mine has been the subject of dispute since its inception, but came to prominence in January last year as a result of a hoax press release.
The Refugee Action Coalition released this statement on February 5.
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The daily protests by hundreds of asylum seekers on Manus Island that began on January 25 have now spread to all four compounds inside the detention centre.
Since January 25, up to 500 asylum seekers in the Oscar compound, the most deprived of the compounds, have been staging daily protests.
On January 30, the protests extended to Mike compound. And on January 31, hundreds more asylum seekers were in involved in protests in all four compounds.
On February 3, 50 communications sector workers and community members gathered outside the Geelong Mail Centre to protest the proposed privatisation and downsizing of Australia Post.
These changes would see further job losses in the already hard-hit Geelong region.
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The meeting was attended by representatives of the Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union of Australia, the Community and Public Sector Union, Geelong Trades Hall, Socialist Alliance and the Australian Labor Party.
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Food giant Coca-Cola Amatil has threatened to close the SPC Ardmona fruit canning company in Victoria, unless the federal government and Victorian government give it $25 million each in assistance.
The company wants to spend $161 million on upgrading and restructuring its manufacturing facilities in Shepparton. If the plant is closed, about 3000 jobs in the Goulburn Valley, and many small orchard farms, would be lost.
Talking about music might sound strange for people who live in refugee camps and are deeply burdened with many other problems needing to be voiced.
But the huge role music played in the Saharawi people's struggle for independence leaves me with no choice e but to try to talk a little about the magical role revolutionary songs are playing in my people鈥檚 daily fight for self-determination.
Electrical Trades Union Victorian Secretary Troy Gray wrote this statement on the ETU Facebook page on February 6.
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Australian Workers Union Secretary Paul Howes is slitting the throat of Australian workers for his own political ambitions.
Recent headline grabbing statements by Howes have more to do with his naked ambition to be a politician and his resolve to distance聽himself from the AWU skeletons, than any attempt to improve the lives of working people or his own members.
The movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel has captured headlines around the world after actress Scarlett Johansson signed a promotion deal with Israeli company SodaStream.
Johansson signed the deal to become SodaStream's first 鈥済lobal brand ambassador鈥 on January 1. A Super Bowl halftime commercial starring the actress airing on February 2.
However, the deal resulted in an instant furore due to the company's use of an Israeli occupied industrial settlement zone in Palestinian West Bank to make their home soda machines.
Queensland woman Sheila Oakley has been left blind in one eye after being tasered by police outside her home on February 6.
Oakley underwent surgery after the metal barb from the Taser hit her in her left eye, the Guardian reported on February 7.
A senior constable, who is reported to be a qualified Taser instructor, fired the Taser.
Police said the woman was holding a table leg when they arrived at her home.
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