What the press is saying about petrol, LPG, diesel, crude oil, biofuel etc.
(Click on the "News Article" link for the full story, opens in new window)
Back to School in 2012
27/01/2012. In NSW most students go back to school on Monday 30th of January. However: NSW School zones will be back in force for term one on Tuesday 27 January 2012.
(for dates, School Zone speeding and parking offences)
Politicians pay rise
01/12/2011. Just 2 days after the Gillard Government announced plans to slash billions of dollars in public spending as part of a savage mini-budget, the base salary for even the most junior parliamentarian will jump nearly 30% from $140,910 to at least $185,000.
Treasurer Wayne Swan, the deputy Prime Minister, will earn about $370,000, an $83,000 rise.
Finance Minister Penny Wong, who has been busy slashing spending, will earn an increase of $70,000, boosting her pay to about $310,000.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard's salary will jump $115,000 to around $481,000 and Peter Slipper gets a pay rise of almost $70,000 to more than $315,000 as Speaker.
How can our "representatives" feel with "hard working Australians" struggling with increased rent, electricity, grocery bills, child-care and fuel prices?
How can they possibly relate to pensioners having to choose between necessary medications, heating their home or even food?
Or self-funded retirees whose income has fallen, due to interest rate reductions and a share market decline of 12% in the last 12 months.
How can they identify with a worker who has to put fuel in the car, so he can go to work, knowing that his children went to school without breakfast?
We have to pay our politicians a decent pay, but when their pay-increase is more than our minimum wage, they are no longer capable of understanding the struggles the rest of us face.
RBA interest rate cut
01/11/2011. The Reserve Bank has cut official interest rates by 0.25%, the first time in 2 1/2 years, to 4.25%.
This will cut approximately $16 per month for every $100,000 borrowed on a mortgage.
Good news for mortgage holders and retail.
Good news for farmers and miners, as the dollar is likely to decrease against the US dollar and most commodities are traded in US$. As a consequence of a lower Australian dollar, farmers and miners will receive more Australian dollars for their exports.
Not so good for motorists as crude oil is also traded in US dollars and the lower $A is likely to increase petrol prices by about 5 cents per litre or $12 per month for the average motorist.
The big winner: Government; more income tax from miners, farmers and retailers; more GST on petrol.
Shell to cease refining at Clyde
27/07/2011. Shell today confirmed its decision to stop refining operations at its 79,000 barrel-per-day Clyde Refinery in Sydney.
Refining at Clyde will cease prior to mid-2013. The Clyde refinery and Gore Bay will be converted into import-only terminal operations.
The decision to close the refinery will have far reaching consequences :
Shell currently employs over 300 workers and around 200 contractors on site.
In addition to this, Shell draws on a network of firms in finance, logistics, engineering and IT. The refinery directly supports the local polypropylene plant with 57 employees, which produces plastic products for the automobile and household sectors.
The company states that the closure is not the result of the proposed carbon tax.
However, although oil refineries will qualify for free carbon permits, it is not enough to cover all carbon emissions (and the tax will grow), and any cost increase in a fiercely competitive market is damaging.
27-07-2011 Shell to cease refining at Clyde
12-04-2011 Shell to close Clyde Refinery
03-02-2011 Shell annual profits double to $18.6bn
26-01-2011 Back to School 2011
03-06-2010 Xstrata Suspends A$ 586 million of Expenditure.
21-05-2010 Aussie Dollar Climbs From 10-Month Low Amid Intervention Talk
19-05-2010 Fortescue Metals puts $17.5bn projects on hold to review super tax
12-05-2010 Rio Tinto to review new Australia investment over tax
11-05-2010 Xstrata suspends $30 million exploration in light of the Government’s super profits tax
04-05-2010 Rates rise - Again
28-04-2010 Backflip on "the Greatest Moral Challenge of our time"
04-02-2010 Shell profits fall sharply on weak oil demand
27-05-2009 Caltex Australia agrees to purchase Mobil service stations
31-03-2009 Perth Motorists Ripped-Off
18-03-2009 Jobs at risk after Bushmaster exclusion
10-03-2009 Volunteer Sacked For Swearing
04-03-2009 Gross Domestic Product shows first negative result in 8 years
13-02-2009 Victorian Bushfires
04-02-2009 RBA rate drop to 3.25%
31-01-2009 Victoria: No power, No Trains, No Water
30-01-2009 Shell profit 2009
22-01-2009 Back to School
08-01-2009 “Green Holden” update
24-12-2008 $149 Million to build green Holden
12-12-2008 Tax Cut for Small Business - Smoke and Mirrors
08-12-2008 Surplus Virtually Gone
07-12-2008 Government Stimulus Payments
05-12-2008 Elective Surgery Summer Break
05-12-2008 Fuel tax will inflate grocery bill
03-12-2008 NSW hospitals are full, try Queensland
12-11-2008 FuelWatch dead and buried
29-10-2008 BP Quarterly Results - Profit up by 83%
29-10-2008 Excrement found in Dessert
24-10-2008 OPEC agrees to cut output by 1.5 million bpd
15-10-2008 Crude oil below $80 per barrel
08-10-2008 RBA cuts rates by 1% to 6.0%
11-09-2008 Crude Oil below $100 - Petrol higher
08-09-2008 Big Parties Big Losers this weekend.
30-07-2008 BP profits jump thanks to oil prices
27-07-2008 Ambulance strike with a difference
09-07-2008 PM Rudd: G8 made progress on climate talks
08-07-2008 G-8 endorses halving global emissions by 2050
04-07-2008 Prof Garnaut calls for urgent climate action
26-06-2008 Changes to NSW Road Rules
11-06-2008 Labor's $70 million hybrid gift to Toyota
07-06-2008 Rates blamed for house price dive
03-06-2008 Member calls for investigation into benefits and risks associated with genetically modified orgasms.
03-06-2008 Plan to drill for oil off NSW coast
25-05-2008 Government to review GST on Excise
16-05-2008 Wages, House Prices and Petrol