By Julian Bajkowski When it comes to speed limits on Queensland’s roads, it seems just about everyone has an opinion … and almost as many are prepared to tell the state government exactly what they think. That’s the message that the Sunshine State’s Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Scott Emerson, seems to be getting […]
21 August, 2013
Opinion and Analysis By Simon Sharwood Debate over whether Sydney needs a new airport has run for thirty years and will probably run for another thirty. Along the way it has become a symbol for policy cowardice, the power of NIMBYism and Australia's sclerotic decision-making process. It's therefore time for a combination of callousness, vision […]
20 August, 2013
By Charles Power* Social media is good for business. However when the business of an organisation is the development of government policy, the use of Twitter, Facebook and other platforms by public servants can create problems. This was certainly the experience of the Commonwealth Department of Immigration who discovered an officer using the Twitter handle’ […]
20 August, 2013
Doctors, nurses, paramedics and police officers have formed a potent alliance to push for regulatory changes to liquor laws to reduce harm and improve public safety. This is their argument. Every week, emergency service workers see innocent lives shattered at the hands of alcohol-fuelled violence. Every week another family somewhere in the country learns first-hand […]
20 August, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski Councils across Australia are seeking a refund from Canberra for more than $3 million in ratepayers money they spent to promote the ‘yes’ case for a referendum on the Constitutional recognition of local government that was scrapped alongside the announcement of a new federal poll date. The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) […]
19 August, 2013
By Paul Hemsley The Local Government Association of South Australia (LGA) wants patchy mobile phone coverage to be a thing of the past after it welcomed the federal Opposition’s plan worth $100 million to improve cellular reception across regional, remote and outer metropolitan communities. The federal Coalition announced the plan as a campaign promise that […]
16 August, 2013
By Paul Hemsley The Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) has accused the Colin Barnett government of being asleep at the wheel on road safety after the Police Minister’s office informed WALGA President Troy Pickard that the state has cut funding for the RoadWise community awareness program by half. The highly successful WALGA-managed program has […]
16 August, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski Conflicts over the personal and official use of social media by public sector employees are again under the spotlight after a Federal Circuit Court Judge knocked-back an attempt by a Canberra public servant to obtain injunction on any move to have her sacked over tweets that were made in a non-official capacity. […]
16 August, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski Australia’s long and troubled efforts to create a functioning national system of electronic health and medical records system is once more close to collapse. The Australian Medical Association has expressed serious concerns over clinician input into the project following the shock resignation of highly respected clinical representative Dr Mukesh Haikerwal from the […]
16 August, 2013
By Paul Hemsley and Julian Bajkowski The Queensland government has expanded its use of Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology to controversially include unmarked police vehicles that will be tasked to silently snoop-out car registration details as they drive-by alleged crime hot spots. The government says the drive-by surveillance technology is being deployed as part […]
15 August, 2013
By Paul Hemsley Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett has been forced into an embarrassing backflip over retrospective cuts to the state’s solar feed-in tariff after a severe electoral backlash took the state government by surprise. The Barnett government had planned to slash the solar feed-in tariff by 20 cents by July 2014 as part of […]
15 August, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski The Queensland government’s unprecendented ban on giving IBM new business after the $1.2 billion Health Payroll software disaster will not be imposed on local governments and councils, the minister responsible for the sector had confirmed. Queensland Local Government Minister David Crisafulli has told Government News that councils will not be hit by […]
12 August, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski Retail stationery juggernaut Officeworks has successfully prized its way into the Queensland government’s procurement panel for office and educational supplies as the company pushes hard to build up its business-to-business (B2B) customer base in the public sector. The win by the Wesfarmers subsidiary is a significant development for government buyers because it […]
12 August, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski Australia’s rail industry has launched its annual community safety awareness blitz, Rail Safety Week with a blunt message about the often lethal consequences of being on the wrong side of the tracks when it comes to moving trains. In a release unambiguously headed ‘Train yourself (or die)’ passenger and freight rail operators, […]
12 August, 2013End of content
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