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The Age reports that Blundstone, the famed Tasmanian bootmaker, is to shift most production overseas at the cost of about 360 jobs.
The company's marketing slogan is "Australian for boot", but they're about to be made in Asia. The surprise announcement that yesterday rocked the company's home town, Hobart, was forced by a widening costs gap. "You've just got a situation where the country can no longer sustain this type of company," chief executive Steve Gunn said.
He ruled out government aid to keep the private company making boots in Australia and New Zealand. It will split production between India and Thailand.
The West Australian reports that connection to recycled water will be mandatory for 40,000 new homes which will be built in the south east of Melbourne.
The homes will be built in a number of precincts around Cranbourne over the next 25 years and will be required to have separate pipe systems for recycled water installed.
The recycled water will only be used for the garden and flushing toilets, but would save four billion litres of drinking water annually.
The cost of the new pipe system at each home would be about $5,000, but the households would not have to install rainwater tanks and would not be subject to water restrictions.
The recycled water also will be sold at a cheaper rate than drinking water and will arrive through purple pipes and hoses fitted at homes.
This sounds like an excellent initiative and I hope we see more of these schemes in the rest of the country.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth 2 megaliners will meet in Sydney on February 20th.
Queen Mary 2
Queen Mary 2 is the world's largest ocean liner and will easily smash the record as the largest ship to have visited Port Jackson when it arrives at 6am. In the evening a fireworks display will greet Queen Elizabeth 2 when it arrives and mark the historic reunion between the two Queens. The occasion will recreate the meeting of the original Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth during wartime.
The two original Queens, painted a dour grey, first met in Sydney on April 9, 1941 while they were serving as troop ships.
The West Australian reports that Sydney's lights will be turned off for an hour during a Saturday night next March under a climate change initiative called "Earth Hour" organised by environmental campaigner WWF and the local council.
In a world first, businesses and residents will also be encouraged to turn their lights off in an attempt to show the small things people can do to tackle climate change
[ Click here to read more ]
The Age Blog with Jack Marx decides to shy away from the traditional "Australian of the Year" talk that usually pops up this time of year. Instead he looks at who has been the most un-Australian in 2006.
The list is quite controversial and includes Ian Thorpe, Nicole Kidman, Germaine Greer, Sheikh Taj El-Din Hamid Hilaly, Peter Carey, Mark Viduka, Crown Princess Mary, Mark Philippoussis, Belinda Emmett and Kim Jong-il. Read his explanations here
[ Click here to read more ]
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Comment by Andy
on Australian's Life Expectancy Reaches New Highs
Aussie News
Aussie News
When this survey was released state papers did stories showing life expectancies in various towns and suburbs across each state and there was a difference.
Thanks for the input!