Annastacia Palaszczuk
The NSW government has a plan to outsource hundreds of jobs to India after the March state election and unions fear thousands more will be vulnerable to outsourcing at a time of rising unemployment. The Public Service Association is also concerned about the security of sensitive data including Treasury budget papers, cabinet minutes and payroll figures. The government is negotiating to send up to 240 jobs to India, but a final decision will not be made until April at the earliest.
NSW Jobs Going to India; the political story of Westconnex
The
Australian Federal Police expects it will take years to seize up to
$300 million in alleged proceeds of crime following a High Court
decision, which could affect funding for several crime prevention
projects. AFP delayed seizing about $300m proceeds of crime
There's nothing like a Keating vintage spray to remind us what's missing from our current batch of puppies in Parliament house. You may have thought our Treasurer, Joe Hockey, was copping enough flak from his own backbenchers without dragging in one of Paul Keating's heavy hitters to have a shot at him. During question time on Wednesday, Hockey signed a deal with the Swiss gnomes to ensure our tax office could get better information on Aussies with Swiss bank accounts. "I bet there are a few people in the Labor Party shuddering at that thought," he told parliament. "There is a former minister for communications who has a television program who might have had a Swiss bank account. But I will leave that to another day." By coincidence, there was a former Labor minister for transport and communications with his own Sky TV show, Graham Richardson, who decided to spray back Wednesday evening. "When it comes to getting criticism of you, I don't have to go far," he told Hockey via his viewers. "I don't have to ring up the Labor party, I can ring anyone in your party room and I can get someone to bag you," he said. "You are regarded, amongst your own show, as a joke and you ought to know it."