economic, business
& industrial relations
2012
2012-756 19Dec12 Why Santa still uses reindeers.
the annual Christmas holiday petrol price hike.
2012-746 17Dec12 The level playing field today.
The level playing field is not as level as it is made out to be.
2012-741 Little Red Riding Hood today.
The predatory practices of mobile phone companies as they spruik complex and often misleading mobile phone plans to young people, especially young women.
2012-727 10Dec12 Extracting a budget surplus.
Attempts to get a budget surplus at all costs causing a lot of pain with little result.
2012-719 5Dec12 Christmas rate cuts.
The Reserve Bank rate cut not being passed on in full by the big banks.
2012-681 19Nov12 The three wise men today.
The pressure to get into debt at Christmas time at Christmas time.
2012-678 16Nov12 A workplace romance.
More Job losses at Ford.
2012-674 15Nov12 Keating's view of Australia's future.
A Speech by Paul Keating advocating that Australia's future lies with Asia.
2012-655 8Nov12 Using electricity.
The increasing complexity involved in the supply of electricity.
2012-647 5Nov12 The economics horse race.
Using the Spring racing carnival as a springboard to highlight Australia's lacklustre economic
performance.
2012-628 26Oct12 Modern version of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie.
Using May Gibb's famous Snugglepot and Cuddlepie children's books as a metaphor for the collapse of the Banksia Financial Group. In the books the Banksia men were the evil villains.
2012-608 11Oct12 The ascent of man?
Modern man still not able to eradicate the scourge of unemployment.
2012-594 4Oct12 The mining booms. A look at the mining boom in Australia and the large profits Australian banks are making, which are partially fuelled by the charges imposed on customers.
2012-592 3Oct12 The banks passing on.
The banks habit of not passing on the full reserve bank's rate cuts to its customers while at the same time heaping them with large bank fees.
2012-577 27Sept12 The new Aussie banknotes.
Using the planned introduction of new Australian banknotes to highlight the difficult job market.
2012-576 26Sept12 Football coin tosses.
Football manufacturer Sherrin's controversial use of child labour to make their footballs.
2012-480 15Aug12 Aussie manufacturing bushfire.
Large numbers of job losses in the manufacturing sector consistent with damage caused by a bushfire.
2012-543 12Sept12 It's what's inside that counts.
Parody of the slogan on Peter Stuyvesant cigarette packets. The slogan has been placed to counter the effect of cigarette plain packaging legislation.
2012-526 5Sept12 Gina Rinehart comments on stair users.
Gina Rinehart's comment that Australians need to work harder ignores the fact that her privileged background has made life much easier for her than the average worker.
2012-524 4Sept12 Education revolutions.
Julia Gillard's education revolution and the revolt by Victorian teachers over wages and conditions. Ted Baillieu is the Premier of Victoria.
2012-522P 3Sept12 Window shopping today.
Went with article about a downturn in retail sales.
2012-517 30Aug12 Super trawler bycatch.
Super trawlers threatening the livelihoods of smaller trawlers.
2012-510P 27Aug12 Education doors today.
Funding cuts reducing opportunities for people to enrol in TAFE courses.
2012-498 23Aug12 Qantas economic logo.
Qantas' posting of a 244 Million dollar loss.
2012-466 8Aug12 Extension cord problem.
Excessive electricity use a bigger cause of high energy bills than the carbon tax.
2012-425 23July12 We seem to be losing height.
Signs that the Australian mining boom is drawing to an end.
2012-420P Jack Cowin's Shadow.
Went with story about Jack Cowan, a supporter of Gina Rinehart, being appointed to the Fairfax board.
2012-386 27June12 Show and Telstra tell.
Telstra caught out passing on information about what websites their customers visit to a third party.
2012-384P 26June12 Land of the very long black cloud.
To go with article on Fairfax planning to contract some sub editing work to New Zealand.
2012-380 26June12 The three little Fairfax pigs.
Gina Rinehart's bid for control of an already severely weakened Fairfax.
2012-366P 19June12 The apple isle.
Went with article about Tasmanian State government's economic woes.
2012-364 19June Tough times.
Massive staff cutbacks at Fairfax. As part of these cutbacks the Age newspaper is to be reduced in size from a broadsheet to a a tabloid.
2012-343 your retirement scheme is too generous.
Response to a comment by a politician that the pension age needs to be raised because it is too generous.
2012-342 8June12 Interpreting economic statistics.
The jaundiced way politicians look on economic statistics and the actual impact of those statistics on ordinary people.
2012-336 6June12 Crash test dummies today.
A different take of the latest stock market crash.
2012-328 4June12 Large stock market slide.
A child's view of the latest stock market turmoil.
2012-325 1June12 The definition of modest today.
Contrasting the latest minimum wager rise, which has been described as modest, with the burgeoning sizes of CEO salary packages.
2012-319 31May12 The dog on the tuckerbox today.
Pressure to meet tighter delivery deadlines being put on transport companies by the major supermarket chains.
2012-316 29May12 Mining sector skills training today.
The mining sector importing workers on temporary visas on the pretext that there is a skills shortage while at the same time doing little in the way of skills training.
2012-305 24May12 TAFE Tertiary and fewer educated.
Funding cuts to TAFE by the Victorian State Government.
2012-291 17May12 The changing map of Australia.
The mining boom is having a big impact on the economic and social fabric of Australia.
2012-294 18May12 Level playing fields.
Questioning the concept of the level playing field often used in reference to free trade and industrial relations reform.
2012-283P 14May12 Tasmanian Tiger Qantas logo.
Went with article about another bout of job losses at Qantas.
2012-274 10May12 Supermarket supply chain.
supermarkets squeezing their suppliers to get cheaper goods and services.
2012-268 8May12 Sandcastle budget.
Wayne Swans plan to put the budget into surplus may be swamped by the global economic conditions.
2012-254 2May12 What has been dropped.
The dropping of the first home buyers bonus while keeping in place negative gearing for rental properties.
2012-261P 4May12 Newstart starter's gun.
Went with article on how difficult it is to rent a property in the current tight rental market if you are on the Newstart allowance.
2012-258P 3May12 1st Fleet truck stop.
Went with article on 1st Fleet trucking company going into receivership with the loss of many jobs.
2012-253 2May12 We'll just remove this column.
The fixation on cutbacks in government spending in order to balance the budget ignores the necessity of maintaining infrastructure.
2012-252P 1May12 Passing on the rates cut.
Went with article on the latest Rates cut by the Reserve Bank and speculation whether the retail banks will pass on the full rates cut to the public.
2012-234 24April12 The Reserve Bank gardener.
The Reserve Bank's recent cuts to interest rates have been too little too late.
2012-227 19April12 Putting pressure on the reserve bank.
Prime minister Gillard's statement that she will put pressure on the Reserve Bank to lower the official interest rate.
2012-224P 17April12 Toyota's transport for the sacked workers.
Went with article on the harsh way the Sacked Toyota workers were dismissed.
2012-218P 16April12 Car industry employment opportunities.
Went with article about layoffs at Toyota.
2012-215 5April12 The Australian economic train.
The rest of the Australian economy not benefiting from the mining sector boom.
2012-170 19March12 The magic pudding today.
The Australian mining boom negatively impacting on the manufacturing and tourism sectors.
2012-153 8March12 The slow Australian economy.
The Australian economy might be sluggish but but it's doing well compared to Greece's economy.
2012-161 15March12 One speed Australian economy.
Mining boom in stark contrast with the manufacturing doldrums.
2012-152 7March12 The giraffe in the corner.
The negative impact the high Aussie dollar is having on the Australian economy.
2012-113P 17Feb12 Billabong surfer.
Went with article on job cuts at Australian Surfwear company Billabong.
2012-104 16Feb12 Qantas autopilot.
Qantas staff numbers taking a big dive with the latest round of staff cuts.
2012-112P 17Feb12 Mining industry safety gear.
Went with article about mining magnate Gina Rinehart's woeful poetry.
2012-110 17Feb12 NAB and ANZ cups.
Job loses at the ANZ bank and the start of the NAB Cup.
2012-103 14Feb16 Low income diet.
The economic impact of being laid off.
2012-100 14Feb12 Shopping around for a better bank.
Drawn in response to calls by the government for people to shop around for a better bank after the major banks raised their interest rates again.
2012-097 13Feb12 Next teller to go sign.
Massive job loses in the banking industry.
2012-090 9Feb12 Valentine's Day cads.
Massive job loses at Alcoa in Geelong.
2012-087 8Feb12 All you can eat profits.
Massive mining sector profits while the manufacturing is struggling.
2012-082 7Feb12 Interest rate cut barbers.
Banks' habit of not passing on the full rates cuts that the reserve bank has announced in recent months.
2012-077 3Feb12 The export industry competitive advantage race.
High Aussie dollar crippling Australia's manufacturing export industry.
2012-078P 3Feb12 Mum's tank taxi.
Went with article about multi millionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart's legal battle with her children.
2012-076 2Feb12 Centrelink jobs for life.
Speculating that the only safe jobs left are those involved with processing the unemployed.
2012-074 1Feb12 Fairfax Journalists' scoop story.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart's buy up of enough Fairfax shares to get a position on the Fairfax board.
2012-067 30Jan12 Australian car industry crash test dummy.
Perilous state of the Australian car industry as it struggles to compete with cheaper imported cars.
2012-050P 23Jan12 Oh what a Toyota Layoff feeling.
Loss of 350 jobs at Toyota's Melbourne factory.
2012-052 24Jan12 Three Speed economy.
The big losers in the current economic situation is not the manufacturing industry but the Aussie battlers.
2012-040 19Jan12 Soft economy.
The economy might be described as soft but for individuals who have lost their jobs it's a very hard one.
2012-039 19Jan12 Dorothy the contract dinosaur.
Dumping of the replacement band member in the popular children's band, The Wiggles.
2012-028P 13Jan12 New ANZ staffroom.
Went with article about ANZ bank job cuts.
2012-020P 10Jan12 Australian car industry crash test dummy.
Cheaper imported cars destroying the Australian car industry.
2012-019 10Jan12 Car industry teetering on the edge.
Precarious state of the Australian car industry as it struggles to compete with cheaper imported cars.
2012-012P 6Jan12 Meat pie and tomato ketchup.
Went with article on the Heinz tomato sauce factory moving offshore.
2012-009P 5Jan12 endangered Australian birds.
Went with article on plummeting Ford Falcon car sales leading to speculation that production of the Falcon may be discontinued.
2011-738 30Nov11 The economic outlook.
Australia in a relatively good economic position compared to the rest of the world despite tougher conditions.