Tony Abbott will order a wide-ranging investigation of the Fair Work Act and embark on months of consultations before taking proposed changes to the 2016 election.
Long road: THE Productivity Commission would be charged with overhauling the nation's workplace laws if Tony Abbott wins power - but major changes to the Fair Work Act would be delayed until after the 2016 election under a plan being "actively considered" by the federal Coalition.
Ewin Hannan writes: TONY Abbott and his frontbench remain spooked by the ghosts of Work Choices.
Hovels: FEARS that Labor's policies would lead to an underclass of asylum-seeker appear vindicated, amid revelations they are living in squalid properties.
Oversight: LIBERAL senator Arthur Sinodinos has apologised to the Senate after revealing he failed to declare a raft of directorships in his register of members' interests, including a healthcare start-up company and several subsidiaries of the Liberal Party.
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Business partner: We understands how Arthur Sinodinos could have forgotton to declare a raft of company directorships. We once found $50 in a pair of jeans. His co-director in one of the companies, Move2Live, was the fairly unforgettable Santo Santoro, the hulking Queensland Liberal powerbroker. Then again, Santoro himself is pretty forgetful, having been sacked as a Howard government minister after failing to properly declare his own shareholdings. We're sure a similar fate doesn't await Senator Sinodinos.
Could happen: Inside every other taxi driver is a political pundit just trying to break out. This phenomenon is not just confined to Australia. As Belinda "don't you know who I am" Neal tweeted yesterday: "Today a taxi driver in Singapore said Kevin or someone else would challenge Julia before election, Kevin Rudd or another. (He) The Singaporean taxi driver added that Julia as leader would lose and that someone else as leader would probably win." Someone get this guy on Sky News. Interestingly, Neal now describes herself as an "observer and commentator", which could be fascinating in an election year.
Gesture: NSW Treasurer Mike Baird has kindly given Julia Gillard a brand new Gregory's directory so she can find her way around western Sydney next week. But NSW road authorities were yesterday unable to confirm whether the Gillard motorcade would find all the traffic lights green on her way out west, as is arranged for foreign dignitaries in Canberra. As one Coalition strategist told us yesterday, "this western Sydney thing's going pretty well for them so far".
Drive-in-drive-out: Tony Abbott has confirmed he'll gatecrash the trip, but he won't be staying at Rooty Hill or Panthers. "Why would he?" said one opposition staffer. "He lives in Sydney." It'll be a bit of a drive back to the northern beaches. Julia Gillard's home in Altona is a lot closer to western Sydney, demographically speaking, than Chez Abbott.
Bunker: The press gallery is a sociable place where staffers from all political parties come to peddle their wares. But while Team Abbott spruikers are regular visitors, the PM's staff have been noticeably absent of late. Come back, we miss you!
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Today: Julia Gillard is in Tasmania where she'll visit bushfire-affected Dunalley. She also attend a Hobart jobs expo, and announce new jobs at Vodaphone.
Tony Abbott is in Brisbane. He is yet to reveal his plans for the day.
Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese will address the Australian Livestock and Rural Transport Association national conference, in Newcastle.
A Senate committee will examine a new bill to empower the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority to compel athletes to attend interviews with investigators.
Community Services Minister Julie Collins will address the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, in Hobart.
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Slipped her mind: The Courier Mail reports Julia Gillard snubbed Labor's most popular member, Kevin Rudd, by leaving him off the invitation list to an event in his own electorate.
Hypochondriacs: THE number of full-time GPs billing on Medicare has surged at more than twice the rate of both population growth and the increase in Medicare payments back to doctors.
Lean times: ECONOMISTS have urged the federal government to scrap the bureaucratic duplication in areas such as health and education in the budget .
Among friends: Of the more than 1000 people the Prime Minister will address at Parramatta on Sunday night, 800 are Labor Party members and the remaining 260 registered to attend are Labor supporters.
Too hard basket: The AFR reports the decision on a second Sydney airport will be shelved until after the September 14 election because both major parties fear alienating voters in western Sydney.
Keep out: MEDIA companies have blasted the idea of government "intrusion" into news and current affairs amid concerns over proposed reforms.
Media moves: The AFR reports Seven Group chairman Kerry Stokes has emerged with a $40 million holding in rival Ten Network as the federal government considers media reforms that could shake up the television landscape.
Law abiding: The SMH reports asylum seekers living in the community on bridging visas are about 45 times less likely to be charged with a crime than members of the public.
No butts: THE $82 billion Future Fund will offload $222 million in tobacco stocks after a review of its investments.
Costello says: SELL assets or spend the next half a century paying off debt. That is the stark choice presented to the Newman government by the final Commission of Audit report into the state's finances, the Courier Mail reports.
Unhappy: AN Australian Olympic medallist whose brother has been detained in Dubai accused Bob Carr of giving her family "the run-around".
No strings: FEDERAL schools funding should be distributed as general revenue to the states and territories based on their population under a radical decentralisation of education, which was outlined by the Queensland government yesterday.
Blame game: THE Gillard government will cut and divert almost $7 billion from the national health and ageing budgets by 2016, according to departmental analysis of critical spending since the 2010 election.
Case almost closed: VICTORIA Police has revealed that its investigation into the AWU "slush fund" scandal is nearly complete.
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Dennis Shanahan writes: APART from the public perception that the Gillard government is inept and deserves to lose the September election, Labor's biggest problem is that most of its own MPs agree and accept they are going to lose.
Simon Benson writes: Mark Butler's grand contribution to western Sydney in his time as Mental Health Minister so far amounts to a juvenile and un-original sexual reference. Rooty Hill! He, he, he.
Dennis Atkins writes: Anyone who listens to the Coalition's hardline immigration spokesman doesn't need a code-breaker to understand his message.
Adam Creighton writes: It doesn't actually matter who wins the election.
Scott Morrison writes: ECONOMIC and lifestyle factors motivate Sri Lankan boatpeople to try to come here.
Phil Coorey writes: As any MP will tell you, resentment towards asylum seekers is a big issue out west and events of the past few days suggest we are in for a bout of "reffo bashing" next week.
Mark Kenny writes: IF THE road to hell is paved with good intentions, on what substrate is the long path to the federal election based? Great ideas? Thought bubbles?
Dennis Glover writes: For now at least the big left project seems over.
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