What the press is saying about petrol, LPG, diesel, crude oil, biofuel etc.
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Victoria: No power, No Trains, No Water
31-01-2009 The Australian. Victorian Premier John Brumby -- “We're in uncharted waters, unprecedented conditions”.
"You would never, ever ... no government, no business would ever make the investment for an event that occurs on one day every 100 years because it's a waste of money," the Premier said.
Victorian Energy and Resources Minister Peter Batchelor said there was nothing the Government could have done to prevent the huge power blackout.
“These events are unprecedented, in some respects they are not unlike a natural disaster, impacting on a community like a flood or tornado”.
Hardly unprecedented and not once every 100 years.
A quick Google search shows back in January 2007 “A massive power blackout across Victoria today left 200,0000 homes without electricity and threw Melbourne's public transport system and road network into chaos.”
The Age - January 2007
This time all Melbourne train services were canceled and about 500,000 homes and businesses were without electricity in the city's west, some parts of the CBD and western Victoria.
Traffic lights in the city stopped working and signals on the rail network failed.
It is alarming to hear the premier and the minister state that there was nothing the Government could have done to prevent the huge power blackout. Governing is about looking ahead. If this government is incapable of that, it is time for a government that can; before people start dying.
The government cannot be blamed for the heat wave; they can be blamed for a failing infrastructure.
No power, no trains, no water.
Victorians have every right to be angry.
Update 2 February 2009: More than 30 Victorians have died in the record heatwave
A shell-shocked Premier John Brumby: “I know it has not been a perfect week”. News Article
ExxonMobil Vows to Maintain Refinery but Carbon Tax Remains a Concern
Norsk Hydro plans to shut down its aluminium smelter at Kurri Kurri in the NSW Hunter Valley.
Qantas announces job cuts as profits slide
Small Business Tax Reduction Scrapped
RBA cuts official interest rate to 3.75%
Mineral Resources Rent Tax (MRRT) Bill 2011 passes the Senate
Private Health Insurance Rebate
Future of Caltex Refineries
150 Qantas catering jobs to go in Adelaide
Rates on Hold
Back to School in 2012
Roads and Traffic Authority Name Change
Politicians pay rise
RBA interest rate cut
Shell to cease refining at Clyde
Shell to close Clyde Refinery
Shell annual profits double to $18.6bn
Back to School 2011
Xstrata Suspends A$ 586 million of Expenditure.
Aussie Dollar Climbs From 10-Month Low Amid Intervention Talk
Fortescue Metals puts $17.5bn projects on hold to review super tax
Rio Tinto to review new Australia investment over tax
Xstrata suspends $30 million exploration in light of the Government’s super profits tax
Rates rise - Again
Backflip on "the Greatest Moral Challenge of our time"
Shell profits fall sharply on weak oil demand
Caltex Australia agrees to purchase Mobil service stations
Perth Motorists Ripped-Off
Jobs at risk after Bushmaster exclusion
Volunteer Sacked For Swearing
Gross Domestic Product shows first negative result in 8 years
Victorian Bushfires
RBA rate drop to 3.25%
Shell profit 2009
Back to School
“Green Holden” update
$149 Million to build green Holden
Tax Cut for Small Business - Smoke and Mirrors
Surplus Virtually Gone
Government Stimulus Payments