POLITICS & POLICY

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Friday that the Multi-Party Reference Group she convened "to address asylum seeker and refugee issues," is all geared up for work, with its cross-party composition filled up save for the slots reserved for the Coalition.

A $400 million uranium mine development project proposed to be built in a world heritage game reserve in Tanzania has been given the go ahead by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

The re-start of the two nuclear power reactors in the northeast of Osaka could greatly reduce Japan's consumption of crude oil by 60,000 barrels daily.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar had a brief boost to two month highs after the UK and European Central banks announced fresh bouts of stimulus overnight.

The historic 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, after more than 900 hours of hearings and 1,100 interviews with officials, was after all deemed an implanted bomb just waiting when to literally explode.

Actions by central bankers to juice the global economy failed to excite investors Thursday, while signs of hope on the U.S. jobs front also weren't enough to push stocks higher. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index dropped 6.44 points, or 0.5%, to 1367.58, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 47.15 points, or 0.4%, to 12896.67.

Barely a week after it came into full swing, talks of revising the carbon tax swirled as Independent MP Rob Oakeshott further pushed on his campaign for the federal government to drop the $15 floor price from the scheme.

Australia's antitrust regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), has extended its stamp of approval to the proposed takeover of commodities trader Glencore International Plc over blue-chip miner Xstrata Plc.

Queensland Rail wielded its axe on Thursday. However, the axe hit not only ordinary employees, but also high-ranking officials.

China, the world's stronghold of vital rare earths needed for a large number of electronic devices used in defense, alternative energy and communications industries, has already started stockpiling its rare earths, a state-run news daily reported.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard condemned on Thursday the announced plan of South Korea to resume whale hunting after more than two decades of moratorium on the contentious activity that captures and slaughters the giant sea mammals.

China's export regulations of its rare earths is up for deliberation next week by the World Trade Organization (WTO). China stands by claims and support of experts that said export curbs adhere to the very rules set by the international global body.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) revealed yesterday the name of the SAS member killed in Afghanistan earlier this week as Sgt Blaine Diddams, a 22-year veteran in the military service, 17 years of which were spent with the Special Air Service Regiment.

India will soon be scouring the ocean floor bed for rare earths as it positions to institute a "strategic presence" in the area of deep sea mining.

While the Opposition, the New South Wales government and some businesses such as bakery chain Brumby's are blaming the carbon tax for rise in prices, Australia's retail industry is rejoicing because the carbon compensation caused the sector's growth rate to hit a two-year high.

In spite of promises by Coalition leader Tony Abbott to repeal the carbon tax if the Opposition wins in the 2013 election, big polluters in Australia believe otherwise.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: While the Australian Dollar briefly pushed through USD1.0300 late in our trading session yesterday, it has since retreated back, currently trading at USD1.0260, as markets wait for the outcome at tonight's European Central Bank meeting.

Trading volumes were low, with the U.S. market closed for the Independence Day holiday. Analysts widely expect the European Central Bank to announce a 25-basis-point interest rate cut Thursday, but a recent deterioration in economic data has many market participants hoping for a cut that's twice as deep

Australian bakery chain Brumby's apologised on Wednesday after being caught by regulators attempting to make more dough by blaming the carbon tax for price increases. Brumby's parent company, Retail Food Group Limited, apologised for the unacceptable error of judgment.

The Australian sharemarket gained for the fifth time in six days today and is trading around two month highs. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose by 1.1 pct or 47.4 pts to 4213.8. Despite the gains, investors still stayed away from the market today due to a U.S public holiday tonight (American markets closed tonight).

The carbon tax, despite the support by some large Australian businesses, continues to be the favourite whipping boy of the Opposition and even some state governments.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott would want Liberal MPs to take their job seriously and not entertain any hints that a post in the Parliament would only require half the effort and half the heart.

The Australian Federal Court has instructed insolvency firm PPB Advisory on Tuesday to take over the reins debt and mortgage fund operator Provident Capital.

Origin Energy and US giant ConocoPhillips, owner of the A$23 billion ($23.6 billion) Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) project, along with China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec), has approved on Wednesday a final investment decision on the second of its two-train coal seam gas (CSG) to LNG project.

Overnight overseas markets gained across the board after better than expected factory orders in the US and strong auto sales for the month of June. The US market closed early ahead of the July 4 Independence Day holiday. Commodity prices rallied higher and the Aussie dollar also gained.

Even if the Reserve Bank of Australia's Tuesday decision to hold the overnight cash rate at 3.5 per cent was widely anticipated by analysts, business leaders are still hoping for another rate cut in the coming months.

"The US seems to have gotten the worst of it," said a French friend this morning. We were taken aback. Everyone knows Europe is in a state of permanent crisis. The US seems solid by comparison, no?

Australian lawmakers received hefty pay boosts prior to their six-week winter break, leaving them as among the best-paid politicians around the world.

The Foreign Investment Review Board has given the regulatory approval to Woodside Petroleum to sell to Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsui & Co. one-third of its controlling stakes in the $30 billion Browse liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Western Australia.