FED:News of the week at a glance

AAP General News (Australia)
04-08-2011
FED:News of the week at a glance

MILESTONES:



RISEN - The Australian dollar to a new post-float high of 105.08 US cents.



REJECTED - A proposed $8.4 billion merger between Australia's and Singapore's stock
exchanges by Treasurer Wayne Swan.



QUIT - Patrick Flannigan as NBN Co's head of construction, prompting fears it will
delay the rollout of the national broadband network.



ANNOUNCED - Plans to turn a Tasmanian army base into a $15 million temporary immigration
detention centre.



AWARDED - The RSPCA Purple Cross for bravery to Sarbi, the army explosives detection
dog, who was missing in action in Afghanistan for 13 months.



QUOTES:



"I tried to find a way up the middle of all that, preserve the unity of the government.

On balance it was the wrong call." - Former prime minister Kevin Rudd on his decision
to shelve the federal government's emissions trading scheme (ETS).



"I do not believe that it's proper to discuss confidential discussions between cabinet
colleagues." - Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Mr Rudd's revelation that members of his
cabinet urged him to not just delay his ETS, but to abandon it altogether.



"That is not a faint prospect of a possibility, let's just get a bit real about all
of this." - Mr Rudd on making a comeback.



"I can't think of a greater betrayal of trust of a colleague in the workplace." - Defence
Minister Stephen Smith on reports a man filmed himself having sex with a fellow cadet
at the Australian Defence Force Academy, and broadcast it to other cadets via webcam.



"Let's be clear here: this is not a merger. It's a takeover that would see Australia's
financial sector become a subsidiary to a competitor in Asia. It was a no-brainer that
this deal is not in Australia's national interest." - Treasurer Wayne Swan after rejecting
the proposed merger of Australia's and Singapore's stock exchanges.



"I do need to understand the differences between council and parliamentary procedure
and I'll certainly be learning all about that." - Former Brisbane lord mayor Campbell
Newman on his new role as leader of Queensland's opposition.



"We are very, very critical of that lack of courage and ability to sit with Queenslanders
and work their issues through." - Ms Gillard on how the insurance companies have handled
claims in the wake of the devastating floods.



"Here in Australia we do have one of the best systems for natural disaster management
that you'll find anywhere in the world, and that's because we are a sunburnt country full
of drought and flooding rains and we're used to it." - Mr Rudd on why Australia hasn't
accepted search and rescue assistance from other countries.



"Unfortunately we only see her backside." - Leading jockey Damien Oliver on Black Caviar,
the four-year-old Australian mare who is the number one rated horse in the world, aiming
for her 12th straight win on Saturday.





ODDITIES:





+ Hold your horses, or in Regina Mayer's case, her cow.

The 15-year-old's parents dashed her hopes of getting a horse so she turned to a cow
called Luna to make her riding dreams come true.

After hours of training, the pair regularly go on long rides through the southern German
countryside, near the hamlet of Laufen.

They do jumps over a makeshift hurdle of beer crates and painted logs.

"She thinks she's a horse," Regina joked.

"When she wants to do something, she does it, when she doesn't, she doesn't. And she's
often very headstrong, but can also be really adorable."

PA





+ Honeymoons aren't always easy for newlyweds, but six natural disasters?

Stefan Svanstrom of Stockholm says he set out on a four-month-long honeymoon with his
wife, Erika, and their baby girl on December 6 and immediately became stranded in Munich,
Germany, due to one of Europe's worst snowstorms.

After that, they experienced the devastation of a cyclone in Cairns, Australia, and
the flooding in Brisbane, and narrowly escaped the bush fires in Perth.

Just before arriving in New Zealand, the 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit Christchurch
and at the couple's last destination, Tokyo, they felt Japan's largest temblor since records
began.

AP





+ Perhaps the fraudster was wearing beer goggles when he bottled his wine.

Fake bottles of a best-selling Australian wine have flooded the UK market, trading
standards officers have warned.

The wine appears identical to the real thing, apart from a tell-tale misspelling of
"Australia" on the label - it is spelt "Austrlia".

Hundreds of bottles of imitation Jacob's Creek, which have made their way into country-wide
stores that sell alcohol off the premises, have already been seized.

PA



AAP tr/psm/

KEYWORD: THE WEEK

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