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Posts Tagged ‘second’

IT has been third time lucky for Gold Coast student Michael Shelley who has won the City2Surf in a time of 41:02 minutes.  city2surf

Striding down the home stretch to the finish line, Shelley was visibly relieved knowing that after three previous attempts, he had finally won the 14km race.

“It’s very exciting, it’s my third and I suppose it’s third time lucky,” he said.

Before the race, Shelley had spoken to his coach Dick Telford whose words of encouragement helped push him over the line.

“I was talking to my coach last night and he said just be confident in what you’ve done and just have a crack at it.”

After two previous encounters with the dreaded Heartbreak Hill, this year Shelley took it on knowing how to defeat the stamina killer.

“Just be a bit conservative up the (Heartbreak) hill this year than what you had in the past,” Shelley said.

“And it paid off when I got to the top because I could still run.”

Twenty-seven-year-old health consultant Ben St Lawrence came in second followed by 26-year-old high school teacher Clint Perrett.

Source  :  www.news.com.au

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Fees and charges are reviewed on 1 July each year.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                ist2_5024438-twenty-dollars-pounds-and-euros

 A number of Visa Application Charges (VACs) and other fees will increase on 1 July 2009 in accordance with recent decisions made by the Australian Government.

 A number of other VAC and fees will increase in accordance with changes in the Consumer Price Index, or in the case of the second instalment of the visa application charge for the Contributory Parent visa category, by the Contributory Parent Visa Composite Index.

Source  :  http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/990i/increase-fees-charges.htm

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Days after a public rant aimed at Tracy Grimshaw, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has fired a second volley branding the TV presenter “sad”ramsay and “bitter” for defending herself.

Ramsay denied calling the Nine Network veteran a lesbian at a weekend appearance at Melbourne’s Good Food and Wine Show during which he also allegedly compared her to a pig, using an offensive photo as a prop.

Ramsay on Tuesday said he was “deeply mortified” that his intended joke had been blown out of proportion – and that was before Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the chef’s comments reflected a “new form of low life”.

Mr Rudd’s deputy Julia Gillard and Health Minister Nicola Roxon joined the fray, saying Ramsay should confine himself to the kitchen and stop abusing women.

But there was no remorse from the TV chef after Grimshaw used her A Current Affair program on Monday to take him to task over his food show rant.

Ramsay on Tuesday said he’d never used the word “lesbian” to describe Grimshaw, and said she herself was guilty of a “disgusting” attack on his wife Tana, who’s due in Australia in two weeks.

“She’s obviously doing it for the ratings,” he said of Grimshaw, speaking to reporters after a run along Melbourne’s Yarra River.

On Monday, Grimshaw branded Ramsay a bully and an “arrogant narcissist”. She said he’d made “uninformed insinuations” at the food show about her sexuality, and she told her viewers she was not gay.

Grimshaw said that before a recent interview for her program, Ramsay had insisted she refrain from asking about his private life following allegations of a long-running extra-marital affair.

“We all know why,” she said.

She added: “… I’m not surprised by any of this. We’ve all seen how Gordon Ramsay treats his wife – and he supposedly loves her. We’re all just fodder to him.”

Asked if he could understand how Grimshaw felt, Ramsay told reporters: “I never once said the word lesbian, I was having a tongue-in-cheek joke – it was not at her expense.

“For me on a personal front, to see how sad and how bitter for someone to come out like that, for a renowned pro to come out and stoop that low, is disgusting.”

He said tapes of the alleged incident were being scrutinised by his lawyers.

Mr Rudd was firmly in Grimshaw’s corner on Tuesday, congratulating her for giving Ramsay a “left uppercut” in her reply.

“I think I can describe his remarks as reflecting a new form of low life,” he told the Fairfax Radio Network.

“I just drew breath when I saw the sort of stuff which was said about her. I just think that’s off and offensive.”

Earlier, Ms Gillard said the celebrity chef should stay in the kitchen.

“I think perhaps what he should do is confine himself to the kitchen and make nice things for people to eat rather than make public comments about others,” she said.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon said there was no need for “women to be abused in our community at any level”.

Grimshaw said she had been overwhelmed by the avalanche of support she’d received.

The fallout from Ramsay’s rant has gone global, spreading to his homeland Britain and to the US and New Zealand.

Britain’s The Mirror sent up Ramsay in a report headlined: “Good thing Gordon Ramsay is such a sex god.”

“Gordon is such a handsome devil, a veritable sex god come to Earth to live among men, you can understand why he might feel that mere mortals are unworthy of his presence,” the report said.

The Mail Online carried a report about the outburst and the angry reaction it had generated among audience members and women’s groups.

US celebrity watcher Perez Hilton said Ramsay had gone too far with his “sexist, homophobic remarks”.

Source www.ninemsn.com.au

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Hardly  a drop of rain has fallen on Perth as the city feels the second hottest start to the year on record.  rain9-753879

Perth has broke the record for the sunniest May on record today since 1876. 

Forecast shows that showers are coming to Perth about 3am tomorrow and continue until late Thursday.

Temperatures are going as low as 18 C forecast for Friday and chilly 17 C on Saturday.

Just 20mm of rain has fallen in Perth since January 1, less than half the first-quarter average of 42mm compared to last April 

The bureau expects below-average rainfall in the South-West to continue until June.

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WESTERN Australia’s Liberal Government has handed down its first Budget, delivering a $647 million surplus but warning the state will be in deficit by 2012.

Treasurer Troy Buswell today delivered his first Budget since the Liberal Government came to power last year.

He said the 2008/09 surplus of $647 million would shrink to $409 million in 2009/10, and just $23 million the following year.

By 2011/12 the state will be in deficit to the tune of $513 million.

“Over the past months, as the global economy has been in decline, the state has been hit by large downward revisions to projected taxation revenue, GST grants from the Commonwealth and mining royalties,” Mr Buswell told parliament.

“Since the mid-year review, the Budget has lost a massive $4 billion in forecast revenue from these sources.”

Last year, then treasurer Eric Ripper delivered a surplus of more than $2 billion on the back of a booming commodities sector.

Economic growth remained high at 8 per cent for the 2008/09 financial year.

But forecasts predicted growth would fall into negative territory in 2009/10, with unemployment expected to peak, and business investment to fall by 17.5 per cent.

Mr Buswell said the Government would provide a one-year payroll tax rebate to small businesses with payrolls of up to $3.2 million to help protect jobs.

“Some 6,700 small businesses will be eligible for this payroll tax rebate, which will fully offset payroll tax for around 68,000 employees,” he said.

“The cost of this rebate is estimated at $100 million.”

A $47 million jobs training and skills package, and a $8.3 billion spend on infrastructure in the next financial year are key components of the Budget.
Mr Buswell said law and order were also strong focuses, in line with the Government’s election promises to boost funding for police and pump more money into prisons

Mr Buswell said the Government’s election promise to toughen up sentencing laws and introduce mandatory sentencing for people who assault police was underpinned in the Budget by a significant investment in prison capacity.

 

A total of $655 million will be invested in 2012/13 to create an extra 1657 prison beds across the state.

A record $5.1 billion spend on health services in the next year – rising 5.9 per cent, or $282 million from last year – will include the fast tracking of forward works for a new children’s hospital, the construction stage of the Fiona Stanley Hospital, and new hospitals in two regional centres.

Mr Buswell said the Government would push ahead with public sector reforms in a bid to achieve improved performance and efficiency.

The first stage of the economic audit committee promised by the Government during the last election was complete and a range of hard decisions had delivered $7.6 billion over the forward estimates, Mr Buswell said.

“I am looking forward to the second stage of the economic audit to identify strategies for broader reform over the longer term, so we can ensure the budget stays in surplus,” he said.

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house-in-handsA NATIONAL affordable housing organisation has called on the Federal Government to scrap its first-homeowner grant.

The grant, which was raised from $7000 to $14,000 for existing dwellings and from $14,000 to $21,000 for new homes as part of Labour’s $10.4 billion stimulus package last year, is due to expire on June 30.

The National Shelter has called on Treasurer Wayne Swan to axe the scheme when he hands down his second budget tomorrow, saying it inflates housing prices beyond the value of the grant.

“We’d be in favour of getting rid of all of it,” chief executive Adrian Pisarski told ABC Radio today, adding if the scheme was continued, it should be means-tested.

“That actually targets those lower-income families who really struggle to get into the housing market and doesn’t advantage wealthy families who can support their kids into the market at the cost of those lower income families.”

But the Master Builders Association says the enhanced scheme should be kept as it is, minimising the effects of the global financial crisis.

“We put to the government that … the best bang for the taxpayers’ buck would come from keeping the boost for new housing,” chief executive Wilhelm Harnisch said.

“It does generate new activity, it does generate jobs, it also has the multiply effect into retail, manufacturing and other sectors.”
http://www.news.com.au

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