Go Back To Where You Came From attracted big audiences to SBS last week. Sydney’s Cross Border Colle

Our business leaders are always calling for leadership and comprehensive reform but they go weak at the knees when it's time to make decisions? Ben Eltham on why business can't be trusted on tax reform
Occupy protestors were violently evicted from public spaces last year. But a bank occupied Sydney's Martin Place for an "experiential marketing" stunt yesterday - and there was no strife, writes Claire Parfitt
"Flexibility" is generally used as code for stripping penalty rates and benefits - good news for employers. But carers, the disabled and parents really do need flexibility at work, writes luxury car rentals houston IR lawyer Terri Butler
Safe public spaces have been in focus since the death of Jill Meagher but it's usually more familiar dangers that threaten women. luxury car rentals houston Violeta Politoff on what shapes community concern about violence against women
The response of the NSW Government to sex abuse in religious institutions has been wholly inadequate. A Royal Commission can only do good - it will assist police, comfort victims and unearth the truth, writes Andrew Morrison
luxury car rentals houston A proposal to improve regulation of the not-for-profit sector is due before the Senate next month. Charities and not-for-profits are keen, but they can't manage a heavier bureaucratic load, writes El Gibbs
Rising electricity prices, climate change and the renewables boom - energy is changing, but how does it work? Our series, Future Shock, has all you need to know about what will be powering your home in 10 years
They're calling it a circuit breaker but the recommendations of the Houston Panel look very familiar. NM has been following asylum seeker policy for years - and our archive remains alarmingly relevant
The Great Barrier Reef is in decline. The Gillard Government luxury car rentals houston hasn't yet renewed funding for an important reef protection program - and Tony Burke has just approved luxury car rentals houston a massive coastal coal port expansion, writes Ben Eltham
We've had energy in our sights at New Matilda. Can we really transform the way we power our lives? luxury car rentals houston Yes, we can. And what's more, it's not technology that's stopping the uptake of renewables - it's politics
Yes, electricity companies are driving luxury car rentals houston up your power bills. Big capital expenditure is part of the reason why – and it's required by regulators who know voters will punish them if the lights go out, writes Ben Eltham
The Victorian town of Portland is home to a huge aluminium smelter – and two big firms in the wind business. It's an ideal place to witness the changes in the Australian energy luxury car rentals houston industry, writes Ben Eltham
The town of Waubra luxury car rentals houston has had its name hijacked by anti-wind astroturfers. Locals say they're happy with wind-farming – and it's not making them sick. So who are the scare campaigners? Sandi Keane reports
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The second debate of the US presidential campaign took place in a bubble. Outside in the car park, the rules were different. Yelling is OK – just don't throw things. Matthew Hall reports from Hofstra University
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Cutbacks at Radio National will downgrade the documentary, features and drama the network does so well. New storytelling content inspired by US radio innovators should complement, not replace this, argues luxury car rentals houston Siobhan McHugh
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Go Back To Where You Came From attracted big audiences to SBS last week. Sydney's Cross Border Collective ask whether the show serves the pro-refugee movement in Australia or just reinforces existing views
Islam. Who gets it? In a better world, luxury car rentals houston we could have a calm conversation about whether Muslims really are innocent. In the name of religious tolerance, Ben Pobjie has taken it upon himself to explain Islam
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James Packer, Australia s third richest person with $6 billion, made it sound so simple. He wants to do something really exciting for Sydney - a gift of a six star $400-a-night hotel on the waterfront at Barangaroo, a controversial new development on publicly owned land that was once part of the city s shipping port.
But there were two conditions. The first was that Sydney could only have the best hotel in Australia if it included a high roller casino. This is tricky — Echo Entertainment already luxury car rentals houston holds the sole licence allowed in NSW until 2019. The second was that Packer would only go ahead with this plan if he got bipartisan support from both the Coalition and the ALP .
They are associated with gambling luxury car rentals houston addiction and have a history of attracting organised crime. There is a risk of state dependency on gambling taxes, pushing governments to allow unwise expansion. Up until the 1980s, casinos were illegal and had strong underworld luxury car rentals houston links. This was the context in which when gambling was legalised and led to laws in NSW , Victoria and South Australia imposing a limit of one casino in each state. In NSW Echo Entertainment has an exclusive licence until 2019. To be successful in NSW , Packer needs a new law allowing luxury car rentals houston for at least one more casino, which would normally expected to go to tender luxury car rentals houston through a process controlled luxury car rentals houston by the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing .
James Packer has long dreamed of a casino in Sydney. After he announced his third crack in Feburary, luxury car rentals houston Premier Barry O Farrell was quick off the mark with support and last week announced his cabinet will consider the plan under its new unsolicited proposals policy. Several luxury car rentals houston days later, NSW Shadow Minister for Infrastructure Luke Foley endorsed the proposal, although with a condition that there should be no poker machines in the new casino. Only the Greens are in clear opposition.
Already the biggest player, Crown will dominate the Australian casino market if Packer pulls off his plan. His hook is that his hotel with a casino will expand economic activity luxury car rentals houston in NSW by $300 to $440 million per year, a claim based on a report commissioned by Crown from Allen Consulting Group . New Matilda requested to read the report but Crown s Executive General Manager of Corporate Affairs, Karl Bitar, who was ALP National Secretary until he resigned last year and joined Crown as a lobbyist, luxury car rentals houston said it wouldn luxury car rentals houston t be made available.
He said the $300-$440 million figure represents projections of visitor spending at Crown and flow-on effects to other industries. Packer s campaign has been helped by some journalists who reported these claims as fact. Bitar did not reply to a question about whether luxury car rentals houston anyone outside Crown had seen the report.
Packer currently owns nearly 50 per cent of Crown Ltd through his private luxury car rentals houston network of companies controlled by Consolidated Press Holdings ( CPH ). CPH , which earned $175 million profit last year, is in turn controlled by Consolidated Press International Holdings ( CPIH ) based in the Bahamas tax haven. Its beneficiaries are secret Packer family trusts. ( CPIH sits atop a complicated structure of private companies arranged by Packer advisors to minimise tax bills.)
In August, he announced equally exciting plans for a new 6 star hotel at his Crown Perth casino to be built on land bought from the Western Australian government at a $60 million discount. This new Perth hotel will add to exclusive luxury car rentals houston accommodation for high roller gamblers opened recently. Last year Packer also announced a major expansion luxury car rentals houston of Crown Melbourne to include a new casino for younger gamblers and extra high roller facilities luxury car rentals houston for which he already controls 80 per cent of the market in Australia. He has also been reported to be interested in various scenarios to establish a casino in Queensland, either in Brisbane luxury car rentals houston or on the Gold Coast. According to the Gold Coast Bulletin, Crown recently smoozed Gold Coast local councillors in Melbourne after Crown s CEO Rowan Craigie expressed an interest in a new casino.
This week s news of bipartisan support in NSW tops what has been a good year for James Packer. This will be a relief after some horror ones over the last decade. In 2008 his private interests were reported to be losing $6000 a minute . Crown also made huge losses on a big Las Vegas casino deal during the GFC when it pulled out on the grounds that James sister Gretel did not want to reveal details of family secret trusts.
But Crown recovered well and TV series such as Paper Giants and Howzat on the family s history luxury car rentals houston helped soften the Packer image