Australian Bush Hat Co banned from touting ‘Aussie-made’ hats

THEY call themselves The Australian Bush Hat Co and their headwear features an Australian map along with a tag saying “Manufactured in Australia”.

The only problem is the hats were actually made in India and imported into Australia for trimming and finishing, according to the consumer watchdog.

The Australian Bush Hat Co has now been banned from making “misleading country of origin claims” about its hats, after action taken by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Read more about The Australian Bush Hat Co at news.com.au.

Coles, Woolworths must allow competitors in shopping centres

CHANGES today could mean cheaper grocery prices with Coles and Woolworths banned from restricting competition in shopping centres.

The breakthrough, brokered by the competition watchdog, means that the Coles and Woolworths will no longer be able to demand that shopping centres not lease out space to competitors.

The deal means that the big two supermarket chains will begin to lose the monopoly positions they enjoy in many shopping centres, said Professor Michael Beverland, a lecturer in marketing from RMIT University.

Read more about supermarkets and shopping centres at news.com.au.

ATO reaps $44m in unpaid tax from execs

THE Australian Tax Office squeezed an average of $107,000 in unpaid tax from every executive and director it reviewed or audited last financial year.

In 2008-2009, the ATO reviewed or audited the returns of 410 executives and directors and raised an additional $44 million in tax liabilities.

The average dividend dwarfs the the average liability found in for other types of ATO reviews of individual tax returns.

This compares to 2700 reviews related to capital gains disclosures for individuals which raised about $16.5 million in liabilities, an average of about $6100 per person.

Read more about tax office investigations at news.com.au.

Ozdirect ordered to curb conduct

THE competition watchdog has won a temporary court order that prevents retailer Ozdirect Online Brands from advertising and accepting money for goods it cannot supply.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission took the company and its director, Paul Albright, to court after customers complained about undelivered goods.

Read more about the court order against Ozdirect at news.com.au.

An earlier Ozdirect story:

July 16, 2009: Ozdirect accused of deceiving customers

Federal Budget 2009 - what’s in it for you

by Chelsea Mes and Edmund Tadros

THE Government says it’s one of the most difficult ever peacetime Budgets but there were winners among the losers. Homebuyers, pensioners, students and parents-to-be were among the winners. While high income earners and those planning to retire in coming years were the worst hit. In addition, we will all be working much longer, with the Government extending the retirement age to 67 from 2023.

Read the rest of the Budget 2009 overview at news.com.au.

This piece generated more than 900 comments from readers angry, happy and indifferent about Budget 2009.

The APEC wall that couldn’t keep The Chaser out cost $2m

THE steel and concrete fence that became a symbol of the 2007 Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation summit, cost an amazing $2 million to hire for seven days, documents released under Freedom of Information laws reveal. Read more at news.com.au here.

This is my first story for news.com.au. I have reported previously on the farce of the APEC excludable person’s list and a botched police attempt to blackmail an activist into spying. Read more here.

Read more about Freedom of Information laws at Peter Timmon’s excellent Open and Shut blog here. He has written a short piece about my article here.

Prison Guards rob and bully: report

DOZENS of prison officers committed criminal offences last year, including bashing inmates, assaulting and bullying co-workers and stealing, according to a confidential Corrective Services report. Read more here at The Sun Herald.

Death in NSW custody

Dead at 19: killed by a drug cocktail in his cell

JOSHUA CAMERON was 19 when he overdosed on a cocktail of prescription drugs in his cell at the maximum security Long Bay Correctional Complex.

Tests would later show he had four drugs - the painkillers codeine, morphine, paracetamol and tramadol - in his system, any one of which could have killed him. He was being prescribed paracetamol at the time. Read more here at The Sun Herald.

The tricks used to get a hit

MANY prisoners consider a day in a drug-induced haze to be a day off their sentence.

“I witnessed guys on methadone vomiting their doses straight back into a plastic bag and other people filter that through a sock and drink it,” witness K, an inmate, told the Joshua Cameron inquest. Read more here at The Sun Herald.

UPDATE:

February 16, 2009

A 19-year-old prisoner did not intend to commit suicide when he took a range of prescription drugs at prison where officers admitted there was an open trade in medications, a coroner has found.
Joshua Cameron, who was not prescribed three of the four painkillers found in his system, was found dead in his cell on June 28, 2006.
A coronial inquiry into his death had heard there was an open trade in prescription medications in Metropolitan Special Programs Centre but Coroner Paul McMahon did not find enough evidence to recommend that any of the other inmates be charged.
Delivering his findings on Friday, Mr McMahon did not make any recommendations against the Department of Corrective Services despite officers admitting they knew about the trade but could do little because of the lack of staff.
Speaking afterwards, Joshua’s mother, Sheryl, maintained that the department had failed her child.
“There’s got to have been something they could have done to make sure another family doesn’t have to go through with this.”
Edmund Tadros