Abbott says he's still the underdog

I choose this article because I think it has an important.
Opposition leader Tony Abbott has said a surge in the polls that puts the Coalition ahead of Labor showed the public were disappointed with a Labor government more interested in politics than governing. Mr. Abbott said that in 2007 the Australian public was "very very anxious" about re-electing the Rudd/Gillard government after investing a lot of hope in Labor. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has played down the latest opinion polls showing Labor clawing its way back to a narrow lead over the Coalition. Mr. Abbott said to Darwin that he expected the polls to go up and down. During a week it’s a six-point swing against the government in which Prime Minister Julia Gillard's campaign was dogged by leaks. He said leaks happen and Ms Gillard has so far handled them with "strong resolve". Earlier this week, she questioned the affordability of Labor's paid parental leave scheme and age pension hike to the reports. Ms Gillard is still leading Mr. Abbott as preferred prime minister in the poll, but her 21-point lead plummeted by 13 points to 49-41. The polls were published on Saturday. The latest News poll shows Labor has regained a narrow lead, while a Galaxy poll shows a similar result.

In my opinion, in election, anything could happen. For example, you are expecting the vote be high because you did a lot of good thing for the people to vote you, but it could be ironic.

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The environment may benefit from Gillard's inaction

The reason why I chose this article is because it is about an election which has a connection with environment.

Julia Gillard’s has effectively responded for climate rules to “ordinary Australians”, on whose “skills, capacity, decency and plain common sense” Gillard will rely to tell her about the community consensus on climate change. In effect, it institutionalizes what is already clear — this is a Government controlled by focus group reactions. However, Gillard ought to pause a moment to consider her climate response. For many people in Australia, climate is a key vote changer and this made Gillard's announcements risk losing these voters.

Labor has been playing politics with climate change for 3 years and it has not stopped. However, whereas for most of that time it used climate change to damage the Coalition, now it has to defend itself against the issue. It will only be with the political cover afforded by this nonsensical Assembly that the Government will take any action on a carbon price. Rarely has so much goodwill and political capital been wasted on such an important issue. However, it is clear is that the Australian public does want the government to step in and do something about climate change. Most commentators saw Rudd's 2007 ascension to the top job as being heavily influenced by his promises on climate change. Similarly, his fall from popularity was associated with his backing away from the troubled Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.

I think this is a great thing of taking action on this issue.

http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2010/07/23//2962209.htm

Australia: Now some want to dumb down doctorates

I choose this article because all other educational qualifications have been dumped down, so I suppose this was inevitable.

The head of graduate research at James Cook University, Council convener Helene Marsh said the colleges' plans to badge professional master’s qualifications as doctorates would "degrade" the PhD. She warns that the market for masters’ degree programs already had experienced from wide variations in what constitutes a master, and that the sector should not allow the same problem hit doctorates. It follows the Australian Qualifications Framework's decision to reject Melbourne's plans. The Australian Technology Network of universities has signaled that its primary concern will be protect the standing of doctorate qualifications. La Trobe University vice-chancellor Paul Johnson said he is "agnostic" on the issue, but he noted that while the Melbourne and UWA plans are supported by US practice, they are out of step with the Bologna process in Europe. He also said that the key problem in the debate over different masters-level qualifications was that the sector lacked agreed exit capabilities against which to measure qualifications.

In my opinion, it is sad news that master’s qualification would degrade the PhD.

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Wallabies continue Suncorp Stadium love affair with win over Springboks

The reason why I choose this article is that it is one of the popular sport in Australia.

With skipper Rocky Elsom and fellow flanker David Pocock leading the way, Australia ran the ball at will to dominate the opening hour before fading late as the Springboks crossed for two tries.

For the third time in as many Tri-Nations Tests, the winless Boks lost a player to the sin-bin early on when centre Jaque Fourie was yellow carded for a spearing tackle on Richard Brown in the second minute.

But, unlike the red-hot All Blacks, the Wallabies were unable to take advantage, as hard as they tried.

As improved and encouraging as the display was, the Wallabies have plenty of work to do on their finishing.

The All Blacks would have sewn up a bonus point for four tries before the hour mark if they had created as many chances.

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Pakistan triumph against Australia for the first time in 15 years

I choose this article because it is one of the popular cricket in Australia.

Pakistan on Saturday registered their first Test win against Australia in 15 years, when they scrammed home to a three-wicket win at Headingley, to level the two-match series 1-1.

Needing just 40 runs to win with seven wickets left at the start of play, Pakistan witnessed a batting collapse when they lost Azhar Ali, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal, but eventually finished on seven for 180 to ensure the win.

It was Pakistan’s first Test victory over Australia since 1995, with the Australians winning 13 matches on the trot since then.

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