Homeowners grant push up prices: survey

This article is from the AAP(Monday July 6, 2009):

Homeowners grant push up prices: survey

Two-thirds of Australians believe the federal government's more generous first homeowners grant is pushing up house prices, a new survey shows.

An online poll conducted by mortgage broker Loan Market Group found 35 per cent of those who said the grant had inflated prices believed it had only impacted on the lower end of the property market, while 31 per cent said it had not stopped them from buying real estate.

One in five of the 633 respondents in the poll, released on Monday, said the boosted grant had no effect on prices and 13 per cent thought property values had actually fallen.

The government doubled the first homeowners grant to $14,000 for established homes and trebled it to $21,000 for new properties last October as part of its first stimulus package.

In the May budget the grant was extended until the end of the year from an original June 30 deadline, but it will be pared back to $10,500 and $14,000 respectively from October 1 before returning to $7,000 for both categories on January 1 next year.

Loan Market executive director John Kolenda said the grant has underpinned the market and even given it some buoyancy, especially at the lower level, during the global financial crisis.

"The residential real estate sector in Australia has so far weathered the worst of the downturn and the grant has played a major part in shoring up the market," he said.

The combined effects of softer property prices, low interest rates and the boosted grant had created an environment in which many more Australians had been able to afford a home.

The government has said more than 97,000 people have taken up the boosted grant so far.

Official housing finance data for May are released on Wednesday.

In April, the data showed a record 28 per cent of home loans granted in the month were taken out by first-time buyers.

---

Source:By Colin Brinsden, AAP

Low inflation unlikely to mean rate cut

This article is from the AAP(Monday July 6, 2009):

Low inflation unlikely to mean rate cut

Home owners shouldn't hold their breath hoping for another cut in the official interest rate when the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) board meets on Tuesday.

Economists are generally confident that the central bank's monthly meeting will leave the cash rate unchanged at a 49-year low of 3.0 per cent for a third straight month.

But they say two pieces of economic data released on Monday will keep the door ajar for another rate reduction in coming months, but are unlikely to be a shock to RBA governor Glenn Stevens or his team.

Money markets are pricing in little chance of a rate cut over the next couple of months, but see around a 70 per cent chance of a 25 basis point reduction before the end of the year.

"A re-read of the RBA's June statement suggests the only change may be the date," NAB Capital chief economist Rob Henderson said.

"The last statement said that scope remains for further easing down the track `if needed', but there is no urgency to cut."

The central bank cut the rate by a hefty 425 basis points between September last year and April in a pre-emptive strike to cushion the economy from the global recession.

Data over the past month suggests consumers are more confident about spending, aided by cash handouts from the federal government and low interest rates.

Essential Research's weekly online survey released on Monday showed that half of the 1,038 respondents polled believe economic conditions will be better over the next 12 months.

This is up from 43 per cent in June and well above the 19 per cent recorded in February.

Still, 56 per cent are concerned about losing their job, up from 52 per cent in June, although below the 67 per cent level seen in April.

A key indicator for future employment - the ANZ job advertisement series - suggests business confidence remains extremely weak and a "hiring freeze" remains in place.

The ANZ survey found the total number of jobs advertised in newspapers and on the internet fell for a 14th straight month in June, declining 6.7 per cent.

Total job ads have now declined by a staggering 51.4 per cent over the past year, with internet jobs ads at their weakest in at least 10 years.

"The weak global economic environment and uncertainty on how long the recovery process could take has seen employers attempt to keep costs under control," Commonwealth Securities economist Savanth Sebastian said.

"While employment has remained relatively strong over the last year, the risks are certainly to the downside over the next 12 months."

Official labour force data for June are due for release on Thursday.

Economists' forecasts centre on a rise in the jobless rate to 5.9 per cent from 5.7 per cent in May, which would be the highest level in six years.

The government is predicting an unemployment rate of 8.25 per cent by mid-2010.

The once ogre of inflation also appears to be firmly in decline, suggesting there is scope to ease monetary policy again down the track.

The TD Securities-Melbourne Institute Monthly Inflation Gauge showed annual inflation at just 1.4 per cent in the 12 months to June, well below the RBA's two to three per cent target range.

TD Securities senior strategist Annette Beacher expects inflation to continue undershooting the target until mid-2010, perhaps even longer.

She said the case for an imminent rate cut on inflation grounds "is compelling".

This article is from ABC(Monday July 6th, 2009):

Dramatic flu surge at NSW hospitals

Concern over swine flu is putting increased pressure on New South Wales emergency departments, with western Sydney the state's hardest hit region.

NSW has experienced a 17-fold increase in the number of people presenting at hospitals with symptoms of the flu compared to the same period last year.

Most of the spikes in hospital attendances have correlated with publicity around swine flu cases and deaths.

NSW Health Minister John Della Bosca says an extra 550 hospital beds are being made available to cope with demand, which has surged in the past few weeks.

"Also, we've put in a place nearly 8,000 extra hospital-in-the-home places for people suffering flu-like symptoms," he said.

Children aged between five to 16 are the largest group presenting at emergency departments.

The state's Chief Medical Oficer, Dr Kerry Chant, says Sydney's west has been the hardest hit.

"It got introduced into that group of the population and so it has spread there like any infectious disease," she said.

"It's started to spread in that community. It will then progressively spread to other communities and it will spread progressively across the state."

Two people with swine flu have died in NSW and nine people suffering from the virus are in intensive care in the state.

Seven people with swine flu have died in Victoria, including a three-year-old boy, as well as two people in Western Australia.

There are more than 1,400 confirmed cases of swine flu in New South Wales.

This article is from the AAP(Monday July 6th, 2009):

Bogus charities 'aiding terror groups'

Australia's top cop will lead a global conference to combat the funding of terrorism through money laundering in Brisbane this week.

The meeting of more than 300 delegates from the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) comes as the federal opposition calls for a greater focus on bogus charities pumping money into terrorist bodies.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty will co-chair the meeting with the director of Commercial Affairs Department, Singapore, Mr Ong Hian Sun.

While no one representing the delegation would publicly comment, opposition home affairs spokesman Jason Wood said it was important the delegates work on eliminating bogus charities and businesses.

Fake charities profiteer from donations by unsuspecting people, and the funds are then used to finance terrorist activities, he said.

"We need to make sure the mechanisms are in place to prevent Australia allowing terrorist groups to launder money through Australia," Mr Wood said.

"They (terrorist groups) set up charities, so you have the people with the best intentions donating money to a terrorist organisation and the money is laundered."

The government should also crack down on the bogus businesses that are set up to launder money offshore to fund terrorist groups such as Jemaah Islamiah, the group behind the Bali bombings, which Mr Wood says raised more than $10 million in Australia.

"It looks like a company in Australia transferring money overseas ... but in fact it's just a means of laundering money," he said.

About 40 countries, as well as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, will be represented at the forum, which starts on Tuesday at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

This article is from AAP(Monday July 6th,2009):

Baby elephant makes his public debut

Taronga Zoo's newest pampered star has finally made his public debut in front of adoring fans.

The yet-to-be named baby elephant, weighing in at 96kg, was born at the Sydney zoo on Saturday at 3.08am (AEST).

At lunchtime on Monday, escorted by his mum Thong Dee and adopted aunt Tang Mo, the youngster plodded a little unsteadily around a pond and waterfall near the lower viewing deck of the zoo's elephant enclosure, much to the delight of excited onlookers.

It had been a different story on Sunday, when he remained tucked away inside his enclosure.

But after his first shower and bath on Monday morning, overseen by zoo keepers inside a heated barn, the first baby jumbo born in Australia was happy to venture into the open.

"There was a lot of oohing and aahing," Taronga Zoo's director Guy Cooper told AAP.

Mr Cooper said Tang Mo watched as Thong Dee delivered the baby calf in the early hours of Saturday morning, and has since taken on the role of doting aunt.

"We suspect Tang Mo has witnessed the birth of calves before," Mr Cooper said.

"On the night (the calf was born) she was making noises.

"Her actions were like 'let me in there, I've seen this before, I can lend a hand'."

Thong Dee and Tang Mo are two of five elephants brought to Taronga Zoo from Thailand in 2006 as part of an elephant breeding program.

Thong Dee is the first elephant to give birth in Australia, while two others, Porntip and Pak Boon, are due to give birth in early 2010 and 2011.

Pak Boon and Porntip were allowed into the same enclosure as the baby elephant on Monday morning.

"That went very well," Mr Cooper said.

"We are very comfortable that we now have one happy and steady family."

However, the baby elephant's father, Gung, is unlikely to play any role in his upbringing.

"He had a lot of fun when he was younger, particularly with Thong Dee," Mr Cooper explained.

"They were buddies.

"But after a while his attentiveness became a little more conniving.

"He had other things on his mind other than games.

"He was really starting to annoy (the female elephants).

"We said right, time for you to do the right bull elephant thing and go off and do your own thing."

The male elephant now lives in an enclosure some 150 metres from the females.

Taronga Zoo is inviting members of the public to name the baby elephant via its website.

So far about 2,300 suggestions have been received.

"What we've been asking is that names that are submitted are Thai, to reflect the cultural heritage of the animal," the zoo's spokesman Mark Williams said.

"We will be disregarding names that don't fit that category."

It will be up to the zoo's elephant keepers to select a name from the long list, under guidance from the Thai Consulate General's office.

"We want to make sure any name we select is proper from a Thai aspect," Mr Cooper said.

Why you should visit New York

This article is from Yahoo! Travel Guide(July 5th 2009):

New York City, NY Information by Rough Guides

The most beguiling city in the world, New York is an adrenaline-charged, history-laden place that holds immense romantic appeal for visitors. Wandering the streets here, you'll cut between buildings that are icons to the modern age – and whether gazing at the flickering lights of the midtown skyscrapers as you speed across the Queensboro bridge, experiencing the 4am half-life downtown, or just wasting the morning on the Staten Island ferry, you really would have to be made of stone not to be moved by it all. There's no place quite like it.

While the events of September 11, 2001, which demolished the World Trade Center, shook New York to its core, the populace responded resiliently under the composed aegis of then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Until the attacks, many New Yorkers loved to hate Giuliani, partly because they saw him as committed to making their city too much like everyone else's. To some extent he succeeded, and during the late Nineties New York seemed cleaner, safer, and more liveable, as the city took on a truly international allure and shook off the more notorious aspects to its reputation. However, the maverick quality of New York and its people still shines as brightly as it ever did. Even in the aftermath of the World Trade Center's collapse, New York remains a unique and fascinating city – and one you'll want to return to again and again.

You could spend weeks in New York and still barely scratch the surface, but there are some key attractions – and some pleasures – that you won't want to miss. There are the different ethnic neighborhoods, like lower Manhattan's Chinatown and the traditionally Jewish Lower East Side (not so much anymore); and the more artsy concentrations of SoHo, TriBeCa, and the East and West Villages. Of course, there is the celebrated architecture of corporate Manhattan, with the skyscrapers in downtown and midtown forming the most indelible images. There are the museums, not just the Metropolitan and MoMA, but countless other smaller collections that afford weeks of happy wandering. In between sights, you can eat just about anything, at any time, cooked in any style; you can drink in any kind of company; and sit through any number of obscure movies. The more established arts – dance, theater, music – are superbly catered for; and New York's clubs are as varied and exciting as you might expect. And for the avid consumer, the choice of shops is vast, almost numbingly exhaustive in this heartland of the great capitalist dream.

Reasons to visit Orlando Florida.

Reasons to visit Orlando Florida:

Disneyworld

Universal Studios Orlando - Simpsons ride,the Hulk roller coaster,Spiderman ride and coming soon Harry Potter world of wizarding.

SeaWorld - Manta, Discovery cove, water parks.

Orlando is close to beaches on the East and Gulf of Mexico.

Wet n ' Wild - Water park.

Orange County Convention Center.

Shopping at outlet and Premium outlet malls.