Dear Readers

Our newsroom will be on holiday, you can read all the latest news/gossip here.

The rest of our site is going to run as usual.

Thanks

Julia Gillard has made history by winning the Labor party leadership after Kevin Rudd reportedly stood down.

Ms Gillard will become Australia’s first female prime minister after an extraordinary 12 hours which ended with Mr Rudd standing down before a scheduled leadership ballot, which was to be held at 9am.

The challenge reared after a last-minute push yesterday to oust Mr Rudd, driven by the Right faction in Victoria and South Australia, gathered momentum.

Congratulations to her, well done!

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd will put his leadership to the vote in caucus today after Deputy Julia Gillard requested a leadership ballot.

One can only hope that they see his use by date…. Kevin is long past it.

A PRIMARY schoolboy fled into the bush to escape the latest string of attempted child abductions in Tasmania by a man and a woman.

The 11-year-old told police he was followed by a suspicious couple in a car while riding his bike home from St Aloysius Catholic College, at Huntingfield. Acting Inspector Adam Stanwix, of Kingston Division, said there was no evidence to suggest there was a connection between the incident and several reports of a couple attempting to entice children into their car on Hobart’s Eastern Shore last month.

However, all reported incidents involve a blue car and a couple, including a female who pursues children.

No connection? They just all had a blue car? What is going on, kid stealing becomes a new fashion? Or is our society just getting sicker and sicker every day?

AUSTRALIAN gamblers lost an average of $1500 each last year, a Productivity Commission report has found. The long-awaited review of gambling in Australia found 600,000 Australians play the pokies at least weekly and 15 per cent are considered problem gamblers.

A what commission? Why don’t they use a “Productivity Commission” To find out what is going on in the Government?

TWO Victorian men required surgery to remove slug pellets from their backsides after playfully shooting each other with an air rifle to see whether it would hurt. The 34-year-old mates were enjoying a Sunday afternoon beer drinking session when they decided to shoot one another with an air rifle to see whether it would penetrate their skin or cause pain, Victoria Police said.

And if lack of brain would hurt, these clowns be sreaming all day…

BRISBANE retiree Colin McFarlane was told he would save more than $31 million a year on power bills if he purchased a new airconditioner and installed ceiling fans.

Despite his last quarterly power bill totalling just $195, Mr McFarlane said the sustainability report compiled by the Federal Government’s Green Loans Team was “so glaringly obviously wrong”.

“It’s taxpayer’s money that’s being used to fund these reports and they’re worth nothing,” Mr McFarlane said.

What a joke. Colin you are right; worth nothing. Why not go and get a ned A/C and some fans, then bill the Government $31 million?

SINGLE mother-of-six Heidi Melissa Tigges has been disqualified from driving for 10 months, making life harder after her West Street home burnt down 11 days ago.

Tigges, 33, appeared in the Toowoomba Magistrates Court yesterday and pleaded guilty to drink-driving.

Prosecutor Sergeant Tony Costa said police intercepted a green 4WD on Ruthven Street.

Tigges was driving with one passenger.

Police breath-tested her and she recorded a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.077%.

Magistrate Ryan convicted and fined Tigges $800 and allowed her 12 months to pay the fine.

She was also disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for 10 months.

Makes life harder? Melissa you get drunk, then drive and now complain? Ask yourself, who’s fault is it?

“The business community has an interest in making sure that, if there are law and order issues in the community, they are resolved because their businesses and livelihoods depend on people being able to safely come and go, to safely shop in their premises, to safely go out into the streets,” he said.

Supt Morrow said he believed Toowoomba was a safe community in which to live and on Friday he will have the statistics to support the stance.

He will reveal Toowoomba’s assault rate is 14 per cent below the State average and has only increased in line with the city’s population.

True but he failed to address parents to keep a closer eye on their children; pubs to obey the law when selling alcohol and the need for more Police patrols.

RAPE charges against Saints star Stephen Milne were dropped partly because they would cost too much if the case failed, a former detective has claimed. Mike Smith backed allegations made by his co-investigator, Scott Gladman, that other police had tried to derail their investigation.

No charges were laid against Milne or teammate Leigh Montagna over a woman’s claims that she was raped at Montagna’s home. Both men deny any wrongdoing.

WHAT? Money before justice? If he is guilty, they just let him get away with it? What about his victim, if there was one?