New networking tool to help create enviro-friendly, and profitable, commercial buildings

Better known as the plaything of Gener­ation Y, online social networking technology has been put to use by the commercial prop­erty sector, with the launch of a $1.5 million online encyclopedia and networking tool to help create environmentally friendly and profitable commercial buildings, reported The Sydney Morning Herald (29/9/2007, p.60).

Enlarged BBP-Alinta likely to weigh into NSW power privatisation: AGL could cash up to acquire Queensland’s Enertrade

An enlarged BBP-Alinta would be likely to weigh into the NSW power privatisation, reported The Australian (25/9/2007, p. 25).

BBP sets AlintaAGL price high enough to discourage a keen AGL, while justifying the $522 million needed to secure AGL’s one-third stake

AGL and BBP ended up as joint owners of AlintaAGL, formed as a result of the asset swap between Alinta and AGL to resolve their hostile takeover tussle, reported The Australian (25/9/2007, p. 25).

Oil companies, motor companies and military queue to deny associations with Firepower: claims look flaky

Some of the statements in the document used to drum up interest in Firepower have been questioned in a report in The Sydney Morning Herald (29/9/2007, p. 44).

Jury of 15 to sit on trial of nine men caught in Australia’s biggest anti-terrorism sweep: conspiring “to do acts in preparation of a terrorist act”

NSW was expected to pass legislation allowing an expanded jury of 15 to sit on the trial of nine men caught in Australia’s biggest anti-terrorism sweep, wrote Michael Pelly in The Australian (24/9/2007, p.3).

ASIC investigation into Firepower fuel-saving products; case listed for hearing on 16 October

In September 1992 an early version of Firepower’s Tim Johnston’s fuel-saving products was the subject of a critical exposé by the New Zealand Auto­mobile Association, reported The Sydney Morning Herald (29/9/2007, p. 44).

Interesting business credentials of Firepower executives and friends: no strangers to APRA and ASIC

Gunter Nolte, the former Halliburton executive, was now Firepower’s European head, reported The Sydney Morning Herald (29/9/2007, p. 44).

Israelis steal nuclear material from Syria

Israeli commandos seized nuclear material of North Korean origin during a daring raid on a secret military site in Syria before Israel bombed it this month, reported Abraham Rabinovich in Jerusalem in The Australian (24/9/07, p. 1).

Grain Pool signs historic 10 year agreement with Primary Energy: 500,000 metric tonnes of grain consumed, 160 million litres of ethanol produced plus useful by-products

The Grain Pool had signed an historic 10 year agreement to supply grain to Primary Energy’s proposed bio-fuel facility in Kwinana, with accu­mulation set to commence during the 2008-09 harvest, reported Farm Weekly (20/9/2007, p. 20).

Oil giants awash with cash; billions spent in share buyback programs: Chevron $US15bn over three years, Exxon $US16bn in six months, BP $15.5bn in a year

According to Ed Crooks in London, Chevron, the second largest US oil company, was to spend $US15 billion ($17.1 billion) on its own shares within the next three years, extending a $US5 billion a year program that began in 2005, reported The Australian (28/9/2007, p. 29).

Burma expert says action by young Army officers, not demonstrations by monks, only real hope for change in Burma

Although Burma’s warrior kings were firmly entrenched in power, and not overly worried about condemnation by the West, that did not mean that their position was entirely secure, wrote Bertil Lintner in The Sydney Morning Herald (29/9/2007, p. 27).

Reports that say nothing, in mire of red tape: what happens when govts protect powerful interests and offend no one, says business academic

The Nationals have long employed sham committees to protect sacred cows – the classic was Warren Truss’s Mickey Mouse 2004 Wheat Marketing Review committee, established with terms of reference that specifically excluded consideration of the single desk’s future, which delivered an eight-page report saying nothing, wrote Professor Paul Kerin, teacher of strategy at Melbourne Business School, in The Australian (25/9/2007, p.30).

Oil price: Goldman Sachs JBWere predicts multi-year, three-phase, forecast “super-spike” band from $US 105 a barrel to $US 135 a barrel

Goldman Sachs JBWere said that recent rises in the oil price were the second phase of a multi-year, three-phase “super-spike” era, underpinned by the struggle of oil suppliers to catch up with growth in demand, reported The Australian Financial Review, (24/9/2007, p. 25).

ACT: Capital braces to receive up to 100 severe storms expected to hit NSW and the ACT between October and March; emergency services urge residents to clean out their gutters “well in advance”

According to Sonya Neufeld, in The Canberra Times, (25/09/2007, p.1), Canberrans were being urged to be prepared for up to 100 severe storms, which could include driving hail, cause flash flooding and would have enough force to lift roofs.

Political controversies kill many viable projects before taking off: Gunns pulp mill is the third attempt by the Tasmanian community to build a pulp mill, the others shelved due to one controversy or the other, says Lib Senator Guy Barnett

Guy Barnett, Liberal party Senator for Tasmania, pledged his strong support for the pulp mill project in northern Tasmania, subject to strict environmental conditions, in the Commonwealth Senate on 18 September 2007.

All expatriate Tamils now dubbed “Terrorists”: all Australians who know persons of Tamil heritage, under Australian law, at risk of arrest for “association”

Four Australian Tamils were accused of funding a terrorist organisation after the Australian government had designated the Sri Lanka separatist movement Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam a “terrorist” group, reported The Age (25/9/2007, p. 5).

Crude oil rises to more than $US81 a barrel for the first time; market “has the legs to get up to $US83-$US84”

Crude oil rose to more than $US81 a barrel for the first time on speculation that rising demand will deplete stockpiles needed during the northern winter, according to The Age (19/9/2007, p. B5).

Tues 18 Sept: October oil rises to $US81.24, a trading record; natural gas jumps to $US6.65 per 100 cubic feet

October oil rose as high as $US81.24 on Tuesday 18 September, a trading record, reported The Sydney Morning Herald (19/9/2007, p.24).

First Aus export of biodiesel leaves for Asia, US: green alternative the ‘way of the future’, says Natural Fuels chair

Australia’s first export shipment of biodiesel has been loaded on a freighter bound for Asia and the US, as former Liberal leader and company director John Hewson described the green alternative as the way of the future, reported The Australian Financial Review (3/8/2007, p.17).

Ethanol-blended petrol on sale in Tas for first time: LRP to be phased-out

Ethanol-blended petrol went on sale in Tasmanian service stations for the first time in late July, reported The Mercury (28/7/2007, p.5).

Lakes Oil seeking $9.3 million in 1¢ shares to prove a commercial oil or gas find in Latrobe Valley region

Hardy oil and gas explorer Lakes Oil had gone to its shareholders seeking $9.3 million from a non-renounceable rights issue priced at the princely sum of 1¢ a share, reported The Age (21/8/2007, p. 83).

Australia’s most successful indigenous financial conglomerate, Centrecorp, controls assets of more than $100 million; little evidence of spending on beneficiaries

A key figure in Australia’s most successful indigenous financial conglomerate, Centrecorp, was a co-shareholder in one of its largest investments, L. J. Hooker in Alice Springs, according to The Age (21/8/2007, p. 4).

Northern Australia – the future food bowl: work on to identify eight to 12 small-scale sustainable precincts to potentially open up to 10,000 to 20,000 hectares across the north outside the Ord

With the non-occurrence of La Nina and the related worsening drought situation across most of Australia, it was high time to focus on the possibilities of Northern Australia and the region west of Ord river with relatively abundant water and the added benefits the north presented in reducing greenhouse gases, as the potential food bowl of the nation, said Senator Alan Eggleston, Senator for Western Australia, member of the Government’s Backbench Policy Committee on Health and Ageing, Liberal Party of Australia, in the Commonwealth Senate on 18 September 2007, quoting Mark Lewis of the Western Australia Department of Agriculture, who is the manager of NRM and industry development for rangelands.

Victoria gas price and demand, 3 October 2007

6 September: Israel air-raid on Syria, hit Syrian facility, near Turkish border; joint operation with US on unknown target?

Israel’s decision to attack Syria earlier this month came after Israel shared intelligence with President George Bush indicating that North Korean nuclear personnel were in Syria, according to US Government sources, reported The Age (22/9/2007, p. 17). Unlike Israel’s destruction of an Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981, Israel made no announcement of the recent raid and imposed strict censorship on reporting by the Israeli media.

LNG plans: Santos requires 4,000-5,500PJ; Arrow at least 1,000PJ, three times current level of CSG production; risk development of LNG export project can reduce availability of gas to domestic gas market in Eastern Australia

Santos and Arrow Energy had recently announced proposals for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) projects in Gladstone, noted the Owen Inquiry into Electricity Supply in NSW, Availabiltiy and Cost of Gas for NSW Baseload Generation (31/7/2007).

Model planes go mainstream: add a video camera and find powerline breaks, survey wildlife, manage crops

Unmanned aircraft developed for military uses were being considered for civilian government applications, including pinpointing remote area powerline breaks, surveying fish and wildlife, monitoring stock movements, managing crops and fighting bushfires, wrote Christopher Jay in The Australian Financial Review (28/9/2007, p.71).

Former Energex chair Ross Dunning cleared of sex charges; new role as chair of Townsville Port Authority

Former Energex chair Ross Dunning has won a boardroom reprieve after being cleared of child sex charges, wrote Steven Wardill in The Courier Mail (28/9/2007, p.10).

ActewAGL, TransACT consider compo for small businesses among 20,000 users of failed Grapevine ISP

ActewAGL and TransACT would consider compensating small businesses among the 20,000 users of its Internet service provider Grapevine which has been out of action since Sunday morning, wrote John Thistleton, business editor, in The Canberra Times (26/9/2007, p.5).

World’s wheat price at A$480/tonne, up 25 percent on the dizzying highs of the last month, “unchartered territory” in period of “agflation” say analysts as Aussie output draws global attention

According to Brad Coopper in, Queensland Country Life, (27/09/2007, p.3), the world wheat price continued its sharp trajectory north last week, straining to break A$480 a tonne, up 25 percent on the dizzying highs of the last month that sent the domestic grain trade spinning.