Mcmahon Has Reason To Celebrate

WHILE Illawarra MPs Noreen Hay and Matt Brown returned to NSW Parliament in reduced roles, Member for Shellharbour Lylea McMahon was quietly celebrating after receiving a promotion.

Flare-up In Taxing Times

PETER Costello "nearly lost it" when John Howard suggested the proposed GST rate be reduced from 10% to 8% just before the tax plan was released in 1998.

Manufacturing On The Slippery Slide

IT'S a tale of two sectors. While a surge in the price paid for coal and iron ore exports has reduced Australia's current account deficit, the nation's manufacturing sector has gone backwards for a third straight month.