By Anthony McIntosh
As Victoria confronts another fire season, the tourism industry, the State Government and the major fire agencies are struggling to answer some fundamental questions around days determined to be ‘Catastrophic’. As it’s understood, the ‘catastrophic’ warning will be issued three days in advance.
For Victoria’s tourists and tourism industry, this creates some enormous challenges which might push some businesses to the brink of existence, some maybe over the edge.
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Community, Environment | Tagged: Anthony McIntosh, Black Saturday, bushfire, Environment, Victoria | 
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By Erin the Employer
The Age today has reported that one of Melbourne and Australia’s fashion stalwarts has called it quits due to red tape woes.
The closure of Jenny Bannister’s iconic fashion business should not be dismissed as an unfortunate incident of interest only to fabulous nobodies.
5 Comments | Red Tape Watch, Workplace | Tagged: Fair Work Act, Fair Work Australia, Melbourne, The Editor, Victoria | Permalink
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By The Editor
A few weeks ago, we asked whether or not you thought the 38-hour work week was optimal for productivity.
At the close of voting, it seemed the majority answered with a resounding, “it depends”!
1 Comment | Workplace, Your Say | Tagged: Discussions, Fair Work Act, Opinions, productivity, The Editor, Your Say | Permalink
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By The Editor
The emissions trading amendments package was debated for hours by coalition members on 24 November. The much speculated leadership spill over the issue – which transpired at lunchtime on 25 November – saw Malcolm Turnbull survive.
Leave a Comment » | Economy, Environment | Tagged: Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, carbon reduction, emissions trading scheme, Environment, Liberals, Malcom Turnbull, Melbourne, sustainability, The Editor, Victoria | Permalink
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By Wayne Kayler-Thomson
The declaration of a 14 metre draft for the Port of Melbourne as a result of the successful completion of the Port Phillip Bay channel deepening project is a major milestone for Melbourne, Victoria and the nation.
This is an historic project in terms of its implications for Melbourne as a port city and signals to the rest of the world that Melbourne is open for business.
Leave a Comment » | Economy, Environment | Tagged: Channel Deepening Project, Environment, Melbourne, Port Melbourne, sustainability, Victoria, Wayne Kayler-Thomson | Permalink
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By The Editor
There’s no doubt that many companies were left scrambling for a “Plan B” in order to stay in business during the height of the GFC.
Whether it was through scaling back operations, introducing alternative work arrangements for staff or implementing cost-cutting measures – these decisions were difficult to make; but essential for the overall survival of a business.
Leave a Comment » | Workplace | Tagged: Melbourne, News, The Editor, Victoria, Workplace | Permalink
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By The Editor
As hosts of The Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne has always had a reputation for speed. But the unveiling of Australia’s fastest cable broadband network in Melbourne now makes us the fastest city on the “information superhighway” in the country.
Leave a Comment » | Community, Economy | Tagged: Melbourne, News, technology, The Editor, Victoria | Permalink
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By Bridget Ryan
The bountiful Victorian coal resource and our energy industry have been in the spotlight over the past few weeks in the lead up to the Victorian Government’s imminent Future Energy Statement.
While the Hollowmen lampooned developments in ‘clean coal’ (they dubbed it a more saleable “smart coal”), there is no doubt that we should invest in new technology for lower emissions coal (drying, gasifying and capturing, then storing carbon). But, at the same time, we should invest equally in other technologies and resources – including energy efficiency and ‘demand’ side solutions.
1 Comment | Economy, Environment | Tagged: Bridget Ryan, carbon reduction, Environment, sustainability, Victoria | Permalink
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By Anthony McIntosh
In order to gauge the needs of Melbourne’s nightlife such as bars, clubs and restaurants, State Government policy makers work on a ‘large canvas’ and take into consideration many different aspects of the community, including residents, retailers, CBD office workers.
The thinking behind this seems to be: “more residents, more tourists, more shops and more offices mean we need more and larger clubs/bars!”
But hoteliers suffer the practical consequences of these policy decisions Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Community, Tourism | Tagged: Anthony McIntosh, Melbourne CBD violence, Tourism, Victoria | Permalink
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By Chris James
The Age’s State Political Editor Paul Austin has attacked the recommendations of the Infrastructure paper `Infrastructure: The Urgent or the Important’, unveiled at this week’s VECCI Victoria Summit.
He believes they are unrealistic and wonders how they will be paid for out of the `public purse’.
Leave a Comment » | Economy, Tourism | Tagged: Chris James, Infrastructure, Melbourne, sustainability, Victoria, Victoria Summit 2009 | Permalink
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