Rail closures to hit travel times

State Transport Minister Terry Mulder said on Tuesday that workers will start moving part of the existing track between Sunshine and Tottenham, in Melbourne's west, to make way for new country tracks into the city.


The Regional Rail Link aims to improve the times of Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo regional trains when they make their way through the city, by creating dedicated tracks for them.


"Suburban trains will no longer be stuck behind country trains and vice versa," Mr Mulder said in a statement.


"This will also mean that suburban trains on the Werribee, Sydenham and Craigieburn lines will be more reliable."


Mr Mulder said there will be a two week closure of the Sydenham, Ballarat and Bendigo lines for construction works between July 1-18.


Express buses will carry commuters from Albion and Sunshine railway stations direct to Flemington Racecourse station.
Public Transport Minister Terry Mulder said V/Line trains would have separate tracks from suburban trains for the first time.
"Suburban trains will no longer be stuck behind country trains and vice versa, he said.
This will also mean that suburban trains on the Werribee, Sydenham and Craigieburn lines will be more reliable."
PTUA regional spokesman Paul Westcott said the closure of a suburban stations for more than two weeks was "completely unprecedented".
He said the shutdown of suburban trains would cause "massive disruptions.

Vic supports plain cigarette packs

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott may not support plain-packaged cigarettes as the tobacco industry threatens to slash the cost of cigarettes if the Gillard government pushes ahead with the anti-smoking legislation.

Mr Abbott, who is yet to back the government's proposal, says he is happy to support any policy that has been proven to curb smoking rates.

"But my anxiety with this [plain packaging proposal] is that it may end up being counterproductive in practice," he told reporters today.

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Health campaigners and Health Minister Nicola Roxon have branded the tobacco industry's threat to cut the cost of cigarettes if plain packaging is introduced as a stunt.

Mr Davis told reporters in Melbourne on Tuesday.

When asked if the government supported plain-packaged cigarettes, he replied "yes".

However, Mr Davis avoided answering questions about whether the state Liberal party would continue to accept donations from tobacco companies.

He said those questions would need to be directed to the Liberal party.

Mr Abbott has said he's happy to support any policy that has been proven to curb smoking rates but stopped short of supporting the government's proposal.

"My anxiety with this (plain packaging proposal) is that it may end up being counterproductive in practice," he told reporters in Geelong.

The NSW coalition government earlier this month also announced its support for plain cigarette packaging.

The tobacco industry has launched a campaign attacking the government's plan to introduce plain "drab green" packaging for cigarettes, claiming the move will drive down prices in the face of increased competition with blackmarket imports.

Bomb threat on eve of Queen's visit to Ireland

LONDON: Police received a bomb threat for central London from Irish republican paramilitaries, a day before a historic visit by the Queen to Ireland, Scotland Yard said.

''A bomb threat warning has been received relating to central London today. The threat is not specific in relation to location or time,'' a Scotland Yard spokesman said yesterday.

''We believe the threat is in connection with dissident republican terrorism.''

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Police closed a major road leading to Buckingham Palace for several hours but a search found nothing suspicious, while there was also a controlled explosion of a suitcase nearby.

The idea of armed British officers operating in Ireland was initially ruled out, but the Irish government has agreed to let 120 Metropolitan Police officers carry guns. It is the first time a British monarch has visited Ireland since 1911 and the city centre will be turned into a car-free zone to prevent car bombs.

Republican terrorists have pledged to disrupt the tour.

The first day of the visit coincides with the 37th anniversary of the bloodiest day of the Troubles, in which 34 people were killed in four car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan.

Irish police will have to deal with attempts by the radical republican group Eirigi to occupy the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin, the memorial to Irish people killed in the struggle for independence, where the Queen is due to lay a wreath today. The group has threatened to set up a ''freedom camp'' in the memorial garden .

Mrs McAleese said the trip was emblematic of the progress that has been made between the two countries. Her comments came as unprecedented steps were taken to ensure all runs smoothly.

She said: ''[It is] a phenomenal sign and signal of the success of the peace process and absolutely the right moment for us to welcome on to Irish soil her majesty the Queen, the head of state of our immediate next-door neighbours.''

The Irish Prime Minister, Enda Kenny, said the Queen should expect a warm reception from the majority of people.

Kayla Rogers found dead in northern New South Wales

Police hunt for a five-year-old girl abducted from a Gold Coast apartment after a likely double murder has ended in tragedy.

Police found the bodies of the girl, Kayla Rogers, and a man in a vehicle near Casino about 9.30pm yesterday. There were unconfirmed reports last night that the man was her father.

The discovery followed police finding the bodies of a man and a woman yesterday morning in an apartment in Robina, Gold Coast where Kayla lived. The woman was reportedly Kayla's mother.

The alert was withdrawn last night when police discovered Rogers' vehicle on a remote road near Casino.

It appeared he had gassed himself and his daughter.

Ms Simpson and the children had only recently moved into the Robina apartment and she was working as the building manager.

Property records showed the estranged couple owned a house at Ormeau and ran an Inverell caravan park last year.

Homicide detectives and forensics officers remained on the scene at Robina last night.

They cordoned off the property on leafy Arbour Ave.

The area, which is opposite Robina Town Centre, is home to many small businesses and offices. Some were forced to shut as police searched for potential leads.

Ms Simpson was described by one neighbour as a single mum who had only recently taken over as the resident manager of the Arbour Avenue apartments.

A relative of the victims found the body of a man in the unit yesterday. The woman's body was found after police were called.

Neighbours told media they heard yelling and screaming from the unit in the early hours of the morning.

Detective Inspector Brian Swan, of the Gold Coast Criminal Investigation Branch, said early yesterday police were questioning the witness.

''There appear to be signs of a struggle. Our examination has not yet commenced. We've only done a rudimentary examination of the premises,'' Inspector Swan said.

''It's too early to say what sort of damage has been done inside.

PlayStation Network back online: Sony say sorry with gifts

PlayStation Network Yesterday SCEE finally confirmed that PSN services have started coming back online in Europe after over three weeks of online gaming blackout on PS3.

It's been pretty inconvenient for single-system owners; big online games including Portal 2, Brink and Mortal Kombat haven't seen a single online PSN match until now - and Sony's set to say sorry with a number of online gifts and service bonuses.

In case you missed the previous announcement, to get back on PSN you'll need to download a mandatory system update and change your password. This can only be done on the same PS3 on which your account was originally activated.

On the same day Kazuo Hirai, Sony Corporation executive deputy president said that the firm had been working around the clock to get services online and talked up what is apparently one of the most significant changes to Sony's online security - a forced user password change.

Hirai added that Sony, with the help of some third parties, thankfully, had carried out an "an intensive investigation" into the firm's systems and had added encryption, firewalls and an early warning detection system. He added, "Greater protection for information is our top priority."

Here's what you can expect:

Each territory will be offering selected PlayStation entertainment content for free download. Specific details of this content will be announced in each region soon.

All existing PlayStation Network customers will be provided with 30 days free membership in the PlayStation Plus premium service. Current members of

PlayStation Plus will receive 30 days free service.

Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity subscribers (in countries where the service is available) will receive 30 days free service.

Sony has revealed that it will give US PlayStation Network subscribers $1 million-worth of identity insurance when the PSN down time ends - and that it is working hard to bring European customers "something similar.

Things to do while PlayStation Network is still down

Read War and Peace. Hopefully Sony will have PSN back up by the time you finish. C`mon, after 8 days down, do you really believe the promise of partial PSN restoration by next Tuesday?

Watch the Royal Wedding. Who else is up at that hour of the night?

Dig out dad's "Dungeons and Dragons" game. Hey, analog role playing is better than nothing.

Go to a 3D movie. While you've been playing non-stop for the last 3 years, there have been some amazing tech advances. Oh, yeah, ask your friends to explain what an iPhone is.

Become a day trader. The highs and lows can be as exciting as interactive game playing, except you make (or, gulp, lose) real money rather than spend it on virtual goods.

Check your email. Sony would like to explain how it lost all your personal information, including precious gamertag ID, password, birth date, security questions and much more. Ah, best check credit card activity, too.

Update your Match.com profile -- remove MAG, SOCOM 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Visit your mom. Her door is on the other side of the bathroom.

Change your passwords from "password" -- or "123456789." Hackers have it now.

Take a shower. You need it.

Australian dollar

Australian dollar (sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu. Within Australia it is almost always abbreviated with the dollar sign ($), with A$ sometimes used to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is subdivided into 100 cents.

The Australian dollar is currently the fifth-most-traded currency in the world foreign exchange markets behind the US dollar, the euro, the yen and the pound sterling. The Australian dollar is popular with currency traders, because of the comparatively high interest rates in Australia, the relative freedom of the foreign exchange market from government intervention, the general stability of Australia's economy and political system, and the prevailing view that the Australian dollar offers diversification benefits in a portfolio containing the major world currencies, especially because of its greater exposure to Asian economies and the commodities cycle. The currency is commonly referred to by foreign-exchange traders as the "Aussie.

Exchange rate policies

Australia maintained a fixed exchange rate between the Australian and British pounds, initially at par, and later at 0.8 GBP (16 shillings sterling). This reflected its historical ties as well as a view about the stability in value of the British pound. From 1946 to 1971, Australia maintained a peg under the Bretton Woods system, a fixed exchange rate system that pegged the U.S. dollar to gold, but the Australian dollar was effectively pegged to sterling until 1967.

With the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system in 1971, Australia converted the traditional peg to a fluctuating rate against the US dollar. In September 1974, Australia valued the dollar against a basket of currencies called the trade weighted index (TWI) in an effort to reduce the fluctuations associated with its tie to the US dollar. The daily TWI valuation was changed in November 1976 to a periodically adjusted valuation.

On 9 December 1983, the Australian Labor government led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Treasurer Paul Keating floated the Australian dollar, with the exchange rate reflecting the balance of payments and other market drivers.

Value of the Australian dollar

In 1966, when the Australian dollar was introduced, the international currency relationships were maintained under the Bretton Woods system, a fixed exchange rate system using a U.S. dollar standard. The Australian dollar, however, was effectively pegged to the British pound at an equivalent value of approximately 1 gram of gold.

On 8 December 1983, the Australian dollar was floated, allowing its value to fluctuate dependent on supply and demand on international money markets.

On 15 October 2010, the Australian dollar reached parity with the US dollar for the first time since becoming a freely traded currency, trading above US$1 for a few seconds. The currency then traded above parity for a sustained period of several days in November, and fluctuated around that mark into 2011. On the May 2nd, 2011 the Australian Dollar hit a record high since the floating of the dollar. It traded at a $1.1011 against the US Dollar. Some have even suggested the dollar could rise as high as $1.70US by 2014.

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Sony Playstation network going Australia

Sony Corp. began a limited and phased restoration of its PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment videogame services Saturday, bringing the company a step closer to normalcy following an attack on its systems that compromised personal information for more than 100 million user accounts last month.

The Japanese electronics giant said that following the release of a mandatory software upgrade for all PlayStation 3 videogame console units, it would begin bringing its PlayStation Network back online in the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East.

Australia is one of the first countries where the service is being restored, with users first required to update the firmware of their PS3 console and then change their account password.

Sony says the first phase of restored services includes:

Sign-in for PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, including the resetting of passwords

Restoration of online game-play across PS3 and PSP

Playback rental video content, if within rental period, of PlayStation Network Video Delivery Service on PS3, PSP and MediaGo

Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity, for current subscribers, on PS3 and PC

Friends category on PS3, including friends lists, chat functionality and trophies

PlayStation Home.

According to one EBG manager in Sydney PS3 users began looking for trade in deals on their Sony consoles "in earnest" 10 days ago.

"We have definitely seen a move away from the Sony network in recent weeks. Users are looking to trade in PS3 games and consoles".

A visit to e Bay Australia web site reveals more than 1,000 listings for Sony PS3 consoles.

According to a manager at a Happy Hocker shop in Sydney the Company has seen a 90% increase during the past two weeks from consumers looking to trade in a PS3 console for either cash or as a trade in for an Xbox 360.

Last night Sony moved to bring their PSN operation back online after being down since 17th of April.

According to Future Publishing consumers in the UK are trading in their PS3

Sony expects to have all services in all countries fully restored by the end of May.

It will be offering customers a “welcome back” package of services and premium content. Details of the program for Australian PlayStation users will be announced soon, but Sony has previously stated that it will include:

Selected PlayStation entertainment content for free download.

30 days free membership in the PlayStation Plus premium service (or 30 additional days for current members)

Music Unlimited subscribers will receive 30 days free service.

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