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In what's seen by many as a last ditch bid to hold on to office, NSW premier Morris Iemma has sacked his treasurer, Michael Costa, and is reportedly preparing to make other changes to the government's line-up. This comes amid growing speculation that the ALP is preparing to jettison Mr Iemma himself in favour of Nathan Rees, with Carmel Tebutt as his deputy. Adding to the government's woes is news that this week's National Accounts show that NSW was the only state or territory to record negative growth in the June quarter.

The road map for Australia's plans to cut carbon emissions over coming decades should be clearer today with the release of a 'Targets and Trajectories' report by the government's climate change review chief, Professor Ross Garnaut. Speculation has been rife for days that Professor Garnaut is about to deliver the government a 'soft' short-term carbon target for 2020. After the Senate yesterday blocked an increase in the luxury car tax, questions are being asked about the prospects for an effective emissions trading scheme ever becoming law. One of those who will be very much at the negotiating table is Greens climate change spokesperson, Senator Christine Milne.

Power sharing talks between the party of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change have all but collapsed. President Mugabe has threatened to form government alone if the opposition refused to sign a power sharing agreement today. But the MDC has rejected the ultimatum, saying it will not be 'bullied' into signing a deal.

The former federal sex discrimination commissioner and Queensland governor Quentin Bryce will make history today, when she is sworn in as Australia's first female governor-general. The Australian Republican Movement is hoping she will be the last to hold the post.

The news was dominated this week by the first cut in official interest rates in seven years. It was greeted warmly, not the least by the Rudd government, because it would put around $40 a month back into the pockets of struggling Australians with an average-sized mortgage. But it was also bad news, as the Federal Opposition was keen to point out, because it signified the economy was slowing and that unemployment would eventually rise. The economic good times saw Australia's jobless rate fall to generational lows. But economists agree it will soon start ticking up again as the slowdown starts to bite into company profits. But how high will unemployment go during this downturn? Could it reach the heights of the 1990s recession when the proportion of jobless hit eleven per cent, and what will that do to consumer confidence?

The Rudd government learned a pretty tough lesson this week: if it doesn't get better at negotiating with the independents or minor parties, or throw up legislation that the opposition will support, it will have continued trouble in the Senate. Michelle Grattan comments from Parliament House.

Social entrepreneur Andrew Mawson Andrew Mawson made such a mark with his social entrepreneurship that he was made a Lord by the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Stuff white people like Writer Christian Lander has been cataloguing the things white people like for a newly published book. Teaching empathy Despite the best efforts of animal welfare groups there´s still a long way to go in eliminating neglect and cruelty. Blogdaddy episode 3 We catch up with blogdaddy on his quest for a partner and a baby.

One day after the Liberals in Western Australia recycled Colin Barnett as their fourth leader in four years, Labor premier Alan Carpenter called one of the earliest elections in Western Australia's history. Voters decide on Saturday whether to return State Labor for a historic third term, or to deliver the first chink in the wall-to-wall federal, state and territory Labor governments that currently rule Australia.

Yesterday we got the latest snapshot of how the Australian economy is travelling, and it's not travelling very well. The National Accounts for the June quarter revealed an economy that's still expanding, but just barely. GDP grew by a modest 0.3 per cent between April and June, that's 2.7 per cent over the year, the slowest pace in nearly four years. It validated the Reserve Bank's decision to cut interest rates on Tuesday and supports the case for further rate cuts. But it also raises the spectre of higher unemployment.

Voters in the South Australian seat of Mayo and in the New South Wales seat of Lyne will go back to the polls this week to replace two more former Howard government ministers; Alexander Downer and the former Nationals leader Mark Vaile. Labor is not standing candidates in either seat, despite a good showing in last year's federal election.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's shock resignation this week comes less than a year after coming to power. Since 1998, three prime ministers have stepped down within their first year in office.

The government's luxury car tax bill appeared to clear its first hurdle in the Senate last night, thanks to one Liberal senator failing to turn up for the vote. But the Senate will run the vote again, and it looks as though Family First independent Steven Fielding will vote against the bill.

Eddin Khoo Southeast Asia correspondent Eddin Khoo talks about the latest episode in the Anwar Ibrahim saga, with Anwar now elected to parliament in the midst of another scandal over allegations against him of sodomy and sexual assault. Eddin also talks about the growing political volatility in Thailand and former PM Thaksin's refusal to stay in Thailand to face charges. George Orwell and Evelyn Waugh You´d be hard pressed to find two authors whose ambitions, lives and subject matter seem more different than Evelyn Waugh and George Orwell. But author David Lebedoff argues that Evelyn Waugh, the eccentric party-loving social climber famed for his biting wit, and George Orwell, a dour socialist, were in many ways `the same man´. Architect of Poland's 'Shock Therapy' A conversation with Poland's former finance minister and central banker, who was the architect of the 'shock therapy' that transformed Poland's economy from communist command to open market. He also talks about concerns in Europe over Russia's invasion of Georgia.

The first deal in the new Senate is close, with the Government offering a compromise to the Greens over the 500 million dollar luxury car tax. But there is no deal without the support of Family First Senator Steve Fielding. He wants greater exemptions, particularly for small business.

A rate cut and a late night deal aimed at getting the luxury car tax through the Senate, yesterday was a pretty good day for the government. News might be different today when the health of the economy is revealed with the release of GDP data otherwise called "the National Accounts".

Fifty textiles workers are in the national capital this morning to lobby the government for more industry support. Earlier this year, the Federal government appointed Professor Roy Green to conduct a review of the sector, similar to the recent Bracks inquiry into the car industry. That review has been handed to the government but not yet released. The Australian textiles industry employs more than 48,000 people. But over the last decade, it has halved in size. Now, the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia says it needs urgent assistance in order to survive.

After our fifth driest winter in 115 years, the crisis in the lower Murray Darling Basin is now officially the worst since records began in 1892. Quite apart from precious drinking water and $5 billion worth of agricultural production on the line, the future of the lower lakes and the Coorong has now come down to eight options, and none of them are very pretty.

It was widely anticipated, but it was welcome news nonetheless. Yesterday, the Reserve Bank cut official interest rates for the first time in seven years and the major lenders didn't wait for another lecture from the Rudd Government. Within minutes of the RBA announcement, all the Big Four banks pledged to pass on the 25 basis point cut to their mortgage holders. But while the rate cut is good news for households, it's also a signal the Reserve Bank is worried about the slowdown in the economy. Just how deep the downturn, we'll find out today when the Bureau of Statistics releases its latest report card on the health of the Australian economy.

Bruce Shapiro This week Bruce discusses Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin, John McCain's vice-presidential selection, and Hurricane Gustav and its effect on this week's GOP convention. Seeds of Climate Change A discussion about the importance of gathering the oldest and hardiest crop seeds in order to ensure the resilience of essential food crops and thus food security during climate change. Abu Ghraib: The Stain on America The photographs taken at Abu Ghraib are well documented but did they reveal the greater story of what was happening in the fight against terrorism? Were those implicated in the photographs just following operating standard procedure?

Into Africa

This afternoon the Reserve Bank will announce an interest rate cut, the first rate cut in seven years. Yesterday the Opposition leader Brendan Nelson found himself in the middle of some trouble with his call for the RBA to cut by a half a per cent, a move some claim undermined the independence of the bank. The bank is expected to cut rates by one quarter of a per cent.

Russian strongman Valdimir Putin has reportedly saved a TV crew from the jaws of a tiger by shooting it with a tranquilliser gun. Now the Russian leader has set his sights on Canberra, warning Australia not to renege on a deal to sell Russia uranium. This comes after our Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, said Canberra would take Russia's aggression in Georgia into account before signing off on the billion-dollar deal. Now, the Member for Wills and chair of the federal parliament's treaties committee Kelvin Thompson says Valdimir Putin can't be trusted with Australia's uranium.

Got a spare 3.5 billion dollars? If so, you could pick up the NSW Riverina town of Coleambally, and its generous water supply. The head of the Coleambally Irrigation Area is offering up the town, because he says he doesn't want to see it die a slow, lingering death, and he says Coleambally has already sold off five per cent of its water.

It's been nearly seven years since the Reserve Bank last cut official interest rates. But with the economy slowing, the RBA is now poised to end a run of 12 successive rate rises and reduce the cash rate by 25 basis points. That'll provide immediate relief for households, businesses and, possibly, even the sharemarket if the banks decide to pass on the rate cut in full.

There is some good news for the government expected this week, the Reserve Bank seems certain to cut interets rates for the first time in seven years. Treasurer Wayne Swan will be pretty happy about that, especially as the opposition limbers up for another question time attack on the government's economic management and the slow-down we're experiencing. Michelle Grattan is in Canberra ready for another fiery week in the parliament.

The response to climate change has focused largely on what we can do to reduce the production of emissions. But leading environmentalist Dr Tim Flannery reminds us that we should not lose sight of the tree fix. Farms and forests could become `enormous engines of planetary cleansing´. Join us for an update on the science of climate change and some solutions based on the force of nature.

In 1971 the South African Springboks rugby team toured Australia amid controversy and chaos. Anti-apartheid demonstrators attempted to disrupt the games because the team had been selected on racial grounds. Protesters clashed violently with police and Premier Joh Bjelke Petersen declared a state of emergency in Queensland, where police charged at and beat up demonstrators. They also had creative forms of protest; like having Aboriginal people wear the 'sacred' Springboks jersey, and getting a mixed race couple (Zimbabwean and white Australian) to stay in the same hotel as the Springboks to draw attention to the fact that their marriage would be illegal in South Africa. The Aboriginal protesters also raised the nation's awareness of racism in Australia. The event ushered in a more militant form of protest in Australia and it kicked off our sports boycott with South Africa -- the Springboks did not return for 22 years.

It's rare that we report on the departure of a company's public relations chief. But Phil Burgess, Telstra's feisty head of public policy and communication, was always hard to ignore. When he arrived from the United States soon after fellow American Sol Trujillo won the top job at Telstra in 2005, he was dubbed one of Sol's Three Amigos. His persistent attacks on the corporate regulator, the ACCC, made him a thorn in the side of politicians, in particular the Howard government. But now Phil Burgess has decided to call it a day. He's returning to the US after spending three turbulent years at Telstra.

Getup is launching a new website to put the public in touch with Senators, after a survey found four out of ten adults were confused about what the Senate does.

The Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has signalled he's moving on with the Education Revolution, unveiling the plans in his National Press Club address yesterday. But the ideas to improve the quality of teaching, publicise school performance and address the problems in disadvantaged schools had a familiar ring.