AFTER weeks of speculation, Mark Latham has resigned as leader of the opposition, and from politics in general, citing ill health as the reason. Former Labor leader Kim Beazley seems likely to be his replacement. Question marks over Mr Latham’s leadership of the Federal Labor party have been mounting since he did not make a statement on the Boxing Day tsunami disaster. It was later announced that he had been suffering from pancreatitis, the same complaint that laid him low last year.
Severe bushfires have burnt its way through thousands of hectares of bush land in Perth’s hills and southern suburbs and damaged several houses. Some of the blazes were believed to be deliberately lit. Firefighters’ jobs were made harder by the high temperatures and strong winds that hit Perth early in the week.
More signs of a looming skills shortage have emerged with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry revealing that it had failed to fill 40 apprenticeship positions.
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