By MAMAMIA TEAM
1. After completing the City 2 Surf this morning in Sydney, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott committed $15 million to an anti-drowning policy (to invest in surf clubs and rescue services) and $500,000 to rebuild the North Bondi Surf club. Mr. Abbott ran the race as a guide to visually impaired triathlete Nathan Johnston.
2. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has forced the resignations of two controversial Labor candidates before the upcoming election leadership debate tonight. Both Geoff Lake from the Victorian seat of Hotham and Queensland’s Ken Robertson have been forced to stand down.
3. Two 18-year-old girls have returned to London for treatment, after being attacked with acid in Zanzibar where they were volunteering for a charity. They suffered burns to their chest, neck and lower face. A radical Islamic preacher who is suspected of inspiring the assault has been arrested.
4. A volcano in Indonesia has erupted killing three adults and two children who were sleeping in a nearby village.
5. A man has been charged with murdering a work colleague in the toilets of the Gregory Hills McDonalds in southwest Sydney overnight. The 38 year old man followed the 30-year-old woman into the Restaurant’s bathroom where he assaulted her. Staff at the 24hour restaurant called an ambulance, however the woman died en route to the hospital.
6. Australians have been urged by the Federal Government to stop using slang at work. In a bid to make workplaces more migrant friendly, colloquialisms such as ‘strewth’ and ‘sickie’ may no longer be appropriate. The guide for appropriate language that was issued to work places encourages employees to “Keep in mind common Australian expressions may be misunderstood, for example, ‘bring a plate’, ‘this machine is cactus’ and ‘he really spat the dummy that time’.”
Top Comments
Why are we worrying about colloquialisms when the far more important issue of sexual harassment is still rife?
Hola! In my capacity as a Xero consultant I've dealt with hundreds of small businesses - where everyone was speaking non English and only spoke English when they needed to deal with me ... French, German, Asian and Eastern European languages ... It's never bothered me ... I'm a global worker based in Brisbane...it adds some variety to my day ... And streuth ...I would have to double check everything I said ...lah! To assess whether it was Australian slang...and what counts??.... Do I need to refer to the Macquarie dictionary to see if I can refer to my morning 'tucker' and on the other foot are people no longer allowed to say Guzentite ?? (Yeah no idea how to spell that ?) ... My single most difficult communication issue was my Glaswegian boss with a THICK accent who after telling me anything would slowly say - you have no idea what he said-do you??? No I had no idea what he said .... Is the next step ... Do we get rid of accents too??? What then would be the agreed accent in the Australian workplace?
Au Revoir
Moi. Xx