Media wrap - Another embarrassing loss for ASIC

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS

Immigration

The Philippines and New Zealand drawn into Tamil asylum-seeker deal – The Philippines and New Zealand have been drawn into the tortuous international solution to implement the special deal the Rudd government offered the 78 Tamil asylum-seekers rescued by the Oceanic Viking in October – The Australian

Tourists from cruise ship Pacific Sun descend on Christmas Island – The Australian

Ministers bring farce to the fore – Kevin Rudd's personal interventions have already made policy on boatpeople a convoluted, rather than just a complicated, matter. In deference to the summer silly season, two of his ministers also threw an element of farce into the mix as well – The Australian

Economic matters

Business split over company tax cuts – Industry groups have split over whether to lower personal income or company tax rates while Wayne Swan and Tony Abbott refused to commit to any lower tax policies as the government yesterday took delivery of the long-awaited Henry review – The Australian

Polls

Three rate rises hit voters hopes of better standard of living next year – Voters  have become more pessimistic about costs and job security in the first half of next year, in the wake of three monthly interest rate rises in a row – The Australian gives a Newspoll finding.

Pre selections

Michael Kroger calls time on senior Liberal shadows – A push to purge the ageing ranks of the state Liberal Party has gathered momentum, with party powerbroker Michael Kroger publicly calling on veteran frontbenchers to step down – The Australian

Political life

Xenophon back on track – Independent Senator Nick Xenophon is recovering in a Sydney hospital after four-hour spinal fusion surgery. Senator Xenophon, 50, who cemented his popularity with media-savvy stunts, has not lost his sense of humour. Despite the intense pain, he told of nurses remarking that another miracle had been performed after finding a spine in a politician – Adelaide Advertiser

Opinions

Three strikes prove regulator out of touch – says Jennifer Hewett in The Australian. Andrew Forrest's comprehensive victory in court yesterday makes three spectacular strikes against the corporate regulator in little more than a month.

Another debacle for ASIC as it fails to convict Andrew Forrest – Matthew Stevens in The Australian

ASIC by another name as it is left in ASIC(K) state – Terry McCrann writes in the Brisbane Courier Mail Oh dear! What more can one say than a couple of words like "incompetent" and "embarrassing" – supplemented with a couple of others like "thoroughly" and "devastatingly". Oh yes, and of course attaching them to the acronym ASIC – Australia's Simply Ineffective (corporate) Cop.

Ruling leaves Andrew Forrest out of the woods – Andrew Forrest reads his bible whenever there's a spare moment in his crowded life. He will be giving plenty of thanks to God today – Jennifer Hewett in The Australian

Don't look to Beijing for global leadership - The Copenhagen debacle has some enduring lessons about the shape today of global power. One is that the Chinese government, from every point of view, is an extremely unsatisfactory great power. If you are looking for global leadership in Beijing, you have come to the wrong address – Greg Sheridan in The Australian

BUSINESS

ASIC slammed in court loss against Fortescue Metals – The corporate regulator has suffered a third humiliating defeat, with the Federal Court yesterday dismissing its case against mining company Fortescue Metals Group and its chief executive, Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest – The Australian

Big four banks in $1.7bn NZ tax settlement – The nation's four major banks have reached an historic $NZ2.2 billion ($1.76bn) settlement with the New Zealand tax office over controversial structured finance transactions – The Australian

ENVIRONMENT

Sydney's double hit on pollution – Sydney’s air pollution is rising in what government scientists claim is a double-whammy effect of climate warming and the rising number of Sydney's cars – Sydney Daily Telegraph

1 billion litres of water saved – South Australians have saved more than one billion litres of water by switching to water saving showerheads. Water Security Minister Karlene Maywald said 28,000 people had installed water saving shower heads in the past two years – Adelaide Advertiser

MEDIA

Law is an ass to media defendants - win by The Australian in a defamation case brought against it by former Serbian paramilitary commander Dragan Vasiljkovic in the NSW Supreme Court is another pyrrhic victory for those relying on the notoriously difficult truth defence. It is the second notable case in recent times in which a media defendant has succeeded in this defence – The Australian

LIFE

The drink

Captive Carlton rookie and booze cruise shame – A teenage Carlton rookie was handcuffed or bound to another player and forced to down copious drinks in the Blues' booze-fuelled end-of-year celebrations – Melbourne Herald Sun

Law and order

DPP freezes bikie clubhouse - Police and prosecutors have made their first assault on WA's fledgling chapter of the Finks bikie gang and its highest profile member, former Coffin Cheater Troy Mercanti – The West Australian