Good morning.
It'll be warm and cloudy today with a possible late shower. Temperatures will top at 29 in the CBD, 35 in Parramatta and so high as 37 in Penrith.
Must send him a gift
The former NSW Premier, Barry O'Farrell, has found new employ about two-and-a-half years since he left the job in somewhat controversial circumstance.
BOF has been doing bits and pieces since leaving office, including a review of Australia's online gambling market. So praps it's not entirely a surprise that he's wound up in a related industry: a $350,000 a year post as the head of Racing Australia. Some people seem a bit throw, though.
"It's an interesting, and possibly confusing, appointment," Australian Trainers' Association chief executive Andrew Nicholl said.
AACTA Awards
They are billed as Sydney's answer to the Oscars. I'm sure Pyrmont's the Star is every bit as glam as the Kodak Theatre. But security seems a touch behind.
The group Women in Film and Television made Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) slightly confused by crashing the carpet dressed as sausages. They were pointing out a lack of female representation at the award show.
Last night was good news for Mel Gibson, who after a ten-year hiatus from directing films (and, relatedly, a shorter one from driving) swept the pool with awards for his locally-shot film Hacksaw Ridge. The $75-million production could be a contender for the real Oscars, too.
More problems than possums
Demand for hospital beds in Sydney's inner west is so strong that dying patients and those infected with multi-drug-resistant bacteria are forced to share rooms with other patients at Concord Hospital, which doctors say is dilapidated beyond repair.
Geriatric Medicine department head John Cullen said the buildings had recently endured water leaks, a ceiling collapse, toilet blockages, sewage overflows, floor subsidence, air conditioning breakdowns and possum invasions.
It was only last week the state government was stumping up $550 million for another Hospital at Nepean.
Don't stock up on canned hams
Australia's economy contracted by 0.5 per cent last quarter.
But while NSW has lost some of its momentum, our economics writer Matt Wade says it's running its own race.
NSW was the only state to register growth in business investment. It also topped the states for new housing investment, which surged by 25.1 per cent through the year.
More here.
The man and the vans
For weeks now four vans bearing photographs of a Sydney businessman emblazoned with false accusations that he is a "corporate thief" and a "fraudster" have been turning up outside an office block in Bligh Street.
