Following Australia’s defeat on the two most recent Ashes tour, Cricket Australia (CA) has announced plans to replace the iconic Kookaburra balls with England’s Dukes ball in domestic cricket to better prepare players for next year’s Ashes tour.

Larger businesses have hit out against the federal government’s changes in tax laws which switch corporate tax payments from quarterly to monthly instalments. Several industry leaders feel this is another blow to Australia’s manufacturing industry which is already facing severe problems.

High Aussie dollar, rising overseas competition and global economic crisis are held responsible for 125,000 local manufacturers losing their jobs over the past four years.

A report released recently has stated that the high Aussie dollar is to be blamed for the decline in Victoria’s economic growth, and the manufacturing and construction industry in the state will continue to be faced with challenges until next year.

‘Australian manufacturing industry was suffering,’ David Ferguson general manager of Victoria’s largest privately owned steel distributor Surdex Steel said.