PAQUITO (Jojo) OCHOA, Jr., Executive Secretary
Paquito “Jojo” Ochoa finished Law at the Ateneo de Manila University after he had obtained his degree in Economics from the University of Santo Tomas. Aside from being a former classmate, Jojo Ochoa has been the legal adviser of President Noynoy Aquino since 1988.

EDWIN LACIERDA, Presidential Spokesman
Edwin Lacierda holds a Law degree from Ateneo de Manila University and a Master’s degree in Management from the Asian Institute of Management. He was the Spokesperson of President Noynoy Aquino during the presidential elections. (more…)

Federal Labor candidate for Chifley, Ed Husic, welcomed Prime Minister Gillard’s announcement that the Federal Election will be held on August 21.

“Now people can have a choice between moving forward with the Gillard Government, or going back to the bad, old days of WorkChoices and cuts to services,” Mr Husic said.

Mr Husic said he was committed to the priorities of better healthcare, along with increased support for training and education. (more…)

It is a fact that the elections scheduled for May 2010 will be the first ever computerized elections nationwide. Many things can go wrong. School teachers who will operate the system are totally unfamiliar with it. There are more than 100,000 of them, the majority of whom have never operated or even seen a computer in their whole lives. The system needs 80,000 technicians, one for each cluster of precincts. Does the Philippines have 80,000 computer technicians? At the earliest, the machines will not be ready until this month. Does the country have enough trained technicians for the May elections? (more…)

Honourable Anthony Albanese, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government announced that plans for a second Sydney Airport at Badgerys Creek have been abandoned.

Mr Albanese released the Government’s much anticipated Aviation White Paper outlining the Government’s plans for the Aviation Industry.

“There has been a long struggle to achieve this outcome”, Federal MP Roger Price said. “Only Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party continue to advocate for an airport at Badgerys Creek.”

The Government will establish a joint taskforce to address additional airport capacity for Sydney, including any future airport sites.

“I have long advocated for the Badgerys Creek site to be used to establish a Technology, Education and Learning Corridor and hope that this will be fully explored.”

Federal Member for Chifley, Roger Price announced that recipients of the Carers Allowance, Youth Allowance and some who receive the Disability Support Pension will receive an increase to their payments.

From 1 January 2010, over 1.1 million Australians who receive Carer Allowance, Youth Allowance and Disability Support Pension (under 21 without children) will receive increases in their payments as a result of indexation. Some income and assets limits will also change. (more…)