The turmoil in East Timor wears on with occasional spikes in violence, like the one experienced over the past week. Gang rivalry and old political allegiances fuel the fire as peacekeepers tiptoe around the volatile nation.

The new Fair Pay commission has been regarded with suspicion by unions . It replaced the old Industrial relations commission and has been seen by many as a tool for employers to limit wage increases. But its first wage decision today has been to raise the federal minimum wage by by 27.36 a week. The decision has dismayed employer groups who would have preferred a figure around 20 at the most. The Australian Hotels Association's Bill Healy says hotel owners prefer to link wage rises to productivity and described the decision as a blunt instrument. But ACTU Secretary Greg Combet says it’s given workers almost as much as the ACTU had been asking for .

Uni is supposed to be about your mates, the pub and the occasional textbook, but the growing phenomenom of student poverty is changing that. As living costs and uni costs sky-rocket uni students can be seen at work more and more often. But sometimes doing the hard hours isn't enough and thats when the desperate measures kick in.

Opponents of a gold mine in central New South Wales could have the drought on their side. A group of traditional owners from the Wiradjuri people in the area have fought the Canadian goldmining company Barricks for the past five years over the mine which they say threatens their traditional dreaming and desecrates the landscape. They’ve been joined by green groups but they haven’t had any wins and mining continues. Now the groundwater level in the area has dropped alarmingly and they say the mine, which takes over 7 thousand million litres a year, is to blame . Traditional owner Neville Williams says a protest will be held over the next few days.