Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has fallen on his sword today, after admitting to accepting yet more “gifts”, this time from his brother’s firm. It’s the first big politica; scalp claimed by the opposition since the Rudd government has been in power. Meanwhile the Rudd government's CPRS scheme has passed through the lower house, but is yet to face a hostile Senate. Featured in story: Political Correspondent for Crikey, Bernard Keane.

Former Telstra CEO, Sol Trujillo recently called Australia a backwards and racist country. This week saw protests in Melbourne because of attacks targeting Indian students. If you combine this with our country's poor record on race tolerance, is there some truth to his remarks? The Wire went to the streets to ask people if they had experienced racism in their lives.

Us car giant, General Motors has put the brakes on, filing for bankruptcy this week. The government now has a 60 per-cent stake in the company, and with Obama pushing for lower emissions from cars, it's the perfect opportunity for GM to embrace a greener philosophy. But with Americans reputation for the their love affair with gas-guzzling vehicles, is there a market for clean-greener cars? The Wire asked publisher of the GoAuto website, whether Obama will use his position to force GM to prodcue an electric car.

So if GM does go down the route of an electric vehicle, will this force other major car manufacturers to follow suit? The Wire put this question to Nick King from the South Australia Electric Vehicle Association.

It’s being hailed as the biggest shakeup of indigenous land rights since Mabo. Victoria will become the first state to deal with land claims out of court... and outside the federal system. The announcement came as Aboriginal leaders from across the country meet in Melbourne for the tenth annual Native Title Conference. Co-chair of the land Justice Group Graeme Atkinson explained why the state based system will work better.

The new claim system in Victoria will apply to water as well as land… and that includes the water in the heavily used Murray Darling Basin. This means indigenous groups around the Murray Darling River may now be able to claim water allocations in the River. Executive Officer of the Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nation, Steven Ross says groups along the Murray want the right to have a say in how water in the Murray is managed.

After the death of a cyclist in America three years ago, the idea of riding in silence to commemorate those who have been killed in road cycling accidents, was created. This message has spread around the world, with over three hundred Ride of Silence ceremonies being held to remember the fallen, and to spread road safety awareness. With an average of thirty-five cyclists being killed and another two-thousand five-hundred being injured in every year, the message of the ride is particularly important here in Australia, and this year, the event was hosted by cities and towns across Australia.