NSW MP Tony Stewart, sacked as Science Minister last week for allegedly behaving inappropriately towards a female member of his staff, has sent an email to all colleagues inviting them to read a letter to the Herald by Sydney QC Brian Toomey which rubbishes the inquiry into the incident conducted by Chris Ronalds SC. Because the email has been sent from Stewart’s taxpayer-funded email service it carries the standard government confidentiality proviso: “This message is intended for the addressee named and may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete and notify the sender. Views expresses (sic) in this message are those of the individual sender, and not necessarily the views of the NSW Government.” Indeed!

The staff retrenchments at HP-EDS are going well this week. The sword was cut through the Burwood campus on Monday with several hundred staff retrenched. In typical EDS style, staff were called in given their marching orders and that was it. In one case, a retrenched staff member punched his manager’s lights out before police were called and he was arrested.

There are many reports in the United States that Andrew Liveris, an Australian who is running the US company Dow Chemical is being considered for the Secretary of Energy in President Obama’s Cabinet. Is it true?