This was published 11 years ago
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That's it for the morning blogs this week.
We're in for a busy day in the capital, with all the aftermath of the Commission of Audit report continuing.
Judith Ireland is blogging all things audit-related - you can follow her coverage here throughout the day.
Deputy Chief Minister and Treasurer Andrew Barr has said the commission of audit was designed to soften people up but predicts the federal budget will not be as bad as the audit suggests
"Locally we will do what we can to continue support the growth of the territory economy," he told ABC radio this morning.
"We will do what we can at the territory level to ensure that our community remains fair, equal and inclusive, which I think is the exact opposite of what is proposed in the audit."
Taking a look at the top stories on the site today, and you're all pretty much glued to the Commission of Audit stories and analysis pieces.
Canberra would wear the lion's share of pain based on recommendations from the National Commission of Audit, which suggests ruthless changes to the federal bureaucracy.
Tony Abbott has been handed the blueprint for a historic demolition job on the Australian Public Service and Canberra's economy.
Science students everywhere could soon be memorising the name of a new addition to the periodic table, when a super-heavy element co-created by Australian researchers is added to the chart.
The element was created in a German laboratory by a multinational team of physicists and chemists including Australian National University (ANU) researchers who lent their expertise and specialised equipment to the task.
Temporarily known as element 117 – after the number of protons in its nucleus – the new element's atoms match the heaviest ever observed and are 40 per cent heavier than lead.
One of the most popular songs ever, Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone, is going to auction.
Sotheby's is offering a working draft of the finished song in Dylan's own hand for an estimated $US1 million ($A1.08 million) to $US2 million ($A2.16 million).
The song is about a debutante who becomes a loner when she's cast from upper-class social circles.
The National Capital Authority will conduct two controlled burns this weekend.
The first will be in the south-west area of Stirling Park on Saturday from 10am. The walking trails around the burn area should be avoided between 10am and 5pm for the safety of pedestrians and firefighters.
The second will be west of the National Arboretum on Sunday from 9.30am. The cycle path around Lake Burley Griffin will be closed during the burns with cyclists to be diverted onto Lady Denman Drive.
Both burns will reduce fuel loads for fires, promote native grass growth, and reduce exotic weed species in the area.
The two founding partners of Fashfest, Andrea and Clint Hutchinson, stopped for a quick snap on the runway last night.
In addition to their Fashfest roles, Andrea is also the managing director of Haus Models while Clint is a founding partner of Zoo Advertising.
Entertainment reporter Jill Hogan was at Fashfest last night and has all the glamorous (yet chilly) details.
Chief Minister Katy Gallagher has said she supports the ACT Remuneration Tribunal's decision to hand Canberra politicians a pay hike of more than 7,500 a year from July.
"The majority of MLAs work really hard in the interest of their community and we get very good pay for that, but my own view is we work hard for that pay," she told ABC this morning.
"We have to remunerate people in these jobs appropriately if we want people to stand up and do these jobs."
Photographer Melissa Adams headed along to the Playground bar in Civic last night to get some social photos.
The bar was hosting its Winter White Party - check out the photo in the gallery below.
Ahhh, David Pope. He's got another gem to share with you this morning.