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Obama turns to Hawaii after bleak year
3:13AM A WEARY Barack Obama hopes the restorative power of sleep and the sunshine of his native Hawaii will restore his wilting fortunes.
EXCLUSIVE Long, dusty drive to a barren paddock
SUE NEALES ON the vast Hay Plains, boss drover Bill Little has 1500 young cattle rounded up and ready to move.
Small Fries give big fish the flick
PAIGE TAYLOR ORGANISERS of a kids surfing competition are on high alert.
- Two bodies found after Vic copter crash
- 'Topless' protest falls flat in Brazil
- Police probing Vic body find
- Lockerbie services held in UK and US
- Swedish Christmas goat engulfed in flames
- Astronauts begin urgent space repairs
- Saudi Arabia reports death from new virus
- Cafe fire shuts UK theme park
- US military aircraft hit in South Sudan
- Attacks across Iraq leave 15 people dead
- Oil rises on improved US economic growth
- Facebook's secondary offering at $55.05
- US bank kicks in $790m to Roy Hill
- China to drive volatility in year ahead
- Luxon sets Air NZ on new course
- Price of champagne to go up
- Qantas inflating its crisis: Air NZ
- Our fate may be better than you think
- Walsh's iron clad view of the world
- Turner expands Spicers portfolio
Opinion
'The government's strengths are being overshadowed by unfair focus on its mistakes'
THE government's strengths are being overshadowed by unfair focus on its mistakes.
'Changes to the Fair Work Act will do little to help Australia's present problems'
CHANGES to the Fair Work Act will do little to help Australia's present problems.
'Some in the media enjoy portraying the Prime Minister as a fundamentalist'
SOME in the media enjoy portraying the Prime Minister as a fundamentalist.
'Many suggested improvements ignore some fundamental economic realities'
MANY suggested improvements ignore some fundamental economic realities.
'Political appointees attract flak but are par for the course'
POLITICAL appointees attract flak but are par for the course.
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Reforms we have to have
![Joe Hockey](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2013/12/20/1226787/759772-131221-joe-hockey.jpg)
Henry Ergas RESHAPING public spending must be at the heart of next year's agenda.
TOP FEATURES
Aussie's Chinese jail term slashed
![China flag](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2010/05/05/1225862/589272-china-flag.jpg)
AUSTRALIAN businesswoman Charlotte Chou could be freed next year from a Chinese jail after her eight-year embezzlement term was slashed.
Fighting worsens in South Sudan
![South Sudan slides into civil war](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2013/12/20/1226787/412402-af0f7668-6914-11e3-b1c2-12026a975936.jpg)
2:12AM FIGHTING escalated in South Sudan last night, with a top commander in an oil-producing region allegedly defecting to rebels.
Khodorkovsky starts a free man
![Russia Khodorkovsky](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2010/12/31/1225979/088441-russia-khodorkovsky.jpg)
7:56PM RUSSIA'S most famous prisoner, the Kremlin critic and former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, today began life as a free man.
Reforms we have to have
![Joe Hockey](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2013/12/20/1226787/759772-131221-joe-hockey.jpg)
Henry Ergas RESHAPING public spending must be at the heart of next year's agenda.
Taking hypocrisy to a new level
![Lobbecke](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2013/12/20/1226787/708814-131221-lobbecke.jpg)
PETER VAN ONSELEN POLITICAL appointees attract flak but are par for the course.
The entire economy is like Holden writ large. Wages and working conditions are too generous for these times."
Tony on If in a hole, best to stop digging
Men lost at sea found clinging to Esky
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://content5.video.news.com.au/NDM_CP_-_Sky_News/266/707/2426079558_promo211918031_100x75_2426079809-thumb.jpg)
Two men have been found grasping an Esky after spending the night in seas off the northern NSW coast.
1:35Abseiler dies in the Blue Mountains
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://content5.video.news.com.au/NDM_CP_-_Sky_News/266/653/2426024914_promo211877180_100x75_2426025756-thumb.jpg)
Police are working to retrieve the body of an abseiler who fell to his death in the Blue Mountains.
0:31Obesity linked to pregnancy deaths
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://content5.video.news.com.au/NDM_CP_-_Sky_News/266/658/2426029137_promo211880902_100x75_2426029429-thumb.jpg)
Rapidly rising obesity in Qld is leading to more deaths of pregnant women and an increase in birth defects.
0:38Govt defends approval of Palmer mine
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://content5.video.news.com.au/NDM_CP_-_Sky_News/266/654/2426025603_promo211877079_100x75_2426024916-thumb.jpg)
The government has jumped to defend its decision to approve Clive Palmer's Galilee Basin coal project.
2:132013 snapshots
A collection of The Australian's favourite pictures from an eventful year for the nation and the world.
EXCLUSIVE Qantas inflating its crisis: Air NZ
![Christopher Luxon Air New Zealand CEO](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2012/06/19/1226401/743427-christopher-luxon-air-new-zealand-ceo.jpg)
STEVE CREEDY AIR NZ chief executive Christopher Luxon has accused Qantas of orchestrating a crisis situation.
EXCLUSIVE Walsh's iron clad view of the world
![Rio Tinto chief executive Sam Walsh says many mining analysts had misunderstood the fundamentals of the iron ore market](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2013/12/20/1226787/751151-131221-b-sam-walsh.jpg)
ANDREW BURRELL AND PAUL GARVEY RIO Tinto boss Sam Walsh says the Chinese are now more relaint on iron ore imports as their supply dries up.
US bank kicks in $790m to Roy Hill
![Roy Hill project](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2012/08/31/1226462/738856-120901-roy-hill-project.jpg)
ANDREW BURRELL US Export-Import Bank has agreed to give $790m in loans for Gina Rinehart's Roy Hill iron ore project in the Pilbara.
Court ruling may cut building costs
![Robert Gottliebsen](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2012/11/14/1226516/616328-robert-gottliebsen.png)
ROBERT GOTTLIEBSEN THE Federal Court verdict has made cheaper infrastructure construction viable.
CSL sale a curious call by Telstra
![Stephen Bartholomeusz](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2012/12/07/1226516/612875-stephen-bartholomeusz.gif)
STEPHEN BARTHOLOMEUSZ THE Hong Kong mobile operator sold by Telstra could have provided it a platform for Asian expansion.
China to drive volatility in year ahead
![Terry McCrann](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2009/11/02/1225793/649919-terry-mccrann.gif)
TERRY McCRANN THE Aussie is likely to head lower after the Fed's tapering, but a surge in China's economy could halt that.
Dumping 'least of SPC's woes'
![SPC Ardmona](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2013/12/20/1226787/127989-spc-ardmona.jpg)
Joe Kelly THE plight of fruit processor SPC Ardmona is due to a number of factors, the government's top economic advisory body has found.
Aboriginal 'recidivists' to be managed
![Kevin Andrews with Katrina Douglas and her children](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2013/12/20/1226787/738839-131221-kevinandrewskatrinadouglas.jpg)
PATRICIA KARVELAS INDIGENOUS people in Cape York who refuse to address drug, alcohol and other problems will have 90 per cent of welfare payments managed.
Disability pension faces review
![One million to be on disability pension](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2013/09/01/1226708/590754-32264aaa-12e3-11e3-b6c0-49e0e4b36986.jpg)
WITH almost 5 per cent of people on the Disability Support Pension, the Abbott government is reportedly considering a shake-up.
Toyota needs to shape up or ship out
![Toyota needs to shape up or ship out](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2013/12/20/1226787/779014-395b3138-6963-11e3-8787-87be39998516.jpg)
JUDITH SLOAN SEE it from the point of view of the staff of the Productivity Commission.
No more delaying of the inevitable
![Adam Creighton](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2012/01/23/1226251/736254-adam-creighton.jpg)
Adam Creighton READING between the lines, the Productivity Commission's latest report says it is a miracle Australia still manufactures cars.
Reforms we have to have
![Joe Hockey](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2013/12/20/1226787/759772-131221-joe-hockey.jpg)
Henry Ergas RESHAPING public spending must be at the heart of next year's agenda.
LATEST
Two-Party-Preferred
- 52% ALP
- 48% Coalition
Australia on the road to world No 1
![Australia on the road to world No 1](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2013/12/20/1226787/831229-ade8f118-6975-11e3-8787-87be39998516.jpg)
Wayne Smith AUSTRALIA's aim to reclaim the world No 1 ranking will be two steps closer if it wins one of the remaining Ashes Tests.
Heart gift-wrap Victory derby win
![131221nichols](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2013/12/21/1226788/150667-131221nichols.jpg)
MOMENT of madness from Patrick Kisnorbo has handed Melbourne Victory an A-League derby win on a platter at AAMI Park.
Stablemates in Flemington win
![Chris Waller](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2013/10/29/1226749/289968-chris-waller.jpg)
THE Chris Waller stable pulled off a double at Flemington in Melbourne yesterday with Instrumentalist and Index Linked.
Celebrating Lehmann makes us feel good
![Gideon Haigh](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2013/07/20/1226682/344210-gideon-haigh-large-promo-thumb.jpg)
Gideon Haigh IS there an argument waiting to be made that Australian cricketers should only ever be coached by other Australians?
Fine young sportsman
![Simon King](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2010/05/19/1225868/784356-simon-king.gif)
A week at a time: Simon King HERE"s a Christmas tale to warm the cockles of any heart.
Forlorn Cook caught in limbo
![Gideon Haigh](http://web.archive.org./web/20131221224157im_/http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2010/09/03/1225913/669137-gideon-haigh.jpg)
Gideon Haigh THE relationship between batting and captaincy is a two-way street.
LETTERS AND READER COMMENT