NSW Police Attestation Ceremony - Goulburn

Approximately 500 new police officers will march out at an Attestation ceremony at the New South Wales Police Academy in Goulburn this morning.

Date: Friday, December 16, 2011
Time: 08:00
Website: http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/
Helicopters must be on the ground at the NSW Police Academy by 8:30am and land on the oval adjacent to the parade ground. Pilots need to be aware of wires in the area and land between 8:00am and 8:30am.

Journalists must contact Sergeant Craig Bishop by 4:00pm on Thursday afternoon to confirm arrangements on 02 4828 8576 or 0400 381 540.

All journalists and media crews must attend a briefing at the media area at the eastern end of the main stage alongside the parade ground. Journalists will be provided with media packages as well as details of the ceremony's program. Media attending the ceremony must attend the briefing.

---

Breakfast with James Packer - Perth

Australia's best known billionaire will talk about his vision for Crown Limited, its role in reviving Australia's tourism sector and the $2 billion investment in refreshing the business at this breakfast in Perth today.

Venue:
Burswood Entertainment Complex, Great Eastern Highway, Burswood
Date: Friday, December 16, 2011
Time: 07:00 to 09:00
Website: events.thewest.com.au
James Packer is the head of Australia's leading gaming group, Crown Limited. His Consolidated Press Holdings is the 43 per cent shareholder of Crown Ltd, the company behind Burswood and Melbourne's iconic Crown Entertainment Complex; as well as casino assets in Macau and Great Britain.

Packer will be talking about his vision for Crown Limited, its role in reviving Australian tourism and the $2 billion investment in refreshing and expanding the Burswood and Crown business at this breakfast in Perth today.

Who's coming:
James Packer

---

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's 'Recorders' opens - Sydney

The Museum of Contemporary Art presents Australia's first solo exhibition by one of the worlds favourite interactive artists, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, as part of the Sydney International Art Series.

Venue:
Museum of Contemporary Art Limited, 140 George Street, The Rocks
Date: Friday, December 16, 2011 to Sunday, February 12, 2012
Website: http://www.mca.com.au/
The exhibition, titled Recorders, will feature 13 recent artworks including 3 which have been made exclusively for the Sydney show by Lozano-Hemmer. He is world renown for using robotics, real time graphics, motion capture, film projections, positional sounds LED screens and a range of other devices. His highly interactive and complex digital artworks have attracted acclaim all across the globe. The exhibition at the MCA will be no exception.

In keeping with the title of the exhibition, guests will be encouraged to leave traces of themselves through out the show. This could be anything from recordings of their voices or questions they have long wanted answers. These are in fact necessary for the exhibition to take full form.

---

Bradley Manning pre-trial begins - USA

The pre-trial of United States Army soldier and suspected WikiLeaks contributor Bradley Manning will begin in Maryland in the United States of America today, with 50 witnesses expected to take part in the hearing.

Venue:
Fort G. Meade, 4409 Llewellyn Avenue, Maryland, 20755
Date: Friday, December 16, 2011
Website: http://www.ftmeade.army.mil/
24-year old Bradley Manning was arrested in Iraq in May 2010 on suspicion that he was the source of the huge database of US embassy cables that was passed without permission to WikiLeaks. Manning has subsequently spent the last 18 months in confinement, much of it in the early stages in conditions that some say were tantamount to torture.

WikiLeaks has never confirmed whether Manning was the source of the classified material which later went on to be released during Cablegate, however the whistle-blowing website will call 50 witnesses to today's military hearing which will transform the case into a detailed legal battle over the merits of the prosecution against Manning.

This case has generated much support from the wider community, with Manning sympathisers donating $130,000 to his legal fees. Some of the witnesses expected to take part in the hearing range from whistle-blowing experts to IT specialists who will comment on Manning's access to intelligence databases. Manning's defence is being led by civilian lawyer, David Coombs, who has avoided contact with the media ahead of the start of the military process.

Overall, Manning is accused of 16 counts of wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the internet knowing that it is accessible to the enemy; five counts of theft of public property or records; eight of transmitting defence information; two of fraud in connection with computers and five of violating army information security. If convicted of all charges, Manning faces a maximum sentence of confinement for life.

Who's coming:
David Coombs

---

Spicks and Specks tour - Adelaide

The ABC's hugely popular music quiz show 'Spicks and Specks' has unfortunately called it a day and will take its charismatic hosts and hilarious behaviour across the country this month for a farewell tour.

Venue:
Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Corner Port Road and Adam Street, Hindmarsh
Date: Friday, December 16, 2011 to Saturday, December 17, 2011
Website: http://www.thefinale.com.au/
2011 is the year that will see the end of a television institution - a music quiz show that attracts an average weekly audience of 1.35 million viewers and has been among ABC1's top ten programs, based on a series of averages, each year from 2006-2010.

Hosted by Adam Hills and starring Myf Warhurst and Alan Brough, Spicks and Specks bought the whole family back around the TV to play and laugh along with a show that never looked down on its audience. After seven years, 277 episodes and more than 150 guests, the cast decided they wanted the show to go out on a high and recorded a special finale episode that will go to air on November 23, bringing one of Australia's iconic television institutions to an end.

Now, in homage to Whispering Jack himself, they are heading out on the road to say goodbye for the first time (and actually the last time). Spicks and Speck-tacular - The Finale is a brand new production, loosely based on a certain music trivia show, putting Adam, Alan and Myf on stage together with surprises, laughs, memories, live music and appalling choreography.

The tour will visit the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney from Tuesday, November 15 through Friday, November 18; Newcastle Entertainment Centre from Thursday, November 24 through Friday, November 25; Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from Monday, November 28 through Wednesday, November 30; the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday, December 3; WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong on Thursday, December 8; National Convention Centre in Canberra from Saturday, December 10 through Sunday, December 11; Adelaide Entertainment Centre from Friday, December 16 through Saturday, December 17; Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre from Wednesday, January 4 through Saturday, January 7 and Melbourne Convention Centre from Thursday, January 12 through Friday, January 13.

Who's coming:
Adam Hills, Myf Warhurst and Alan Brough

---

Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History

This $100,000 annual prize is awarded to a work that makes a significant contribution to the understanding of Australian history.

Date: Friday, December 16, 2011 TBC
Website: www.deewr.gov.au/australianhistoryprize
The Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History is for any work first published, produced or broadcast between July 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010. It includes published books, documentary films, documentaries for radio or television, CD-ROMs, DVDs and other forms of multimedia.

The Prize will be awarded to an individual or a group for an outstanding publication or body of work that contributes significantly to an understanding of Australian history. The winner will receive an embossed gold medallion and a tax free grant of $80,000. Up to a maximum of four short listed runners-up will receive tax free grants of $5,000 each.

The Expo of Chinese Tea - Sydney

Chinese tea growers direct from China will participate in The Expo of Chinese Tea, a completely free event which begins at the Sydney Convention Centre today.

Venue:
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Drive, Darling Harbour
Date: Friday, December 16, 2011 to Sunday, December 18, 2011
Website: http://www.chinateaexpo.com.au/
The Expo of Chinese Tea is an official event in the Year of Chinese Culture in Australia, initiated by the Chinese government from June this year, and is one of the largest tea-themed events ever held in Australia.

China is the homeland of tea. The culture and art of tea drinking is an important essence of Chinese culture. For over 5,000 years, tea drinking has been valued by Chinese people as a herbal and social beverage as well as being a necessary part of daily life. Today, of the three major beverages in the world - tea, coffee and cocoa - tea is consumed by the largest number of people in the world.

Through its theme of 'ecology, harmony and sustainability', the expo will demonstrate the significance of tea in Chinese culture and the role tea plays in connecting the East with the West. Products exhibited at the Expo will include many different types of tea, tea wares and other derivatives.

Tea tasting will allow visitors to experience the feeling of relaxation created by drinking quality teas. There will also be special gala tea ceremony performances that demonstrate the art of tea making, with over 40 performers direct from the Fujian Tea Culture Arts Company; and seminars held throughout the weekend allowing visitors to appreciate and understand the value of tea, including its health benefits.

QLD Police Schoolies launch road safety campaign - Gold Coast

The Queensland Police Service will hold a media briefing on the Gold Coast this morning to launch its state-wide Christmas road safety campaign.

Venue:
Gold Coast Water Police, Seaworld Drive, Main Beach
Date: Thursday, December 15, 2011
Time: 09:00
Website: http://www.police.qld.gov.au/
Police in the South Eastern Police Region, along with officers throughout the State, are patrolling Queensland roads and waterways this festive season trying to ensure that all motorists arrive safely at their destinations.

Police throughout the region will be monitoring driver behaviour with Gold Coast Police having impounded over 2,500 vehicles under the anti-hooning legislation between December 2007 and November 2011. Of these, more than 300 vehicles were seized due to drivers performing burnouts, doughnuts or street racing.

Pedestrians should also consider their own safety and remember that at this time of year, road networks within the region experience higher than usual traffic movements. The state-wide road safety campaign will run from December 7 through January 27, 2012.

Acting Inspector Karen Shaw will be available for comment this morning. Vision opportunities with the police helicopter, a traffic car, motorbike and police vessels will also be available. Click here for the full media release.

---

'Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol' movie release

The fourth feature of the cinematic franchise adapted from the 1960s television series sees Tom Cruise return as Ethan Hunt, the American operative who carries out top-secret, deniable operations for the US government.

Date: Thursday, December 15, 2011
Directed by Brad Bird

Starring Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton

The Impossible Mission Force is shut down when it is implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his new team to go rogue and clear their organisation's name.

Watch Video :

http://youtu.be/ZhhxeJaoNCo

---

'The Descendants' opens Moonlight Cinema - Melbourne

'The Descendants' will open the season of the Moonlight Cinema today in Perth. The film is already a front-runner for a number of Oscar nominations.

Venue:
Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne/Cranbourne, Private Bag 2000, Birdwood Avenue, South Yarra
Date: Thursday, December 15, 2011
Website: http://www.moonlight.com.au/
Directed by Alexander Payne

Starring George Clooney, Beau Bridges, Judy Greer, Robert Forster

The Descendants is a sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant journey for Matt King (George Clooney), an indifferent husband and father of two teenage girls, who is forced to re-examine his past and embrace his future when his wife suffers a boating accident off of Waikiki. The event leads to a rapprochement with his daughters while Matt wrestles with a decision to sell the family's land handed down from Hawaiian royalty.

The Descendants will open the season of the Moonlight Cinema in Melbourne. The Moonlight Cinema will run from the 15th of December to the 17th of February. For the full program please check the website.

---

'Melancholia' movie release

This brand new film from controversial director Lars von Trier surrounds two sisters who find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide into the Earth.

Date: Thursday, December 15, 2011
Directed by Lars von Trier

Starring Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alexander Skarsgard and Kiefer Sutherland

Melancholia is an apocalyptic drama that revolves around two sisters during and shortly after the wedding party of one of them, while Earth is about to collide with an approaching rogue planet.

---

Opeth tour - Brisbane

Swedish heavy metal pioneers Opeth will return to sunny Australia this month for a national tour in support of the release of their tenth studio album, 'Heritage'.

Venue:
The Tivoli, 52 Costin Street, Fortitude Valley Bc
Date: Thursday, December 15, 2011
Website: http://www.opeth.com/
With more than 20 years and 10 albums under their collective belt, Opeth's legion of fans has grown as much as their kaleidoscopic sound has broadened. Since forming back in 1990 in Stockholm, Opeth have established themselves as pioneers of the progressive death metal/rock genre, blending folk, blues, jazz and metal influences with dynamic growling and clean vocals.

Throughout their career, Opeth have sold out concerts around the world and toured with the likes of Cradle of Filth, Megadeth and Baroness and now, the band has just released their highly-anticipated tenth studio album, Heritage, their first studio album in three years. Produced by Jens Bogren (Katatonia, Soilwork), Heritage takes a step back from Opeth's traditional style by removing all death growls from the songs - making it reminiscent of their seventh album, Damnation.

For the first time in two years, Opeth will return to Australia this month for a brief national tour - a perfect Christmas present for fans. The band will perform at The Tivoli in Brisbane on Thursday, December 15; The Enmore in Sydney on Friday, December 16; The Palace in Melbourne on Sunday, December 18 and Metropolis in Perth on Tuesday, December 20.

Click here for the full media release.

'Of Flesh' exhibition opens - Sydney

Renowned artist Eugene D'Souza new exhibition 'Of Flesh' opens in Sydney today. The exhibition is a selection of quirky compositions of psychic landscapes with curious intensity. A space where embryonic fish collide with ominous beetles.

Venue:
Gaffa Gallery, 281 Clarence Street, Sydney
Date: Thursday, December 15, 2011 to Thursday, December 22, 2011
Website: http://www.gaffa.com.au/
Informed by the convergence of his parallel careers in medicine, psychiatry and art, his work echoes of medical illustration and straight-up surrealism to create an absurd and thoroughly compelling theatre of pathos and strange beauty.

Of Flesh will be showing at Gaffa Gallery from December 15th - 22.

---

Grand Theft Auto III 10 Year Anniversary edition released

Grand Theft Auto III will be releasing its 10 Year Anniversary Edition and will be available for select new generation iOS and Android devices on the App Store and Android Marketplace today.

Date: Thursday, December 15, 2011
Website: http://www.rockstargames.com/
The game will retail for US$4.99 and will be available on iPad 1 & 2, iPhone 4 & 4S, iPod touch 4th Generation and a wide range of Android Phones and Android Tablets.

---

Bomb hoax accused faces court - Sydney

The man accused of strapping a fake bomb to the neck of Sydney teenager Madeleine Pulver in Mosman on August 3 will face Central Local Court today as the case continues.

Venue:
Sydney Central Local Court, 98 Liverpool Street, Sydney
Date: Thursday, December 15, 2011
51-year-old Paul Douglas Peters (pictured) is charged with breaking into the family home of Sydney teenager Madeleine Pulver in Mosman on August 3 and attaching a 'bomb-like' device around her neck. The father-of-three had no direct links to the Pulver family, despite living in a home nearby their Central Coast holiday house, and was arrested in Kentucky in the United States over ten days after the 18-year old's 10-hour ordeal.

He was extradited to Australia and faced Central Local Court in Sydney on Thursday, November 11 where he was formally refused bail. All evidence served by Peters' counsel will be served by December 12 and the matter will return to court today.

Giddy & Crittenden Solicitors act as Peters' lawyers.

'The Women on the 6th Floor' movie release

A French comedy set in 1960s Paris as a conservative, upper-middle class household is rocked by the arrival of a Spanish housemaid.

Date: Thursday, December 15, 2011
Directed by Philippe Le Guay

Starring Fabrice Luchini, Sandrine Kiberlain, Carmen Maura

This French comedy surrounds an upper-middle class household who is rocked when the family's maid abandons them, forcing new resident Maria (Natalia Verbeke) (young, hardworking and - quelle horreur - Spanish!) to move in.

Remarkably, it doesn't take long for the building to become enchanted by the new arrival.

---

Formula SAE electric car championship - Melbourne

Formula SAE electric car championship - Melbourne

The Society of Automotive Engineers Australasia will host the world championship 'formula one' for alternative energy-fuelled cars beginning in Melbourne today, with teams from all over Australia the world entering racers powered by electricity, ethanol and solar energy.

Venue:
Victoria University Footscray Park, Ballarat Road, Footscray
Date: Thursday, December 15, 2011 to Sunday, December 18, 2011
Website: www.saea.com.au/formula-sae-a
Formula-SAE is the world's biggest engineering competition, formatted to allow students to design and compete on the international stage with a Formula 1-style car built from scratch. The Formula SAE Championships offer engineering students all over the world the chance to design, manufacture and race an open-wheel race car. The team is run and managed by students, with two academic supervisors.

As in 2010, entries will be accepted for vehicles in the following categories: PULP fuel (RON 98), Ethanol E85 fuel and electrical vehicles.

69th Golden Globe nominations announced - Music News Australia

The nominations for the second biggest Hollywood awards ceremony will be announced today.

Venue:
USA, ,
Date: Thursday, December 15, 2011
Website: http://www.goldenglobes.org/
The Golden Globe Awards recognize both domestic and foreign achievement in the entertainment industry, focusing attention on the best motion pictures and television shows in the world.

Hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, these annual awards have been won by actors such as Tom Hanks, Jack Nicholson, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Leonard DiCaprio, Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Sharon Stone, Hilary Swank, Jim Carrey, Denzel Washington, Nicholas Cage, Al Pacino and Nick Nolte among a string of others.

Some of the feature films tipped to pick up some nominations this year include The Descendants, War Horse, Moneyball, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and J. Edgar. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gary Oldman, Meryl Streep, Michelle Williams, Tilda Swinton, Kirsten Dunst and Rooney Mara are also tipped to receive nominations.

'J. Edgar' movie release - Music News Australia

'J. Edgar' movie release

Clint Eastwood's biopic of the polarising and secretive figure who headed up America's FBI for almost 50 years, played by Leonardo Di Caprio.

Date: Thursday, January 19, 2012
Website: http://www.village.com.au/
Directed by Clint Eastwood

Starring Leonardo di Caprio, Naomi Watts, Josh Lucas

As the face of law enforcement in America for almost 50 years, J. Edgar Hoover was feared and admired, reviled and revered. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career and his life.

---

'A Dolphin Tale' 3D movie release

Based on a true story this film tells the story of an injured dolphin who is rescued by an aquarium and eventually given the ability to swim again with the aid of a prosthetic fin.

Date: Thursday, December 15, 2011
Website: http://www.dolphintalemovie.com.au/
Directed by Charles Martin Smith

Starring Morgan Freeman, Harry Connick Jr, Ashley Judd

Based on true events Dolphin Tale is a family film about Winter, a young dolphin who loses her tail in a crab trap and Sawyer, the introverted, 11-year old boy who befriends her. Sawyer meets the rescued dolphin at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, a marine rehabilitation center where she lives. Sawyer rallies friends and family alike to save Winter by convincing a pioneering doctor to create a unique prosthetic attachment to restore the dolphin's ability to swim. Winter the dolphin will play herself in the movie.