THE NEWS WRAP: Government climate change advisor calls for the dismantling of the green energy scheme

A Federal Government climate change advisor has called for the dismantling of the national green energy scheme, blaming it for the increase in power bills across the country.

Rod Sims, who is also chairman of the NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal, said that the scheme should end following an 18% rise in energy prices in NSW, with small business bills set to climb by $528 a year.

Dairy farmers call for Coles probe

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has been urged to investigate whether Coles undertook predatory pricing and deceptive conduct by starting a milk war.

The Queensland Dairy Farmers’ Organisation said that the ACCC should investigate whether Coles breached the Competition and Consumer Act by sparking a milk price war that farmers claim has significantly impacted their income.

Google earnings miss expectations

Google’s first quarter earnings failed to meet analyst expectations, despite enjoying an 18% rise.

A quarterly profit of $US2.3 billion wasn’t enough to prevent Google’s shares sliding by 4.8% on the announcement. The results, which mark the last before the installation of co-founder Larry Page as CEO, follows market share figures that show that Microsoft’s Bing is making significant inroads into Google’s dominance.

Overnight

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 14.16 points to 12,285.15. The Australian dollar edged up to 105.4 US cents.