How I will be taking care of business
Small business is being smashed by excessive red tape from the state government, councils and WorkCover and is struggling to compete with big players because it is being forced to pay excessive wages. That is the challenging situation the state's first Small Business Commissioner, Yasmin King, found during a month-long tour in which she interviewed 533 small businesses operators across NSW. Ms King, a former bottle shop owner and deputy commissioner at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, has made a report recommending the government make changes to improve conditions for the sector which employs about 50 per cent of NSW's workforce. The state government is drafting laws to give the Small Business Commissioner the power to assist small business when they are dealt with unfairly. A free assistance phone line has also been set up to help businesses negotiate regulation from all levels of government. Ms King said she is working with WorkCover to simplify requirements put on small business. She is also working with government departments to remove barriers which stop them competing effectively with big business when bidding for government contracts. But Ms King said perhaps the biggest problem facing small business is excessive wages and lack of flexibility under the Fair Work Australia Act, especially for retail and service businesses. Sunday Telegraph (Sydney), January 22.

Big fish of tennis enjoy a serve of sashimi
An exotic dish at Nobu at Crown could be the lucky charm for top players during the Australian Open. Tennis ace Roger Federer and world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki are among several players to take a shine to one of the restaurant's signature dishes, yellowtail sashimi. The word is Federer can't get enough of the dish. Other Nobu treats that have gone down well with the star players are tuna tataki with tosazu and baby spinach salad with dried miso. Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne), January 22.

TV pilots on menu for chef
Celebrity chef Shane Delia has filmed two new television pilots. Delia, who regularly appears on The Circle and Ready Steady Cook, filmed the shows last year. ``I've done a couple of pilots for some new shows, so I'm hoping one kicks off because they are both really interesting,'' he said. Delia is one of Melbourne's busiest chefs, running his restaurant Maha in the city and St Katherine's in Kew with George Calombaris. Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne), January 22.

Get hooked on a tasty dish
Matt Moran
Despite a somewhat disappointing summer, with many alfresco dining plans shifting indoors due to undesirable weather, I've still got high hopes and my fingers crossed for a good old Australia Day barbecue. While there's sure to be a snag or two, some of my dad's lamb and some prawns, I'm planning to make a feast of some barramundi too. There's much debate about farmed barra versus the wild-caught stuff, but I'd go with farmed every time, as I find the flavour to be less muddy. At ARIA, we use West Australian farmed barramundi from Cone Bay, where the fish are reared in large saltwater sea-cages, and exposed to twice-daily tides. The tidal changes mean the fish spend much of the time swimming against the current, exercising their muscles and essentially purging them, leaving them with a firm texture and clean, sweet flavour. When buying barramundi yourself, be sure to ask its origin. Any fishmonger should be able to tell you something about where the fish has come from. Sunday Telegraph (Sydney), January 22.

How to buy… the best Australian produce
While major supermarkets continue their price-slashing wars in a fight for dollars, savvy shoppers are now looking to local produce to get a fresher kick out of their cooking. It's a trend that Peter Gilmore, executive chef of Sydney's Quay restaurant, says has spun a taste of individuality through his menu. "I visit farmers directly and ask them to grow specific heirloom vegetables that I can't get in the general marketplace. Being able to work with a larger palette of ingredients gives my food a real sense of individuality," says Gilmore, who agrees that, on a smaller scale, his customers are doing the same thing. "People want to experience flavours they can't find anywhere else." Gilmore says there is a "trickle down" effect caused by the choices of restaurants as consumers become more educated about the selection of ingredients. "With the advance of farmers markets people are becoming more interested in sourcing organic and heirloom varieties of vegetables and rarer breeds of meat," he says. "The popularity of cooking shows has also had a lot to do with educating the general public about good food - there's a big cultural change." Sunday Telegraph (Sydney), January 22.

Big three for Oz
Aussie travellers are set to experience an exciting new era in cruising as three of the world's biggest liners get ready to tour Australian waters for the first time in 2012. Boasting an impressive array of luxury amenities and accommodation, Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas, Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Solstice and Carnival Cruise's Carnival Spirit will arrive in Australia next spring and summer. Cruiseabout brand manager Mark Hodgson said the three mega-liners would add a new dimension to cruising in Australia, providing local travellers with a variety of new holidays in the South Pacific, New Zealand and South East Asia. ``From bocce lawns to miniature golf courses and dazzling nightclubs to three-deck high theatres, these ships will offer travellers a cruising experience unlike any other,'' he said. ``Plus, with all cruises offering onboard meals and entertainment, they're great value for money.'' The Sunday Mail (Brisbane), January 22.

Have tacos, will travel
When it comes to countries with drool-worthy culinary traditions, many spring to mind. We love Italy for its pizza, China for its sweet and sour pork and of course where would we be late on a Saturday night if it wasn't for Greece and souvlaki? But unless you're a fiend for food that's deep-fried and super-sized, the US has given us little. Until now. A fixture on New York and Los Angeles streets for years, food trucks have finally made their way to Melbourne. But before you cringe and turn the page, don't worry folks, we're not talking about Mr Whippy-style ice cream vans or even the caravans that park outside the MCG during big events. Instead, we're talking about food trucks serving authentic street food-style dishes such as tacos, burgers, sausages and even po' boys, the traditional submarine sandwich from Louisiana. Raph Rashid was the first to introduce this truckin' trend to Melbourne, when he turned the key on his Beatbox Kitchen in 2009. Last year he also began cruising the streets of the inner north with his Taco Truck, which has been a hit largely due to the fact it's bang on trend, tapping in to three current foodie crazes: food trucks, Mexican food and social media. What's not to love? Herald Sun (Melbourne), January 21.

Skills required as jobs shrink
Unskilled workers will struggle to land a job in Tasmania as unemployment rates rise, but trained dairy, horticulture, hospitality and aged-care workers and tradespeople are still in demand, the Tasmanian Skills Institute says. Statistics from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations show that job vacancies fell across Tasmania in December and the work pool for machinery operators and drivers shrank the most. Launceston and North-West Tasmania bore the brunt of the trend. Tasmania's unemployment rate spiked to become the worst in the nation in December as the jobless figure rose to 5.9 per cent last month, up from 5.6 per cent in November. Skills institute chief executive Malcolm White said there was still strong demand for workers in some sectors but training was a must. Mr White said the days of walking into a cafe or bar without any formal qualifications and expecting a start were gone. The number of people enrolling to gain barista and responsible service of alcohol qualifications has grown rapidly in line with demand for skills in hospitality and tourism. Hobart Mercury, January 21.

Surge in small bars
The Sydney CBD and surrounding areas could have more than 100 small bars by next year, with no plans by the city's council to cap the growth. Since the City of Sydney Council approved the Small Bars and Restaurants Bill, which was incorporated into the NSW Liquor Act in July 2008, the Casino, Liquor and Gaming Authority has approved 70 small bar licences. Only four applications have been rejected. The authority receives an average of two small bar licence applications a month. ``The City of Sydney Council hasn't placed a limit on the number of small bar licences that they will grant,'' says Richard Roberts, City of Sydney Council business adviser. ``We definitely think that there is room for more and I am conservatively estimating that they turn over in excess of $50 million a year. ``There is a new vibrancy in the city and we are seeing people walk down alleyways and queue to get into one of the cooler small bars.'' Weekend Australian, January 21.

Pepper perfect
Richard Mohan holds out the small, green peppers in the palm of his soil-stained hand. ``Aren't they exquisite?'' he says, and his look is almost evangelical. Not that he needs to convert this writer, a long-time habitue of tapas bars. But these peppers are special, and Mohan, a former law student and musician, is inordinately proud that he is possibly the only organic cultivator of pimientos de Padron in Australia. He throws the peppers into some olive oil heating in a frying pan and jiggles them over the flame as we talk on the veranda of his ramshackle farmhouse in a valley just outside Conondale in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. ``This is the worst climate for pimientos you could find,'' he laughs. ``Too little rain or not enough, and in winter we get frosts that can be fatal. That's why we've got half the crop in poly-tunnels now. We can't afford heating but we close up the tunnels at night and the heat from the soil seems to keep the frost at bay, so we're getting close to year-round production now.” Weekend Australian, January 21.

Smoking barmaid entitled to leave pay
A barmaid who was fired for smoking behind a bar and accused of letting a customer pour their own drink is still entitled to the long-service leave she accrued, a court has ruled. The Crown Inn hotel at Old Reynella terminated Megan McGuire's 8 1/2-year employment in October 2010, after she was twice seen smoking behind the bar. The Industrial Court found Ms McGuire should still receive her accrued long-service leave after Fair Work Australia ruled in June that her firing was "unjust'' because she was not given any warnings and the other allegations of misconduct were unfounded. Magistrate Michael Ardlie ruled that Ms McGuire's conduct was serious but he was not convinced it was wilful. The hotel is appealing against the decision. The Advertiser (Adelaide), January 23.

Hotel spies pick Sydney
Sydney hotels are the latest target of on international travel website dedicated to giving users a snapshot of their real-life rooms and facilities. Oyster.com sends in undercover investigators to take detailed photos and provide honest accounts of places to stay across the globe. Having already got 125 destinations on the books CEO Ellie Seidman said the site had already sent teams to a number of Sydney hotels, including Blue Hotel at Woolloomooloo, The Sydney Marriott and the Shangri-La Hotel in the CBD. Sunday Telegraph (Sydney), January 22.

Australia Day now a drongo-free zone
Australia Day revellers face being hit with hefty on-the-spot fines as part of a zero-tolerance police booze blitz at beaches and parks right across NSW. Alcohol-free zones will be set up at hotspots across the state on Thursday after anti-social and violent behaviour has marred the national day in past years. Those caught with alcohol will be fined $110. The move comes after an increasing number of councils asked police to enforce the ban to make celebrations more family friendly. Among the prohibited areas are Bondi, Tamarama, Bronte, Clovelly and Coogee beaches in the east, Dee Why in the north and Cronulla in the Sutherland Shire. Beyond Sydney, alcohol-free zones will be enforced on the Central Coast and in Newcastle, and include Coffs Harbour and Lennox Head. ``Alcohol restrictions have been put in place across Sydney in response to some incidents experienced in previous years that have taken place because of excessive alcohol consumption,'' a police spokesman said. The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), January 21.

Catering to leisure can be a challenge
It takes a lot of hard work behind the scenes to ensure tourists can take it easy on popular getaway destination Hamilton Island. As general manager of people, culture and development on the tropical Queensland island, Margaret Aboody is in charge of about 1100 employees and likens the role to running a small town. Although it is a tourism business, the spectrum of jobs is far greater than at a typical resort. ``You think of the hotel and you think of the food and beverage side of things and the gardens, but because we are running a small town, we've got everything from electricians and carpenters and tyre fitters through to gardeners and irrigation experts,'' she explains. ``We've got our tour desk people and we've got our beach sports people, and we have people who drive boats.'' Weekend Australian, January 21.
The Age (Melbourne, Australia)

Hotels drop shark soup
Hong Kong: The campaign to reduce the demand for shark fins achieved its greatest victory when the Hong Kong-based Shangri-La hotel group announced that it would no longer serve the dish, which is depleting populations of the ocean predator. The resort company, which operates 72 hotels, took the step just days before the Chinese spring festival, the main season for shark fin soup consumption at banquets in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. It is estimated that between 26 million and 73 million sharks are killed annually to supply this billion-dollar industry. Conservationists' efforts to reduce demand have gained pace and prominence in the past year. The Age (Melbourne), January 20.