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This week began with the news that a girl suffered horrific head injuries after the dog her family was caring for attacked her at a house in Melbourne’s east. The four year old girl was flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital in a serious condition after part of her skull was bitten off by the vicious Rhodesian Ridgeback in Pakenham. The dog was unregistered, with the owners of the dog expected to be fined and possibly jailed with the dog being put down by local council rangers.

The news did not get any better with the news that the car company, Toyota cut 350 jobs from its Altona plant, blaming the strong Aussie dollar and reduced output. Max Yasuda, the company’s Australian president, told workers of the bad news. "It is unfortunate that we have to take this action and we will ensure affected employees are supported during this process,” he said. "In consideration of current and anticipated market conditions this action is necessary. It is not possible to maintain our workforce at its current size.

The question is where does this now leave car manufacturing in Australia? Once a blossoming industry is now being taken off shore, with more job cuts expected for not only Toyota but also other car manufacturing companies in the coming months.

Australia Day was celebrated on the 26^th of January with thousands of migrated Australian residents taking part in citizenship ceremonies, looking to celebrate what it means to live and share the Australian culture and way of livng. The Prime Minister acknowledged the work and service of ordinary Australians doing extraordinary things in society through the Australian of the Year Awards. Actor and film producer, a winner of an Academy Award, Tony Award and Emmy Award, Geoffry Rush was named Australian of the Year for 2012 after celebrating 40 years in the arts and culture of Australia. Senior Aus of the Year - Laurie Baymarrwangga (NT), Young Aus of the Year - Marita Cheng (VIC) and Aus Local Hero - Lynne Sawyers (NSW).

Australia Day was marred for Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott after protesters stormed through a Canberra restaurant forcing the leaders to hustle to safety by police after surrounding the leaders pushing and shoving. However, it has since emerged that one of Julia Gillard’s media advisors indirectly alerted the protesters to their whereabouts. The advisor has since resigned. The protest emerged following comments made by Abbott saying that it was time the Indigenous tent embassy moved to Canberra. Abbott has asked the government and Federal Police to inquire into the protest and how procedures were mishandled.

In lighter news, 145 water skiers held on for the record and they made it, they defeated the world record for the biggest water skiing group behind the one boat! The group travelled just under 2 km on the magnificent Macquarie Harbour off the coast of Tasmania. In the process they smashed their own record of 114 skiers set in March 2010. The participants came from all over the world, including England to set this new world record. The Guinness Book of Records will make the record official in the next few months.

Pete Bannan is a journalism student and part time blogger, you can read more of his articles on his personal news blog - In Black an White