If you're caught in the trap of multiple bills and are willing to eliminate your debt fast, then various debt relief programs can be helpful for you.

Westpac's chief executive, Gail Kelly, posed the rhetorical question yesterday, "What is the new normal?" The financial crisis that has engulfed the world may be receding but when the dust settles the landscape will not return to its pre-2007 picture.

WESTPAC says Australian banks have escaped the worst of the financial crisis with bad debts poised to start falling away, but chief executive Gail Kelly warns that myriad challenges remain, with the industry facing a period of entrenched low growth.

NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD

VICTORIAN developers are pleading with state and federal governments to help them get hold of funding.