Shrink-wrapped car? Be sure to check the date...

Dozens of Melbourne residents received a rude shock this morning when they emerged from their homes to find their cars shrink-wrapped, while many were outraged to hear of new plans to dam the city's Yarra River.

But as they rushed to drop children at childcare or school, they may have been relieved to hear of a new Federal Government service where local MPs will now offer child-minding at their electorate offices.

April Fools' Day pranksters are out in force across Australia, carrying on a worldwide tradition that dates back centuries.

A Melbourne radio station appears to be behind the shrink-wrap gag, with dozens of parked cars in suburbs including Clifton Hill, Richmond and East Melbourne shrouded in plastic overnight.

Shocked drivers found a pair of scissors and a little note reading "Happy April Fools, love Evie" on their cars. At least one car had an additional note from breakfast announcers at Gold 104.3FM.

A newspaper advertisement purportedly signed by Kevin Rudd introduces a new personal childcare service at local MPs' offices.

"Each MP's electorate office will today be accepting newborns for a free child minding service. This is another example of Labor's commitment to working families," it says.

The ad was taken out by GetUp!, an independent lobby group making a point about Labor's election promise to introduce paid parental leave.

A paid parental leave scheme, recommended by the Productivity Commission and being pushed by trade unions and business, is tipped to be a casualty of a tough May budget.

"Research shows that paid parental leave is good for babies, good for parents, and good for the economy," GetUp! says on a linked website, where it admits the advertisement is an April Fool's joke.

"The Rudd Government made paid parental leave an election commitment and the time to deliver that commitment is this year's federal budget."

On ABC radio, Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle announced a plan to dam the Yarra, which he admitted may flood Scotch College but would protect Melbourne's parks by maintaining fresh water levels in the river. Talkback callers responded furiously.

A NSW engineer tried his hand at an April Fools' Day prank by sending out a fake media release that said funeral directors will need to be careful handling the bodies of smokers because it could be carcinogenic to their health.

"Any employee who is transporting a deceased who was a tobacco smoker to any extent should be using respiratory protective equipment compliant to Australian Standard(s)," the release said.

The spokesman named on the release, Abril Chanza de Tonto, loosely translates from Spanish to April fool joke.

"Considering the quality of what goes on in the media, this can't be any worse than some of things that goes on here anyway," said the engineer-cum-prankster, Andrew Fleischer.

Among the most famous April Fools' Day hoaxes was the BBC's television report in 1957 of the bumper annual spaghetti harvest in Switzerland. Many people contacted the BBC asking how they could grow their own spaghetti trees.

In 1998, a British radio presenter pretended to be the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair when he called the then-South African president Nelson Mandela for a chat. They talked for some minutes before the presenter outed himself when he asked Mandela what he was doing for April Fool's Day.

Meanwhile, Victorian Tourism and Major Events Minister Tim Holding was keen to show his sense of humour, issuing an early-morning press release stating that Melbourne would bid to host the Running of the Bulls through its iconic laneways.

Mr Holding said the event's regular host, the Spanish town of Pamplona, had monopolised the event for too long and it was time Melbourne "grabbed the bull by the horns''.

The bull analogies continued as Mr Holding said discussions were underway with musical producers to rename the smash hit 'Bully Elliot' during the bull-running event.

But a warning - after noon, those playing April Fools' Day pranks become the fool.

theage.com.au

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