+++ TREASURY Challenges and opportunities for the Australian economy | The Treasury. Before I begin my address to you today, I would like to show my respect and acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, of elders past and present, on which this event takes place. Let me also acknowledge the Member for Victoria Park, Mr Ben Wyatt MLA, and Mr Bill Johnston MLA, the Member for Cannington. I thank them both for being here today. My subject this morning is the challenges and opportunities for Australia presented by global developments.
These developments contribute to pressures in our economy, and they require an informed and considered national debate about how best to respond, in the short term and in the decades to come. The world is undergoing tremendous structural change. Longer-term drivers include the rapid pace of technological change, which has already revolutionised our lives. Global volatility and emerging Asia To illustrate this, in the 1950s only around 15 per cent of the world's economic output was located within 10,000 km of Australia. 1950s boom. Only 33% of businesses will upgrade to Windows 8, according to survey. Not liking Windows 8? You aren’t the only one. And it seems individual consumers aren’t the only ones unhappy with Windows 8. According to the Wall Street Journal, a survey by Forrester Research shows that only 33% of businesses plan on upgrading to Windows 8, either soon or in the more distant future.
Compare that to the 66% that said they would upgrade to Windows 7 when the same question was asked in 2009. Of the remaining 67%, 10% said they will not upgrade to Windows 8 at all while 47% said they have not really thought about it. I don’t have access to get past Wall Street Journal’s paywall; as such, I don’t know the exact details of the survey, aside from the results, so it isn’t entirely clear what type of businesses were surveyed by Forrester (e.g. small, medium, large, public, non-public, industry, etc.)
What exactly does it say? I’m going to venture out and say the second reason is probably the more important one. [via The Verge, WSJ | image via comedy_nose] Swan cuts projected surplus to $1.1bn. Jacob Greber, Laura Tingle and James Massola Infographic | MYEFO at a glance A shift to monthly company tax payments will shuffle $8.3 billion into the budget in a mid-year review which pledges surpluses that the Gillard government says will give the Reserve Bank of Australia more room to cut official interest rates. The Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook [MYEFO] will pull back middle-class welfare benefits introduced by the Howard government, including the baby bonus and a rebate on private health insurance.
The changes will force the Coalition, which is sticking to its tough fiscal discipline rhetoric, to declare whether it will support government spending cuts ahead of next year’s federal election. The spending cuts and shift to monthly company tax payments will have to be voted on in Parliament. “We haven’t taken any of the saves that we’ve made today lightly, but we’ve made sure that they don’t hurt the economy and don’t hurt the most vulnerable,’’ he said. The FACT IS... NSW, WA triple-A ratings under threat. Www.afr.com/rw/2009-2014/AFR/2012/10/25/Photos/aeaedebe-1e6c-11e2-b733-809d348cd356_NSW RU Oct2012.pdf. Business slugged for surplus. Jacob Greber, Laura Tingle and James Massola Infographic | MYEFO at a glance A shift to monthly company tax payments will shuffle $8.3 billion into the budget in a mid-year review which pledges surpluses that the Gillard government says will give the Reserve Bank of Australia more room to cut official interest rates.
The Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook [MYEFO] will pull back middle-class welfare benefits introduced by the Howard government, including the baby bonus and a rebate on private health insurance. The changes will force the Coalition, which is sticking to its tough fiscal discipline rhetoric, to declare whether it will support government spending cuts ahead of next year’s federal election. The spending cuts and shift to monthly company tax payments will have to be voted on in Parliament. “We haven’t taken any of the saves that we’ve made today lightly, but we’ve made sure that they don’t hurt the economy and don’t hurt the most vulnerable,’’ he said.
The FACT IS... Business tax reform hits the wall. Treasurer Wayne Swan said it was disappointing that agreement could not be reached within the business community about how a company tax cut could be funded . Photo: Glenn Hunt Katie Walsh and Gemma Daley The Business Council of Australia has blamed ground rules set by Treasurer Wayne Swan for the failure of a business group set up to negotiate the government’s promised corporate tax cut.
The Business Tax Working Group said in a report last night it could not reach agreement on a way to cut the 30 per cent corporate rate. The business leaders and union representative responsible for finding a way to lower the corporate tax rate failed to break an impasse over which concessions to cut, making any tax relief for business unlikely before next year’s federal election. The group said it “was unable to recommend a revenue-neutral package to lower the company tax rate”. Business Council of Australia president Tony Shepherd said the rules set for the group made its task impossible. Impossible Task. Climate Change Minister reacts to carbon tax inflation claims - Business. Inflation consistent with carbon price: Treasurer - Business. Tsunami hit Geneva in AD 563 › News in Science (ABC Science)
News in Science Monday, 29 October 2012 AFP Inland tsunami Nearly 1500 years ago a tsunami triggered by a rockfall swept Lake Geneva, engulfing its shores with a wall of water, Swiss scientists report. The incident suggests Geneva and Lausanne remain vulnerable today, as do other cities on the edge of mountain lakes and high-sided fjords, they write. "The risk is underestimated because most of the people just do not know that tsunamis can happen in lakes," says Katrina Kremer, an Earth scientist at the University of Geneva. In a letter to the journal Nature Geoscience , Kremer's team say they delved into the 'Tauredunum Event', an episode that occurred in AD 563. A contemporary account by a French bishop, Gregory of Tours, described a catastrophe that was as bewildering as it was terrifying. A giant wave charged down the lake, destroying villages and herds of animals, and then passed over the city walls of Geneva, on the western tip, where it drowned several people.
Maelstrom of mud and water. Lake Geneva at risk of tsunami. New research backs historical records that a devastating tsunami at Lake Geneva (pictured) inundated the Swiss city in 563 AD, and a similar event could happen in the future, scientists say. Credit: Veer Images SYDNEY: A giant tsunami at Lake Geneva devastated villages and inundated large areas of the inner city almost 1,500 years ago – and a similar disaster could hit the Swiss metropolis in the future, scientists say. Researchers analysed sediment at the bottom of Lake Geneva and uncovered “one big mass of sediment that was deposited in one event,” said Katrina Kremer, an environmental scientist at the University of Geneva who co-authored the study, published in Nature Geoscience. An Alpine rock fall on the Rhone delta, 70km from Geneva, would have displaced enough water to cause a tsunami – an event researchers estimate to have occurred around 563 AD. Research backs historical archives “Under-appreciated beasts” Geneva particularly vulnerable.
Queensland to lift uranium mining ban. BREAKFAST DEALS: GrainCorp grab | Alexander Liddington-Cox | Wheels and Deals. GrainCorp is reportedly not interested in talking to American suitor Archer Daniel Midlands for anything less than $13-$14 a share. While the directors have a solid case, they’ll have to keep the many GrainCorp institutional shareholders onside and remain aware of the potential for another discussion on agricultural protectionism to break out. Meanwhile, there are calls for the government to look at collusion between big shareholders, which is somewhat well timed as pressure on the Echo Entertainment board increases.
And finally, Telstra has run into some troubles with the ACCC over its sale of TradingPost. GrainCorp, Archer Daniel Midlands The strategic importance of GrainCorp, the ‘last man standing’ of the major Australian grain handlers, has been clear for some time. In a statement on Friday, GrainCorp emphasised to the market that it hasn’t received a proposal yet, but the ADM move is the beginning of its attempts to commence discussions on a "potential transaction”. Bidder collusion. GrainCorp investors hold out for more. GrainCorp bid raises monopoly fears. AGRIBUSINESS giant Archer Daniels Midland, the world's largest corn processor, has confirmed a friendly cash bid for GrainCorp as it lifts its exposure outside the US. ADM already owns 14.9 per cent of GrainCorp after buying 10 per cent of the company on Thursday night for $11.75 a share - a 33 per cent premium to the previous close of $8.85 - valuing the company at $2.7 billion.
If ADM wishes to increase its stake above 15 per cent, it will need approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board. However, Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said last night he was worried an overseas company could have an ''almost unfettered monopoly'' over grains handling on the Australian east coast. Mr Newman, who worked in senior roles at GrainCo until 2001 before GrainCorp took over that company in 2003, said he had complained to the competition regulator in 2002 about the planned takeover of GrainCo, citing fears about the east coast grain-handling monopoly the merger was to create.
Advertisement. Suncorp says brighter outlook ahead. NAB takes safeguard against downturn | Wyndham Weekly - Point Cook Weekly. NAB's two UK lenders in hedging probe. National Australia Bank's two British lenders are under review by the UK financial watchdog as part of its probe into the alleged mis-selling of interest rate hedging products. NAB said its Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks held talks with the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) in relation to its review of the sale of interest rate hedging products to small- and medium-sized business. NAB's shares were three cents higher at $23.73 in early afternoon trading. The FSA has already completed a review with Britain's four biggest banks - Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland - after they admitted in June to mis-selling interest rate hedges to small and medium-sized businesses.
Advertisement Those four banks have since signed up to an FSA-devised compensation scheme which could see the lenders having to pay out millions of dollars to victims of the alleged mis-selling. "It is too early to determine what, if any, financial impact there will be as a result of the review. " NAB’s British banks flag hedging product probe. BoQ toughens up on bad debts. IAG bounces back after run of disasters. ANZ chief warns of increase in bad debts. Defaults, $A to rise next year: ANZ. Westfield and AMP in $1.7bn asset swap. +++ Bendigo CEO paints ‘gloomy’ outlook for banks.
Www.afr.com/rw/Wires/Stories/2012-10-29/ASXAnnouncements/BEN_01349038.pdf. Www.afr.com/rw/Wires/Stories/2012-10-29/ASXAnnouncements/BEN_01349033.pdf.