THE House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics will scrutinise the three financial regulators, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), at public hearings in Canberra on October 14.

The Chair of the Committee, Mr David Coleman, MP, stated that ‘the hearings will give the Committee the opportunity to scrutinise the regulators on their performance and operation. In addition, the Committee will question the regulators on evidence arising from the Committee’s hearings with the four major banks.’

The three financial system regulators each have a distinct role in Australia’s financial and banking system. APRA is responsible for prudential regulation, including promoting financial system stability, while ASIC is responsible for conduct regulation, including consumer protection in relation to banking and financial services. The ACCC’s role is to promote competition and fair trade in markets to benefit consumers, businesses, and the community.

Public hearing details: Friday 14 October 2016, Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra

8:30am to 10:30am: ASIC

10:45am to 1:15pm: APRA

2:15pm to 4:45pm: ACCC

Webcast: The hearing will be webcast at aph.gov.au/live

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FOLLOWING the Federal Government bank hearings, National Australia Bank CEO Andrew will address the QUT Business Leaders' Forum on Monday. 

He is a career banker with more than 30 years’ experience who has held senior positions in major Australian banks including the Commonwealth Bank and was MD and CEO of the Bank of New Zealand.

Mr Thorburn will talk about his strategic vision for NAB, a company with 42,000 employees, and the challenges for NAB and the banking industry.

WHO: Andrew Thorburn, NAB CEO

WHAT: Guest speaker at QUT Business Leaders’ Forum

WHERE: Ballroom le Grand, Sofitel Brisbane Central

WHEN: 12.30 to 2pm

www.qut.edu.au

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UNIONS must be prohibited from abusing enterprise bargaining to restrict businesses from using commercial contracting and labour hire arrangements, the resource industry’s national employer group AMMA has told the Australian Government.

In its submission on the exposure draft of the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Competition Policy Review) Bill 2016, AMMA strongly supports the government’s move to increase penalties for illegal secondary boycotts, but says union attempts to use enterprise bargaining to restrict the use of contractors and labour hire must also be addressed.
 
“Resource employers welcome the government acting to subject secondary boycotts to the same maximum penalties as cartel behaviour, price fixing, and other anti-competitive activities,” says AMMA’s head of policy, Scott Barklamb.
 
“As we see with the CFMEU’s alleged boycott of Boral, currently playing out before the courts, no one ever wins in secondary boycotts.  Updated penalties will help deter cynical coercive strategies and ensure employers and customers that have nothing to do with a dispute don’t become collateral damage.
 
“Having said that, when the government acts on secondary boycotts, it must also act on anti-contractor and anti-labour hire clauses, or it risks leaving the job half done.
 
“Unions shouldn’t be telling businesses who they can trade with, and they shouldn’t be able to abuse the enterprise bargaining system to lock employees and job seekers out of work.”
 
Both the Harper Review on competition policy and the Productivity Commission review on workplace relations recommended outlawing unions from abusing enterprise bargaining to restrict commercial contracting and labour hire arrangements.
 
AMMA urges the government to adopt Harper review recommendation 37 which would extend the application of prohibitions under s45E and s45EA of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA) to industrial agreements and awards.
 
At the same time, the government should draft legislation in line with the Productivity Commission’s review of Australia’s WR system to prohibit agreement clauses that seek to restrict the use of contractors and labour hire arrangements.

www.amma.org.au

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THE full schedule for OzPod 2016, an invigorating and inspiring day for Australia’s podcast and radio industries, is now available.

OzPod host ABC Radio will welcome contributors and guests from the commercial, public, community, indie and wider audio sectors to a wide-ranging celebration of the podcast, exploring everything from audience acquisition and retention, approaches to measurement, new technologies, the rise of the podcast in traditional media, revenue opportunities and the art of storytelling.