AS AT 5pm AEST Thursday April 16, 2015, the bidding window has officially closed for the first Emissions Reduction Fund auction.

In line with the auction guidelines, the Clean Energy Regulator has five business days to compile and publish the outcomes from the auction.

All bidders will be notified of the outcome of their bid and the auction results will be published on our website by 2pm on Thursday  April 23, 2015.

No information will be released before this date.

The Clean Energy Regulator will publish:

• the total volume of abatement to be delivered by the successful bidders
• the average price per tonne of abatement and,
• for each successful bid:
• the name of the contractor
• the project(s) covered by the contract
• the volume of abatement committed under the contract
• the duration of the contract.

Chloe Munro, Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Clean Energy Regulator, will be available for media interviews on Thursday April 23, 2015.

www.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au

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THE Australian Retailers Association (ARA) welcomed NSW Minister for Regional Development, Skills and Small Business, John Barilaro at its Learning and Development meeting yesterday in Sydney.

ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said the ARA Learning and Development Committee encompasses some of NSW biggest employers, representing hundreds of thousands of jobs.

“We were honoured to have Minister Barilaro attend our meeting yesterday and provide an overview of the NSW Governments small business and skills policies. The NSW Government is seeking consultation with the retail industry as to how the Government can best provide workforce development and skills from entry to management level retail staff.

“It was welcoming to see how passionate the Minister was about the retail sector. Retail is the largest private sector employer, encompassing 10.6% of the total workforce. Our industry is responsible for jobs creation and career opportunities for thousands of Australians, and we look forward to working alongside the NSW Government to ensure these opportunities are available to retailers both now and in the future,” Mr Zimmerman said.

Since 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has been the peak industry body representing Australia’s $265 billion retail sector, which employs over 1.2 million people. The ARA ensures retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 5,000 independent and national retail members throughout Australia.

Visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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VECCI Chief Executive Mark Stone said the organisation has been a long-standing supporter of the East West Link project and is obviously disappointed that the project will not proceed under the Andrews Government.

"The project would have reduced congestion, made the movement of freight more efficient and improved the amenity of Melbourne’s growth areas," Mr Stone said.

"We acknowledge that in the 2014 state election campaign, Daniel Andrews promised that a Labor Government would not proceed with the project. 

"VECCI acknowledges that the Victorian Government has reached a good faith agreement with the East West Link consortium to terminate the contract without compensation or legislation. 

"However, the fact that a substantial $339 million in bid process, design and pre-construction costs have already been incurred is unfortunate for taxpayers. 

"In addition, $81 million in fees were incurred to establish a credit facility for the East West Link project. However, this facility will now be used to support the Melbourne Metro Rail Project.

"The costs and complexities associated with East West Link confirms the establishment of Infrastructure Victoria, an independent body to advise on significant infrastructure planning and development matters, must be a priority. 

"We need to ensure there is a long-term approach to capital works beyond election cycles.  Key to this process is not only a broad and strong consensus on Victoria’s infrastructure priorities, but clarity, confidence and certainty for the private sector. 

"A priority of Infrastructure Victoria will be to determine what needs to occur to offset the loss of East West Link and reduce rapidly expanding congestion on Melbourne’s roads. This needs to encompass a second river crossing," Mr Stone said.

"In the interim, the State Government must use the coming State Budget to make an unequivocal commitment to deliver its forward infrastructure agenda, including the Melbourne Metro Rail Project, the removal of level crossings and vital capacity-enhancing regional projects."

The Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) is the most influential business organisation in Victoria, informing and servicing more than 15,000 members, customers and clients around the state.

vecci.org.au 

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THE resource industry employer group AMMA (Australian Mines and Metals Association) chief executive, Steve Knott, has welcomed the scrapping of the Federal Government's 1.5 percent levy to fund the Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme.

"THE Prime Minister’s announcement that he will not proceed with the 1.5 percent business levy to fund the government’s former paid parental leave scheme comes as welcome news to the Australian resource industry," Mr Knott said.

"Our industry strongly backs government and private sector initiatives to improve support for working parents, but has long argued that those larger businesses who already innovate and lead the way should not be penalised, nor asked to subsidise social policies that should be paid for from general revenues.

"AMMA has been on the record as early as 2010 highlighting the significant investments individual resource employers put into their own PPL and other parental support packages. It is not their role to then provide special funding for smaller businesses who don’t have internal PPL schemes," Mr Knott said.

"The decision to scrap the promised 1.5 percent corporate tax cut will therefore be of no practical consequence to those large employers which would have also been required to pay the PPL levy.

"The more fundamental consideration must be whether our levels of corporate taxes for all sizes of business are competitive and the extent to which they encourage or discourage investment and job creation in this country.

"With all areas of the resource industry under increasing pressure, the cost of operating in Australia needs to reduce if we are to remain globally competitive."

Mr Knott said Australia must have a national taxation system that can effectively progress important social and economic policies, without the need for additional levies.

"This must be balanced with the need for competitive Australian businesses and a competitive tax platform for attracting global investment," he said.

"The Treasurer recently called for a national conversation on our taxation system, which business will strongly support if it engages with fundamental questions affecting Australia’s competiveness.

"In the lead up to the 2015 Budget, we urge the government to carefully consider the comparative levels of all taxes, including levies and royalties, across our global competitors and start to address incentives and disincentives to investing and doing business in Australia."

www.amma.org.au

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