QUEENSLAND’s resources sector welcomed today’s budget, congratulating Treasurer Cameron Dick on mapping out Queensland’s long road to recovery.

"Creating more Queensland jobs is exactly the right objective for this budget and this will be helped by the fact our resources sector is on the verge of becoming  an energy and resources superpower," Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane said.

"COVID-19 has been a hammer blow to everyone’s Budget – households, businesses and governments," he said.

"The state Budget shows the resources sector will be needed more than ever in the COVID recovery.

"Our sector will be needed for jobs, for exports, for investment and ultimately for government revenue."

The Budget papers show the dual blows to the resources sector – in volumes and prices – has reduced royalties by 45 percent this financial year.

The budget forecasts a $4 billion cumulative reduction in royalties over the next four years.

"However, the resources sector shares the Treasurer’s firm confidence that it will rebound,” Mr Macfarlane said.

"That’s why we welcome the announcement of a $200 million Future Skills Fund and the government’s commitment to work with our sector on the implementation of a first ever Queensland Resources Industry Development Plan.

"Queensland can transition to a global energy superpower thanks to the quality of our coal and gas reserves and abundant renewable opportunities.”  Mr Macfarlane said.

"The next stage of development is deploying the world-class expertise of Queensland’s resources industries to work to secure all the opportunities on offer as the state transitions to making renewable energy exports a reality.  

“The Palaszczuk government’s agreement to work with the QRC to deliver a Queensland Resources Development Plan will enable Queensland to work and earn our way out of COVID, supercharging Queensland’s economic recovery and delivering decades of responsible prosperity,” Mr Macfarlane said.

"Resources contributes one in every five dollars to the Queensland economy and one in six jobs, which is why our sector’s performance is so crucial to a strong COVID recovery.

“The royalty taxes contributed each year by resources companies help the Queensland Government pay for the nurses and doctors who care for our families, the teachers who educate our children, the police officers who keep us safe, and the hospitals, schools and roads we need for our communities to function,” he said.

“You can count on resources to help Queensland recover.”

www.qrc.org.au

ends

THE House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics will hold a public hearing with the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Dr Philip Lowe, on Wednesday, December 2, 2020.

The RBA last appeared before the committee in August 2020.

At its meeting on November 3, the RBA Board announced a package of further measures to support the Australian economy as it recovers from COVID-19.

The moves comprise:

• a reduction in the cash rate target, the three-year yield target, and the interest rate on new drawings under the Term Funding Facility to 10 basis points, from the current 25 basis points;
• a reduction in the interest rate on Exchange Settlement balances to zero from the current 10 basis points; and
• committing to the purchase of $100 billion of government bonds over the next six months.

Committee Chair, Tim Wilson MP, said, "The committee will be scrutinising the RBA’s measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the move to implement quantitative easing, and how these measures will help the Australian economy recover after a very difficult year.

"We will also be scrutinising the RBA’s recent decision to start work on a digital currency, as well as zoning and planning regulation that is contribution to house price inflation."

Public hearing details

Date: Wednesday, 2 December 2020
Time: 10am to 12pm
Location: Main Committee Room, Parliament House, Canberra

The hearing will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

ends

OCTOBER 2020 was the best month for new detached house building approvals in almost 21 years according to Master Builders Australia chief economist Shane Garrett.

During October 2020, a total of 10,936 new detached houses received building approval. The last time a higher figure was recorded was back in February 2000.

“The numbers out today provide further proof that the HomeBuilder scheme is a huge success in supporting new home building at a very challenging time,” Shane Garrett said.

“Inward migration to Australia is the single biggest driver of demand for new home building and with permanent arrivals to the country at their lowest since World War II, government support for residential building has prevented activity from sinking to catastrophic levels.

“The weekend announcement of an extension to HomeBuilder is very welcome from this perspective as it means that the residential building industry can look forward to a decent pipeline of work for most of 2021,” Mr Garrett said.

“The strong linkage between residential building activity and the health of the rest of the economy in terms of jobs and small businesses means that the extension of HomeBuilder is good news for everyone."

masterbuilders.com.au

ends

THE Joint Standing Committee on Migration yesterday tabled its final report on its inquiry into the Working Holiday Maker program. 

"During this inquiry, the Committee received highly compelling evidence on the ongoing importance of the Working Holiday Maker program to Australia,” Committee Chair Julian Leeser MP said.

“Working Holiday Makers make a significant contribution to Australia, not only through their tourism spending, but by supplementing the seasonal workforce, and through cultural exchange,” Mr Leeser said.

"This report builds on the findings of the interim report and calls for the measures taken in response to that report to be promoted.

“Following the interim report and the measures the Government has put in place to address agricultural labour shortages, it is clear there is a need to further promote the opportunities that exist for Australians and other visa holders to help with areas of critical need.

“The Committee also made a range of recommendations on longer term changes to the program, many of which focus on expanding the program and technical matters relating to the visas.”

The Committee’s key recommendations focus on enabling Working Holiday Makers who are working in hard-to-staff regions to stay in the regions for longer, expanding the program, strengthening oversight and administration of the program, and undertaking a targeted marketing campaign to encourage Australians and other visa holders in Australia to help fill the agricultural and tourism labour shortages.

The Committee has thanked people who participated in this inquiry.

The report can be found at this link.

ends

AFTER TWO years in operation, a law to improve transparency and accountability around political donations will be reviewed by the Parliament’s Electoral Matters Committee.

Committee Chair Senator James McGrath said the review of the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Funding and Disclosure Reform) Act 2018 is an opportunity for the Parliament to ensure that the law is working as it should.

"The Committee will also take the opportunity to check in on how the Act’s objectives can continue to be achieved in the most effective way while minimising red tape," Senator McGrath said.

"We are also interested in the impacts of amendments to the original bill that are relevant to charitable issue-based advocacy."

Senator McGrath noted that the Committee would examine the operation of the amendments, dealing with foreign donations; and the clarity of public guidance products issued by regulators.

The Committee is inviting written submissions addressing any or all of the terms of reference. Information on how to make a submission may be found at this link. Submissions are requested by January 29, 2021.

ends

THE House Standing Committee on Industry, Innovation, Science and Resources has commenced an inquiry into Developing Australia’s Space Industry.

The Chair of the Committee, Barnaby Joyce MP, said, "Australia’s space industry is growing rapidly. The Australian Space Agency has a goal to triple the size of the sector to $12 billion and create an additional 20,000 jobs over the next decade. This inquiry will examine ways to achieve this."

Space is an industry that inspires, fascinates and excites people. Generally, rockets and astronauts come to mind when we think about the space industry, but its technology and equipment are very much a part of our day-to-day lives, for example weather forecasting and GPS technology.

There are enormous opportunities for individuals, organisations, and communities to take advantage of this growing sector, particularly in rural and regional areas, Mr Joyce said.

The Committee’s inquiry will examine the breadth of opportunities presented by Australia’s space industry and what is required to strengthen support of our domestic and international space related activities. This includes the development of space technology and equipment, commercialisation of research and development, future workforce requirements, and international collaboration.

The Committee wants to hear from interested people, organisations and agencies working in space related fields.  Submissions to the inquiry should be received by January 29, 2021. 

The terms of reference for the inquiry can be found on the Committee’s website.

ends

THE release of a parliamentary report into the Working Holiday Maker visa is a whitewash of a failed program, and paves the way for continued coercive labour practices and exploitation in agriculture, Unions NSW said.

Workers and their unions have repeatedly blown the whistle on the deep problems with the scheme, which funnels tens of thousands of backpackers into farm work in return for an extension of their visa. There have been widespread reports of abuse, sexual harassment and exploitation under the scheme, with workers reporting being paid as little a $2.50 per hour.  

“The joint committee on migration has missed an opportunity to stamp out exploitation with the release of such a weak report,” said Mark Morey, Secretary of Unions NSW.

“The key problem at the heart of this program is that all power rests with the employer to sign off on whether the backpacker has performed the necessary hours to have their visa extended. This creates an utterly lopsided arrangement, leaving backpackers ripe for exploitation.

“This committee report has done nothing more than tinker at the edges. The truth is that this visa should be abolished. If the agriculture sector can’t afford to pay Australian wages it needs to completely rethink the economics of the sector. No industry has the right to subsidise itself through cheap, exploited labour.

“It is unconscionable to erect and maintain a secondary labour market, where the origin of your passport determines whether you can enforce your labour rights," Mr Morey said.

“Both the Government and industry know what the problems are. Another round of navel gazing through inquiries and sub committees won’t resolve the problem. This is the same Government that failed to provide any meaningful support for temporary migrants by excluding them from JobKeeper or JobSeeker during the worst economic crisis in a generation.”

ends

THE OWNERS of more than a million super accounts holding more than $30 billion in assets may never be told their fund is a dud unless a crucial government performance test includes all fees and charges, according to Industry Super Australia (ISA).

The government’s Your Future, Your Super exposure draft legislation suggests it will stick with the inferior net-investment return benchmark - which excludes administration fees and other non-investment charges, according to ISA chief executive Bernie Dean.

"This distorts outcomes because it does not measure what a fund deposits into a member's account and allows dud products to hide their lousy performance. Benchmarks must be based on net returns – investment returns minus all fee and charges,"  

There is also no plan to roll out benchmarks to most of the trouble-plagued ‘Choice’ sector – despite a government review finding that sector had the biggest fee gougers and worst performing products, according to ISA.

“Dud super funds continue to drain the savings of too many Australian workers, they must lift their game or face closure, no matter where they are,” Mr Dean said.

“Rigorous, universally applied benchmarks that measure outcomes from a member’s perspective are the only way we’ll avoid millions of workers being stuck in a dud fund for life.

“Addressing this should be beyond politics or ideology While some seem intent on using these reforms to pursue ideological objectives at the expense of member outcomes - our focus is firmly on ensuring they are in members' best interests, just like with everything we do," Mr Dean said. 

 “We’d be concerned if the government was returning to the old battle lines, because we know that will lead to poor financial outcomes for members.”

ISA analysis of APRA's publicly available five-year MySuper returns shows that $145 billion in assets would not meet the more rigorous net-return benchmark - compared with $108 billion using the government's model.

The Productivity Commission, ASIC, APRA, the Cooper Review, analyst firm SuperRatings, AIST and even Superannuation Minister Jane Hume have all said net returns after fees and taxes is the most relevant fund performance measurement for members. It must be the test.

Products are considered underperforming if they drop below 50 basis points of the benchmark.

Members are told that their fund has underperformed when they first miss the benchmarks, consecutive underperformance results in funds being barred from accepting new members. This does little to stop existing members from being fleeced, so the ultimate punishment for chronic underperformance should be removal from the system.

There is also no plan for the benchmarking regime to be applied to more than 80 percent of the near $1 trillion Choice sector – despite this sector being littered with dud products.

The difference between being in a good fund and a bad one can mean more than $500,000 less at retirement, these reforms must be strengthened so that fewer workers are in underperforming funds.

Before the government proceeds with its plan to “staple” workers to their first fund it must remove the duds from the system – benchmarks must be robust and applied to the entire system equally.  

Industry Super Australia supports the government's Your Future, Your Super package and its crucial performance benchmark tool, but is concerned unless important improvements are made, members could end up worse off.

ISA supports sensible changes in members' best interest including:

Ø  Net-return as a performance benchmark rather than net-investment return

Ø  Forced closures of chronically underperforming funds

Ø  Expanded coverage to ensure all funds and products – including the Choice sector – must also pass the benchmark tests, with no carve outs

Ø  Sequencing of reforms to ensure performance measures are implemented before stapling

ISA welcome all universally applied laws that would mandate spending by super funds should be solely for the financial benefit of members – not the parent company’s shareholders.

Advertising is a cost-effective way to attract and retain members passing on benefits of scale. It is also a useful financial literacy tool to help explain to members the impact on their savings of potential policy changes.

All ISA’s activities are in the best financial interests of members – this is a statement Banking Royal Commissioner Kenneth Hayne agreed with, according to Mr Dean.

Media reports have suggested the proposed changes to the sole purpose test are deliberately designed to disadvantage industry funds. ISA will carefully examine if the effect or intent of the legislation is to damage industry funds competitive position in the marketplace.

ends