DESPITE having to postpone its planned visit to Western Australia because of difficulties associated with interstate travel and the Western Australian Government’s recent changes to its quarantine directions, the Northern Australia Committee remains determined to pursue its inquiry into the destruction of Indigenous heritage sites at Juukan Gorge.

The Committee will soon commence a new series of remote access public hearings involving a cross section of stakeholders.

Committee Chair, Warren Entsch, assured all stakeholders of the Committee’s resolve to visit Western Australia at the earliest possible date.

"It is vital for the Committee to see the destruction first hand and share the experience—and the consequences—of this policy failure with the Traditional Owners," Mr Entsch said. "It is vital that we hear directly from those most affected, the Traditional Owners of this country, and that can only be done in a meaningful way on country."

In the meantime, the Committee has urged all stakeholders to be aware of the potential consequences of proceeding with actions that could cause irreversible damage to heritage sites.

"No government and no company wants another Juukan Gorge on its conscience," Mr Entsch said. "If nothing else, the ongoing damage to Rio Tinto’s reputation should give pause for thought for all concerned."

Further details of the inquiry, including terms of reference, can be found on the Committee’s website.

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FITNESS AUSTRALIA has received confirmation that gyms and fitness facilities will reopen from Monday, October 26, with certain restrictions in place provided key trigger points are met, while regional Victoria facilities may be able to reopen earlier subject to trigger points and public health advice.

Fitness Australia CEO Barrie Elvish said the confirmation follows the weekend roadmap announcement by Premier Andrews, which did not provide clarity on the dates and restrictions for the industry to reopen.

“This week Fitness Australia has received confirmation that fitness facilities and gyms in metro Melbourne will be able to open with set restrictions from Monday October 26, provided trigger points are met, while other areas of Victoria may be able to open earlier if trigger points are achieved,” Mr Elvish said.

“Although the restrictions are still to be determined Fitness Australia also welcomed the verbal confirmation we received that the industry will be engaged to develop protocols and procedures for reopening and we are looking forward to working with the Victorian Government in coming weeks.

“We know gyms can open and operate safely with a robust COVID-Safe plan in place. We have successfully achieved this in Queensland with the endorsement and state-wide implementation of a Fitness Australia-led Fitness Industry COVID Safe Plan and need to make this a priority in Victoria.”

Mr Elvish said the mental and physical health of Victorian’s had suffered during isolation, job losses and continued uncertainty and getting people back to the gym safely to resume an exercise routine was essential.

“Fitness facilities and gyms are an essential service and we cannot underestimate the vital role they play in managing and maintaining mental health, physical health and wellbeing,” Mr Elvish said.

Fitness Australia will continue to work with Victorian authorities to provide further reopening information to the fitness industry over the coming weeks, he said.

www.fitness.org.au

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SUPERANNUATION mergers have led to a 20 percent decrease in fees for fund members, according to research from Rainmaker Information.

This result is based on a detailed study of 13 mergers that occurred over the past three years involving 22 super funds that represent $410 billion in member’s money.

Mergers have become more common since the findings of the Productivity Commission were publicly released in January 2019.

Of the 13 mergers, 11 were traditional mergers, while two were integrations of  super funds, being the combining of Virgin Super and Mercer Super Trust and the integration of the trustee offices of Catholic Super and Equipsuper.

In all 11 of the traditional mergers the more expensive fund’s fees lowered, with an average decrease of 21 percent.

For the fund with lower fees in the traditional mergers, seven of the 11 saw their fees drop, a reduction of 5 percent on average.

“Mergers have created efficiencies and economies of scale for the funds, which has led to members being better off,” executive director of research at Rainmaker Information, Alex Dunnin said.

“Regulators and political leaders continue to heap pressure on funds to merge, particularly if they lack scale or consistently under perform.”

Nine of the 11 funds saw their fees drop or stay the same when comparing the average pre-merger fees against the post-merger fees.

Of these results the average fall was 14 percent.

However, of the two fund integrations, fees actually went up on average across the funds.

"Fees don’t go down just because a super fund merges, they go down because the trustees redesign the product," Mr Dunnin said. “Products are more likely to be redesigned in a merger but not when funds just combine their back offices.”

Seven mergers occurred in the 18 months since the findings of the Productivity Commission were announced, compared to six in the two years prior.

Further to this, several other large-scale mergers have been announced since Rainmaker conducted this research, including:

• NGS Super and Australian Catholic Super
• CBUS and Media Super
• The acquisition of MLC by IOOF, which could overtake the merger of First State Super, VicSuper and WA Super (to form Aware Super) as the biggest merger in Australia’s superannuation history if it was to lead to the consolidation of their APRA-regulated superannuation funds.

On top of this, more details have been announced regarding the merger between MTAA Super and TasPlan.

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KEY PLAYERS in the superannuation sector will be scrutinised at the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics public hearing on September 10, 2020, as part of the committee’s ongoing review of the four major banks and other financial institutions.

Chair of the Committee, Tim Wilson MP, said, "These hearings are an important part of the committee’s scrutiny of the financial sector.

"Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic a significant number of Australians have accessed their super to support themselves during this difficult time. It is crucial that the superannuation sector is operating effectively, fairly and to the benefit of fund members," Mr Wilson said.

The committee’s examination of the groups will also include monitoring the sector’s progress on implementing relevant recommendations from the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

Public hearing details

Date: Thursday, 10 September 2020
Time: 10am to 4.45pm
Location: Videoconference

10am—ISPT Pty Ltd
11am—Break
11.15am—Industry Super Holdings
12.15pm—Lunch break
1.15pm— Mine Super
2pm—Hostplus
2.45pm—Break
3pm—AMP
3.45pm—CBUS
4.45pm—Finish 

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

Australian medicinal cannabis company Althea has applauded the interim decision by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to amend the current Poisons Standard to down schedule cannabidiol (CBD) to allow greater access through a new Schedule 3 entry1.

The proposed amendment would allow Australian patients to purchase CBD products upon consultation with a pharmacist, without the need for a prescription

The Therapeutic Goods Administration today released a notice of interim decision to amend the Poisons Standard for CBD. The proposed amendment to down schedule CBD from Schedule 4 would allow CBD to be supplied for therapeutic use under a new Schedule 3 (Pharmacist Only Medicine) entry.

This new, nonprescription cannabis channel would allow Australian patients to purchase CBD products over the counter upon consultation with a pharmacist, without the need for a prescription.

Althea has engaged with the TGA throughout the consultation process and is supportive of the down scheduling of CBD. The proposed amendment would bring patient access into closer alignment with comparable international jurisdictions, improving access to CBD products for therapeutic use.

Since listing in September 2018, with a focus on patient access, Althea Group Holdings Limited (ASX:AGH) has quickly grown its footprint in the Australian medicinal cannabis market and is one of the leading providers in the space.

“We applaud the TGA’s interim decision in this matter and see it as one of the biggest developments in our industry to date," Althea CEO Josh Fegan said.

"The interim decision reflects the significant shift in community and government attitudes towards medicinal cannabis since it was legalised in Australia in late 2016, which has seen it move from a fringe alternative towards an accepted mainstream option.

"As a strong advocate for patient access, Althea has closely monitored the proposed amendment since it began and has participated in the consultation process. We are excited by the TGA’s interim decision to down schedule CBD products and see this development as a big step forward for prescription cannabis products already available in Australia.” 

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THE Joint Standing Committee on Migration will be holding three days of hearings for its inquiry into the Working Holiday Maker program on 9, 10 and 11 September.

Committee Chair Julian Leeser MP noted that the hearings so far have mostly focused on Working Holiday Makers and the agriculture sector, and the Committee will turn its focus to other important matters.

“In our inquiry so far, we have received much evidence on the impact of border closures and the departure of approximately 50,000 Working Holiday Makers on the agriculture industry,” Mr Leeser said.

“This week’s hearings will further explore the broader context of the Working Holiday Maker visa, as the Committee talks with representatives of the tourism industry, and organisations and individuals involved in protecting Working Holiday Makers from exploitation in the workplace.

“Crucially, the Committee will also hear from some Working Holiday Makers themselves, about their experiences of the program,” Mr Leeser said. 

“The Committee has received a large amount of correspondence from Working Holiday Makers both onshore and offshore and will be taking this into account when making recommendations.”

Public hearing details

Date: Wednesday 9 September 2020
Time: 12.30pm – 4pm
Location: by teleconference

Date: Thursday 10 September 2020
Time: 12.30pm – 4pm
Location: by teleconference

Date: Friday 11 September 2020
Time: 9am – 11.30am
Location: by videoconference

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

Further details on the inquiry, including the terms of reference, are available on the inquiry website.

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NEW Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) lending figures for July show that HomeBuilder has started to drive a recovery in loans for  home building.

“The 9 percent jump in the number of owner occupier loans for the building of new homes in the month is encouraging and shows the highly effective impact of HomeBuilding in activating demand,” Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said.

“However, the outlook for the industry and the economy is extremly grim and HomeBuilder should be extended for 12 months in the Federal Budget to help maintain a pipeline of work and be a lifeline for buiders and tradies.

“Lending for residential land purchase jumped by 31.5 percent over the month. There was also an increase (+4.0%) in the number of loans provided for the purchase of new dwellings by owner occupiers during July,” Ms Wawn said.

“The home renovations market also appears to be responding well to the roll out of HomeBuilder across the country. During July, the number of loans to owner occupiers for home alterations/additions experienced a 6.3 percent uplift compared with the previous month,” she said.

“Our latest forecasts estimate that HomeBuilder is likely to boost new home building commencements by almost 10,000 during 2020-21 but the sector still faces a forecast of 27 percent decline.

“The heavy interlinkage between construction and the wider Australia economy means that the economic benefits across a range of sectors will be even greater than a boost to residentil building activity.

“While the purchase of established homes are obviously not eligible for HomeBuilder, lending in this part of the loan market still jumped substantially during July. This is another encouraging sign, showing that HomeBuilder is starting to help strengthen sentiment even in those areas which is does not directly target,” Ms Wawn said.

www.masterbuilders.com.au

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CBUS SUPER, Australia’s lead building and construction industry super fund, has revealed it has committed over $950 million to Australian businesses through equity raising, debt finance and project financing since March 2020 to support Australia’s economic recovery.

An extra allocation to the Cbus debt portfolio means Cbus now has a further $850m in additional capital to invest in companies and project finance.

Cbus has committed over $240m in general corporate debt to Australian businesses and made serious moves into construction project financing by committing $260m of debt funding for construction projects across Sydney and Melbourne including:

• In Melbourne, funding of $160m for the development of over 390 new apartments and associated retail and commercial facilities over two locations in South Melbourne and the inner North East;
• About $100m in a NSW based construction facility for a residential project close to the Sydney CBD.

Cbus has also injected over $450 million into Australian companies that were raising capital. This was done through a combination of its internally managed equity portfolios and externally managed mandates.

Cbus chief investment officer Kristian Fok said Cbus would continue to invest to support jobs and Australia’s critical infrastructure.

“As a long-term investor, Cbus is well placed to assist companies with the capital they need to keep operating and keep employing,” Mr Fok said.

“As the economic landscape has changed so rapidly this year, companies have had capital issues. This has provided an opening for Cbus to be a capital partner for companies that play an important role in the Australian economy while building better retirement outcomes for our members.

“On the debt side, we are proud to have been able to step up and support shovel ready projects—particularly in Victoria during this difficult time.”

Cbus Super CEO Justin Arter said the fund was determined to assist businesses, deliver strong investment outcomes and back projects that spur employment.

“What you saw in Australia through the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) was the industry fund sector stepping up to the plate to provide business with capital,” Mr Arter said.

“Cbus is now a larger investor with significant investment talent and capability. This has allowed the fund to back a wider array of companies and projects.

“The value of superannuation as a national capital pool should not be understated. It is the envy of the world for good reason.”

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