THE OPENING of the Byerwen coal mine in North Queensland is testament to the strength and diversity of the state's mining sector, Queensland Resources Council (QRC) Chief executive Ian Macfarlane said today.

Mr Macfarlane today attended the official opening of the mine in the Bowen Basin, which will produce up to 10 million tonnes of coking coal each year. The mine is a joint venture between QCoal Group and JFE Steel.

“This is a milestone not only for QCoal Group, but for all Queenslanders," Mr Macfarlane said.

"Every new mining job in Queensland leads to at least another four jobs in associated industries and adds to the budget bottom line for every Queenslander.

"Mines are part of the local community and during both construction and operations QCoal Group has kept track of its local spending and employment," he said.

“Almost half of the spend during construction was in Queensland and in operations more than three quarters of the spend is in our state.  More than half of the workers currently at the mine are from the Isaac, Whitsunday and Mackay regions.

"The high-quality coal mined here will be exported to Japan, Europe, India and South East Asia, further strengthening Queensland's reputation as a world-leading supplier of coking coal that is essential for building modern cities and supplying day-to-day essentials.

"Each tonne of coal exported also delivers returns for all Queenslanders through royalty taxes that pay for schools, roads, hospitals and public transport.

"Queensland's resources industry benefits all of us, from the workers at the mine site, to regional communities and down to the South East corner," Mr Macfarlane said.

"The Byerwen coal mine has a potential life of more than 50 years, which means a long-term pipeline of jobs and investment in North and Central Queensland."

About 1000 people were employed during construction and the mine will have a permanent workforce of more than 500 people during operations.

The Queensland resources industry already supports more than 316,000 jobs across the State, earns 80 percent of Queensland's exports and generates more than $5 billion in royalties for the Queensland Government to reinvest into services and infrastructure for all Queenslanders, according to the QRC.

www.qrc.org.au

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A 65-year-old property developer from Glen Waverley was sentenced yesterday in the County Court of Victoria to six years and nine months in jail for tax fraud.

Allan Dalton was convicted of obtaining and attempting to claim nearly half a million dollars in Goods and Services Tax (GST) refunds. Mr Dalton was brought on as a property developer and accountant by the directors of Greenhills Grange Pty Ltd (Greenhills), to assist with the completion of the first phase of a project to build 12 residential townhouses.

The project had run into financial difficulties and Mr Dalton convinced the directors that he had extensive experience in property development and accounting and would be able to get the project back on track. Having no prior experience in the property development industry or as an accountant, Mr Dalton sought the services of an external accountant to lodge business activity statements (BAS) on behalf of Greenhills.

Between March 2010 and June 2011, 16 false activity statements were lodged on behalf of Greenhills. Mr Dalton overstated the expenditure of Greenhills to obtain $479,714.84 in GST refunds. During this period, Greenhills was only entitled to $52,500 in GST refunds. The refund was subsequently transferred to Mr Dalton’s personal bank account and other bank accounts for which Mr Dalton was a signatory.

Mr Dalton was given a reparation order for $479,714.84, the full amount that he illegally obtained.

Mr Dalton was convicted of knowingly providing false information to his accountant to commit tax fraud for his own personal financial gain.

ATO acting assistant commissioner David Mendoza welcomed the sentence handed down and said it was commensurate with the seriousness of Mr Dalton’s crimes.

“Mr Dalton deliberately engaged with an external accountant and knowingly provided false information to him to obtain a personal financial advantage," Mr Mendoza said.

“As this case demonstrates, if you provide false information to your advisor you are breaking the law. We will hold you accountable and you will be pursued through the criminal judicial system,” Mr Mendoza said.

Reports can be made to the ATO anonymously at ato.gov.au/tipoff. 

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THE Queensland Resources Council has welcomed BHP’s annual economic contribution report highlighting its increased payments to the Queensland Government last financial year totalled $1.24 billion or $100 million every month.

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the report showed the company’s payments, including royalties, from its coal operations to the Queensland Government had increased by more than $100 million last financial year based on the current US dollar-Australian dollar exchange rate.

“These payments to the Queensland Government can be reinvested in services and infrastructure for all Queenslanders,” he said. 

“For instance, a $1.24 billion payment to the Queensland Government pays for all the budget capital works projects in Queensland hospital and health facilities ($1.22 billion). That means better hospital care and health facilities for Queenslanders no matter where they live."

Mr Macfarlane said this contribution did not include the multi-million-dollar injection from BHP in the form of wages, purchases from suppliers and contributions to local councils across Queensland.

“The QRC produces an annual contribution from the resources sector.  In 2017-18, the QRC study showed the resources sector contributed $62.9 billion to the Queensland economy, making $19.5 billion in purchases, paying $5.2 billion in wages and returning $4.3 billion in royalties to the State Government.

QRC will update its State-wide economic contribution report for 2018-19 in November.

Link to the 2017-18 QRC economic contribution report summary https://www.qrc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/QueenslandStory2018_final.pdf  

Link to the BHP 2019 economic contribution report https://www.bhp.com/-/media/documents/investors/annual-reports/2019/bhpeconomiccontributionreport2019.pdf?la=en 

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THE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will appear before the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics at a public hearing in Canberra on Wednesday, September 18, 2019.

The Chair of the Committee, Tim Wilson MP, said, "This hearing is an important mechanism for the Parliament to scrutinise the ACCC’s effectiveness as competition regulator and national consumer law champion.

"As the ACCC has significant responsibility for competition issues, it is timely to examine the regulator on these matters, particularly in relation to the financial services industry," he said.

In the consumer law area, Mr Wilson said, "Since the committee’s last hearing with the ACCC in June 2018, the Parliament has passed legislation to strengthen penalties under Australian Consumer Law by aligning them with the maximum penalties under the competition provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010."

"The committee looks forward to examining the ACCC’s recent work on its priority areas and the range of ongoing inquiries and market monitoring."

Public hearing details

Date: Wednesday, 18 September 2019
Time: 11.05am to 1.50pm
Location: Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra

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

PRESSURE selling insurance products, over the phone or otherwise, is not acceptable according to the Financial Services Council (FSC).

FSC CEO Sally Loane said insurers should not be able to make outbound calls with the view to sell life insurance or consumer credit insurance when people were not aware the call was coming - in other words, being called cold.

“There is no place for cold calling and pressuring random people into buying a life insurance product they don’t need, want or understand,” Ms Loane said.

“For an outbound call to be justified, a person must first have given their positive, clear and informed consent, before being contacted. 

“Additionally, given there is no legislated time frame in which calls need to be made, the FSC believes an initial call should be made within three months of consent.

“It is important to note that the industry has already made significant improvements through better use of monitoring and oversight, through remuneration practices, appropriate incentives, culture, training and the FSC Life Insurance Code of Practice.

“These anti-hawking measures ensure the conduct on all calls is at the highest standards,” Ms Loane said.

The FSC submission is in response to Recommendation 4.1 of the Financial Services Royal Commission, that hawking of insurance products should be prohibited. 

A copy of the submission can be found here: https://fsc.org.au/resources/1852-fsc-submission-unsolicited-telephone-sales-of-direct-life-insurance/file

About the FSC

The Financial Services Council (FSC) has over 100 members representing Australia's retail and wholesale funds management businesses, superannuation funds, life insurers, financial advisory networks and licensed trustee companies. The industry is responsible for investing almost $3 trillion on behalf of more than 14.8 million Australians. The pool of funds under management is larger than Australia’s GDP and the capitalisation of the Australian Securities Exchange and is the fourth largest pool of managed funds in the world. The FSC promotes best practice for the financial services industry by setting mandatory Standards for its members and providing Guidance Notes to assist in operational efficiency.

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SHOULD Australia move to fixed four-year parliamentary terms? A parliamentary committee will hold a roundtable discussion on this topic on Thursday  November 7, 2019, and has invited questions and views from the public.

Andrew Wallace MP, Chair of the House Social Policy and Legal Affairs Committee, said the Australian Parliament’s House of Representatives was the only lower house in the country with three-year parliamentary terms.

"Four-year terms could address the community’s concerns about the revolving doors of politicians and policy by providing more stability and opportunities for longer-term outcomes," Mr Wallace said.

"All of our state and territory parliaments have four-year lower house terms, with Queensland moving to four-year terms in 2020 following a successful referendum in 2016. On the other hand, there may be down-sides to fixed parliamentary terms. Current events in the United Kingdom show that this issue is one that needs careful consideration."

The roundtable will consist of a panel of Constitutional experts including laureate professor emeritus Cheryl Saunders, professor Gabrielle Appleby, professor Anne Twomey and professor George Williams.

"Any change to parliamentary terms would require popular support from voters, so we’re offering voters the opportunity to be involved in the process from the very beginning," Mr Wallace said.

The roundtable will be open to the public and streamed live on the Parliament's website. Australians can participate by submitting questions and views via the roundtable website.

The Committee will also consider questions posted live on Twitter on the day of the roundtable. The House’s Twitter account, @AbouttheHouse, will post live commentary from the event.

Following the roundtable, the Committee intends to present a short report to the House reflecting the issues discussed.

For more information go to the Committee’s website.

Public roundtable details

Date: Thursday 7 November, 2019
Time: 9am to 12.15pm
Location: Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra

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

THE Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) legislation has failed to deliver affordable financial advice, denying many people access to appropriate advice leading into their retirement, according to the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA).

To fill this void, IPA is advocating that all Australians should be able to get limited financial advice and support from their trusted adviser, the accountant.

“The Productivity Commission observed that 48 percent of Australian adults indicated having unmet financial advice needs. So, obviously there is an advice gap in Australia which needs to be addressed” IPA chief executive officer, Andrew Conway said.

“The IPA has developed a revised financial services licensing regime for accountants, which recognises their existing qualifications and experience.

“Our members are answerable to high levels of professional and ethical standards, subject to ongoing quality assurance evaluations, and must maintain currency of knowledge through committed and continuous professional development and training," he said.

“It, therefore, makes perfect sense for public accountants to fill the financial advice void; unshackling them to have genuine discussions with their clients.

“We believe it is the right time to introduce a new, extended Accountants Exemption,” Mr Conway said.

About the Institute of Public Accountants

The IPA, formed in 1923, is one of Australia’s three legally recognised professional accounting bodies.  In late 2014, the IPA acquired the Institute of Financial Accountants in the UK and formed the IPA Group, with more than 37,000 members and students in over 80 countries.  The IPA Group is the largest SME focused accountancy organisation in the world. The IPA is a member of the International Federation of Accountants, the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board and the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants.   

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THE Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Kate Carnell has welcomed the Federal Government’s latest commitment to cutting red tape and is looking forward to working closely with the deregulation taskforce on its key priorities.

“Small businesses and family enterprises are crying out for less red tape and unnecessary regulation, so they can get on with the job of growing their business,” Ms Carnell said.

“The government’s efforts to bring down the barriers to business investment and boost productivity are commendable.

“While we support the intentions of the deregulation taskforce in principle, understanding the detail of these proposals to ensure there are no unintended adverse consequences, is vital.

“It’s also critical the government consults widely as part of the deregulation process, which my office is looking forward to playing an active role in, to ensure the government engages fully with small business.

“Of particular interest is the taskforce’s agenda in dealing with the degree of regulatory complexity, the length of time for approvals and duplication across levels of government," Ms Carnell said.

“This has the potential to be a game-changer for Australia’s small businesses and family enterprises.

“We are working with the government to achieve these positive outcomes for the benefit of Australia’s 2.3 million small businesses.”

www.asbfeo.gov.au

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