QUEENSLAND Resources Council chief executive, Ian Macfarlane, has applauded Peabody Australia’s environmental credentials after the company received certification from the Queensland Government for the rehabilitation of close to 90 hectares (86.67ha) of land at its former Wilkie Creek mine northwest of Dalby.

“It’s another clear and practical example of Peabody’s commitment to the environment and the sustainability of mining in regional Queensland,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“I congratulate Peabody and their rehabilitation team on this significant recognition from the government.

“Queensland’s resources industry adheres to world-class environmental standards with a strong focus on the rehabilitation of land post mining. This commitment is delivered through the resources industry’s close and productive partnerships with other land users and local communities.”

www.qrc.org.au

About the QRC

QRC is the peak representative body for Queensland‘s resource sector. The Queensland resources sector provides one in every five dollars in the Queensland economy, sustains one in eight Queensland jobs, and supports more than 15,400 businesses and community organisations across the State, all from 0.1 percent of Queensland’s land mass.

TWO superannuation bills which passed the Senate overnight, with extensive amendments, will help curtail super balances being eroded by unnecessary fees and signal the beginning of the end for underperforming, fee gouging super funds according to Industry Super Australia.

Industry Super Australia deputy chief executive, Matt Linden said after a tortuous eventual vote, one of the most important changes was the automatic consolidation of inactive accounts under $6000 from July 1 this year.

“Although the technology to automatically consolidate accounts has been available for many years without requiring members to do the legwork legislators have dragged the chain," Mr Linden said. “Coupled with fee caps for accounts under $6000 these measures will have to do the heavy lifting to prevent erosion of small account balances.

“It was disappointing explicit changes intended to protect young and low balance members from unnecessary insurance were completely dropped from the final bill."

While additional safeguards were definitely required removing the provisions completely was not necessary, he said.

“Regardless, Industry super funds will strive to ensure default insurance arrangements remain cost effective and matched to the insurance needs of members taking into account age and other factors such as occupational risk," Mr Linden said.

The other Bill passed by the Senate, Member Outcomes 1, benefited significantly from Labor and Green amendments supported by most of the cross bench which will place greater scrutiny on costly and poorly performing, non-default ‘Choice’ superannuation products, Mr Linden claimed.

As a result of the amendments the fees, costs, and returns of choice superannuation products will be scrutinised, and new reporting standards should now shine a light on billions in undisclosed investment fees and profits gouged from the system.

“Trustees who fail to operate in the best interest of fund members will now have little place to hide,” Mr Linden said.

MINING companies Anglo American and QCoal have increased donations from resource companies to flood recovery efforts to more than $3 million.

Anglo American has donated $200,000 to GIVIT, while the QCoal Foundation has committed $100,000 to support local initiatives in Townsville and across North Queensland.

Queensland Resources Council (QRC) chief executive Ian Macfarlane said resource companies were responding with financial support, in-kind donations and labour to help Queenslanders get back on their feet from floods.

“I would like to thank Anglo American and the QCoal Foundation for adding their support to the flood recovery efforts. Every dollar helps with a strong recovery for North Queensland,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“The Government announced yesterday that more than $4.4 million has been donated. I am proud the resources sector has contributed more than $3 million – or almost three quarters – of those donations.”

Including the donations from Anglo American and the QCoal Foundation, QRC members have donated $3.25 million to flood relief charities with Glencore and South32 donating $1,000,000 each, the BHP Foundation, MMG Dugald River and Aurizon contributing $250,000 each, and Adani Australia and Incitec Pivot contributing $100,000 each.

Mr Macfarlane said Glencore and South32 were assisting efforts to support the cattle industry devastated by floods in the state’s north west.

Glencore has supported hay drops by providing access to its Ernest Henry site for the RAAF to conduct their operations. It has also provided heavy equipment (loaders and forklifts) and people power to assist in the hay drops for stranded cattle and for the removal of dead cattle.

South32 Cannington has also provided heavy equipment for near neighbours in the disposal of dead cattle and has been on standby to help with refuelling at its airport if needed as part of the hay drops.

South 32 has been working with the Mayors of McKinlay and Cloncurry Shire Councils on how it can provide support to the region to deal with the flood crisis and recovery efforts.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk started the appeal with a $200,000 donation and her Government listed The Australian Red Cross, UnitingCare, Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul Society Queensland as the non-government partners and said people can also donate to GIVIT.

www.qrc.org.au

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THE Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has welcomed the decision by the State Government to award a petroleum facility licence which will lead to a new gas processing plant in the Surat Basin.

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the plant would be built by Jemena and process gas from Senex Energy’s Project Atlas west of Wandoan.

“This project is part of the Government’s domestic only gas supply initiative designed to help ease the east coast gas squeeze,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“The processing plant will be part of Jemena’s $140 million Atlas gas pipeline which will connect gas from Project Atlas to the Wallumbilla Gas Hub in south west Queensland and create 150 jobs.

“It’s another flagship example of industry and Government working together to produce more natural gas, with benefits for Queensland," he said.

“Queensland’s resources industry has a proven track record of attracting new investment and creating new jobs because of the clear and stable regulatory environment in which it operates. It is essential that we have stable and reliable regulation for our resources sector to continue to attract the investment that builds our State and delivers for every Queenslander.”

www.qrc.org.au

About QRC

QRC is the peak representative body for Queensland ‘s resource sector. The Queensland resources sector provides one in every five dollars in the Queensland economy, sustains one in eight Queensland jobs, and supports more than 15,400 businesses and community organisations across the State, all from 0.1 percent of Queensland’s land mass.

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THE Coalition’s Protecting Your Super package has been stalled for far too long in the Senate and should be supported to help secure Australians’ retirement funding, according to the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA).

“Fee-gouging, particularly by the large superannuation entities, has to be dramatically wound back if we are to encourage a culture of superannuation contributions and savings as part of retirement planning,” IPA chief executive officer, Andrew Conway said.

“The Bills that form this package were announced in last year’s Federal Budget in May and yet it has not progressed.  The package starts to address some of the flaws in our superannuation system.

“It is staggering to think that the youngest superannuation members and others with the smallest balances will be hit with hundreds of millions of dollars in fees just over the next six months.

“Exorbitant fees erode faith in the superannuation system and discourages young people from voluntarily contributing more into future retirement funding.

“If the Protecting Your Super package goes ahead, fees charged to small superannuation accounts (less than $6,000) will be capped at 3 percent per year which is a far cry from what is being paid currently.

“The package also stops default charging of life insurance with an opt-in option for people under 25 while the current default process erodes super balances with unnecessary insurance," Mr Conway said.

“Australia must encourage people to build their superannuation retirement funds to alleviate the pressures that will exist on government paid pensions in the future.

“Too many Australians have multiple superannuation accounts. It is therefore, encouraging to see the work by the ATO to educate the public over lost and unclaimed superannuation with promising results of $860 million found and consolidated just in the last quarter of 2018.  The worry is that there is $17.5 billion reportedly, still in the lost and unclaimed category,” said Mr Conway.

www.publicaccountants.org.au

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THE Coalition Government has today released the Naval Shipbuilding Strategic Workforce Discussion Paper.

While the Government has already taken many actions to build the workforce, it is important to hear if there is more that we can and should do to support workforce growth. 

Minister for Defence, Christopher Pyne MP, said the Government is therefore seeking submissions on the Discussion Paper, including any pertinent data, to help guide further actions and initiatives to support the development of the naval shipbuilding workforce. 

“The Government’s investment in establishing the National Naval Shipbuilding Enterprise will create thousands of direct and indirect jobs across Australia,” Mr Pyne said.

“In order to meet the future demands of the Naval Shipbuilding Enterprise, we must ensure we have the right people, at the right time, with the right skills.

“By providing a submission on the Naval Shipbuilding Strategic Workforce Discussion Paper, businesses and other interested parties will help inform the continuous workforce planning being undertaken in support of the National Naval Shipbuilding Enterprise.”

Submissions are open until March 29, 2019.  The Naval Shipbuilding Strategic Workforce Discussion Paper is available at http://www.defence.gov.au/NavalShipBuilding/. 

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THE House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics will hold public hearings in Carlisle and Guildford, Western Australia, and Norwood, South Australia, for its inquiry into the implications of removing refundable franking credits.

The chair of the committee, Tim Wilson MP, said, "The committee continues to gather evidence about how the removal of refundable franking credits would affect investors, particularly senior Australians whose financial security could be compromised."

The SMSF Association, who will appear in Adelaide, have called the ALP’s franking credits policy ‘flawed’ because it "proposes that refunds from dividend imputation are appropriate for almost all investors except for SMSF investors and those shareholders with low taxable incomes".

Also appearing in Adelaide, National Seniors Australia said in its submission that many self-funded retirees "feel they are being penalised for doing the right thing by saving for their retirement and not being a burden on the taxpayer by relying on the age pension".

Mr Wilson said, "These hearings will provide an opportunity for Australians impacted by a change to refundable franking credits to address the committee directly with a three minute statement, and we welcome their contributions and participation."

Public hearing details:

Carlisle, 9.30am to 11am, Community statements, Monday, 25 February 2019, Harold Hawthorne Community Centre, 2 Memorial Ave, Carlisle, Western Australia.

Guildford, 1:30pm to 3pm, Community statements, Monday, 25 February 2019, Guildford Town Hall, 97-99 James St, Guildford, Western Australia

Adelaide, 9.30am to 12pm, Tuesday, 26 February 2019, Osmond Terrace Function Centre, 97 The Parade, Norwood, South Australia: 9.30am to 10am, SMSF Association; 10am to 10.30am, National Seniors Australia; 10.30am to 12pm, community statements.

Further public hearings will be announced as the inquiry progresses. The hearings will be webcast live (audio only).

A number of submissions have been received and are available on the committee’s webpage at: www.aph.gov.au/economics. A number of submissions are currently being processed and will be published over the coming months. Submissions can be made online or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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THE Australian Retailers Association (ARA) today condemned the use of dirty tricks by the opposition parties in the Senate to prevent regulations that protect casual employees from taking effect.

The Fair Work Amendment (Casual Loading Offset) Regulations 2018 (Regulations) were made by the Government in December to address uncertainties created by a case in the Federal Court during 2018 regarding casual employee entitlements. However, the Australian Labor Party (ALP) is using tactics in the Senate to play games with casual employment, threatening their job security and costing retailers millions in false entitlement claims, according to the ARA.

The ARA said while casual employees were already compensated with a casual loading in their ordinary wages for the absence of annual leave and sick pay entitlements, the Federal Court’s Decision in the Workpac v Skene Case last August potentially gave casual employees the opportunity to pursue back-pay claims for annual leave and sick pay entitlements. The Regulations made by the Government in December 2018 were intended to address the issue by clarifying these entitlements.

Russell Zimmerman, executive director of the ARA, said that if the ALP was successful in coercing the independents on the Senate’s crossbench to overturn the Regulations on April 2, retailers could be liable for millions of dollars in back-pay to casuals who were never entitled to annual leave or sick pay.

“These Regulations are crucial to providing certainty to retailers and their casual employees, and without them, the confusion around entitlements will only get worse and small and family-run retailers will be crippled by the financial cost. The ALP will destroy casual employment by making it completely insecure, with businesses being forced to cut shifts or shut their doors entirely,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“Retailers really care about their casual employees and want to provide them with the best opportunities that they can. However, constantly shifting the goalposts and adding millions of dollars to the industry’s wage bill means many retailers may have to make the heartbreaking decision to say goodbye to casual employees who rely on their jobs.”

As the retail industry employs over 10 percent of the Australian working population and many small to medium enterprises employ this populous, this manoeuvre brought forward by the ALP will have a direct impact on the retail industry. To protect the future of retail employees and the industry, the ARA will continue to advocate on behalf of its members on key policy and advocacy issues, Mr Zimmerman said.

About the Australian Retailers Association:

Founded in 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is Australia’s largest retail association, representing the country’s $310 billion sector, which employs more than 1.2 million people. As Australia’s leading retail peak industry body, the ARA is a strong pro-active advocate for Australian retail and works to ensure retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 7,700 independent and national retail members throughout Australia. Visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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