AN EXPERT in life cycle finance says changes to the Age Pension may lead some pensioners towards risky investments.

Professor Susan Thorp from the University of Sydney Business School has extensively assessed the changes to the Age Pension proposed in the 2015-16 Federal Budget that come into effect this year.

“Changes to the Age Pension Means Tests are likely to encourage wealthier pensioners to spend their savings more quickly than they otherwise would have and take on more financial risk,” Prof. Thorp said.

“Many pensioners, especially the less wealthy and more elderly, hold onto their financial assets into old age.

“However, historically, wealthier pensioners affected by the assets test spend their savings at significantly faster rates than full pensioners,” she said.

“This is partly because less wealth means a higher pension for this group. Recent changes encourage better-off retirees to use up their nest eggs faster, rather than preserve and pass their wealth on.

“Risky investments will also look a little more attractive to some pensioners. The new asset test means that the pension compensates for financial losses at a higher rate than previously.

“If assets fall by $1,000, the pension rises by $78 compared to $39 previously.”

www.sydney.edu.au

ends

NATIONAL airspace protection is the focus of a new consultation paper, with stakeholder feedback being sought on a range of proposals to modernise airspace regulatory arrangements.

Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester said the paper aims to generate engagement with government, industry and community stakeholders on better approaches to this complex issue.

“The paper proposes a modern, consultative and risk-based approach to airspace protection around airports and critical aviation communications, navigation and surveillance facilities,” Mr Chester said.

“It also considers options to better protect low-flying aircraft from hazards operating away from airports.

“I am looking forward to feedback from interested parties as we work toward modernising airspace protection in Australia,” Mr Chester said.

Submissions on the paper will be accepted until 28 February 2017.

To view the Paper and for details on how to make a submission, visit: https://infrastructure.gov.au/aviation/airspace_protection/index.aspx 

• Public Consultation Paper released outlining plans to modernise airspace protection
• Paper covers a range of proposals to protect critical aviation infrastructure while enabling better airport and off-airport planning
• Submissions open until 28 February 2017

ends

BOXING DAY proved to be another great day for retailers this year with Australians flooding shopping centres and department stores across the country. Boxing Day sales are set to reach $2.3 billion as predicted by the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), with consumers lining up outside stores to take advantage of some of the best retail deals of the year.

Russell Zimmerman, ARA Executive Director, said retailers were happy with the out pour of consumers across the country, and were thankful to shoppers who waited patiently in ques due to the uplift in foot traffic across the nation.

“Every year Boxing Day crowds seem to expand, and this year’s crowd certainly did not disappoint,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“We predicted retailers would trade over $2.3 billion this Boxing Day, and judging by the increase of people in stores, I think we may have hit the mark.”

This Boxing Day, Myer launched their biggest Stocktake Sale, and expected to have 1.6 million customers flood through their doors. While department stores traded well, shopping centers like Melbourne Central expected to see over 230,000 people pass through the centre yesterday to take advantage of end-of-year sales.

Online retailers have also seen an increase in consumer activity during this last 24 hours due to Australians feeling more confident in purchasing products on mobile devices.

‘Boxing Day is only the start of the sale period, and we anticipate this shopping spree to continue for the next two or three weeks,” Mr Zimmerman said.

The ARA and Roy Morgan Research expect shoppers to spend $17.2 billion from December 26 to January 15 2017. The category tipped to enjoy the biggest increase in year on year sales in the next three weeks will be ‘hospitality’ at 6.8% growth, which is reflective of people enjoying their holidays and spending money at cafes and bars.

Following hospitality, other categories expected to show a big increase over the next three weeks in year on year sales will be the ‘other’ category at 3.2% growth, and ‘apparel’ at a 3% increase.

On a state basis, NSW will be the big winner, with year on year growth of 3.6% growth for the period encompassing 26 December 2016 to 15 January 2017.

ARA ROY MORGAN POST-CHRISTMAS 2016/17 SALES PREDICTIONS

December 26, 2016 – January 15, 2017

Boxing Day 2016 sales

(Australian Retailers Association)

2016/17 Post-Christmas Sales Growth by Category

(ARA/ROY MORGAN)

2016/17 Post-Christmas Sales Growth by State

(ARA/ROY MORGAN)

About the Australian Retailers Association:

Founded in 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is the retail industry’s peak representative body representing Australia’s $300 billion sector, which employs more than 1.2 million people. The ARA works to ensure retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 5,000 independent and national retail members throughout Australia. For more information, visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

 ends

WITH ONLY a few days left for Australians to finalise their Christmas shopping, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) reminds consumers of the most sought after Christmas gifts this silly season and where to source produce for this Sunday’s Christmas lunch.

With Australians set to spend more than $48.1 billion in retail stores over the Christmas trading period from November 14 to December 24 2016, Roy Morgan’s Young Australians Survey has predicted the hottest-selling gifts for kids this Christmas.

Apple electronics top the ‘cool list’ with 69 percent of children voting the iPad as the best gift this Christmas, closely followed by 54 percent of children thinking the iPhone will be a nice stocking surprise.

While Apple-branded products take out majority of the top 10 hottest products this Christmas, the Fitbit appears to be the favorite amongst adults. This product continues to take the lead as the number one searched for gift two years in a row.

Following the technology trend, Hatchimals hit the top spot in the toy department, with major retailers seeing these interactive hatching eggs fall off the shelves.

Steve Cox, Dymocks managing director says Harry Potter is a Christmas stocking must have for all book lovers out there.

“It can’t be Christmas without the magic of Harry Potter,” said Mr Cox, “The last few months have seen the release of the Illustrated Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and the original screenplay of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, so whether you’re an existing fan or new to the wizarding world, they make the perfect addition to any reader's bookshelf,” Mr Cox said.

For those looking to fill the family table for Christmas lunch, Sydney Fish Market is expecting more than 100,000 shoppers to visit the market between Friday December 23 and Saturday December 24 to source their fresh seafood for their Christmas feast.

ARA Executive Director, Russell Zimmerman says fresh fish, prawns, oysters and scallops are likely to be on everyone’s Christmas menu this year.

“With the sun promising to shine brightly this Christmas day, we are expecting Australians to shop big on fresh seafood for the long-anticipated Christmas barbie,” Mr Zimmerman said.

Sydney Fish Market general manager, Bryan Skepper, says the Sydney Fish Market is a foodie’s haven and a one-stop shop for all Christmas supplies.

“It’s obvious that adults see the Christmas holiday as a seafood celebration as we expect to trade 700 tonnes of fresh seafood this year, that’s equivalent to the weight of 350,000 Christmas trees,” Mr Skepper said.

Although the Sydney Fish Market expects to trade more than 200 tonnes of prawns and 900,000 oysters, Mr Skepper says this Christmas is not all about seafood.

“Shoppers can also grab a Christmas turkey or a rare-breed Kurobuta Ham from the market’s butcher, get advice from the bottle shop on the best wines and beer to accompany their Christmas meal, or even pick up fresh bread from the bakery.”

This weekend will see a surge of foot traffic across all retail stores with Australians stocking up for Christmas celebrations and purchasing last minute supplies to tide them over on Christmas Day when stores may be closed.

“With Australians to hit the stores in force late this week, we ask that shoppers remain patient as retail staff manage the increased number of customers,” Mr Zimmerman said.

For a full breakdown of Christmas trading hours state by state please view our Christmas Public Holiday Circular.

About the Australian Retailers Association:

Founded in 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is the retail industry’s peak representative body representing Australia’s $300 billion sector, which employs more than 1.2 million people. The ARA works to ensure retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 5,000 independent and national retail members throughout Australia. For more information, visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

ends

THE FEDERAL Government has completed a thorough evaluation of final private sector bids to upgrade and operate the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) registry functions and decided not to proceed further.

The reason the Government decided not to proceed with the commercialisation of the ASIC Registry is that the final bids received did not deliver a net financial benefit for the Commonwealth.

The Government appreciates the private sector’s participation throughout the competitive tender process.

BRISBANE's winning tourism streak continues, with a record number of Australians visiting the city in the year ending September.

The latest National Visitor Survey from Tourism Australia released today saw overall domestic visitor numbers climb 5.3 percent to a record 5.8 million, while a sharp spike in holiday visitors saw numbers rise 18.5 percent to 1.6 million – another record.

Interstate holiday visitors were up 24.8 percent to 604,000, while holiday visitors from within Queensland rose 15 percent to 1 million.

Brisbane also saw major rises in numbers from Sydney and Melbourne, with Sydney holiday visitors growing 22.9 percent to 172,000 and Melbourne holiday visitors up a massive 45.9 percent to 108,000.

There were also gains in the business sector, with interstate visitors rising 6.4 percent to 834,000 and the number of business visitors from within Queensland rising 3.9 percent to 584,000.

The domestic tourism figures follow the recent release of the latest International Visitor Survey results, which saw record highs across international visitor numbers and expenditure.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the record results were testament to Brisbane’s growing profile as a destination of choice and a major events capital.

“Major events are a key focus for us as they attract visitors to the city and support our hotels, restaurants, retailers and service providers,” Cr Quirk said.

“The Brisbane International tennis tournament in January, the Brisbane Global Rugby Tens in February and the World Science Festival Brisbane in March are all world-class events set to draw more and more visitors to the city.”

Brisbane City Council and Brisbane Marketing will continue to work alongside Tourism and Events Queensland and tourism operators to market Brisbane in domestic and global visitor markets.

www.choosebrisbane.com.au

ends

THE House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics today presented its report on the inquiry into home ownership.

This inquiry was established to assess issues related to home ownership in Australia, and potential policy responses by government.

Committee Chair, Mr David Coleman MP, said that a range of views on the challenges facing home buyers were canvassed throughout this inquiry.

The key findings of the report include:

• while demand for housing is strong in Sydney and Melbourne it must be noted this is not the case throughout Australia. Many parts of Australia have a relatively weak housing market;
• government policy in this area should predominantly focus on boosting dwelling supply in underserved markets;
• the Committee does not support tax increases on property investment.  Increased rates of capital gains tax, and increases to income tax through the removal of negative gearing are not supported by the committee;
• the Committee notes that APRA has the capacity to seek to limit the growth of borrowing by property investors, should it deem this to be in the interest of financial stability. APRA acted in this manner in late 2014 and this action is widely regarded as having been successful. It is open to APRA to take additional actions in this area in the future if it deems it to be appropriate.

“Australia’s property market is not homogeneous – it has very different characteristics in different locations”, Mr Coleman said. 

"Government policy is best focused on seeking to increase the level of stock in those markets that are under-supplied at present.  Increasing rates of tax on property investment would have a negative impact on the economy, and is not supported by the committee. It’s notable that APRA has already acted to reduce the rate of borrowing by investors, and has the tools to take further action if it believes this is in the best interests of the economy."

The Committee’s report also canvasses potential changes to stamp duty and land taxes, and finds that any such change should only be considered as part of an overall review of property taxation.

The report can be accessed from the Committee’s website.

ends