THE Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) has concluded a review into the Foreign Intelligence Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 and recommends its passage with amendments.

The PJCIS made three recommendations in relation to the Bill, including to improve oversight and accountability of foreign intelligence gathering.

The proposed legislation addresses unintended gaps in Australia’s foreign intelligence collection. The Bill will restore intelligence agencies’ ability to collect intelligence about foreign threats to Australia in line with the original intent of the Parliament which has been impacted by technological change.

The Bill also responds to a recommendation in the comprehensive review of intelligence by Dennis Richardson to close a gap in Australia’s foreign intelligence collection framework which permits collection on Australians acting on behalf of foreign powers while they are offshore but not onshore.

Chair of the Committee, Senator James Paterson said, "The capability to gather foreign intelligence is a key component of the Australian Government’s ability to protect Australians and safeguard our national interest. It is vital we ensure it remains operationally effective in the modern era."

Further information on the inquiry as well as a copy of the report can be obtained from the Committee’s website.

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PROFESSOR of engineering at the Australian National University (ANU), Andrew Blakers, will appear at Wednesday’s third public hearing for the House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy’s inquiry into the current circumstances, and the future need and potential, for dispatchable energy generation and storage capability in Australia.

Committee Chair Ted O’Brien MP said, "This public hearing is an opportunity for the committee to hear more about the requirements to balance an electricity market comprising more and more renewables, including through long-distance transmission, demand management, legacy generation sources and storage options.

Professor Blakers has significant expertise in energy matters. We are looking forward to discussing his research and his views on the future prospects and prerequisites for dispatchable energy in Australia," Mr O’Brien said.

Public hearing details

Date: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Time: 10.15am to 11am
Location: via videoconference

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, committee proceedings held in Parliament House are not currently open to the public. The hearing will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

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ISSUES such as country of origin labelling, regional infrastructure and regulatory pathways in aquaculture will be considered by the House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee at an upcoming public hearing.

The committee will hear from Seafood Industry Australia, the national peak body representing the Australian seafood industry, as part of its current inquiry into Australia’s aquaculture sector. The organisation will be appearing via videoconference.

Committee Chair, Rick Wilson MP, said Seafood Industry Australia represents a wide range of stakeholders in aquaculture throughout Australia and offers perspectives from across the industry on a broad range of topics such as policy, regulation, workforce, infrastructure and export market growth.

"While the committee has heard that there are many region-specific issues to be considered in this inquiry, it is valuable to understand how these are reflected on a national scale," Mr Wilson said.

For further information, visit the inquiry website.

Public hearing details

Date: Thursday, 26 August 2021
Time: 10.10am to 10:50am AEST

A live audio stream of the hearing will be accessible at: www.aph.gov.au/live.

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THE House of Representatives Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue has today presented its report titled Owning a Share of Your Work: Tax Treatment of Employee Share Schemes.

Employee share schemes are a means by which an employer can offer an employee shares or options in relation to their employment. In its report, the committee makes 18 recommendations to support the uptake and use of employee share schemes in Australia.

The committee’s overarching recommendation is that employee share schemes be treated as capital for the purposes of taxation, and that a tax liability would arise on the disposal of the assets granted, using the current capital gains tax regime.

The committee’s recommendations also include regulatory relief to reduce disclosure requirements in certain situations, enhanced collection and sharing of data relating to employee share schemes, a public awareness program, and an investigation by the Productivity Commission to identify how Australia’s existing arrangements in this space can be improved.

The Committee’s recommendations also include proposed amendments to the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment Employee Share Schemes) Act 2015 and the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, to simplify the complicated and restrictive current tax arrangements for employee share schemes, and support more individuals to access tax concessions for employee share schemes.

Committee chair, Jason Falinski MP, advocated for policy changes in this space.

"Employee share schemes matter because they support new businesses, innovation and start-ups, which are the engine of higher productivity in our country," Mr Falinski said.

"Higher productivity leads to sustainably higher wages, better products and services, greater competition and more choice. All these outcomes directly impact on the quality of life that hard working Australians enjoy. Productivity is what makes life better, more affordable and easier."

A full copy of the committee’s report can be found on the inquiry’s website: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Tax_and_Revenue/EmployeeShareSchemes

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THE NSW Government's decision to deny construction workers from LGAs of concern being able to use rapid antigen testing as a means of proving they are safe to work is discriminatory and a slap in the face to an industry that has met every challenge Covid has thrown at it.

Union leaderes say the current rules have caused "untold distress and anxiety to a group of construction workers already doing it tough as a result of an issue not of their own making".

“The CFMEU, ETU and Plumbers union have been calling for the Berejiklian Government to support a rapid antigen testing regime in the industry since the start of the pandemic, and as an alternative to mandatory vaccination, and it is shameful that some construction workers are going to be excluded from it. Construction workers are being unjustifiably punished,” CFMEU NSW construction secretary Darren Greenfield said.

“Until today the Berejiklian Government had consistently resisted supporting rapid antigen testing in the industry. Despite this resistance, rapid antigen testing has been adopted widely across the industry following the long-term advocacy for its use by the CFMEU, ETU and Plumbers Union as a means of detecting and managing the risk of covid on construction sites.

“It is bizarre and defies any sensible rationale that in announcing the rapid antigen testing regime for every other industry that the government has excluded construction workers living in the 12 LGAs of concern from being able to use it as a means of proving they are safe to work. Construction workers, in an industry that is such an important pillar of our economy, deserve much better," Mr Greenfield said.

“Construction workers who live in Sydney's Western and South Western Suburbs are being discriminated against by a government that ignores the evidence of how the industry has successfully managed Covid.

“The industry has effectively managed the risks posed by Covid-19 since this pandemic began by putting in place upgraded and enhanced safety measures, including staggered start, finish and break times, social distancing on sites, enhanced cleaning and hygiene practices, mandatory face masks, contact tracing and elevated testing regimes - including rapid antigen testing.

“Many builders have adopted the Contact Harold system which tracks where workers are on sites and assists in identifying close contacts of any case where a covid-positive person has been on a site," he said.

“The measures put in place over the past 18 months are over and above what any other industry has done in response to the risk of Covid-19 at the workplace. These measures have ensured that any time Covid has been detected on a site the industry has acted immediately and successfully managed the risk to construction workers and their families.

“If the government is serious about increasing vaccination rates, they need to make vaccines easily available, providing workers with choice and back it up with a clear and consistent public information campaign so workers can make an informed and confident choices about their own health.

“Now that tens of thousands of construction workers have been vaccinated, we demand of the government introduce immediately the opportunity for antigen testing, which is already in place, as an alternative to mandatory vaccination. We will continue to fight for all workers in the construction to return to work unconditionally and to be treated no less favourably than any other worker," Mr Greenfield said.

“Workers should not be forced to pay the price for the bungled vaccine rollout, mixed messaging on vaccine safety and the ongoing failure by the State and Federal Governments to give people the accurate information they need to make their own health choices.”

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SUSTAINABLE Population Australia (SPA) has supported the call of its Patron, former NSW Premier and federal Foreign Minister, Bob Carr, to allow in 10,000 refugees from Afghanistan. Mr Carr made the call on ABC-TV’s Q&A program last night.

SPA national president Jenny Goldie said the first plane load out of Kabul, of a mere 26 people, by Australia was pathetic and took no account of the scale of its obligation to the many Afghans who had worked for and beside Australians for 20 years.

“The scenes of people running in front of planes and even hanging on to the landing gear showed the desperation of so many,” Ms Goldie said.

“Despite the spokesperson for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, in its press conference on Tuesday, assuring his compatriots who had worked with the US and its allies that they would not be treated with revenge, nevertheless, the fear of the people is clearly evident.

“The record of the Taliban is not good, particularly in its treatment of women and girls who thankfully have had two decades of respite from its excesses. For 20 years women and children have had access to school and family planning clinics, both of which helped bring the fertility rate down from 7.5 to 4.5 children per woman.

“Last month in two provinces where they had taken control, Taliban leaders issued an order to local religious leaders to provide them with a list of girls over the age of 15 and widows under the age of 45 for marriage with Taliban fighters.

“This is inhumane,” Ms Goldie said.

“While we cannot take every Afghan who is afraid of the Taliban, nevertheless, we must help the interpreters and others who have worked with our troops to get out and come here under our Humanitarian program.

“We are signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention and these people clearly fill the definition of a refugee, namely, someone who has a well-founded fear of persecution, war or violence in his own country.”

www.population.org.au

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WESTERN Australia’s lack of action to curb pollution from liquefied natural gas (LNG) is ‘directly undermining national emissions targets’ and the Paris Agreement, while costing taxpayers billions according to WA’s leading conservation group.

Appearing in front of the Senate Economics References Committee inquiry on Friday, the Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) director, Piers Verstegen, said the WA-based LNG sector was the fastest growing source of pollution in Australia, and the primary reason that Australia was unable to adopt a responsible science-based position on climate change.

“The oil and gas industry have made record profits for the last decade, but the vast majority of these profits have flowed to overseas shareholders, while Australian taxpayers pick up a multi-billion dollar bill for the pollution from this industry," Mr Verstegen told the committee.

“We conservatively estimate that the Australian taxpayer has forked out roughly $1.4 billion over the last five years, just to offset WA’s rising pollution from the LNG export industry.

“This is a giant back-door subsidy fuelling the world’s fastest growing pollution source. It should be an international scandal.”

Western Australia is the only state where carbon pollution has risen substantially since the 2005 baseline under the Paris Agreement. This increase has been driven by growth in LNG exports, and it is a primary factor preventing Australia from making meaningful progress on emissions.

“While protecting Australia’s fossil fuel exports has motivated Australia’s obstructionist position on the national stage, the lack of domestic action and refusal to adopt stronger targets can largely be put down to protectionism for the LNG industry," Mr Verstegen said.

“If Australia didn’t need to accommodate pollution growth from this industry it would be far easier to meet more ambitious targets.

“The LNG industry is holding our country back and our country is in turn holding the world back from greater ambition on climate change.

“The WA government approach to climate policy has been to shift the cost and liability of rising LNG emissions to other states. But no other state has agreed to this and nobody is talking about where the savings are going to come from in other states and other businesses to offset this pollution growth.

“Currently, the cost of this is being met by Australian taxpayers who are forking out billions of dollars through the Emissions Reduction Fund to offset growth in LNG pollution, while record LNG profits flow to overseas shareholders.”

Meanwhile, Woodside is pressing ahead with plans for its Scarborough LNG project in WA’s North West, which campaigners say will produce in excess of 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon pollution over its lifetime – equivalent to 15 coal-fired power stations. 

This is despite the recent IPCC report’s ‘code red’ warning and International Energy Agency analysis which showed any attempt to reach net zero emissions by 2050 would mean no new gas project approvals beyond 2021, the CCWA said.

This has led to questions over the long-term viability of fossil gas projects and whether the failure to transition to alternative energy sources – particularly in renewables – is costing Western Australian jobs and investment, according tot he CCWA.

Independent research from CCWA has demonstrated that "inaction on climate change in WA is holding back the creation of more than 200,000 jobs in industries like renewable energy, green metals and low carbon agriculture". CCWA said this was far more than the number of jobs created by the LNG industry.

“The political influence of companies like Woodside has stifled and held back economic activities which would create thousands of jobs and made WA’s economy far less competitive," Mr Verstegen said.

“Meanwhile, the LNG industry creates very few jobs itself. It is the smallest employer by sector in WA.

“In economic terms, the LNG industry is ripping us off, while at the same time undermining the conditions that support human habitation on this planet.”

The Inquiry into Australia’s oil and gas industry will submit its findings to the Senate later this year.

About the CCWA

The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) is the state’s foremost non-profit, non-government conservation organisation representing more than 100 environmental organisations across Western Australia. 

 ccwa.org.au

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INVESTMENT design house Stoic Asset Management has become the largest co-investor in Elanor Investors Group’s (ASX: ENN) newly established Hotel Accommodation Fund with key property-backed domestic tourism assets across Australia.

The $346 million fund is made up of 14 high-quality hotels in the luxury and regional hotel sectors. Stoic Asset Management executive chairman Guy Hedley said the fund focused on focus on the luxury and regional hotel sectors and was expected deliver significant earnings growth with an average distribution yield of 10 percent over the next three years and a guaranteed 8 percent return to June 30, 2022.

The fund’s strategy is to grow the portfolio to more than $500 million and a potential listing on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Stoic Asset Management is an outcome-driven investment management group that designs fit for purpose investment products. It is also the sole co-investor in Elanor’s Wildlife Park Fund and a major investor in Elanor’s Burke Street Real Estate and Healthcare Real Estate funds.

The Elanor Hotel Accommodation Fund includes a hotel operating company and three property trusts. The first property trust in the Elanor hotel fund holds six hotels including the ibis Styles operated by Accor at Byron Bay in northern NSW, Albany, Western Australia, Barossa and Clare, South Australia, Eaglehawk, Victoria and Canberra.

The second trust holds five hotels in Mudgee, Port Macquarie, Tall Trees, Wagga Wagga, Wollongong. The third has Adabco Adelaide, Mayfair Hotel Adelaide, and the famed Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge in Tasmania.

“Along with luxurious city-based hotels, the portfolio has a unique focus on high-end regional accommodation for which there is a market shortage,” Mr Hedley said.

“Regional areas attract a considerable proportion of Australia’s tourism market and have experienced growth with an increase in intrastate and interstate travel by domestic tourists throughout COVID-19. We expect demand to surge as domestic and international travel revives.”

Mr Hedley said Stoic Asset Management’s strong partnership with Elanor Investors Group helped put it ahead of the market when it came to commercial property opportunities in Australia.

“These are unique and highly sought-after opportunities in the visitor economy – Australia’s fourth largest export sector,” he said.

“We are continuing to look for further high-quality hotel, resort and retreat opportunities in Australia’s thriving domestic tourism market.”

https://www.stoicam.com.au/

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