Ausbuy

Biofuels And The World Food Markets

May 5th, 2008

Global warming and how we should deal with it has provoked much debate and spawned new industries where entrepreneurs expect to make their fortune (with the help of government assistance) and at the same time fight this new threat. Many of the technologies on which these businesses are based have been poorly researched and some have had unintended consequences.The most notable example of the above is the biofuel industry. The theory of biofuels is that we use them instead of fossil fuels which are wasting assets. Its use was made popular by Brazil in the 1970’s when the price of oil went through the roof and they had vast quantities of sugar they couldn’t sell. Ethanol provided as alternative fuel to run their cars. This was an economic decision where the Brazilians were prepared to accept this less efficient fuel and the high cost of production was more than offset by the world oil price at that time.

These are Ausbuy Press! no comments.(View comments) Tell a friend

2020 Summit

April 24th, 2008

 The 2020 Summit has come and gone and Ausbuy has analysed the results. We realise that the Government has given no undertaking that any of the suggestions will be translated into legislation. This is wise as many of the ideas put forward are contradictory or will cost more than the country can afford. Despite this, the Summit offered an example of democracy in action and as a PR exercise it highlighted long term problems. As we understood, the Government will use some of the suggestions in arriving at a long term strategy. The problems which demand immediate action will be tackled in the normal course of running the country. This effort to plan for the next 12 years highlighted the problems of the three year electoral cycle. 2020 is four elections away and it is very difficult for any government to bind its successors.Many of the ideas which made it through to the final report represented the pleading of special interest groups and ideas which were already out in the public arena. Some were obviously impractical. An example of this is the one of connecting primary teachers to our scientists on the assumption that as well as doing their own jobs they can deal with primary school queries. We also had the normal conflict where big business wants to pay less tax and other interests want to spend more.

These are Hot press! no comments.(View comments) Tell a friend

National Foods Seeks Permission To Acquire Dairy Farmers

April 23rd, 2008

Japanese owned National Foods has approached the ACCC for permission to acquire Australian owned co-op Dairy Farmers.

National Foods is owned by beer maker Kirin Brewery and has recently been strengthening their overseas presence. National Foods was Australia’s largest dairy company until being bought, originally by Philippine-owned Miguel Corp who then sold to Kirin last year.

These are Hot press! 1 comment.(View comments) Tell a friend

Foreign Investment In Australia

April 15th, 2008

Recent investments by foreign interests (in some cases government controlled) in companies like BHP and Rio have brought this subject to the fore. I would like to start this article by stating Ausbuy’s position as follows:

Ausbuy does not oppose foreign investment in Australia that meets all or most of the following criteria:

These are Hot press! no comments.(View comments) Tell a friend

The Impact Of The Credit Crunch In Australia

April 15th, 2008

When the sub prime mortgage problem started to show itself in the USA various respected media commentators stated that, since most of our exports went to Asia, it didn’t matter. We had decoupled from the USA. Ausbuy felt that this was a load of rubbish and wrote an article to this effect, but even we have been surprised how rapidly the problems have spread round the world. The two largest banks in the world - UBS of Switzerland and Citibank of the USA - have both written off many billions of dollars and the contagion has spread to such countries as Britain, France, Germany and Japan. Given this scenario, it is not surprising that some of the fall out has landed in Australia.

These are Ausbuy Press! no comments.(View comments) Tell a friend

Investing In The Stock Exchange

April 3rd, 2008

People who invest in the stock exchange realise that shares can go down as well as up but continue to do so supported by the following beliefs:

• They have to do something with their savings. If they put it in the bank they go backward. Assume the following: Rate - 6%; Inflation - 4%; Tax - 30%. This gives the following:

These are Ausbuy Press! 2 comments.(View comments) Tell a friend

Members Letter to GlaxoSmithKline

April 1st, 2008

This letter was recently forwarded to Ausbuy by a member. We encourage all members of the public to voice your questions and concerns to the relevant organisations.

To GlaxoSmithKline,

I purchased a Lucozade Energy (300ml Lemon) from a Melbourne city 7-11 outlet on the weekend. I am writing to express my disappointment that after purchasing the product I read the fine print that it is Made in China.

These are Ausbuy Press! 1 comment.(View comments) Tell a friend

Corruption In Government

March 10th, 2008

As we have said before, democracies are run by an elected government with the permission of the people. They do not agree with all the policies put forward by their elected officials, but are normally prepared to accept what they believe to be the good with the bad. These elected officials, in their turn, delegate some of their authority, but not their responsibilities to unelected bureaucrats. The entire system runs on trust, and when systemic corruption is discovered it undermines the partnership between elected officials and the electorate which underpins democracy.In Australia there are three tiers of government. At the federal level there are few opportunities for an MP to personally benefit from his or her actions, and intense scrutiny is exercised by both the media and the opposing parties. There is also a ministerial code of conduct. The second tier is the state government, and there is less scrutiny and more opportunities than there are in the federal level - particularly when state politicians act in conjunction with bureaucrats and local government politicians. In an effort to combat this, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was formed, with the power to gather information, hold public enquiries and make findings. However, their activities depend on the resources given to them by the State Government.

These are Ausbuy Press! 1 comment.(View comments) Tell a friend

Directors of Ausbuy

March 5th, 2008

The following were elected as Directors of Ausbuy at the Annual General Meeting held on 4th March 2008 in Sydney.

Mike Gallagher (Executive Director)
Katie Hooker
John Pym
Andrew Ross
Ross Tubnor

These are Hot press! no comments.(View comments) Tell a friend

Financial Systems In Meltdown

March 5th, 2008

To say that the US financial market (and the Australian one) is suffering a crisis of confidence is an understatement. What started with financial institutions in the US granting some dodgy loans have spread from there to demonstrate weak standard of ethics and competence of auditors, rating agencies and financial advisors. At the end of the chain were gullible and greedy organisations trying to get a higher rate of interest. This has resulted in town councils and superannuation funds in Australia looking at a pile of useless paper. If it wasn’t for the fact that they are throwing away other peoples money I would have no sympathy for them. Stupidity is not a crime but some of the responsible officials in these organisations may end up by losing their jobs. However as we go up the chain the question of liability arises after all we must remember that these professionals are being paid to perform a service that they failed to deliver. Let us take them in turn:

These are Ausbuy Press! 1 comment.(View comments) Tell a friend