Ausbuy

Rio Tinto

August 26th, 2008

There is an old saying which goes as follows “Let sleeping dogs lie”. When Don ‘Don’t Argue’ Argus and Marius Klopper decided to launch a hostile bid for Rio they set various forces in motion which would have been better left dormant. The Australian Government were placed in a difficult position. Both BHP and Rio were quoted on the UK and Australia Stock Exchanges, much of the business is outside Australia. The reality is that our Government has limited power anyway. Normally they pass the decisions on these matters to the ACCC but I don’t the ACCC fancied being in court for the next few years with whomever the decision goes against. The Government cannot have liked the thought of BHP becoming more powerful but it was not a dispute they wanted and, maybe, some other government would solve it for them.

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Australian Banks and The Credit Crunch

August 20th, 2008

One of the most unenviable jobs in Australia is being a public relations manager for a major Australian bank. There is only one thing that Australians hate more than paying interest and that is paying taxes. The problem is that banks make profits by charging interest. This puts the PR manager in a no-win situation. This is probably true in the present climate where the banks have moved mortgage results independently of the Reserve Bank. This is being portrayed by much of the media as unfair and has encouraged the Government to go on an orgy of bank bashing. They seem to have forgotten that most Australians either owe money to a bank or own bank shares either directly or through their superannuation fund and that punishing them might have unforeseen consequences.

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The Australian Tax System

August 18th, 2008

There has been much media and big business criticism of the Australian tax system in recent years. The basis of this criticism is as follows:

• The system is too complicated and compliance costs are expensive. The rates of tax are too high.
• There are too many deductions. It is estimated that these reduce the tax recovered by approximately $13 billion. Elimination of these would allow the rate of tax to be reduced.
• Fringe benefits concessions for company provided cars cost approximately $1.5 billion. The accuracy of this claim is doubtful as, if it was eliminated, people would spend more time documenting company travel.

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Carbon Trading, Is It The Answer?

August 7th, 2008

The government has recently released their Green Paper, a plan for a possible emissions trading scheme, the method the government wishes to use to cut Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2050, the figure in Labor’s election promise.

A recent article on salon.com by Joseph Romm has raised interesting questions about whether an emissions trading scheme is really the answer. It is also interesting considering some Australian states are in an energy crisis, needing new power plants to be built immediately to ensure enough energy in coming years.

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Australia Needs A Manufacturing Industry

August 6th, 2008

In recent times economists and politicians have trumpeted the benefits of globalisation and there is no doubt that world trade has increased and countries like China and India have moved many of their vast populations out of poverty. However we at Ausbuy take a view that, to contribute to the world, Australia must have a strong economy and protect the welfare of its own citizens. The events of the last year have shown that, in a globalised world, Australia is vulnerable to events outside its own control and is no longer the independent self sufficient country that it was. Talk of leadership roles is nonsense and setting examples which the major countries will follow is dreamtime. We must concentrate on Australia’s best interest.The globalisation preaches said that Australia must concentrate on its areas of strength and let the other areas, like manufacturing, wither. Let us now examine the areas of strength as follows:

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SPC Ardmona

August 4th, 2008

We are pleased to notice the recent change in the ownership of the parent of SPC Ardmona - i.e. Coca Cola Amatil Ltd. The reduced shareholding of Coca Cola means that they can no longer exercise effective control. Under these circumstances we have no hestitation in supporting SPC Ardmona products as Australian owned and made.

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Compulsory Apprenticeships: Toward Reduction of Skills Shortage

August 1st, 2008

The Australian industry complains about the lack of skills of the Australian workforce, but compared with other OECD countries, like for instance Germany, does little training. Generating a sufficient skilled work force is an important challenge for the future of Australia.

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