PRESS DIGEST-Australian General News - Feb 6
Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (www.afr.com)
-- Queensland-based banking and insurance group Suncorp (SUN.AX) has announced it will embark on a A$900 million capital raising in an effort to restore investor confidence, following further earnings downgrades and a cut in dividends. Suncorp said yesterday that net profit after tax would be about 45 percent below previous guidance for the six months to Dec. 31, at around A$260 million. Chief executive John Mulcahy also announced his resignation, pending the board finding a suitable replacement. Page 1.
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Federal Treasury Secretary Ken Henry has said the Government's A$42 billion stimulus package is required to stop the economy from falling into recession and to prevent unemployment ballooning. Mr Henry yesterday conceded that some of the Government's A$12.8 billion bonus cash payments would be saved rather than spent, but nonetheless maintained that "the earlier a macro-economic response is taken, the better the prospects for the macro-economy going forward." Page 1.
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The Federal Government has signalled it will review superannuation rules requiring retirees to withdraw a proportion of their savings each year to cover living costs, following falls in the value of super funds due to the global financial crisis. The "Simple Solution" tax rules were introduced by the previous Howard government in 2006. "Most [retirees] are hurt very badly in the current economic turmoil, and they need help," the Association of Independent Retirees national president Theresa Kot said yesterday. Page 1.
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Australian employers' demand for temporary skilled migrants fell by 21 percent in January, according to figures from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. There were only 4010 applications for individual 457 visas last month, a figure not seen since 2006. However, Immigration Minister Chris Evans said yesterday that the fall was only a "temporary dip" caused by the global financial crisis, and he maintained that "the longer term commitment to migration will continue." Page 3.
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THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)
-- New South Wales Ombudsman Bruce Barbour has called for the state's 20-year-old Freedom of Information Act (FOI) to be rewritten into a new act, the Open Government Information Act, as well as the creation of an information officer within the Ombudsman's Office. Speaking yesterday at the release of the first major review of the legislation, Opening Up Government, Mr Barbour said "since the FOI Act commenced in 1989 … government has changed, community expectations have changed and information has changed." Page 2.
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A total fire ban will be enforced in the state of Victoria today as firefighters fear a repeat of the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires. Victorian Country Fire Authority chief officer Russell Rees yesterday warned that high winds and predicted temperatures above 40 degree Celsius could produce the most severe conditions in the state's history. "We need to plan, to be ready, and to put every ounce of our effort into staying safe," Mr Rees said. Extreme fire danger has also been predicted in the states of New South Wales and South Australia. Page 2.
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Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has signalled he will use the next Council of Australian Governments meeting to address the issue of the 300,000 people expected to be unemployed by 2010. Unemployment is set to rise to 7 percent in 2009-10, from the current figure of 4.5 percent, according to economists. Mr Rudd said yesterday that he would develop a plan with the state premiers that would deal with the "problem of unemployment, the problem of labour market programs, the proper co-ordination of commonwealth and state labour market programs." Page 4. Continued...
