The Northern Territory news Wed 14 Mar 2012
NT news
The Northern Territory news; NewspaperNT
2012-03-14
This publication contains may contain links to external sites. These external sites may no longer be active.
English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin
Nationwide News Pty. Limited
Darwin
application/pdf
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Nationwide News Pty. Limited
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/238758
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/630608
22 NT NEWS. Wednesday, March 14, 2012. www.ntnews.com.au P U B : N T N E W S D A T E : 1 4 -M A R -2 0 1 2 P A G E : 2 2 C O L O R : C M Y K In keeping with our theme Harmonised Safety we will be offering various speakers, industry papers, presentations and workshops to provide a variety of experiences. Dont miss Crisis Recovery keynote speaker Dr Robert Long and his insightful presentation on The Human Face of a Crisis Lessons from Beaconsfield. SKYCITY Darwin | 1718 May To register, visit www.sia.org.au or call 1800 814 611 Dr Robert Long OHS Conference 2012 Northern Territory BUSINESS WEEK l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l ntnews.com.au Qantas is concerned about Virgins proposed ownership restructure, which, they say, is in breach of Australias obligations with other countries Qantas cries foul on new Virgin move SYDNEY: Qantas Airways has called for regulators to take a close look at Virgin Australias proposed ownership restructure. Qantas general counsel Brett Johnson says the national air carrier is concerned the mooted change might result in foreigners having effective control of the day-to-day operations of Virgins international operations. He said that would be in breach of Australias obligations under Air Services Agreements (ASA) with other countries. Effective control at the day-to-day management level is of key importance in analysing compliance with obligations under the ASAs, Mr Johnson told Australias International Air Services Commission. In an attempt to open up the share register to foreign investors, Virgin Australia in February proposed to split its international operations into a separate, unlisted entity that was owned by current shareholders. The listed company would become a wholly domestic airline and be freed from government regulations requiring all Australian flag carriers operating international services to be no more than 49 per cent foreign owned. Sir Richard Bransons Virgin Group holds about 26 per cent of Virgin Australia, while Air New Zealand has a 19.9 per cent stake. That left little room for other non-Australians airlines or investors to climb on to the share register in any meaningful way. Qantass submission was prompted by Virgins application to IASC to transfer its capacity on AustraliaIndonesia services to Virgin Australia International Airlines Pty Ltd. Business scarred by debt, dollar SYDNEY: Business confidence slumped last month even as conditions improved, a survey shows. The National Australia Bank Business Survey, released yesterday, showed business confidence dropped three points in February but remained just in positive territory at plus one point. Business conditions improved slightly, rising one point to plus three points. NAB said concerns over Europes sovereign debt crisis and the high value of the Australian dollar were damping confidence. While the fall was marginal and may just reflect month-to-month volatility, it is more likely that it reflects some degree of increased concern about the international economic environment, the NAB said. In addition, the persistent strength in the Australian dollar continues to weigh on tradebased industries. The bank said business conditions improved significantly in the wholesale, transport and utilities, recreation and personal services, and manufacturing sectors. However, conditions weakened slightly in mining and retail. Western Australia was the strongest-performing state, with a 13-point increase in conditions. The most significant decline in confidence was in the retail sector, with the survey recording an eightpoint fall, but the transport and utilities, and the recreation and personal services sectors remained in positive territory. Tax cut in murky water Wong evasive on vow to small business CANBERRA: The Federal Government is blaming parliamentary uncertainty for its inability to guarantee a promised tax cut for small business by July 1. Finance Minister Penny Wong yesterday repeatedly refused to guarantee the start date for tax cuts, saying Labor did not control the numbers in either House of Parliament. The planned 1 per cent cut in the company tax rate is funded by revenue from the minerals resource rent tax, which is expected to clear Parliament before the end of next week. But legislation for the tax cut has yet to be considered by Parliament. Cabinet minister Craig Emerson insists the measure will be in the May 8 Budget. Senator Wong says the Government will obviously bring forward the legislation but she would not commit the Government to the promised start date. We want to give small business a tax cut, she told ABC Radio. But we first want to get the minerals tax through. Senator Wong said she would not play word games when asked to guarantee the tax cut to small business by July 1 and a planned 1 per cent in the company tax rate for big business on July 1, 2013. The Government would wait for a report from its tax working group before proceeding with legislation, she said. The MRRT legislation will be debated in the Senate from today but the Government might have to wait until next week to win Upper House backing. The Australian Greens want the 30 per cent tax on extraordinary profits extended from coal and iron ore to gold and uranium. We dont think its practical, Senator Wong said. The Greens want to delay debate on the MRRT legislation until the findings of a Senate inquiry are released. Labor backbencher Andrew Leigh says he will be urging the Greens to support the legislation.