Friday 26 September 2008

No saving power in loan default capital, The Australian, 26 September, 2008.



No saving power in loan default capital

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 26 Sep 2008: 4.
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"We have been paying the mortgage first and foremost and playing catch up with all the bills, gas, and electricity," Mr Holden said. "At the end of the week we have $10 left. But if we had fallen behind with the payments, we could have got the super, but you don't want to do that."
His wife, Julie Holden, 34, who handles the family finances, said: "The interest rate rises have really put pressure on our income. We pretty much can't go anywhere. What can you do about it? Grin and bear it."
"It is just very expensive," he said. "After paying the mortgage you still have to pay the bills and expenses with the kids. What you earn just goes. You have nothing to save for the future of the kids."

BILL Holden is one of thousands of homeowners in Sydney's western suburbs walking the tightrope between severe belt tightening and financial disaster.
Mr Holden, 42, stumps up $650 a week in mortgage payments for his Liverpool home and says it is becoming increasingly difficult for his family to find that amount of money week in, week out.
"Everything has come at once: the interest rates have gone up, fuel has gone up, and we have gone down to one wage because we have a young child," he said.
Mr Holden, who works installing commercial kitchens, lives in the mortgage stress capital of Australia, the western Sydney suburb of Liverpool.
There, more than anywhere else in the nation, people are behind in their mortgages.
Mr Holden bought his house in 2000 for $200,000 and increased his mortgage to $320,000, using the money to fund a renovation.
A couple of years ago the four-bedroom house was worth about $470,000. Now he thinks it would be worth about $400,000.
Mr Holden has managed to meet the payments on his mortgage, but said he had recently tried to access his superannuation to help pay bills. He was told he couldn't do so because he wasn't behind in his mortgage.
"We have been paying the mortgage first and foremost and playing catch up with all the bills, gas, and electricity," Mr Holden said. "At the end of the week we have $10 left. But if we had fallen behind with the payments, we could have got the super, but you don't want to do that."
Mr Holden said his home loan was not sub-prime or low-doc and many people in the area were having similar problems, regardless of their type of loan.
He said one of their great concerns was that in November their repayments would be going up as they switched from a mix of fixed and variable loan to a 100per cent variable loan.
His wife, Julie Holden, 34, who handles the family finances, said: "The interest rate rises have really put pressure on our income. We pretty much can't go anywhere. What can you do about it? Grin and bear it."
Sherif Israil, 34, a hospitality worker with two young sons who also lives in Liverpool, said he too was struggling with his mortgage.
"It is just very expensive," he said. "After paying the mortgage you still have to pay the bills and expenses with the kids. What you earn just goes. You have nothing to save for the future of the kids."
Credit: John Stapleton
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Thursday 25 September 2008

Toxin in imported Chinese lollies The Australian 25 September 2008

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/archive/news/toxin-in-imported-chinese-lollies/story-e6frg6t6-1111117577844

Toxin in imported Chinese lollies

AUSTRALIAN retailers have been told to remove a popular Chinese sweet from sale after it was found to contain the same toxic chemical that has killed four babies in China and made tens of thousands of others sick.
Testing of White Rabbit Creamy Candies by authorities in New Zealand has confirmed they contain melamine -- an industrial chemical used in making plastics that has been mixed with milk powder in China to boost its apparent protein levels.
The Australian on Tuesday first revealed the continuing sale of White Rabbit sweets in Australia long after they were pulled from shelves in Singapore as the contamination scandal spread.
White Rabbit sweets, which are imported from China, are sold in retail packs through Asian retailers, supermarkets and restaurants.
Food Standards Australia and New Zealand said yesterday: "This product contains sufficiently high levels of melamine which may, in some individuals, cause health problems such as kidney stones if consumed in high quantities over a long period."
The regulator recommended a voluntary recall. "Anyone who has the product should not consume it. It is unlikely that there could be a problem if consumed in small amounts but people with concerns about the consumption of this product should seek medical advice."
According to official figures from the Chinese Health Ministry, 12,892 infants have been admitted to hospital after drinking melamine-laced powdered milk formula.
A further 40,000 are receiving outpatient treatment.
Australia does not import infant formula products from China and has not imported full-dairy products, such as yoghurt or condensed milk, from China since March last year.
But the National Association of Retail Grocers of Australia claimed yesterday that every major supermarket in Australia potentially carried products with contaminated Chinese milk powder as a result of the poor regulation of imported food products.
Chief executive Margy Osmond of the Australian Retailers Association, which represents Coles and Woolworths, immediately slammed the claims as unsubstantiated and irresponsible.
NARGA chairman John Cummings, who represents more than 4000 small retailers, said there was a chance a great percentage of the house brands for large retailers were made in China and called for more rigorous control of food imports.
"It is possible there are biscuits on every supermarket shelf in Australia that contain traces of this milk," he said. "Even if the biscuits are manufactured in Thailand, what's stopping them from importing milk from China? Milk is an additive to a number of food products. Have they used milk from China in their production? We don't know, we have no idea."
Ms Osmond said yesterday she had been advised that "exhaustive internal checks have been made which confirm that none of the home-branded products of larger grocery chains are affected".
"Neither Coles nor Woolworths house-brand products contain Chinese milk derivatives ... such unnecessary and alarmist comments may be seen as designed to cause commercial harm to competitors and concern and confusion to shoppers."
FSANZ yesterday participated in an international teleconference with counterparts in the US, Canada, Japan, Britain and the European Food Safety Authority. It also co-ordinated two teleconferences with all the nation's food authorities yesterday, with inspectors now checking supermarket shelves, particularly in Asian groceries.
Singapore suspended the import and sale of all milk and milk products from China on Friday.
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Monday 22 September 2008

Emissions scheme 'will mug farmers', The Australian, 22 September, 2008.

Emissions scheme `will mug farmers'

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 22 Sep 2008: 6.
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"This promise will prove to be administratively and economically challenging," he said. "Unless the design is very carefully done. it will be economically damaging to many industries."
"All these things have a human cost and an economic cost, and we have not had a proper debate about the nature and extent of these costs. In most government modelling, people just assume those adjustment costs don't exist -- workers move seamlessly from one industry and one job to another without cost. In the real world, that is not the case."
"Their costs are going to rise here faster than in developing countries. We have to be cautious about the design so we don't impose something that ends up making our export industries lose competitiveness ... There is nothing to be gained by doing that."
THE Rudd Government's proposed emissions trading scheme could cost tens of thousands of jobs, drive businesses offshore and force thousands of farming families off the land, according to a leading rural economist.
Brian Fisher, executive director of Concept Economics and former head of the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics, yesterday described the ETS as a policy made on the run at the last election.
"This promise will prove to be administratively and economically challenging," he said. "Unless the design is very carefully done. it will be economically damaging to many industries."
Although farming is exempted from the ETS until at least 2015, Dr Fisher says that many small farmers will be mugged in themeantime by increases in the costs of inputs such as electricity and fertiliser.
His warning reinforces recent modelling by the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Farm Institute that predicts many businesses will be made unprofitable by the scheme.
"When you put in these sorts of policies you are going to have to have enormous structural change," Dr Fisher said.
"People say there are going to be a lot of new jobs in a lot of new industries, but who knows what these industries are? The facts are that some entrepreneur has to get the capital together, build the plants and make sure they are viable in an international context.
"People have to be retrained, move states, move industries.
"All these things have a human cost and an economic cost, and we have not had a proper debate about the nature and extent of these costs. In most government modelling, people just assume those adjustment costs don't exist -- workers move seamlessly from one industry and one job to another without cost. In the real world, that is not the case."
Dr Fisher has contributed to the past three reports of the UN Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, and unlike many rural industry professionals, he accepts there is a scientific basis for concern over man-made global warming.
However, he disputes the wisdom of Australia introducing an ETS without an international agreement, arguing that to do so would significantly disadvantage all our major emissions-intensive export industries, including cattle, gold, aluminium and copper.
"Their costs are going to rise here faster than in developing countries. We have to be cautious about the design so we don't impose something that ends up making our export industries lose competitiveness ... There is nothing to be gained by doing that."
Credit: John Stapleton
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Friday 19 September 2008

Battered retirees resort to pension - GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS, The Australian, 19 September, 2008.



Battered retirees resort to pension - GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 19 Sep 2008: 2.
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"I'm looking at this with considerable concern," Mr O'[Flaherty] said. "With the super funds, everything is going down."
"Self-funded retirees have been saving the government a tremendous amount of money by not claiming pensions," Mr O'Flaherty said. "Now, because their superannuation will be affected, they will have to look at going for a government pension. The Government is obsessed with the wealthy self-funded retirees -- they should look more favourably on them. They're saving them a great deal."
"They ask, `If we forgo during our working career, why do we have to forgo during our retirement?"' she said. "Concern over superannuation is exacerbating these fears and resentments."

NO other group of people watched yesterday's stock market turmoil and the decimation of the local superannuation funds with more interest and concern than self-funded retirees.
Superannuation statements are now being greeted with fear by the nation's 1.5 million retirees who do not receive a government pension, according to theAssociation of Independent Retirees.
Retired engineer Coleman O'Flaherty, in his mid-70s, said he had been living on his savings and the proceeds from two super schemes since he retired at 60.
"I'm looking at this with considerable concern," Mr O'Flaherty said. "With the super funds, everything is going down."
Self-funded retirees are at pains to point out that the vast majority of them are not wealthy.
"Self-funded retirees have been saving the government a tremendous amount of money by not claiming pensions," Mr O'Flaherty said. "Now, because their superannuation will be affected, they will have to look at going for a government pension. The Government is obsessed with the wealthy self-funded retirees -- they should look more favourably on them. They're saving them a great deal."
The association's president, Theresa Kot, said many people were receiving their super statements and "reacting with fear and shock".
"Many people were encouraged to take up superannuation rather than other investment options by the Howard government," Ms Kot said. "Up to $1million was allowed to be put into super with special tax concessions. Today, those people are not happy. They have no opportunity to go out and replenish that money through employment or business, so they are responding with fear."
She said many might not be able to wait until the market recovered, and would be forced to go to Centrelink to apply for a part-pension.
"While you planned for your retirement, you used financial advisers; you are now in the situation where the marketplace has brought you to the point where you are going to Centrelink," she said.
Ms Kot said her members wanted the Rudd Government to recognise their plight and take action. Many were concerned the Government was contemplating removing their commonwealth Seniors Card, the only taxpayer-funded benefit they received.
She said there was considerable resentment that despite their hard work and diligence in saving for their retirement, they did not qualify for reduced council rates, water rates, car registration and fishing licences.
"They ask, `If we forgo during our working career, why do we have to forgo during our retirement?"' she said. "Concern over superannuation is exacerbating these fears and resentments."
Credit: John Stapleton
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Monday 15 September 2008

Emissions trading 'worse than drought', The Australian, 15 September, 2008.




Emissions trading `worse than drought'

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 15 Sep 2008: 4.
"Even if they don't include agriculture before 2015, we're still going to have to pay the higher input costs, with no relief on the credit side," the cattle and sheep farmer said. "Our ability to sequester carbon won't be counted because native pastures and native forests aren't counted under Kyoto.
"We have young earnest bureaucrats from [Penny Wong]'s office saying all we have to do is adjust the prices of our products. How? There is no capacity for us to increase our prices to adjust to the huge losses we would suffer."
"We will be less competitive on world markets from 2010," Mr [John Cherry] said. "With 70 per cent of agricultural produce exported, there is no opportunity to pass these costs on. It's going to cost a fortune. It is an insanity."

Full Text


THE Rudd Government's attempts to combat climate change through an emissions trading scheme will do more damage to the farming sector than the drought, senior industry figures warned yesterday.
The claims were made as new economic modelling showed farm profitability under the proposed trading scheme could drop to zero. The research by the Australian Farm Institute suggests that under an ETS, the $100 billion sector could be forced into debt, with livestock farms and smaller holdings worst affected.
Using 10 model farm businesses and three future emissions price scenarios, the research showed far-reaching changes for the farm sector.
Institute head Mick Keogh said that even if agriculture were not included in the scheme until 2015, as recommended in the green paper from Climate Change Minister Penny Wong, the impact would hit the sector from 2010 because of the increased prices farmers will have to pay for inputs such as fuel, freight, electricity, fertilisers and chemicals.
"Reductions in farm profitability of between 5 per cent and 10per cent are projected even with quite modest emission prices," Mr Keogh said.
"Under scenarios where farmers are required to pay the full cost of estimated farm emissions, the modelling projects farm profit reductions of more than 100 per cent, especially for farms running sheep and cattle," he said.
"The sector, which is fully trade-exposed, is going to be significantly impacted."
The institute's findings mirror recent modelling from New Zealand's Ministry of Agriculture, which showed profitability across all farm types plummeting under an ETS.
Farmer Howard Crozier, 72, is sceptical of global warming, and says the ETS is a waste of time. Speaking from his 1000ha farm at Bungendore, near Canberra, he said it would mean high input costs and lower profitability.
"Even if they don't include agriculture before 2015, we're still going to have to pay the higher input costs, with no relief on the credit side," the cattle and sheep farmer said. "Our ability to sequester carbon won't be counted because native pastures and native forests aren't counted under Kyoto.
"We have young earnest bureaucrats from Penny Wong's office saying all we have to do is adjust the prices of our products. How? There is no capacity for us to increase our prices to adjust to the huge losses we would suffer."
Queensland Farmers Federation chief executive John Cherry said the concerns of the rural sector were being ignored by the Government, even though the costs associated with an ETS will start to hit within 18 months.
"We will be less competitive on world markets from 2010," Mr Cherry said. "With 70 per cent of agricultural produce exported, there is no opportunity to pass these costs on. It's going to cost a fortune. It is an insanity."
Credit: John Stapleton
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Saturday 13 September 2008

'Priests' held on sex offences, Weekend Australian, 13 September, 2008.

`Priests' held on sex offences

Stapleton, John. Weekend Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 13 Sep 2008: 9.
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Tony Golossian and Arthur Psichogios, who allegedly passed themselves off as lay priests toSydney's Greek community, were already on bail over similarallegations concerning another woman.
Fairfield local area commander Gary Bailey praised the courage of the women who had come forward. Acting Superintendent Bailey said the older man, after telling the women they had been cursed, charged them between $500 and $1000 for numerous prayer sessions to remove the evil, held in hotel rooms between 2001 and 2005. The women were allegedly blindfolded and sexually abused.
TWO men, who allegedly claimed they could speak to angels and remove curses, were arrested yesterday in relation to more than 220 sexual offences against a young woman.
Tony Golossian and Arthur Psichogios, who allegedly passed themselves off as lay priests toSydney's Greek community, were already on bail over similarallegations concerning another woman.
They allegedly claimed the curses could only be removed by sexual acts, and charged the women up to $1000 a session. Police allege both victims may have been drugged during the incidents.
The victim whose evidence led to yesterday's arrests believed she and her family had been cursed by a member of the Greek community practising black magic and that they would all suffer terrible consequences, including death and illness, unless the curse was removed. Police, who arrested the men at their inner west homes yesterday morning, believe there may be more victims and have called for them to come forward.
Mr Golossian, 61, was taken to hospital after he arrived at Burwood police station suffering from chest pains. He was under guard in hospital last night, and will be charged with 151 offences when he is released.
He is alleged to have claimed to be a spiritual mentor who was able to speak to angels to remove curses and banish evil spirits, including the evil eye.
Mr Psichogios, a 38-year-old father of three, was refused bail after being charged with 79 offences, including 68 sexual assaults. Both men allegedly passed themselves off as high-ranking members of the Greek Orthodox and Coptic communities, but police say there is no evidence linking them to the communities or to any church.
In refusing bail in Burwood Local Court, magistrate Jane Mottley said the number of charges and the likely length of a custodial sentence provided a strong motivation to flee.
She said the alleged behaviour showed a "sophisticated scheme of activity" and she must have consideration for the welfare of the community. "There has been a high degree of planning and premeditation," she said.
Fairfield local area commander Gary Bailey praised the courage of the women who had come forward. Acting Superintendent Bailey said the older man, after telling the women they had been cursed, charged them between $500 and $1000 for numerous prayer sessions to remove the evil, held in hotel rooms between 2001 and 2005. The women were allegedly blindfolded and sexually abused.
The women were reportedly convinced the sexual activity was a necessary part of removing the curse. Hotel receipts form part of the evidence.
Credit: John Stapleton
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