by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Canberra : The Australian government on Thursday announced the establishment of a royal commission to investigate misconduct by the country’s major banks and other financial institutions in order to restore public confidence.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison said in a joint statement that every Australian has the right to be treated with fairness in their dealings with financial institutions, reports Efe news.
“We have got to stop the banks and our financial services sector being used as a political football,” Turnbull said, adding that “the only way we can give all Australians a greater degree of assurance is a royal commission into misconduct in the financial services industry”.
The commission will focus on assessing the behaviour of banks, insurance companies, financial service providers and managers of retirement funds, known in Australia as “superannuation”, as well as the ability of regulators to identify misconduct in the financial institutions.
The commission, which will have 12 months to complete its report after being appointed, will not investigate the financial stability of the banks, according to the statement.
The senior managers of Australia’s four largest banks, the Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, NAB and Westpac, said in a letter that although their institutions have long opposed investigation, the measure is in the national interest.
“Our banks have consistently argued the view that further inquiries into the sector, including a Royal Commission, are unwarranted,” read the joint letter, adding that, “however, it is now in the national interest for the political uncertainty to end”.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Canberra : The Syrian city of Raqqa is no longer under the control of Islamic State (IS) forces, the Australian Foreign Minister confirmed on Wednesday, paving the way for his countrymen to travel there.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said while the travel ban had been lifted after coalition forces retook the city, both Syria and Iraq retained their “do not travel” warnings, Xinhua news agency reported.
Australia’s Attorney-General George Brandis said that it was still illegal for Australians to travel to the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
Bishop admitted the liberation of Raqqa was a “major step forward” in the fight against IS, but added that it was still an incredibly dangerous place to visit.
Australians will no longer face criminal charges for travelling to the former “de-facto capital city” of the terrorist organisation.
Travel to the city was made a crime by the Australian government in December 2014 to discourage possible extremists from joining the fight in the Middle East.
Laws were also passed stripping dual citizens of their Australian passports should they be found to be in the war-affected nations.
“This is an important milestone in the fight against Islamic State, because the retaking of Raqqa deprives this terrorist organisation of an operating base in Syria.”
Bishop said while IS had been driven out of the city, the terror group “remains a dangerous threat”, hinting that factions would continue to emerge in other parts of the world, as it has in the Philippines.
“IS is likely to emerge elsewhere, with its violent insurgency activities, and we will continue to be committed to the fight against (the group),” the Minister said.
The government added that those who traveled to Raqqa between December 5, 2014 and November 28, would still face prosecution.
“Any Australian who travels to Mosul should know that they will be detected and they will be prosecuted, as five Australians are currently subject to prosecution,” Brandis said.
According to the government, it “remains illegal for Australian citizens to… fight with any armed group in Syria or any terrorist organisation listed under Australian law”.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Commodities, Commodities News, Commodity Market, Corporate, Corporate Reports, Finance, Investing, News
New Delhi : The Adani Group’s entire A$3.5 billion (Rs 178 billion) debt-funded ‘investment’ in Australia is gravely at risk, the US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) said on Monday.
In a new report it details how Adani’s Abbot Point Coal Terminal has excessive financial leverage, negative shareholders equity and runs the risk of becoming a stranded asset if Adani’s Carmichael mine does not get a $1 billion Australian subsidy.
The Abbot Point Coal Terminal is due for a $1.5 billion debt refinancing next year and a cumulative debt refinancing of $2.11 billion by 2020.
Currently, operating at just over 50 per cent capacity, the Abbot Point Coal Terminal needs the Carmichael mine to fill the gap created as its current take-or-pay contracts progressively expire.
“Securing this refinancing is going to be a real challenge, not the least because the port value has been tied to the success of the Carmichael coal mine proposal which is itself yet to secure funding and which the ‘big four’ Australian banks have refused to touch,” an official statement quoting report co-author Tim Buckley said.
Buckley’s the IEEFA’s Director of Energy Finance Studies, Australasia.
“The potential for a loss of up to $1.5bn on any decision to walk away from Carmichael mine and rail proposal, explains why the Adani Group has been so focused on securing Australian tax payers money and royalty holidays to subsidise his loss making ventures,” he said.
“To the extent able to be analysed from Australian Securities and Investments Commission records, Adani’s entire mine, rail and port operation in Australia looks to be 100 per cent debt financed and shareholders funds now tally an unprecedented, negative $458 million combined. The value at stake for the Adani Group’s Carmichael mine proposal is far bigger than previously understood,” Buckley added.
Whilst Adani continues to search for overseas project funding, the report, “House of Cards: The Escalating Financial Risk of Adani’s Abbot Point Coal Terminal”, the report traces events that make the Carmichael project an even greater financial risk.
The events include Adani’s major proposed off-take coal customer, Adani Power Ltd’s 4.6 GW power plant at Mundra in Gujarat, is financially distressed and its equity is for sale for just Re 1 but has no buyers so far.
India’s thermal coal imports have continued the downward trend of the last two years and are down 13 per cent year-to-date in 2017 compared to the prior year.
And, in the light of new solar infrastructure projects delivering electricity at prices now 20 per cent below many Indian thermal power plant tariffs, financial analysts don’t see any imported coal demand to justify more expensive seaborne supplies.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Sydney:(IANS) Australian camel farmers are preparing to export boxed camel meat to China following an industry conference in Kazakhstan in June.
More than one million wild camels are estimated to be roaming Australia’s deserts, covering 3.3 million sq kms, Xinhua quoted Australia’s national broadcaster as saying.
Alex Knight, land and culture manager of the Ngaanyatjarra Council in Alice Springs, said a camel milk company from China wanted to hear about developments in Australia at the Kazakhstan conference.
“They are trying to develop an import protocol to import camel meat from Australia,” Knight said.
Somali butcher Abukar Hersi, currently residing in Melbourne, said camel meat is “one of the best things you can have” which is very rich and high in protein.
“I think when Australians realise, we will see camel meat in every butcher and supermarket.”
Knight said they attended the conference in Kazakhstan to understand the commercial aspects of management, husbandry and disease eradication for camel farming.
“There has not been much research in Australia on how to use camels commercially whereas the rest of the world has been developing their camel industry,” Knight said.
