Monday, December 24, 2012

Top Australian cleric apologises for abuse

Australia's most senior Catholic cleric on Monday apologised to those who "suffered at the hands" of priests and religious teachers, in a Christmas message issued after a turbulent year for the Church.

In the video message broadcast on television, Sydney Archbishop George Pell said he was shocked and ashamed, following a series of paedophile allegations against priests and claims they were hushed up.

Pell said his heart went out to "all those who cannot find peace at this time, especially those who have suffered at the hands of fellow Christians, Christian officials, priests, religious teachers".

"I am deeply sorry this has happened," he added.

"I feel too the shock and shame across the community at these revelations of wrongdoing and crimes."
Without specifically mentioning child sex abuse, Pell said the hurt caused was "completely contrary" to Christ's teachings.

"We need our faith in God's goodness and love to cope with these disasters, to help those who have been hurt," he said.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard last month ended more than a decade of growing pressure by ordering a royal commission to investigate the responses of all religious organisations, schools and state care to allegations of abuse.

Her announcement came after a senior police investigator claimed the Church had covered up sexual abuse of children in the Hunter Valley, north of Sydney, to protect paedophiles and its own reputation.

The government in Victoria state is already investigating allegations of sex abuse by the clergy, with the Church telling a state parliamentary hearing in September that at least 620 children had been abused since the 1930s.

When Gillard announced the royal commission, Pell welcomed it as an opportunity to help victims, "clear the air" and "separate fact from fiction".

"We are not interested in denying the extent of misdoing in the Catholic Church," he said at the time.
"We object to it being exaggerated, we object to being described as the only cab on the rank. I don't think we should be scapegoated."

Pell's Christmas message drew mixed reactions from victim support groups, with some saying it represented a "major shift" in the Church's position while others said it did not go far enough.

"It's pleasing that he's opening up his heart to these people," Wayne Chamley, a spokesman for victims support group Broken Rites, told ABC television.

"They seem to now appreciate the scale of it. I don't think we've seen a statement in the past which was reflecting on the scale of what's gone on."

But Adults Surviving Child Abuse president Cathy Kezelman called it "an absolutely minimal response to express regret".

"It's very important that we also acknowledge the failure of religious organisations, including the Catholic Church, to respond appropriately to victims," she said.

"To have that ultimate betrayal by someone not only you should trust but is meant to be setting a moral compass."
Gillard has refused to put a deadline on the royal commission, but said the government had taken the first steps towards shaping the terms of reference.

Child sex abuse allegations have rattled the Catholic Church across the world, particularly in Ireland but also in the United States, Germany and Belgium.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Andrew Bogut, Mark Webber Top Australia’s Highest Paid Athletes

Business Review Weekly released its annual highest earners list for the year earlier this week and NBA player Andrew Bogut and Formula 1 driver Mark Webber found themselves as the highest paid athletes in Australian sports.

The oft injured Bogut of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors has yet to make much of an impact during the still young 2012-13 season, playing just four games after struggling to make it back from offseason ankle surgery. Despite having just played 16 games in the past two seasons, Bogut is Australia’s top paid athlete earning $13.5 million per year.

Second the list is Mark Webber- the Red Bull teammate of recent F1 champion Sebastian Vettel. Webber made $12 million last year while golfer Adam Scott rounded out the top three with an income of $10.5 million.

Other notable names include now retired Moto GP champ Casey Stoner (4th, $8 million) Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke (5th, $5.5 million), Dynamo Moscow’s Luke Wilkshire (6th, $5 million) and 2011 Tour de France champion Cadel Evans (7th, $4 million).

World No.9 women’s tennis player Sam Stosur came in at just number 20 ($2.5 million), but the former US Open champion didn’t have her best year, while just a handful of AFL and no NRL players made the top 50.
Gary Ablett, Chris Judd, Tom Scully and Israel Folau were the 2012 AFL players to make the list, however both codes appear to have arguments to offer for an increased salary cap after analysing the numbers from BRW’s new 50.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Top Australian chef arrives in Fiji

Australian celebrity chef and television personality Elizabeth Chong has arrived for the first time in the country to join Fiji TV’s Taste of Paradise star Chef Lance Seeto, in the season finale of his hugely popular show. Chong, now a 81, is one of Seeto’s mentors and teachers, and in similar fashion to Seeto, has been showing Australians how to cook healthy Asian cuisine for over 30 years. Some of her closest friends are the world’s top celebrity restaurateurs and chefs, as many regard her for her pioneering work in using television to both educate and entertain.

She is one of the most recognisable television chefs and accomplished cookbook authors, with many Australians growing up learning to cook Chinese food on Channel Ten’s Bert Newton show during the 1980s and 1990s. Looking 20 years younger than her age, this TV chef puts it down to clean living, no alcohol, no smoking and no junk food. “The Chinese have always eaten healthy for thousands of years, and I try and stick to that same philosophy.” says Chong.

Dining at Chef Seeto’s favourite restaurant in Suva, “Tiko’s”, Chong could not believe the flavours and freshness of the seafood. “I’ve eaten all around the world and still host tours of China and Vietnam for my Australian clients, but Fiji has something very ancient and wild to intrigue the gourmet traveller.” says the TV personality. “If it wasn’t for Chef Lance Seeto’s invitation to see what he is doing here, I probably would never have thought to come to Fiji. I am so glad I did, he is doing a wonderfully inspiring job here. There is so much to experience here in lifestyle and food. This truly is an inspiring culture on Australia’s doorstep. It seems the student has become the teacher.”

Chong has joined Chef Seeto’s Fiji Food Safari on Castaway Island this week to not only share her knowledge to visitors, but to support her protégé in his endeavours to promote Fiji to the world through food. The five day food program includes cooking master classes, food as medicine classes and dinner banquets each night. It is also being filmed for the special one hour season finale of Taste of Paradise. Seeto says he wanted to show his legions of viewers in Fiji and across the South Pacific his island home and where the appreciation for Fiji’s culture, traditions and fresh food started. Season One of Taste of Paradise finishes up on December 27.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Top Australian Jockey Oliver Gets 10-Month Ban for Bet on Rival

Australian jockey Damien Oliver was barred from racing for 10 months after he pleaded guilty to two charges involving a bet he made on a rival horse that won a race in which he was riding. 

Oliver, 40, a two-time Melbourne Cup-winning rider, was disqualified for eight months and suspended a further two months after placing the A$10,000 ($10,400) bet via a third party and using a mobile phone in the jockeys’ room prior to the Oct. 1, 2010, race at Moonee Valley in Melbourne, Racing Victoria said after a hearing today. 

“I want to apologize to the racing industry and everyone here today,” Oliver said in a televised statement at Racing Victoria’s Melbourne headquarters. “I’m deeply sorry for my actions.” 

Oliver provided the committee overseeing the investigation with a written admission Nov. 12 that he placed the bet on race favorite and eventual winner Miss Octopussy. Oliver’s horse, Europa Point, finished in sixth place. 

Oliver, who was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2008, has completed the so-called grand slam of thoroughbred racing in the country by winning the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Golden Slipper. 

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Tendulkar awarded top Australian honour

Superstar batsman Sachin Tendulkar yesterday became the first Indian sportsman to be honoured with membership of the Order of Australia. 

Arts Minister Simon Crean conferred the award on the cricketer at a ceremony in Mumbai, Tendulkar’s home city, after the honour was announced by Prime Minister Julia Gillard during her visit to India last month. 

Tendulkar was recognised “for his service to Australia-India relations by promoting goodwill, friendship and sportsmanship through the sport of cricket,” said a statement from the Australian consulate-general. 

“Mr Tendulkar, as a member and former Captain of the Indian Cricket Team, has made an outstanding contribution to international cricket for more than 20 years,” it said, describing his career as an “inspiration.” 

The 39-year-old batsman is the world’s leading scorer in both Test and one-day cricket and has compiled an unprecedented 100 international centuries. 

West Indies batting star Brian Lara was also honoured with membership of the Order of Australia in 2009.
Two other Indians, former attorney-general Soli Sorabjee and Mother Teresa, have previously been awarded Australian honours. 

Tendulkar’s popularity in the country was cemented when legendary cricketer Don Bradman said he was reminded of his own batting after watching the Indian play. 

Announcing his honour in New Delhi in October, Gillard said Tendulkar deserved the “special honour” because he was a “very special cricketer.” 

“Cricket is of course a great bond between Australia and India. We are both cricket-mad nations,” she said. 

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Australia's RBA mulls new growth drivers

A top Australian central bank official said Tuesday that the resource-rich nation will need to find new drivers of growth as a mining investment boom that has underpinned the economy is fading. 

"With the peak in mining investment now coming into view, it is not surprising that attention is turning to the question of what forms of activity might pick up, where the future jobs might come from, and what combination of interest rates and exchange rates might keep the overall economy on an even keel," Reserve Bank of Australia Deputy Governor Philip Lowe said at a conference in Hobart. 

In May, Mr. Lowe referred in a speech to a "once-in-a-century boom in mining investment". But the industry is now feeling the pain of weakening global demand as Europe's woes play out and China's economy slows. In recent weeks, mining companies have scrapped big investment plans, shuttered mines and laid off thousands of workers. 

The RBA last week surprised economists by cutting its benchmark lending rate by 0.25 percentage point to 3.25%, a level last seen in late 2009, reacting to declines in commodity prices and slowing growth. Most economists had expected no change. 

It now expects the peak in resource investment to occur next year, possibly at a lower level than earlier expected. 

Mr. Lowe said Tuesday that concerns about world growth and signs the country's job market has softened recently prompted last week's cut in interest rates. 

"Given the outlook for contained inflation, the board judged at its meeting last week that it was appropriate for the stance of monetary policy to be a little more accommodative," Mr. Lowe said. 

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Carmen announced as Sydney Harbour opera

RAIN did its best to sink the first opera to grace Sydney Harbour, but the show will go on with Opera Australia confirming the Spanish sizzler Carmen for next March. 
 
A day after Handa Opera On Sydney Harbour won four Helpmann Awards for La Traviata, including best special event and best actor for Emma Matthews, organisers have announced the return of al fresco opera.
Like La Traviata earlier this year, Carmen will be played out in grand scale over 18 shows; positioned off the Royal Botanic Gardens on a tilting stage and backed by an orchestra and fireworks.

"There is no stage in the world as spectacular as this one," said Lyndon Terracini, artistic director of Opera Australia.

"Sitting on top of Sydney Harbour with the city skyline as the backdrop, this is opera like you'll see in no other place in the world."

In bringing Carmen's seductive love story to life, director Gale Edwards has teamed up with designers Brian Thompson, who won a Helpmann for his La Traviata set, costumes guru Julie Lynch and lighting specialist John Rayment.

Two mezzo-sopranos will alternate in the role of the fiery Carmen, Israeli star Rinat Shaham and Serbian model-turned-singer Milijana Nikolic.

Two tenors, Russian singer Dmitry Popov and American star Adam Diegel, will assume the part of the opera's hero Don Jose.

Opera Australia will present 18 performances over three weeks from March 22 to April 12. Tickets from $79 will go on sale from October 8.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

One-stop shops to showcase South Australia's top food and wine in China

SOUTH Australian food and wine will be showcased in two "one-stop-shop" outlets to be built in China, giving local producers and exporters direct access to a market of more than 7.6 million Chinese consumers. 
 
The SA produce centres are expected to open in about 18 months and will give visitors the opportunity to eat, buy and order the state's  food and wine. Agriculture, Food and Fisheries Minister Gail Gago, who recently made her first ministerial visit to China, said  the centres would give  SA producers and exporters more direct access to markets in China.

Ms Gago said they would likely feature restaurants, shops and information and marketing on regions of South Australia while also operating as a wholesaler to Chinese outlets.

They would focus on food quality and safety and would also provide accreditation to available products.
The centres will be based in Nanping, with a population of 3.06 million, and Zhangzhou, with a population of 4.6 million, both in Fujian province on China's east coast.

The State Government is expected to begin discussions with local producers about their potential involvement in coming weeks.

"Fujian Province has recognised South Australia's competitive advantage of premium food and wine, grown and produced in a clean and safe environment," Ms Gago said. "The Chinese have a burgeoning economy, a burgeoning middle class that are very interested in quality food ... (and) want assurances and reliability about the quality and safety of those products.

"They're interested in basically all our primary produce and also processed foods.

"They love our seafood; fresh fish, abalone and lobster."

The centres would be paid for and run by the Chinese, in consultation with SA officials. Ms Gago said there was scope to build more stores if the first two proved successful.

Her visit to China also explored opportunities for SA university researchers to partner with the Chinese on food quality, hygiene training and technology.

"They're very interested in research links to support food quality and hygiene safety standards," she said.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Australia’s Top 100 property investment suburbs revealed in annual guide

A growing number of investors are setting up self-managed super funds (SMSFs) and the ATO’s tax ruling late last year has made it more attractive than ever to purchase property through such funds. As investor interest in real estate picks up, it is important to keep abreast of the property market and the best opportunities out there for your clients.

Wealth Professional's sister publication Your Investment Property is the intelligent investor’s choice for essential information about Australia’s property market. Each issue contains all the latest property data, suburb profiles, case studies, tax tips and more to help investors build wealth from property.

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This is the only hot spot list that actually ranks suburbs based on capital growth and rental return potential, and the only report to focus on the investor sweet-spot of $500K and under. It provides the most comprehensive suburb analysis focusing on both short and long-term performance as well as growth projections, and is sure to impress your clients.

Pick up your copy from leading newsagents or online at www.yourinvestmentpropertymag.com.au.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Australian billionaire moves to buy out Whitehaven Coal

Whitehaven Coal , Australia's second-biggest independent coal producer, said it has received a buyout approach from its top shareholder, billionaire Nathan Tinkler, but bankers and analysts doubted a deal could be put together.

Whitehaven's shares shot up 9 percent after the announcement on Wednesday but later drifted back on skepticism over a deal going ahead, as tight access to debt would make it tough to finance a bid for the company, valued at $4.4 billion.

"It's at an early stage with some substantial funding question marks. The funding would be the challenge," said Chris Drew, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in Sydney.

Tinkler would have to offer a solid premium to satisfy Whitehaven's board, which just over a year ago scrapped an auction of the company after receiving unacceptable offers from around six suitors.

Whitehaven said Tinkler Group's proposal was too incomplete to be considered but left the door open to a bid, saying it has set up a committee of independent directors to consider any further proposal.

"It'd be an uphill task for Tinkler to take it private. He'd need plenty of equity and backing, which is a luxury right now," said a source who has worked on recent industry deals.

A former electrician, Tinkler, 36, had been widely expected to sell down his 21 percent stake in Whitehaven, which in April paid about $2.7 billion for Tinkler's Aston Resources and his exploration company Boardwalk Resources.

However, he has instead turned his attention to taking over the business, driven by recent share price weakness and plans to speed up development of Whitehaven's projects, a source with knowledge of the deal said.

Whitehaven and a spokesman for Tinkler Group declined to elaborate on the tentative proposal or identify who might be working with Tinkler on the bid.

Whitehaven notably has not appointed any major investment bank as a defense adviser. Last year it hired Goldman Sachs to advise on the auction of the company.

BIG BETS

Tinkler, with a taste for fast cars, made his fortune selling a coal tenement to Macarthur Coal in 2007 and now owns the Newcastle Knights rugby league team and a horse racing and breeding operation, which he picked up when the industry was hit by equine flu.

He also rescued the Newcastle Jets Australian A-League soccer club, tried to dump it, then held on to it after winning concessions from another Australian billionaire, shopping mall magnate Frank Lowy, who heads Australia's football federation.

Tinkler, who recently moved to Singapore, would need backers for the Whitehaven bid and there is industry speculation he could seek a mix of partners, including coal customers and investment firms. He is being advised by Queen Street Capital, a boutique firm that he owns.

Whitehaven has an off-take agreement with Japan's Electric power Development Co (J-Power) , which recently bought a 10 percent stake in Whitehaven's Maules Creek project. The mine, the big prize in Whitehaven's takeover of Aston, is also 15 percent owned by Itochu Corp .

Other names mentioned as potential partners in a bid are investment firms Farallon Capital and its subsidiary Noonday Capital, which have worked with Tinkler in the past.

Whitehaven's output is expected to rise from 6 million tonnes a year in 2012 to 25 million tonnes by 2016, when about 60 percent of output will be coking coal for steel mills.

At least half of the companies that put in bids for Whitehaven last year are unlikely to pounce now, including U.S. coal miner Peabody Energy , which has since taken over Macarthur Coal, and China's Yanzhou Coal , which is now in the process of taking over Gloucester Coal .

Whitehaven's shares jumped to a high of A$4.36 after the buyout approach was announced and closed up 4.5 percent at A$4.18, valuing the company at A$4.2 billion ($4.2 billion).

Ahead of the approach, the stock had slumped 23 percent since the takeover of Aston was sealed in early May. The fall is in line with other coal miners, like Yanzhou and Peabody, amid a drop in coal prices due to worries about soft Chinese growth.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Australia says troops could soon leave East Timor

Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith says parliamentary elections planned in East Timor could allow international troops to begin withdrawing after six years of restoring stability to the fledgling Southeast Asian nation.

Smith on Monday welcomed the success of weekend presidential elections. The official results won't be known until Tuesday, but the incumbent, Nobel laureate Jose Ramos Horta, had nowhere near the support needed to advance to an April 21 run-off between the two front-runners.

Smith says if the run-off election and June parliamentary elections are similarly successful, Australia will discuss with the government, United Nations and New Zealand a drawdown of the 470 Australian and New Zealand troops stationed in East Timor.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Australian Group Buying Site Scoopon is Named Market Leader for 2011

A recent report from the independent analyst house, Telsyte, suggests the Australian owned group buying site, Scoopon, dominated the local group buying market in 2011. This was the second year Scoopon clinched the top spot, outperforming multinational companies like LivingSocial and Groupon. The news is hailed as a windfall for Scoopon, competing in a sector of over 80 similar group buying websites.

Co-founder Gabby Liebovich attributes the brand’s success to the site’s focus on deal quality, rather than quantity, an organic and loyal membership base, as well as an industry leading commission structure.

“The international entrants have come in and exerted their weight with massive spends on marketing campaigns and recruited an army of hundreds to try and buy their way into the Australian market,” Leibovich says.

“We, on the other hand, have always let our deals do the talking, and despite little marketing effort, have built the country’s strongest and most loyal membership base of over 1.8 million members who have signed up simply because they are genuinely interested in what we have to offer.”

In the past, Scoopon has demonstrated it isn’t afraid to take the larger internationals on head-to-head. A legal battle with the US site, Groupon, over the control of the Groupon Australia trademark and URL address resulted in an out-of-court settlement in July 2011.

“We keep a close eye on the Americans who are throwing some pretty hefty dollars at marketing,” says Leibovich. “I question whether they are in fact making a profit.”

The data released in the Telsyte report shows that the group buying market has grown seven times from 2010. Australians spent just under $500 million in this fashion in 2011 alone, and the market is projected to reach $1 billion by 2015.

Leibovich believes that Scoopon’s leadership in the sector all comes down to providing a quality experience for customers every day.

“Through our centralised product sourcing capabilities through CatchOfTheDay group, as well as Scoopon’s market-leading commissions structure, we have and will continue to lead in the quality of deals we have on offer,” explains Leibovich.

Telsyte has measured this sector since the beginning of the group buying market in February 2010. Sam Yip, Analyst for Telsyte, worked on the latest report.

“We have a database of over 55,000 deals across all Australian locations and deal categories,” Yip says. “Scoopon was market leader for the year, however we saw strong growth from multinationals Groupon and LivingSocial, who grew very quickly in 2011.”

“However,” Yip says, “Australians continue to be loyal to the best deals and the best price, not the sites.”