Industry News

The Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) has praised the rapid turnaround in the quality of the state’s planning approvals systems, saying it has gone from one of the country’s worst to one of the best in a matter of years.

WALGA President Mayor Troy Pickard said the turnaround was the result of councils assisting and implementing State Government reforms.

“Local Governments have been actively working with the State to deliver on key strategies such as the Directions 2031 framework, the preparation of new R-Codes for multiple dwellings and through engagement on the new waterfront development,” Mayor Pickard said.

“There are, however a number of areas in which they continue to be impacted by delays and inefficiencies from external agencies.”

Mayor Pickard said many Local Governments were already achieving greater efficiencies in planning and development processes, with these gains to be shared with the entire sector through the preparation of a Local Government Planning Improvement Program.

The New South Wales Government has announced the three members of the independent expert panel that will be responsible for examining the structural arrangements of councils in the context of improving the financial sustainability and future viability of the NSW local government sector.

State Local Government Minister Don Page announced that the panel will be chaired by Professor Graham Sansom, who will be joined by panel members Jude Munro and Glenn Inglis.

“I am pleased to announce that Professor Graham Sansom, whom I announced as the chair of the Panel last month, will be joined by fellow local government experts Jude Munro AO and Glenn Inglis,” Mr Page said.

“Both Jude and Glenn will offer invaluable experience and insight into the Panel process, which ultimately is seeking to improve the future prosperity of the NSW local government sector.

“It is a big job, but I am confident we have the right people for that job.”

Mr Page said the Panel is the first initiative to be announced out of the Destination 2036 Action Plan, which is nearing completion.

“The Panel was created after the presidents of the Local Government and Shires Associations, Keith Rhoades and Ray Donald, wrote to me requesting the NSW Government explore ways to review certain aspects of the local government sector,” Mr Page said.

“The Review Panel will take into consideration councils’ ability to support the needs of their communities, ability to deliver services and infrastructure efficiently, ability to provide local representation and decision making, the financial sustainability of each council area, and any barriers that inhibit, or incentives that could encourage, voluntary boundary changes.”

The New South Wales Government has passed legislation through Parliament that will ban the holding of dual roles of State MPs and local mayors and local councillors.

State Local Government Minister Don Page said the Local Government Amendment (Members of Parliament) Act 2012 brings NSW into line with other mainland states.

“This legislation ensures that one person serves in one elected position in State or local government, dedicating their effort to one role in the NSW political system,” Mr Page said.

“It eliminates the problem of elected MPs who are also councillors or mayors trying to be in two places at once.

“This issue was raised here in NSW after last year’s election, when it became known that 29 MPs in the new NSW Parliament were serving as councillors or mayors on a council – and once it was discovered that that practice was prohibited in all other mainland States, which have clear separation between State and local government.

Monash University has announced new research that could possibly change the way health professionals treat Alzheimer’s disease, which affects over 35.6 million people worldwide.

Published in Nature Genetics, the research report details the discovery of new genes that may play a role in adding to the risk of the dieseas in older people up to 20 years before clinical symptoms become apparent.

Associate Professor Velandai Srikanth from the Stroke and Ageing Research Group of Monash University’s Southern Clinical School led a team of Australian researchers from the Menzies Research Institute and the University of Queensland in collaboration with the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology consortium, affiliated with Boston University. Australian researchers analysed data from the Tasmanian Study of Cognition and Gait.

The researchers looked at the genes that contribute to the size of the part of the brain known as the hippocampus, which is important for memory. This invariably shrinks during the course of ageing but the shrinkage is believed to become more pronounced during the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

Associate Professor Srikanth said analysing data from more than 9000 people using advanced brain imaging and genetic analysis led to the breakthrough.

“Our study makes a major contribution to the body of knowledge available and will stimulate further work in identifying disease mechanisms and potentially new treatments for the widespread disease,” Associate Professor Srikanth said.

“We investigated what new genetic markers there might be to explain why the hippocampus shrinks and have discovered a set of new genes that are likely to be responsible.

“The functions related to these genes may indicate pathways that underlie the development of Alzheimer’s disease in people up to 20 years before symptoms actually surface.

“Results suggest that the effect of having one copy of these ‘risk’ genes was that the hippocampus, on average, was as small as that of a person four to five years older.”

The IMF's World Economic Outlook (WEO) confirms that our economic fundamentals are strong with the Australian economy expected to outperform every major advanced economy over the next two years.

Following a period of acute instability last year, the IMF believes global prospects are improving although downside risks remain. The euro area is still projected to enter a mild recession, and fundamental weaknesses in many European economies continue to pose a clear risk.

While global challenges remain, there have been encouraging signs of stabilisation since the start of the year. The improved outlook has been driven by an increase in activity in the United States and better policy responses to the European sovereign debt crisis.

Despite the impact of ongoing global uncertainty and uneven conditions across sectors, the IMF expects that the Australian economy will outpace all major advanced economies over the next two years, with forecast growth of 3.0 per cent in 2012 and 3.5 per cent in 2013.

These forecasts are broadly consistent with the outlook in the Mid Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook which has the Budget returning to surplus in 2012-13.

The IMF also forecasts Australia's unemployment rate to remain low at 5.2 per cent in both 2012 and 2013.

With solid growth, low unemployment, contained inflation, strong public finances and a record pipeline of business investment, the Australian economy is the standout performer of the developed world.

The National Water Commission (NWC) has released a report into water trading in the southern Murray-Darling Basin, finding that water markets helped the region remain productive, even during severe drought periods.

“Australia’s water markets have allowed water to be reallocated to where the need is greatest and reduced the impact of the drought on regional production. Water trade is playing a major role in achieving the National Water Initiative (NWI) objective of maximising the economic, social and environmental values of scarce water resources,” NWC Commissioner Laurie Arthur said.

“It is increasingly valued as a business tool and is now supported by the majority of the irrigators surveyed by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences for this report.”

The report confirms that the main drivers of hardship in the communities in the southern Murray-Darling Basin include drought, commodity prices and exchange rates, while water trading offsets these difficulties.

But water markets can deliver even more. Continuing reform will ensure that market structures provide greater efficiency, that participants have sufficient information to avoid uncertainty, and most importantly, that the remaining restrictions on trade are removed,” Mr Arthur said.

The report also assesses the impacts of Government policies in the area over the four year period ending in min-2011.

 ‘The millennium drought has had significant impacts on regional production and the proceeds from water trading sales have supported local economies and allowed many irrigators to reduce debt during that difficult time. Water purchased by the Australian Government is part of this trade and will benefit the environment,” Mr Arthur said.

The report can be found here

The Federal Government has announced that the Edith Cowan University has joined forces with nine other Australian universities to bolster research into the management of chronic diseases, mental health in young people and the protection of coastal environments.

Federal Minister for Science and Research, Senator Chris Evans, launched the $5.6 million project that will see collaborations in research excellence.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for ECU to team up with other institutions in areas of common interest to make a significant contribution to the nation's research and innovation priorities," Senator Evans said.

"ECU will be involved in research that delivers real outcomes-research that drives innovation and boosts productivity.

ECU will partner with the University of Western Australia, University of Adelaide, University of South Australia, Flinders University, Queensland University of Technology, University of Queensland, Deakin University, University of Melbourne and University of Sydney.

The 'Growing research excellence at Edith Cowan University through partnership and engagement' project is part of the Government's innovative Collaborative Research Networks (CRN) program.

Speaking on ABC’s AM radio show, Garry Weaven calls on the Federal Government to rewrite the Reserve Bank’s charter so to start healing a damaged economy.

Mr Weaven believes the Reserve Bank focuses too strongly on inflation and attetudes imposed when Peter Costello was Treasurer in 1996 is now “totally inappropriate."

"It seems to be still unduly influencing the Reserve in its policies. I know it's very hard to get the balance right, but I think consistently for many years now the Reserve has had far too much focus on inflation only and not enough on full employment and economic prosperity generally, which is their requirement under the Act," Mr Weaven said.

"It's hard to see that the current arrangements are properly co-ordinated. And I think there seems to be little point in having a situation where the Reserve is locked into a sort of single blunt instrument approach and the Government is locked into a political set of parameters."

“Notwithstanding the mining boom, we do have signs of real weakness in retail and manufacturing. But more importantly in a way, we have very high interest rates by international standards. And high interest rates push the currency high and that's very, very bad for manufacturers, tourism and some other industries," said Mr Weaven.

Garry Weaven is a former ACTU assistant secretary and currently oversees $120 billion worth of superannuation investments including AustralianSuper, Cbus and Hesta.

You can listen to the full transcript of Garry Weaven's interview with the ABC here

The Victorian Government has announced it will not place an order from the Wonthaggi desalination plant for the coming financial year.

Water Minister Peter Walsh said solid rainfalls had left water storages at healthy levels and would not need to be bolstered by the plant.

"Melbourne's dams are holding almost 1200Gl and we are coming into the winter/spring filling season with wet catchments," Mr Walsh said.

"It's also clear that the plant will not be fully completed by the original completion date of 30 June 2012.

"AquaSure has advised the plant is not expected to be fully completed and have passed all reliability tests until February 2013, well into the financial year, although the plant will produce water until reliability testing is complete," Mr Walsh said.

"Given we don't need the water and we are already contractually obliged to pay for water produced during commissioning, we believe the most responsible course of action is to save this money."

Water orders are determined based on a range of factors including the cost to customers and the need to manage water security through the analysis of supply and demand, water storage levels and management, and a range of future weather scenarios.

The Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency has released the National Greenhouse Accounts for the latest emission trends for the December Quarter 2011.

The accounts factor in the Kyoto Target and are used to meet the country’s reporting commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and track progress against the country’s target under the Protocol.

The accounts found emissions increased in the December Quarter, with trend emissions rising by 0.3 per cent and seasonally adjusted and weather normalized emissions increasing 0.1 per cent.

The reort found that trend increases were  largely driven by increases in emissions from fugitive emissions as a result of increased coal mining.

However, the coal emissions were offset by a decrease in emissions from the electricity and industrial processes sectors.

Annual emissions, excluding LULUCF, for the year to December 2011 are estimated to be 546.3 Mt CO₂–e. This represents an increase of 0.6 per cent compared to the year to December 2010 despite a drop in emissions from electricity generation (the single largest source of emissions in the national inventory).

The full report can be found here 

The Federal Government has announced the Parsons Brinkerhoff and ARUP joint venture as the winning bidder for the work to upgrade the duplication of the Pacific Highway between Woolgoolga and Glenugie.

“The rebuilding of the Pacific Highway is the biggest, most complex road construction project ever undertaken in Australia. This multi-billion nation building endeavour will reduce road deaths, slash travel times between our largest and third largest city as well as lift national productivity,” Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said.

The Woolgoolga to Glenugie Upgrade is scheduled to be completed by late 2016 and will duplicate 31 kilometres of highway, install a new interchange at Range Road, erect bridges across Corindi Creek and the nearby flood plain, and build new overpasses at Sherwood Creek and Kangaroo Trail roads.

NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay also confirmed today that contracts have been awarded for the geotechnical investigations which will assess the physical properties of the soil and rock beneath the route of the new Pacific Highway.

“I’m pleased to announce that Robert Carr and Associates will perform the work on the Woolgoolga to Glenugie section, Coffey and GHD has won the contract for the Glenugie to Devils Pulpit section, and Golder Associates and ARUP will be responsible for the section between Devils Pulpit and Ballina,” said Mr Gay.

“Given the terrain and flood prone nature of this part of the State, the work now being undertaken by these geotechnical engineers and geologists is vital to making sure the new Pacific Highway is built on solid foundations and able to withstand even the most extreme of weather events.

All up, the upgraded Pacific Highway between Woolgoolga and Ballina—a distance of some 155 kilometres—will boast ten major interchanges, new bridges across the Clarence and Richmond rivers and strategically located wildlife crossings.

The independent Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) Expert Panel has released its final report, with the Federal Government supporting all of the recommendations.

The Review Panel, chaired by Killian Broadbent, was appointed to advise on the design of the $10 billion CEFC, which will be responsible for driving investment in renewable energy, low-emissions and energy efficient technology.

The report suggests that the CEFC be given a broad mandate, but the Federal Government should steer clear of making specific investment decisions.

The full report can be found here

Researchers and policy makers from East Asia and Australia have converged on the Indonesian city of Makassar for a three-day, Australian-led summit to discuss urban sustainability and adaptation to climate change in urban areas.

Policy makers from 18 East Asian countries have met with counterparts from the Australian Government and researchers from CSIRO in Makassar for a number of workshops.

“These research projects share common themes of improving understanding of urban water sustainability and livelihoods under a changing climate,” said Dr Brenda Lin, CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship.

“These projects are also building local capacity and facilitating sharing of local knowledge and practice. By sharing information about initiatives underway in different country contexts, it is hoped that policy makers across the East Asian region can learn about best practice on climate adaptation research and responses, and use this to develop adaptation options that can be transferred across national borders.”

The two workshops include regional partners identified at the 1st and 2nd High Level Seminars organised through the East Asia Summit process.

Participants include delegates from the 18 East Asian nations, CSIRO researchers from the Climate Adaptation Flagship, as well as Australian Government representatives.

The Federal Government has announced its initial response to the Final Report of the Advisory Panel on the Economic Potential of Senior Australians (EPSA).

The Government’s response includes the establishment of a new $10 million Jobs Bonuses scheme that will deliver a $1000 incentive for employers to hire a mature age worker for more than three months.

“The Government commissioned the EPSA report because we understand that the ageing of our population brings great opportunities for our country and our economy if we better harness the skills and experience of older Australians,” Treasurer Wayne Swan said in a statement.

Other initiatives announced include:

• $15.6m to extend the very successful Corporate Champions program to provide support to employers who wish to promote mature aged employment at their workplace.
• $3.9m to extend the Career Advice service by two years to ensure mature age people have access to free, professional career advice.
• $4.8m to promote lifelong learning by expanding education opportunities by adult and community education providers and community organisations to older Australians.
• Expanding the More Help for Mature Age Workers initiative, to now be called the "Investing in Experience - Skills Recognition and Training program, to allow industries to benefit from improving the skills of their over 50's workforces.

The Government has also outlined further strategies to counter age discrimination in the workforce, including:

• Providing $2.1 million over four years to the Age Discrimination Commissioner to address age discrimination, age stereotyping and ageism more generally, to feed into a media roundtable and communication strategy;
• Reviewing Commonwealth legislation to identify age barriers that prevent continued participation in the workforce for people aged 45 years and over; and
• Working to consolidate the five anti-discrimination Acts, including the Age Discrimination Act 2004, into a single law as part of Australia's Human Rights Framework.

The full response can be found here

The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) has released its Monthly Leading Indicator of Employment, finding that results have fallen for the fourth consecutive month in April 2012.

The report finds weaknesses in all of the Indicator’s four components, but the Department has stopped short of warning that such a consistent decline could confirm a slowing overall employment growth.

The report can be found here 

The University of South Australia has published a report that suggests sexual harassment remains a persistent problem in Australian workplaces.

Published as part of an Australian Research Council Discovery Project, the report analysed 284 sexual harassment complaints reported to all Australian, state and territory equal opportunity commissions. The report details the type, prevalence, people and organisations involved in sexual harassment complaints.

Sara Charlesworth, an Associate Professor at UniSA, says that the report sheds greater light on the nature of workplace sexual harassment.

“Previously, data about sexual harassment complaints in Australia have been limited to what has been reported in individual Commissions’ annual reports, which don’t have the depth or detail provided in this report,” Associate Professor Charlesworth said.

“This report provides a better picture of the types of sexual harassment that are the subject of formal complaints. 

“In Australian workplaces, formal sexual harassment complaints are more likely to involve people who are in less precarious employment situations and who report the ‘classic’ profile of sexual harassment with a male harasser in a senior position harassing a more junior woman, and involving physical sexual harassment.” 

The report finds that sexual harassment often leads to negative consequences beyond the workplace for those who experience it, including anxiety, poorer health and well being and, frequently, job loss.

The report can be found here

GM Holden has announced it has secured an agreement that will see it design and engineer two new vehicles for the Chinese market

Holden has signed an agreement with Shanghai General Motors (SGM) and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) to develop the new vehicles for SGM and its affiliates.

PATAC is a 50-50 joint venture between GM and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC). It provides automotive engineering services including design, development, testing and validation of components and vehicles to SGM and its affiliates in China.

The Holden designers and engineers working on the program will be based in Holden’s Technical Centre in Port Melbourne. The team will develop the new vehicles, which will be underpinned by GM global platforms, and tailor them for the Chinese market.

Holden Chairman and Managing Director, Mike Devereux, announced the partnership to employees in Melbourne today with the leaders of SGM and PATAC.

“Holden is a valuable source of expertise within GM International Operations and we’re one of only seven fully-integrated design, engineering and manufacturing operations in the GM world,” he said.

“We have worked with SGM and PATAC in recent years on smaller projects, but this is the first significant, long-term project to partner our organisations.

The Federal Government has announced a $10 million funding grant for Australia’s four Learned Academies so they can undertake new research projects under the direction of the Prime Minister’s Science Engineering and Innovation (PMSEIC) and Chief Scientist.

The Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACoLA) will engage Australia's top scientists to work with the Chief Scientist and the Australian Research Council (ARC) to address the complex and diverse challenges in shaping the Australian economy and society for the future.

Minister for Science and Research, Senator Chris Evans said ACoLA will conduct research to identify Australia's natural, geographical and cultural competitive advantages to help the country thrive in a competitive world.

"World class science and research will lead to the innovation Australia needs to ensure the strength of our future economy," Senator Evans said.

"To remain competitive, Australia must ensure that science and research is underpinning industry and innovation and driving them to adapt to the modern economy."

The ARC will call for projects from ACoLA and the Learned Academies to primarily address priority areas that arise out of PMSIEC and advise the Gillard Government about enhancing Australia's competitive future.

The first issues to be addressed as part of PMSEIC's future work program are expected to include the role of science and technology in the Asian Century, lifting national productivity; building broader scientific competence in the workforce and addressing skills shortages in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics research areas.

ACoLA will also build on recent research commissioned by Australia's Chief Scientist to address critical skills shortages in Australia's Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics research sector.

The $10 million funding over three years will be provided under the ARC Linkage Learned Academies Special Projects funding scheme.

The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal of NSW (IPART) has released findings that show households will be better off under the the Federal Government’s carbon pricing scheme, with the planned compensation associated with the legislation more than covering any potential price increases.

Recent analysis by AECOM and CSIRO, supported by The Climate Institute and consumer and welfare groups CHOICE and ACOSS, put the price of electricity bills at about 10 per cent higher this year with the enactment of the carbon price legislation.  IPART today found an average 9 per cent increase from the carbon price, equivalent to a less than $4 per week increase in household electric bills. 

“IPART has confirmed the CSIRO/AECOM price impact analysis and reinforced other factors like the investment in poles and wires are driving similar or greater increases without the compensation provided under the carbon price legislation,” said The Climate Institute CEO John Connor.

“Most importantly, the CSIRO research found the rate increases related to the price of carbon will be offset by government assistance in 9 out of 10 households, and most Australians will gain rather than lose, especially if they invest in energy efficiency measures for their homes.”

The CSIRO/AECOM research also found that: 

• Australia’s carbon pollution price will add a mere 0.6 per cent to inflation in 2012-13. That is the equivalent to 6 cents on every $10.00 spent. In even simpler terms, that represents an extra 2  cents spent on bread and a litre of milk, 11 cents on a leg of lamb or 14 cents on a week’s worth of fruit and vegetables.
• This price impact is less than a quarter of the impact of the GST, half the impact of previous mining boom and roughly equivalent to the price impacts of cyclones Larry and Yasi.
• Climate impacts from extreme weather events like cyclones and bushfires could be 20 times the impact of the carbon price.

“IPART data is entirely consistent with independent and Treasury estimates which have been addressed in the carbon pricing package of pension increases and tax cuts enabled by making our biggest industries start to pay for their carbon pollution,” said Connor.

The CSIRO has released a report into a four-year, $21 million research study into the viability of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology offsetting and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the country’s coal-fired power stations.

The report confirms that post-combustion carbon dioxide capture (PCC) technology operates effectively and efficiently under Australian conditions and is now available to the industry as the first stage in the CCS chain.

The program, funded through the Asia-Pacific Partnership (APP) on Clean Development and Climate and supported by a grant from the Department of Resource, Energy and Tourism (DRET), enabled two PCC plants to be successfully established and operated at existing Australian power stations - at Delta Electricity’s Munmorah power station in NSW and at Stanwell Corp’s Tarong power station in Queensland.

The results showed that the PCC technology was able to capture more than 85 per cent of carbon dioxide from the power station flue gases along with other gases such as sulphur dioxide, can be fitted to both new and existing power stations, has flexible application according to changing consumer demand in the electricity market and can use renewable energy such as solar thermal as a power source.