Australia - news, etc

[ahojunk]

UN refugee summit: Malcolm Turnbull and Peter Dutton tout Australia's immigration policy
By North America correspondent Stephanie March and political reporter Stephanie Anderson
ABC.net.au
Updated about 4 hours ago

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton have used a United Nations summit to encourage world leaders to look to Australia's strict border control policies as a way to give citizens confidence in accepting migrants.

Key points:

• UN meeting aims to find solution to global migrant crisis
• Turnbull and Dutton urge nations to follow Australia's lead
• Many groups have in the past criticised Australia's immigration detention policy

The pair defended Australia's controversial immigration policy at an unprecedented United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, aimed at finding a better international solution to deal with 65.3 million people displaced around the globe.

Mr Turnbull outlined his view of the problem to the group, saying that the "unregulated movement of people globally is growing fast".

"We need measures to create order out of the resulting chaos," he said.

He urged the gathered world leaders to look to the Australian example for a solution.

"Addressing irregular migration through secure borders has been essential in creating the confidence that the government can manage migration in a way that mitigates risk and focuses humanitarian assistance on those who need it most," Mr Turnbull said.

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[Three_Kingdoms]

Australian port sold for $7.3 billion to consortium; China fund among backers

Shipping containers and cranes are seen at a port holding yard in Melbourne in this June 2, 2010 file photo. REUTERS/Mick Tsikas/Files

By Cecile Lefort and Byron Kaye | SYDNEY

A consortium of global and domestic funds, backed by investors including China Investment Corp, agreed to buy Australia's busiest port for a higher-than-expected A$9.7 billion ($7.3 billion), a sign that tough equity markets are helping fuel appetite for infrastructure.

Australian leaders will also hope the deal shows they still welcome Chinese investment in infrastructure. The federal government last month blocked the sale of the country's biggest power network, Ausgrid, to state-owned State Grid Corp of China and Hong Kong-listed Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings on security concerns.

The price tag for Port of Melbourne fell short of the country's largest privatization deal on record, the A$10.8 billion sale of electricity grid company Transgrid to a global consortium in November 2015, but still ranks among its biggest.

It also smashes the target set by the government of Victoria state which previously said it hoped for A$5.8 billion for the container and multi-cargo port. In 2013, the two ports of larger city Sydney fetched A$5 billion.

Sovereign wealth funds and other asset managers are seeking long-term investment opportunities amid weaker returns from some equity markets and lower bond yields.

"Equity markets are starting to realise that they're going to live in an environment where returns are going to be lower for longer, and they're looking for secure investments," Victoria Treasurer Tim Pallas said in a telephone interview.

FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

Australia began a free trade agreement with China in December but has been trying to ease diplomatic strains since the Ausgrid rejection. China's commerce ministry warned at the time that the move "seriously impacts the willingness of Chinese companies to invest in Australia".

On Monday, Pallas said Australia's sovereign wealth fund, The Future Fund, and Canada's Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System will each get a fifth of Port of Melbourne following the sale, which is packaged as a 50-year lease.

The government investment vehicle of Queensland state (QIC) and New York-based Global Infrastructure Partners are the other consortium partners.

China Investment Corp [CIC.UL] is a major investor in Global Infrastructure Partners. South Korean pension fund NPS is also an investor. QIC's investors include California Public Employees' Retirement System (CALPERS).

ALSO IN COMMODITIES

• China Baosteel's takeover of Wuhan to create world's No. 2 steelmaker
• OPEC may decide on extra meeting immediately after Algiers: Algeria

All foreign buyers have regulatory clearance, Pallas added. The deal is expected to close on Oct. 31, a statement from the consortium said. Gresham Partners and Credit Suisse acted as financial adviser to the consortium.

The sell-off is part of Australia's more than A$100 billion privatization program, where state and federal governments are trying to cut debt and bankroll capital works by selling "mature" infrastructure assets.

New South Wales state, which arranged the troubled Ausgrid sale, is again trying to offload that asset, and plans to dispose of another grid afterwards. Western Australia state meanwhile wants to sell ports, while the Federal government is selling the Australian Security and Investments Commission's registry arm.

(Reporting by Byron Kaye and Cecile Lefort; Additional reporting by Denny Thomas; Editing by Stephen Coates and Edwina Gibbs)

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-privatisation-ports-idUSKCN11P04O

 

[ahojunk]

Here is another one!

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Uproar over restaurant name
April 11, 2016 6:00pm
Amy Price, Courier Mail

Uncle Ho Vietnamese Restaurant in Brisbane Fortitude Valley. Pic: Jack Tran​

STAFF at a Brisbane restaurant closed its doors today after reportedly receiving death threats, as protesters condemned management over its insensitive choice of name.

Channel 7 has reported that Fortitude Valley’s Uncle Ho restaurant and bar closed its doors early as protesters incensed by its name – a reference to Vietnamese dictator Ho Chi Minh – refused to leave.

Management have also reportedly told the TV network that it will now change the restaurant’s name.

EARLIER: Protesters have gathered in Fortitude Valley to protest the name of a new Brisbane eatery, claiming it adversely references a communist dictator.

Queensland members of the Vietnamese community in Australia argue Vietnamese restaurant and bar Uncle Ho, which opened in Fortitude Valley last month, gives nightmares to families who fled Vietnam’s communist regime by referencing leader Ho Chi Minh.

Queensland chapter president Dr Bui Cuong said between 150 and 200 people would stage a protest outside the restaurant today and would continue to organise objections until the owner changed the name.

“The communist people called him Uncle Ho. That is Ho Chi Minh. He is a mass murderer, a dictator,” Dr Bui told The Sunday Mail.

“People can support the communists, but the Vietnamese people here are the people who ran away from them. We don’t want anything to do with the communists.”

In the 20 years after the Vietnam War ended in 1975, about 2 million people left the country in a mass exodus to escape the communist regime, headed by Ho Chi Minh, with hundreds of thousands dying on the journey.

Dr Bui said he voiced their concern to restaurant director Anna Demirbek, but claimed she declined to change the name because it was “too much money”.

“I have nothing against her, but I am very against the name Uncle Ho because that brings back the bad memories, the nightmares for people who lost their families. Every time they think about it, they cry,” he said.

“If they still don’t change the name after the protest, we will protest again and again until the name is changed.

“521 soldiers from Australia and New Zealand died fighting against Ho Chi Minh and the communist army. Why would you bring the name Uncle Ho?”

Ms Demirbek declined to comment.

 

[ahojunk]

China's largest bank ICBC opens new branch in Brisbane, Australia
(Xinhua) 13:17, September 21, 2016

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has opened a new branch in Queensland, Australia, signalling new opportunities for the state's investors and exporters.

Queensland state Acting Premier and Treasurer Curtis Pitt said in a statement on Wednesday that the new ICBC branch in Brisbane was a testament to Queensland's strong and growing economy while offering mutually beneficial opportunities to Chinese investors who were interested to invest in the sunshine state.

ICBC is one of the biggest banks in the world, with 5 million corporate customers and 496 million personal customers, and a geographic footprint in 42 countries and regions.

"The new ICBC branch will be able to fully support businesses engaged in trade between China and our state," Pitt said.

ICBC which commenced operations in Australia in 2008 already operates a branch in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth and previously held a representative office in Brisbane.

The bank is also the fourth major Chinese bank to establish a presence in Queensland in recent years.

"It (ICBC) will also support Chinese companies seeking mutually beneficial investments in Queensland as well as service Queensland companies doing business in China or interested in entering the market," Pitt said.

ICBC Chairman Huiman Yi said the bank had experienced periods of stable growth and development and has become one of the largest banks in the world with assets totaling 4.4 trillion Australian dollars (1.6 trillion U.S. dollars).

"As part of ICBC's growing confidence in the state of Queensland, we have made the decision to establish a branch in Brisbane," Yi said.

Pitt said China was Queensland's largest merchandise trading partner with exports totalling 11.1 billion Australian dollars (8.39 billion U.S. dollars) largely on coal and base metals and imports totalling 7.2 billion Australian dollars (5 billion U.S. dollars) on clothing, electrical, and manufactured products.

"China is also the largest source of international students studying in Queensland, representing almost 19 percent of enrolments," Pitt said.

"In addition, of the 2.5 million overseas visitors to our state each year China was the largest single source, accounting for almost 20 percent of total international tourists," Pitt said.

"The new ICBC branch will help build on these types of existing bonds and develop new connections that have the potential to generate new business opportunities both here and in China and that means more jobs," he said.

 

[ahojunk]

This journalist is lazy, half of the things she wrote are half cooked.
But I will share this anyway.

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Why Chinese property buyers are so interested in Australia
Sep 23, 2016 Christina Zhou

The new 4 per cent stamp duty surcharge applicable to foreigners will raise $835 million,
the government says. Photo: Alistair Walsh​

The pull of Australia’s lifestyle and education system are not the only reasons Chinese buyers are heading here – there are also factors pushing people and their dollars thousands of kilometres from home.

China’s former one-child policy and their highly pressurised education system are driving interest to Australia, according to an RMIT study.

Why are some Chinese families so wealthy?

The former policy created a “doubled-up” effect of wealth created and accumulated by the first generation when it was inherited by the second generation, RMIT associate lecturer Peng Wong said.

Both families of the first generation had one child, and the two children of those families married and formed their own household, he said.

“This young family inherits the wealth from the two families, who have accumulated substantial wealth due to the economic growth in China,” he said.

The phenomenon led to enormous wealth liquidity among young Chinese families, which was available to be invested both locally and internationally, according to Mr Wong and David Higgins’ study.

Why are Chinese buyers coming to Australia?

There are push and pull reasons why Chinese buyers are coming here. Photo: Arsineh Houspian​

China’s “going-out” policy since 1999 had further driven Chinese to invest offshore, while unfavourable government policies in other countries “deflected” capital flow to Australia, Mr Wong said.

Canada abolished their Immigrant Investor Scheme in February 2014, while the Singapore government imposed “cooling measures” such as the 15 per cent stamp duty for foreigners.

There were also limited investment options in China and an under-performing domestic residential market, he said.

China remains by far the biggest foreign buyer of Australian property, splashing $24.3 billion in 2014-15 – more than triple the United States and six times the outlay from Singapore, the Foreign Investment Review Board annual report shows.

Buyers who love regular holidays in Australia, rather than being primarily motivated by making gains on purchases, are prominent among overseas-based house hunters, the study found.

Esther Yong, director of AC Property, said the Victorian government’s increased stamp duty for foreign buyers and stricter bank requirements were starting to deflect pure investors.

“Australia is starting to become like Canada and Singapore because of all the loan and tax issues,” she said.

“People who have already planned ahead to send their kids to Australia, or have family or friends in Australia … are not affected.”

New South Wales and Queensland also introduced a 4 per cent and 3 per cent stamp duty surcharge for foreign buyers.

Overseas developers who seek to build “significant” residential projects will be exempt from the Queensland government’s surcharge.

Parents don’t want to subject their children to the “high pressure cooker” education system

Photo: Andy Wong​

Mr Wong and Mr Higgins, who interviewed property experts in Shanghai as a part of the study, revealed parents were sending their children to Australia at an earlier age for education.

China’s education system was rigid and lacked innovation, Mr Wong said. “The students are being heavily assessed based on their capacity to memorise and answer standardised exam questions.

“Some of the young families do not think it’s actually a good idea to subject their kids to such a pressurised environment, and as a result they start to send their kids overseas.”

The research also showed that residential properties near universities and higher-ranked secondary and primary school zones in Melbourne were experiencing significant international student enrolments.

Speaking to parents in China last month, Ms Yong said families were enrolling their children in international kindergartens and schools in China to prepare them for schooling in Australia.

Changes to student visa rules from July 1 should boost demand for properties in good primary school zones, a report by buyers agency Secret Agent says.

Melbourne-based Ray White Balwyn director Helen Yan said many Chinese families were starting to apply for the student visas so they could enrol their children in primary school.

She expects the visa changes to translate into sales at the end of this year or in 2017.

 

[ahojunk]

UN refugee summit: Malcolm Turnbull pushes bid for Human Rights Council in UN address
By political reporter Stephanie Anderson
Updated Thu at 11:28am

​

Malcolm Turnbull at UN, September 22, 2016.


Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has used an address to the United Nations General Assembly to champion Australia's bid for the Human Rights' Council.

Australia wants to join the council for the 2018-2020 term, despite criticism from UN officials over its asylum seeker policy.

In a wide-ranging speech delivered in New York this morning, Mr Turnbull said Australia was already focussed on human rights issues such as gender equality and the rights of Indigenous people.

He also listed governance, freedom of expression, strong national human rights institutions and capacity-building as Australia's key strengths.

"We are committed to providing principled and pragmatic leadership across these five areas — both through our actions at home, and our advocacy and cooperation abroad," he said.

The UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein, has previously criticised Australia's asylum seeker policy, saying it led to a "chain of human rights violations".

Speaking late last year, Mr Hussein added that the policy of boat turn-backs would result in "possible torture" — allegations rejected by then-immigration minister Scott Morrison.

Turnbull singles out AFL Star

In his address, Mr Turnbull also highlighted the country's strong border controls, saying it was necessary to facilitate the resettlement of refugees through the humanitarian program.

He praised Australia's status as an immigrant nation, singling out AFL player and former refugee Aliir Aliir as one of the policy's success stories.

"Aliir is one of the first Sudanese immigrants to play AFL and has become a role model in our multicultural nation, especially for young people in Sydney," Mr Turnbull said.

"There are thousands of migrant stories like Aliir's — leaders of government, of business, of science, of the arts. Australia would not be the country it is today without their contribution. Their stories are our stories, their successes are our successes."

Mr Turnbull also spoke on the "threat" of climate change, citing Australia's commitment to ratify the Paris Agreement.

 

[ahojunk]

SEPTEMBER 23 2016 - 5:49PM
Australia among top 10 healthiest countries in the world, Global Burden of Disease Study shows
Kate Aubusson, Sydney Morning Herald

The USA can keep its hoard of Olympic medals. Australia has thrashed the superpower in a far more significant world ranking.

Australia is among the top 10 healthiest countries in the world, according to the most comprehensive analysis of burden of disease and living standards to date.

Taking out 10th place among 188 countries, Australia was just four points behind top-ranked Iceland when benchmarked against 33 health-related indicators linked to the UN's sustainable development goals.

The US trailed in 28th place with an SGD index of 75 compared with Australia's 81, according to the Global Burden of Disease Study published in The Lancet.

Australia is among the top 10 healthiest countries in the world. ​

A suite of perfect scores buoyed Australia's performance, including top marks for indicators associated with war, malnutrition, water access, sanitation and malaria.

But its result was dragged down by lower scores for suicide, alcohol, smoking, overweight, HIV, violence and disaster (defined as the death rate due to exposure to forces of nature per 100,000 population).

The US's comparatively poor performance will come as a surprise to many, considering its socio-economic heft, wrote the research coalition of more than 1870 international researchers who analysed the performance of countries between 1990 and 2015.

The superpower's lacklustre scores for maternal mortality alcohol consumption, childhood overweight, and deaths due to interpersonal violence, self-harm, and unintentional poisoning compared to other higher income countries dragged down its overall ranking.

East Timor was the biggest success story, winning the title of most improved and rocketing up the rankings to 122nd place.

Dead last was the Central African Republic, with a total SDG index score of 20. War-torn Afghanistan came in 180th place, and Syria fell to 117th, still scoring better than Russia in 119th place. China came was 92nd, and Papua New Guinea 155th.

Overall, the most pronounced progress internationally was among the universal health coverage indicators, largely thanks to anti-retroviral therapies and widespread use of insecticide-treated nets in malaria-endemic countries since the early 2000s.

And while there were also substantial improvements in childhood stunting caused by malnutrition, childhood overweight rates had worsened considerably over the past 15 years.

"Our analysis not only highlights the importance of income, education, and fertility as drivers of health improvement but also emphasises that investments in these areas alone will not be sufficient," the researchers said.

The SDG targets have been a source of intense debate, with critics arguing they were too vague, unrealistic, poorly measured, or missing key indicators - for instance, banning forced labour or mental health improvements.

The SDG agenda replaced the Millenium Development Goal framework, which expired in 2015.

The scores routinely inform decisions concerning which countries may be most deserving of aid funding, as well as national and international policy and strategies.

"The difficulties of measurement are also further compounded by persistent problems of data availability, quality and comparability across a host of indicators" as the researchers work to pull together a daunting tangle of national data sets, survey results and pharmaceutical records.

The latest analysis was a step towards a more cohesive approach to understanding the interaction between SDGs, targets and indicators by comparing the relationship between education, income and fertility, the authors said.

It also raised questions about the impact of other drivers on health and living standards across the globe.

The authors urged governments, donors, and global development institutions to use the results to "enhance accountability through open and transparent review and action".

 

[ahojunk]

Tony Blair and John Howard are lambasted for the invasion of Iraq. That leaves Dubya and Cheney.
IMO, John Howard was a good PM other than this mistake.

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University of Sydney academics protest honorary degree for 'racist and war criminal' John Howard

Kelsey Munro
SEPTEMBER 28 2016, Sydney Morning Herald

Academics from the University of Sydney are protesting against the bestowal of an honorary doctorate on John Howard, saying the former Prime Minister is "considered a racist and a war criminal" and "not a fit recipient of the university's highest honour".

The university said it is conferring the honour "in acknowledgement of his achievements including world-leading gun law reform, leadership in East Timor and contribution to Australia's economic reform".

Former prime minister John Howard in his Sydney office. Photo: Louie Douvis​

But about 112 academics from the university had by Wednesday afternoon signed a petition opposing Friday's planned ceremony with Chancellor Belinda Hutchinson.

"To confer a doctorate on him is an insult to Indigenous people, refugees, and anyone committed to multiculturalism, peace and social progress in this country and in the world," the petition says.

"Howard's jingoistic, divisive and reactionary politics are directly responsible for the widening fractures in our society, starkly revealed just last week by the Essential Poll that found that 49 per cent of Australians support a ban on Muslim immigration."

The signatories cite what they say was "a sharp escalation in racism (Tampa affair; Pacific Solution for asylum seekers; Northern Territory Intervention) and militarism (participation in the invasion of Iraq)" and "an assault on the independence of university research (the so-called 'history' wars)" under Mr Howard's prime ministership.

They also blame Mr Howard's time in leadership for "mainstreaming of far-right politics [which] laid the foundations for the success of One Nation, which today has four seats in the Senate."

Mr Howard said: "It is a free country, they are entitled to their view."

The staff and PhD students plan a protest around the university's Great Hall on Friday morning.

Academic Nick Riemer, one of the co-ordinators of the petition, said "the basic point is that the things that Howard did as prime minister - namely joining the invasion of Iraq, escalating the government's harsh stance on asylum seekers, starting the Northern Territory intervention - all of these things are the exact opposite of the kind of rigorously thought-through and socially beneficial and evidence-based kinds of policy that universities see themselves as promoting."

Dr Riemer, who is affiliated with the tertiary union, also suggested the honour was politically motivated.

"The truth is that universities use [honorary degrees] opportunistically, to send political messages and to win favours.

"The fact that there is a Coalition government in power at the moment obviously makes it a politically attractive proposition for management to offer an honorary doctorate to an LNP figurehead."

Chancellor Hutchinson declared a donation to the Liberal party of $2500 in 2011, and her husband, Roger Massy-Greene, has been a prolific Liberal party donor over the years.

A spokeswoman for the university said the University Senate approved Mr Howard's conferral in December 2015, and that former prime minister Bob Hawke will also receive an honorary doctorate later this year.

Former prime ministers to have been recognised by the university are Robert Menzies, Gough Whitlam, Stanley Bruce and William Hughes.

Howard is an alumnus of the University of Sydney's law school and a former member of its Liberal Club. He has received similar recognition from the University of NSW, Macquarie University, Bond University and Charles Sturt University.

 

[ahojunk]

Australian researchers are a step closer to a peanut allergy vaccine

Julia Medew, Sydney Morning Herald
SEPTEMBER 29 2016

Australian researchers are recruiting children with peanut allergies to try an experimental vaccine that could free them of their life threatening condition.

About 3 per cent of babies have a peanut allergy that mostly persists throughout their life, and of all food allergies, a peanut allergy is the most likely to cause a severe anaphylactic reaction.

But researchers from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute say they might have found a treatment which could be available within five years.

In a world first study reported last year, the researchers gave 28 children a daily combination of peanut protein and a high dose of probiotics (the equivalent of those found in two kilograms of yoghurt) over the course of 18 months.

About three per cent of babies are allergic to peanuts. Photo: Patrick Sison​

When they stopped treatment and fed the children peanuts about four weeks later, they found 80 per cent of children could tolerate the equivalent of up to 20 peanuts. The children aged one to 10 went home to continue regularly eating peanuts.

Among 28 children who received a placebo, one of them (4 per cent) could tolerate peanuts at the end of the study. The researchers said this was expected because about 20 per cent of children with a peanut allergy recover from it naturally over time.

The study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, meant children were exposed to allergic reactions throughout the study. The majority experienced mild to moderate symptoms along the way, such as hives and welts. Up to 10 per cent experienced a severe allergic reaction. There were no deaths.

Lead author of the study Professor Mimi Tang said most of the children who were eating peanuts at the end of the trial were still eating peanuts years later - a behaviour thought to help maintain tolerance. Her team are due to publish a study on the longer term effects for those children soon.

However, Professor Tang said it was possible these children would become allergic again in future, because other studies of people whose allergies appeared to have been treated went on to experience allergic reactions again.

The team are now hoping to see similar results in a study of more than 200 children across Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. Recruitment is currently under way with only about 40 children signed up so far.

Professor Tang said the group had received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council for the study and capital investment firm OneVentures to try to speed up its progress. If the study went well, she said the vaccine, which effectively reprograms the immune system's response to peanuts, could be available to purchase in 2021 at the earliest.

Other treatments for peanut allergies are in the late stages of development and could be approved for sale by the US drug regulator soon. Professor Tang said one was a peanut patch that could be applied to skin every day, and another was a medicine based on peanut protein alone.

However, she said research showed these led to desensitisation only, not tolerance. Desensitisation means you have to continue taking the treatment whereas tolerance means you can eat peanuts without the treatment.

The study reported last year was funded by the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Perpetual Philanthropy, the CASS Foundation, the Financial Markets Foundation for Children and the National Health and Medical Research Council Australia. Nestlè Health Science were also involved.

People interested in the Murdoch Children's Research Institute study can email: peanut.study@mcri.edu.au

 

[ahojunk]

$1 Aussie coal mines turn to jackpots as China's cuts power price rally
Perry Williams, The Age
SEPTEMBER 30 2016 - 3:46PM

Buying bargain-bin coal mines amid the worst commodity slump in a generation has turned into a savvy bet as prices of the fuel surge.

Stanmore Coal bought the Isaac Plains metallurgical coal mine in Queensland from Brazil's Vale and Japan's Sumitomo Corporation for just $1 in July 2015, when the price of met coal, used to make steel, averaged the lowest in about a decade and just three years after the mine was valued at $860 million.

Queensland's Isaac Plains coal mine is turning into black gold for its new owner.
Photo: Glenn Hunt​

"It seems like we did get our timing right in this instance," said Stanmore's chief executive Nick Jorss. "When we bought Isaac Plains, hard coking coal was in the $US70s. We've had pretty substantial movement since then."

Coking coal prices have surged more than 150 per cent this year as output from China, the world's biggest miner, tumbles under pressure from the government to cut overcapacity even as demand from steelmakers surges.

Stanmore, which has seen its share price double since the beginning of last month, isn't the only miner who bought low. The tiny ASX-listed miner TerraCom last week completed the purchase of the Blair Athol thermal coal mine, also for $1, from Rio Tinto as the world's second-biggest miner exits some of its local coal portfolio. Thermal coal in Australia, while unable to match coking coal's rally, has risen more than 50 per cent this year.

'Brave enough'

Miners who struck deals before the recent price surge were well placed to profit from the unexpected revival, even if they're small producers, said Robin Griffin, research director for global metallurgical coal markets at consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

One year later, spot prices have soared above $US200 a ton as China's steel mills crank out record volumes while its mines slow production.

"They were brave enough to make the call to try and make it work," Griffin said. "They wouldn't have foreseen this spike, but they would have had a more optimistic view perhaps. So, in some respects, you could argue their gut feeling was justified."

While the $1 headline price appears a bargain, Griffin notes the deals come with costly commitments. Stanmore is responsible for a $32 million obligation for the Isaac Plains mine, in Queensland, while TerraCom is also on the hook for costs related to rehabilitating the mine.

Master stroke?

Stanmore is targeting 1.1 million metric tons of coal a year from Isaac Plains, while TerraCom hopes to ship 2 million tons annually. Australia, which is the world's largest coking coal producer, exported 186 million tons last year, according to Wood Mackenzie.

Japan's Electric Power Development Company, which owned Blair Athol with Rio Tinto and is known as J-Power, said it decided to sell its stake to a company that was willing to recover the remaining coal resources, according to a spokesman. Sumitomo, Rio Tinto and Vale declined to comment.

Stanmore's Jorss expects coking coal contract prices for the fourth-quarter to rise above $US150 a ton, from the current quarter's $US92.50. Analysts at Macquarie Group forecast deals will be agreed at $US170 a ton, which is still far short of the record of $US330 a ton in 2011.

"If they have material to sell, the funds will just roar in this quarter," Wood Mackenzie's Griffin said. "If prices continue into the next quarter and into the first quarter of 2017, it will look like a master stroke."

TerraCom chairman Cameron McRae, a former Rio Tinto executive, said there were good bargains to be found in unwanted coal assets.

"The extent of the commodity down-cycle has put a lot of miners under pressure and you've seen companies sell up because their balance sheets require it," McRae said. "When you see a significant down-cycle you will always see assets come onto the market."

Bloomberg

 

[ahojunk]

Melbourne just got free Wi-Fi
SEPTEMBER 29, 20161:30PM
news.com.au

All this will be filled with free Wi-Fi.​

MELBOURNE has stepped up its game in the city wars, today becoming the first Australian capital to offer free Wi-Fi across the CBD.

From today, Melburnians and visitors will be able to access the “world class free Wi-Fi Network” the state government just dropped.

The service has been switched on in Melbourne CBD train stations, the Bourke St Mall, Queen Victoria Market, and South Wharf Promenade at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

More access points are due to be switched on over the coming months as the $11 million gift from the state’s Labor government is rolled out.

Wi-Fi hot spots are being rolled out around the Melbourne CBD.​

Downloads will be capped at 250MB per device per day and the project will be managed by telco TPG. It’s already been launched in Ballarat and Bendigo where VicFreeWiFi has been available since December.

In a statement announcing the launch of the “world class” CBD network, Victoria’s Small Business Innovation and Trade Minister Philip Dalidakis said: “This is just another reason why Victoria is the country’s home of innovation and technology — we really do have the best of everything, not only in Melbourne but our regional cities as well.”

In an obvious dig at competing city Sydney, Premier Daniel Andrews tweeted his state’s capital offered “24-hour public transport. 24-hour night-life. And now: 24-hour free Wi-Fi”.

 

[ahojunk]

Melbourne just got free Wi-Fi
SEPTEMBER 29, 20161:30PM
news.com.au

All this will be filled with free Wi-Fi.​

MELBOURNE has stepped up its game in the city wars, today becoming the first Australian capital to offer free Wi-Fi across the CBD.

From today, Melburnians and visitors will be able to access the “world class free Wi-Fi Network” the state government just dropped.

The service has been switched on in Melbourne CBD train stations, the Bourke St Mall, Queen Victoria Market, and South Wharf Promenade at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

More access points are due to be switched on over the coming months as the $11 million gift from the state’s Labor government is rolled out.

Wi-Fi hot spots are being rolled out around the Melbourne CBD.​

Downloads will be capped at 250MB per device per day and the project will be managed by telco TPG. It’s already been launched in Ballarat and Bendigo where VicFreeWiFi has been available since December.

In a statement announcing the launch of the “world class” CBD network, Victoria’s Small Business Innovation and Trade Minister Philip Dalidakis said: “This is just another reason why Victoria is the country’s home of innovation and technology — we really do have the best of everything, not only in Melbourne but our regional cities as well.”

In an obvious dig at competing city Sydney, Premier Daniel Andrews tweeted his state’s capital offered “24-hour public transport. 24-hour night-life. And now: 24-hour free Wi-Fi”.

 

[ahojunk]

Kevin Rudd’s bid for Secretary-General of the United Nations may not be over

AAP, News Corp Australia Network
October 2, 2016 4:45pm

KEVIN Rudd has shot down speculation another country was going to back him for a late run at the United Nations’ top job.

There is speculation in New York the former prime minister has lined up another nation to back his run for the soon-to-be vacant secretary-general’s position.

New York-based Inner City Press stoked the speculation on the weekend.

“Even at this late stage there are dark horses and dreamers,” Inner City Press, in a report on the numerous plots, twists and late candidates in the election, states.

“Kevin Rudd doesn’t hide it, and Inner City Press hears he’s lined up a country other than Australia which could nominate him.”

Kevin Rudd says UN claims are untrue. Picture: Stefan Postles/Getty Images​

But Rudd said he was not a candidate.

“The report is false,” a spokesperson for Mr Rudd said.

“Mr Rudd has not approached any governments, other than Australia, to endorse him as a candidate for UN secretary-general.”

Mr Rudd’s hopes were dashed when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull rejected his lobbying to be Australia’s representative.

New Zealand’s hope, former prime minister Helen Clark, has languished toward the bottom of the candidates and the field to replace current secretary-general Ban Ki-moon was shaken up last week when Bulgaria nominated and switched its backing to economist Kristalina Georgieva from director-general of UNESCO Irina Bokova. Former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Guterres has been the frontrunner in the UN Security Council’s straw polls.

“It should be noted in a Channel 7 news item on the 23rd September it was reported ‘a leader of another country has told Malcolm Turnbull they might nominate Mr Rudd for the UN Secretary General’s job, even if he won’t’,” Mr Rudd’s spokesperson said.

“Mr Rudd has not agreed to any such proposal from another country. “Mr Rudd is not a candidate for UN Secretary-General.”

 

[ahojunk]

Tourism ministers converge on Hobart to work on strategies to lure Chinese

JENNIFER CRAWLEY, Mercury
October 3, 2016 12:00am

CHINA will top the agenda when Australian tourism ministers converge on Hobart for talks next week – the first time since 1995.

Federal Tourism Minister Steve Ciobo will chair the informal discussion, with the Tasmanian Visitor Engagement Survey expected to be released at the meeting.

Mr Ciobo said Australia was seeing “good numbers of international tourists who are staying longer and spending more”.

“One of the standouts is Tasmania,” he said. “You are enjoying a strong surge. You have the first-class attractions of Mona and Salamanca as well as natural attractions like Cradle Mountain, but you need to see continued investment to keep hotel infrastructure up to date.”

Local tourism chiefs said plateauing visitor numbers were proof more infrastructure was needed.

Tourism had been identified as a growth section of the economy as Australia transitioned from investment in the mining and resources sectors, Mr Ciobo said.

The national growth in tourism had been driven by the Chinese and, in Tasmania, by the visit of the Chinese President in 2014, he said.

The key areas up for discussion in Hobart are preparation for 2017, the Australia China Year of Tourism, and regional tourism investment.

“I’d like to co-ordinate a national response – a national delegation of Aussies to China – a co-ordinated response not a haphazard one, to drive a concerted push to fly the Australian flag,” Mr Ciobo said.

The second item will be a discussion on attracting tourism investors to regional areas.

In 2015, Chinese visitor spending in Australia reached a record $8.3 billion – 45 per cent more than the previous year, making China the fastest-growing tourism market.

For the 12 months to February this year, Australia welcomed 1,073,800 Chinese visitors, up 22.4 per cent on the previous period.

Tourism Research Australia estimates China is poised to overtake New Zealand as Australia’s largest tourism market.

 

[+4vsgorillas-Apebane]

I was one of those idiots who voted for Rudd back in the 2007 election.

What a dickhead he turned out to be. I would even go so far to say that he is far far worse than Abbot, but not as bad as Gillard.