Interview with Sky News reporter Annelise Nielsen. Jones states the Banking Royal...

Transcription

1 MON 02 JULY 2018 Mediaportal Report Interview with Sky News reporter Annelise Nielsen. Jones states the Banking Royal... Sky Business News, Sydney, Business Breakfast, Leanne Jones Duration: 2 mins 8 secs ASR N/A National Australia Industry Super Australia - Radio & TV ID: X :21 AM Interview with Sky News reporter Annelise Nielsen. Jones states the Banking Royal Commission is beginning its hearings in The Top End. Nielsen reveals the first day of the hearings in Darwin will be dedicated to agricultural finance following the shocking case studies that arose last week. She states this week's hearing will focus on how notes financial institutions have targeted Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander communities. Nielsen notes families who have signed up for funeral insurance arrangements have paid tens of thousands of dollars over years. She says the counsel assisting the commission will detail what will be examined in the inquiry. N/A All, N/A MALE 16+, N/A FEMALE 16+ Interviewees Annelise Nielsen, Sky News reporter Also broadcast from the following 9 stations Sky Business News (Adelaide), Sky Business News (Perth), Sky Business News (Melbourne), Sky Business News (Brisbane), Sky Business News (Regional NSW), Sky Business News (Regional Queensland), Sky Business News (Regional Victoria), Sky Business News (Canberra), Sky Business News (Tasmania) The Banking Royal Commission begins its hearing in Darwin today, looking at how... Sky News Live, Sydney, First Edition, Brooke Corte and Kieran Gilbert 8:07 AM Duration: 1 min 30 secs ASR AUD 753 National Australia Industry Super Australia - Radio & TV ID: X The Banking Royal Commission begins its hearing in Darwin today, looking at how financial institutions have targeted Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander communities. Today is the last day where agricultural finance will be discussed. The commission will hear from ASIC and Rural Bank today. 19,000 All, 11,000 MALE 16+, 8,000 FEMALE 16+ Vision ASIC, MoneySmart Also broadcast from the following 9 stations Sky News Live (Melbourne), Sky News Live (Canberra), Sky News Live (Brisbane), Sky News Live (Adelaide), Sky News Live (Perth), Sky News Live (Regional NSW), Sky News Live (Regional Queensland), Sky News Live (Regional Victoria), Sky News Live (Tasmania) COPYRIGHT This report and its contents are for the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only and must not be provided to any third party by any means for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia and/or the relevant copyright owner. For more information contact copyright@isentia.com DISCLAIMER Isentia makes no representations and, to the extent permitted by law, excludes all warranties in relation to the information contained in the report and is not liable for any losses, costs or expenses, resulting from any use or misuse of the report.

2 The Banking Royal Commission begins its hearing in Darwin today, looking at how... Sky News Live, Sydney, First Edition, Brooke Corte and Kieran Gilbert 7:41 AM Duration: 1 min 50 secs ASR AUD 919 National Australia Industry Super Australia - Radio & TV ID: X The Banking Royal Commission begins its hearing in Darwin today, looking at how financial institutions have targeted Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander communities. The issue of the payday loans will not be addressed as it is outside the terms of reference for the commission. 19,000 All, 11,000 MALE 16+, 8,000 FEMALE 16+ Vision ASIC Also broadcast from the following 9 stations Sky News Live (Melbourne), Sky News Live (Canberra), Sky News Live (Brisbane), Sky News Live (Adelaide), Sky News Live (Perth), Sky News Live (Regional NSW), Sky News Live (Regional Queensland), Sky News Live (Regional Victoria), Sky News Live (Tasmania) Regular Segment: Monday Finance with Michael Janda... Radio National, Canberra, Breakfast (Early), Geraldine Doogue 6:51 AM Duration: 8 mins 0 sec ASR AUD 342,849 National Australia Industry Super Australia - Radio & TV ID: X Regular Segment: Monday Finance with Michael Janda Doogue says Australia's housing market continues to slow. She says investors appear to be pulling out of the big East Coast markets, leaving almost half of the properties going to auction unsold. Janda says it is normal for the number of properties for sale to drop off over winter. He mentions, this time last year, around 70% of the properties that were going to auction in Sydney and Melbourne were sold under the hammer. He says figures show it was down to 50% in Sydney, 60% in Melbourne, and less than half in Brisbane and Perth last weekend. He mentions they will get CoreLogic's latest home price figures for June later this morning. He mentions housing credit figures were weak for the month of May. He notes investor credit had no growth at all and is only up by just 2% over the past year. He says as long as the housing slow down remains modest, then it is probably something the Reserve Bank would welcome. He says they are starting to see independent rate rises by some of the smaller banks. He mentions AMP, Bank of Queensland, IMB and Auswide have been lifting their rates for many customers. He says it is likely the other banks, possibly including the big four banks, will follow soon. Janda discusses Westpac's interesting observations about a recent surge in female employment. Doogue says the Financial Services Royal Commission is off to NT this week. Janda says the focus of the Financial Services Royal Commission is on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their interaction with financial services. 138,000 All, 54,000 MALE 16+, 81,000 FEMALE 16+ Interviewees Michael Janda, finance commentator Also broadcast from the following 8 stations Radio National (Sydney), Radio National (Melbourne), Radio National (Brisbane), Radio National (Perth), Radio National (Hobart), Radio National (Adelaide), Radio National (Darwin), Radio National (Newcastle) COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

3 Program Preview... Sky Business News, Sydney, Business Breakfast, Leanne Jones Duration: 0 min 20 secs ASR N/A National Australia Industry Super Australia - Radio & TV ID: X Program Preview - Updates on the Banking Royal Commission. - Updates on US President Donald Trump's change of tune when it comes to Saudi Arabia's oil production. - Oil prices. N/A All, N/A MALE 16+, N/A FEMALE 16+ Also broadcast from the following 9 stations Sky Business News (Adelaide), Sky Business News (Perth), Sky Business News (Melbourne), Sky Business News (Brisbane), Sky Business News (Regional NSW), Sky Business News (Regional Queensland), Sky Business News (Regional Victoria), Sky Business News (Canberra), Sky Business News (Tasmania) 6:35 AM Regular Segment: News Diary with Clarissa Thorpe, ABC Canberra.... ABC Radio Canberra, Canberra, Breakfast, Dan Bourchier 6:22 AM Duration: 3 mins 37 secs ASR AUD 768 ACT Australia Industry Super Australia - Radio & TV ID: X Regular Segment: News Diary with Clarissa Thorpe, ABC Canberra. - The start of the First Nations Government's Forum, hosted by the ANU, starts tonight in Canberra which brings together Australia's first peoples and international guests to discuss recognition of Indigenous people in the constitution. - The University of Canberra is hosting the Genetic Society of Australasia Conference to bring together some of the top international experts on genes and chromosomes research. There is a major announcement from Sydney this morning about genes in Australian marsupials. - A new report from the Grattan Institute indicates the high electricity prices will continue and the Government can only do little to help consumers. Grattan Institute's Energy Program Director Tony Wood claims the report was not good news for households and businesses hoping for lower electricity prices in the future. - The Royal Commission into banks will focus on the top-end and will be sitting in Darwin. It has been revealed thousands of Aboriginal children have been signed up to expensive funeral insurance schemes costing up to $100, The defence community will be having a big day with a pomp ceremony being held today. Australian Defence Force General Angus Campbell will be handing over command to incoming Chief of Army Lieutenant- General Rick Burr at Russell. - ABC's Four Corners will be focusing on biosecurity threats to Australia's economy resulting from corrupt officials and dodgy importers following the outbreaks in plant and animal health. The episode will be focusing on last year's outbreak of white spot disease. 9,000 All, 5,000 MALE 16+, 4,000 FEMALE 16+ COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

4 Regular Segment: News Wrap with Michael Park, Chief of Staff, ABC Radio Darwin... ABC Radio Darwin, Darwin, Breakfast, Adam Steer 5:55 AM Duration: 4 mins 21 secs ASR AUD 534 NT Australia Industry Super Australia - Radio & TV ID: X Regular Segment: News Wrap with Michael Park, Chief of Staff, ABC Radio Darwin. Park shares how he celebrated Cracker Night last night including how his pets fared, saying it was a little quieter than last year. He then discusses some of the news items that will be presented this morning including Territory Day, the banking royal commission hearings at the Darwin Supreme Court, Spain's elimination from the World Cup, Essendon's victory against North Melbourne, and NT researchers developing a DNA test to detect crocodiles in water holes and billabongs. N/A All, N/A MALE 16+, N/A FEMALE 16+ Interviewees Michael Park, Chief of Staff, ABC Radio Darwin Heavy price of loyalty to your bank Daily Telegraph, Sydney, Business News, Anthony Keane Page words ASR AUD 6,710 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² NSW Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 345 word(s), ~1 min 232,067 CIRCULATION Mind the trust gap Daily Telegraph, Sydney, Business News, Sophie Elsworth Page words ASR AUD 11,577 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² NSW Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 397 word(s), ~1 min 232,067 CIRCULATION In case of emergency Daily Telegraph, Sydney, Business News, David Libby Koch Page words ASR AUD 34,778 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² NSW Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 634 word(s), ~2 mins 232,067 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

5 Heavy price of loyalty to your bank Courier Mail, Brisbane, Business News, Anthony Keane Page words ASR AUD 4,707 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 345 word(s), ~1 min 135,007 CIRCULATION Mind the trust gap Courier Mail, Brisbane, Business News, Sophie Elsworth Page words ASR AUD 6,446 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 397 word(s), ~1 min 135,007 CIRCULATION In case of emergency Courier Mail, Brisbane, Business News, David Libby Koch Page words ASR AUD 12,382 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 634 word(s), ~2 mins 135,007 CIRCULATION Heavy price of loyalty to your bank Adelaide Advertiser, Adelaide, Business News, Anthony Keane Page words ASR AUD 3,912 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² SA Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 345 word(s), ~1 min 112,097 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

6 Rents must rise to drive construction, says Mirvac The Australian, Australia, Business News, Ben Wilmot Page words ASR AUD 11,398 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² National Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 525 word(s), ~2 mins 94,448 CIRCULATION Majors name execs as BEAR kicks off The Australian, Australia, Business News, Glenda Korporaal Page words ASR AUD 11,135 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² National Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 1043 word(s), ~4 mins 94,448 CIRCULATION Sale closer for CBA's Tyme unit The Australian, Australia, Business News, Richard Gluyas Page words ASR AUD 4,022 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² National Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 428 word(s), ~1 min 94,448 CIRCULATION WE CAN'T REWARD BIG COMPANIES IN WHICH AUSTRALIANS HAVE LOST FAITH The Australian, Australia, General News, Pauline Hanson Page words ASR AUD 6,083 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² National Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 840 word(s), ~3 mins 94,448 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

7 Funeral insurance in spotlight Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, Business News, Clancy Yeates Page words ASR AUD 29,453 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² NSW Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 574 word(s), ~2 mins 88,634 CIRCULATION Macquarie unit eyes APA Group's assets The Australian, Australia, Business News, Bridget Carter Scott Murdoch Page words ASR AUD 15,156 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² National Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 613 word(s), ~2 mins 94,448 CIRCULATION Cuts are the arithmetic of delusional politics Age, Melbourne, Letters Page words ASR AUD 19,636 Photo: Yes Type: Letter Size: cm² VIC Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 514 word(s), ~2 mins 83,229 CIRCULATION Mind the trust gap Adelaide Advertiser, Adelaide, Business News, Sophie Elsworth Page words ASR AUD 5,370 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² SA Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 397 word(s), ~1 min 112,097 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

8 How ASIC gouges in fees for business The Australian, Australia, General News, Anthony Klan Page words ASR AUD 7,012 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² National Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 917 word(s), ~3 mins 94,448 CIRCULATION New city design rules to target good, bad and ugly Age, Melbourne, General News, Clay Lucas Page words ASR AUD 48,559 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² VIC Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 719 word(s), ~2 mins 83,229 CIRCULATION Funeral insurance in spotlight Canberra Times, Canberra, Business News, Clancy Yeates Page words ASR AUD 9,400 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² ACT Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 574 word(s), ~2 mins 17,579 CIRCULATION Mind the trust gap Northern Territory News, Darwin, Business News, Sophie Elsworth Page words ASR AUD 1,440 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² NT Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 397 word(s), ~1 min 11,279 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

9 In case of emergency Northern Territory News, Darwin, Business News, David Libby Koch Page words ASR AUD 3,971 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² NT Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 634 word(s), ~2 mins 11,279 CIRCULATION Heavy price of loyalty to your bank Hobart Mercury, Hobart, Business News, Anthony Keane Page words ASR AUD 1,026 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² TAS Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 345 word(s), ~1 min 28,265 CIRCULATION Mind the trust gap Hobart Mercury, Hobart, Business News, Sophie Elsworth Page words ASR AUD 1,742 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² TAS Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 397 word(s), ~1 min 28,265 CIRCULATION How ASIC gouges in fees for business The Australian, Australia, Edition Changes - All-round Metro, Anthony Klan Page words ASR AUD 6,972 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² National Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 925 word(s), ~3 mins 94,448 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

10 CBA brand skewered West Australian, Perth, Your Money, Peter Warnes Page words ASR AUD 3,910 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² WA Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 460 word(s), ~1 min 147,676 CIRCULATION Make sure advice is clear and concise West Australian, Perth, Your Money, Rowan Jones Page words ASR AUD 6,925 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² WA Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 292 word(s), ~1 min 147,676 CIRCULATION Right up for fight over industry fund payouts West Australian, Perth, Your Money, Neale Prior Page words ASR AUD 5,891 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² WA Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 542 word(s), ~2 mins 147,676 CIRCULATION Affordable housing a necessity West Australian, Perth, Your Money, Stephen Anthony Page words ASR AUD 3,822 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² WA Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 402 word(s), ~1 min 147,676 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

11 From Regal to Longlead, it's all about spotting change Australian Financial Review, Australia, Companies and Markets, Sarah Thompson And Anthony Macdonald Page words ASR AUD 9,992 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² National Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 809 word(s), ~3 mins 44,635 CIRCULATION Bendigo to face the music over Rural Bank purchase Australian Financial Review, Australia, Companies and Markets, james frost Page words ASR AUD 7,686 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² National Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 618 word(s), ~2 mins 44,635 CIRCULATION KPMG questions the retirement income covenant Australian Financial Review, Australia, Companies and Markets, Alice Uribe Page words ASR AUD 8,131 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² National Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 707 word(s), ~2 mins 44,635 CIRCULATION Big banks pressured to lift rates The Australian, Australia, Business News, Scott Murdoch Lending Page words ASR AUD 8,811 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² National Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 912 word(s), ~3 mins 94,448 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

12 Mind the trust gap Daily Mercury, Mackay QLD, General News, Sophie Elsworth Page words ASR AUD 454 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 397 word(s), ~1 min 7,738 CIRCULATION Heavy price of loyalty to your bank Daily Mercury, Mackay QLD, General News, Anthony Keane Page words ASR AUD 313 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 345 word(s), ~1 min 7,738 CIRCULATION In case of emergency Daily Mercury, Mackay QLD, General News, Libby David Koch Page words ASR AUD 597 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 634 word(s), ~2 mins 7,738 CIRCULATION Cut execs' pay: poll Daily Mercury, Mackay QLD, General News Page words ASR AUD 205 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 299 word(s), ~1 min 7,738 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

13 Funeral insurance in spotlight Age, Melbourne, Business News, Clancy Yeates Page words ASR AUD 20,476 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² VIC Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 574 word(s), ~2 mins 83,229 CIRCULATION Cut execs' pay: poll Queensland Times, Ipswich QLD, General News Page words ASR AUD 177 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 299 word(s), ~1 min 6,815 CIRCULATION Mind the trust gap Queensland Times, Ipswich QLD, General News, Sophie Elsworth Page words ASR AUD 377 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 397 word(s), ~1 min 6,815 CIRCULATION New year, new policies Gladstone Observer, Gladstone QLD, General News, Domanii Cameron Page words ASR AUD 539 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 819 word(s), ~3 mins 3,301 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

14 Heavy price of loyalty to your bank Gladstone Observer, Gladstone QLD, General News, Anthony Keane Page words ASR AUD 126 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 345 word(s), ~1 min 3,301 CIRCULATION Mind the trust gap Gladstone Observer, Gladstone QLD, General News, Sophie Elsworth Page words ASR AUD 230 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 397 word(s), ~1 min 3,301 CIRCULATION In case of emergency Gladstone Observer, Gladstone QLD, General News, Libby David Koch Page words ASR AUD 507 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 634 word(s), ~2 mins 3,301 CIRCULATION Cut execs' pay: poll Gladstone Observer, Gladstone QLD, General News Page words ASR AUD 177 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 299 word(s), ~1 min 3,301 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

15 Cut execs' pay: poll Townsville Bulletin, Townsville QLD, General News Page words ASR AUD 1,177 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 299 word(s), ~1 min 16,484 CIRCULATION Mind the trust gap Townsville Bulletin, Townsville QLD, General News, Sophie Elsworth Page words ASR AUD 1,620 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 397 word(s), ~1 min 16,484 CIRCULATION Cut execs' pay: poll Gold Coast Bulletin, Gold Coast QLD, General News Page words ASR AUD 1,244 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 299 word(s), ~1 min 21,468 CIRCULATION Rolling all loans into home loan could fire badly Cairns Post, Cairns, General News, Noel Whittaker Page words ASR AUD 1,179 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 538 word(s), ~2 mins 13,896 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

16 Mind the trust gap Cairns Post, Cairns, General News, Sophie Elsworth Page words ASR AUD 1,274 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 397 word(s), ~1 min 13,896 CIRCULATION In case of emergency Cairns Post, Cairns, General News Page words ASR AUD 2,839 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 634 word(s), ~2 mins 13,896 CIRCULATION Cut execs' pay: poll Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton QLD, General News Page words ASR AUD 209 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 299 word(s), ~1 min 9,376 CIRCULATION Mind the trust gap Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton QLD, General News, Sophie Elsworth Page words ASR AUD 264 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 397 word(s), ~1 min 9,376 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

17 Heavy price of loyalty to your bank Gold Coast Bulletin, Gold Coast QLD, General News, Anthony Keane Page words ASR AUD 1,697 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 345 word(s), ~1 min 21,468 CIRCULATION Mind the trust gap Gold Coast Bulletin, Gold Coast QLD, General News, Sophie Elsworth Page words ASR AUD 2,424 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 394 word(s), ~1 min 21,468 CIRCULATION No RBA rate hikes for a year Australian Financial Review, Australia, Companies and Markets, Vesna Poljak And Sarah Turner Page words ASR AUD 28,155 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: 1, cm² National Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 1235 word(s), ~4 mins 44,635 CIRCULATION Under-fire AMP eyes global giant for upgrade Australian Financial Review, Australia, Companies and Markets, Joyce Moullakis Page words ASR AUD 7,039 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² National Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 574 word(s), ~2 mins 44,635 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

18 Time to check your assets West Australian, Perth, Your Money, Neale Prior Page words ASR AUD 13,920 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² WA Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 1008 word(s), ~4 mins 147,676 CIRCULATION Smarten up for looming adviser shortfall West Australian, Perth, Your Money, Neale Prior Page words ASR AUD 9,029 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² WA Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 869 word(s), ~3 mins 147,676 CIRCULATION QUESTION TIME: WHAT YOU SHOULD ASK YOUR PLANNER West Australian, Perth, Your Money Page words ASR AUD 15,586 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² WA Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 198 word(s), <1 min 147,676 CIRCULATION Self-managed funds 'must improve' West Australian, Perth, Your Money, Neale Prior Page words ASR AUD 3,436 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² WA Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 308 word(s), ~1 min 147,676 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

19 Stay ahead of changes to the game West Australian, Perth, Your Money, Nick Bruining Page words ASR AUD 6,101 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² WA Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 761 word(s), ~3 mins 147,676 CIRCULATION APA Group goes global in hunt for -up takeover bid Australian Financial Review, Australia, Companies and Markets Page words ASR AUD 3,742 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² National Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 459 word(s), ~1 min 44,635 CIRCULATION Balanced vision for population growth Newcastle Herald, Newcastle NSW, General News Page words ASR AUD 3,571 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² NSW Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 558 word(s), ~2 mins 23,625 CIRCULATION Mind the trust gap News Mail, Bundaberg QLD, General News, Sophie Elsworth Page words ASR AUD 234 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 397 word(s), ~1 min 6,176 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

20 In case of emergency News Mail, Bundaberg QLD, General News, Libby David Koch Page words ASR AUD 662 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 634 word(s), ~2 mins 6,176 CIRCULATION Help needed for farmers to manage drought times Queensland Times, Ipswich QLD, Letters Page words ASR AUD 136 Photo: Yes Type: Letter Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 327 word(s), ~1 min 6,815 CIRCULATION Super way to buy first home Geelong Advertiser, Geelong VIC, General News Page words ASR AUD 207 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² VIC Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 145 word(s), <1 min 16,687 CIRCULATION Balanced vision for increasing population Border Mail, Albury-Wodonga, General News, Jack Archer Page words ASR AUD 1,298 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² VIC Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 583 word(s), ~2 mins 13,519 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

21 Balanced vision for population growth Warrnambool Standard, Warrnambool VIC, General News, Jack Archer Page words ASR AUD 882 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² VIC Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 556 word(s), ~2 mins 8,274 CIRCULATION Heavy price of loyalty to your bank Sunshine Coast Daily, Maroochydore QLD, General News, Anthony Keane Page words ASR AUD 154 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 345 word(s), ~1 min 10,046 CIRCULATION Mind the trust gap Sunshine Coast Daily, Maroochydore QLD, General News, Sophie Elsworth Page words ASR AUD 281 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 397 word(s), ~1 min 10,046 CIRCULATION Cut execs' pay: poll Sunshine Coast Daily, Maroochydore QLD, General News Page words ASR AUD 218 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² QLD Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 299 word(s), ~1 min 10,046 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT For the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only. Not to be provided to any third party for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia. For further information contact copyright@isentia.com

22 Balanced vision for population growth Illawarra Mercury, Wollongong NSW, General News Page words ASR AUD 1,999 Photo: No Type: News Item Size: cm² NSW Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 558 word(s), ~2 mins 10,806 CIRCULATION Equal pay demand should span past top tier Newcastle Herald, Newcastle NSW, Letters Page words ASR AUD 2,898 Photo: Yes Type: Letter Size: cm² NSW Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 131 word(s), <1 min 23,625 CIRCULATION Funeral insurers exploiting loophole Australian Financial Review, Australia, Companies and Markets, Misa Han Page words ASR AUD 4,955 Photo: Yes Type: News Item Size: cm² National Australia Industry Super Australia - Press ID: View original - Full text: 591 word(s), ~2 mins 44,635 CIRCULATION COPYRIGHT This report and its contents are for the internal research use of Mediaportal subscribers only and must not be provided to any third party by any means for any purpose without the express permission of Isentia and/or the relevant copyright owner. For more information contact copyright@isentia.com DISCLAIMER Isentia makes no representations and, to the extent permitted by law, excludes all warranties in relation to the information contained in the report and is not liable for any losses, costs or expenses, resulting from any use or misuse of the report.

23 Daily Telegraph, Sydney Author: Anthony Keane Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 232,067 Page: 25 Printed Size: cm² Market: NSW Country: Australia ASR: AUD 6,710 Words: 345 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Heavy price of loyalty to your bank ANTHONY KEANE HALF of Australians do all their banking with just one financial institution, potentially costing themselves a lot every year. Misguided loyalty, fear of the unknown and convenience are keeping almost 80 per cent wedded to the Big Four banks, new research by comparison website Mozo.com.au has found, and suggests it s costing average customers $1600 a year and some much more. No single financial institution has a monopoly over the best value loans, savings accounts and credit cards, and Mozo director Kirsty Lamont said there was little reward for being loyal. She said many people felt switching was too much of a hassle but most would be better off cherry picking products. There are millions of Australians who could be losing thousands of dollars a year due to uncompetitive interest rates and fees, she said. The switching process for banking has become a lot easier in recent years. In many cases you can do it all online now. Government regulations allow you to contact your existing bank for a list of direct debits and credits, then give it to the new bank, which will contact all suppliers with your new account details. It s not really well known. I don t think the banks promote it because they don t want us to switch, Ms Lamont said. Mozo s analysis of 117 financial institutions found that ME is the nation s best-value bank, while Westpac is the best value among the Big Four. Mortgage and consumer finance specialist Lisa Montgomery said some people felt switching would simply mean more of the same. We don t prioritise it in our lives as being a thing that will deliver us enough value, she said. Ms Montgomery said many people were loyal to the first bank they used, which skewed them towards major banks with school banking programs. Others were loyal to banks their parents used also benefiting the Big Four, she said. Before switching, people should examine their existing relationship with their financial institution. If you leave, will it cost you money, and is the grass greener on the other side? lives as being a thing that will deliver us enough value, she said.

24 Daily Telegraph, Sydney Author: Sophie Elsworth Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 232,067 Page: 25 Printed Size: cm² Market: NSW Country: Australia ASR: AUD 11,577 Words: 397 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Mind the trust gap Australians are suspicious of financial advice, writes Sophie Elsworth A MAJORITY of Australians have no one they trust to give them sound financial advice, alarming new figures reveal. This comes as the financial services royal commission has made many unsure about information provided by banks or advisers. A study commissioned by NGS Super, which has 95,000 members, revealed 56 per cent of working Aussies had no trustworthy person to turn to for financial information. And of those, 34 per cent said they wish they had someone who could help advise them on their finances and investing decisions. NGS Super s acting chief executive officer Laura Wright has urged fund members to seek any free information available to them to help get their finances on track. Superannuation can be a bit tricky and if you don t seek advice you may be limiting your retirement outcome, she warned. What is a concern of people who got advice is about 19 per cent of these people didn t trust (that) advice. Ms Wright encouraged people to try to obtain information that would boost their own financial understanding. There s so much information available that costs people nothing and it s easy for people to use, Ms Wright said. You don t have to make an appointment with a financial planner, you can go online and use the tools which nearly all super funds have or you can get on the phone. ASIC s MoneySmart website provides free, simplified information to Aussies on financial matters. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia s chief executive officer, Dr Martin Fahy, is concerned that Australians are still not engaged with their financial affairs. The first place for people to start with their superannuation is to ring their fund, he said. They will be able to provide them with general information on their fund and how it s invested and performing. Super funds offer free general advice, but also more specialised advice for a fee. Some funds have their own financial advisers and planners, while smaller funds may refer members to somebody outside the fund. Of those in the survey that said they had a trusted financial adviser not necessarily a trained finance professional 42 per cent said this was a family member while 18 per cent said it was a close friend. Dr Fahy also encourages people to read the financial pages of newspapers to help boost their knowledge.

25 Daily Telegraph, Sydney Author: David Libby Koch Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 232,067 Page: 26 Printed Size: cm² Market: NSW Country: Australia ASR: AUD 34,778 Words: 634 Item ID: Page 1 of 3 David & Libby In case of emergency Life is not certain, so you need to be prepared EVERY year thousands of Australians are victims of natural disasters, which have a devastating impact on the emotional and financial state of so many families. Then there are those who are blindsided by unexpected retrenchment, long term illness, death of a breadwinner or sexually transmitted debt. On top of that, the car always seems to break down or the fridge needs replacing at a time when you can least afford it. And we haven t even mentioned economic or financial market crashes. Life constantly has a habit of throwing curveballs at us that can ramp up the financial strain to breaking point. It simply can t be avoided. But implementing a suitable financial emergency plan can cushion any unforeseen blow. Bottom line is that Australians are generally hopeless at preparing for financial emergencies. So let s start putting that right with a few simple steps which will make a huge difference; PROTECT YOUR BIGGEST ASSETS BETTER Most flood, fire, cyclone and burglary victims are in trouble because they re either underinsured or not insured at all because they didn t understand the exclusions in the fine print. So today, get out all your insurance policies and make sure the house, contents and car are all covered properly. Then check the fine print for the definitions on what is and isn t covered. Take a walk around the house and do a quick calculation on how much it would be to replace everything inside carpets, furniture, appliances, clothes, jewellery everything. We bet you ll be stunned at the total amount and how you re underinsured. Fix it, quickly. SAFEGUARD CASH FLOW If you are the major breadwinner providing the cash flow to meet commitments, then you must protect that cash flow. That means income protection, life and trauma insurance. Bankruptcy reports show illness as one of the major causes of people becoming insolvent. The level of personal insurance protection will be determined by your age and level of financial commitments. BRING DEBT DOWN TO A MANAGEABLE LEVEL A lot of people get in to strife because they simply borrow too much when interest rates are low (and money is cheap) but then get caught by a double whammy when rates rise and an emergency comes up. First of all, pay off your most expensive debt like credit cards and store financing. Then start working on the rest. START SAVING THROUGH SUPERANNUATION EARLY AND REGULARLY Retirement should be the best time of your life. It shouldn t be a time of financial uncertainty and lifestyle sacrifice. The problem is only 20 per cent of people retire when they planned. The other 80 per cent are forced to retire, generally earlier than expected, because of retrenchment, illness or some other reason. That causes a financial emergency because most people retire on less than what they expected. Superannuation contributions attract terrific tax benefits so take advantage of them. Work out an amount which will support a good retirement lifestyle and then start contributing as early as you can so that goal is reached

26 Daily Telegraph, Sydney Author: David Libby Koch Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 232,067 Page: 26 Printed Size: cm² Market: NSW Country: Australia ASR: AUD 34,778 Words: 634 Item ID: Page 2 of 3 well ahead of when you plan to cash in. Just make sure you are in a good superannuation fund that matches your risk profile. BUILD UP AN EMERGENCY STASH EQUAL TO SIX MONTHS SALARY That emergency stash could be kept in a bank account but also could be paid off a home loan and easily drawn down when necessary. That way the money can be saving interest and cutting down the term of the loan just make sure the home loan allows for an easy drawdown even after loss of a job. It will be hard for most people to come up with an emergency stash straight away so make it a project over the next year.

27 Daily Telegraph, Sydney Author: David Libby Koch Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 232,067 Page: 26 Printed Size: cm² Market: NSW Country: Australia ASR: AUD 34,778 Words: 634 Item ID: Page 3 of 3

28 Courier Mail, Brisbane Author: Anthony Keane Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 135,007 Page: 31 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 4,707 Words: 345 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 money HQ saver COME TO THE PARTY: Financial new year price of loyalty to your bank ANTHONY KEANE JUST IN CASE: Get an emergency fund HALF of Australians do all their banking with just one financial institution, potentially costing themselves a lot every year. Misguided loyalty, fear of the unknown and convenience are keeping almost 80 per cent wedded to the Big Four banks, new research by comparison website Mozo.com.au has found, and suggests it s costing average customers $1600 a year and some much more. No single financial institution has a monopoly over the best value loans, savings accounts and credit cards, and Mozo director Kirsty Lamont said there was little reward for being loyal. She said many people felt switching was too much of a hassle but most would be better off cherry picking products. There are millions of Australians who could be losing thousands of dollars a year due to uncompetitive interest rates and fees, she said. The switching process for banking has become a lot easier in recent years. In many cases you can do it all online now. Government regulations allow you to contact your existing bank for a list of direct debits and credits, then give it to the new bank, which will contact all suppliers with your new account details. It s not really well known. I don t think the banks promote it because they don t want us to switch, Ms Lamont said. Mozo s analysis of 117 financial institutions found that ME is the nation s best-value bank, while Westpac is the best value among the Big Four. Mortgage and consumer finance specialist Lisa Montgomery said some people felt switching would simply mean more of the same. We don t prioritise it in our lives as being a thing that will deliver us enough value, she said. Ms Montgomery said many people were loyal to the first bank they used, which skewed them towards major banks with school banking programs. Others were loyal to banks their parents used also benefiting the Big Four, she said. Before switching, people should examine their existing relationship with their financial institution. If you leave, will it cost you money, and is the grass greener on the other side?

29 Courier Mail, Brisbane Author: Sophie Elsworth Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 135,007 Page: 31 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 6,446 Words: 397 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 money HQ saver COME TO THE PARTY: Financial new year JUST IN CASE: Get an emergency fund Mind the trust gap Australians are suspicious of financial advice, writes Sophie Elsworth A MAJORITY of Australians have no one they trust to give them sound financial advice, alarming new figures reveal. This comes as the financial services royal commission has made many unsure about information provided by banks or advisers. A study commissioned by NGS Super, which has 95,000 members, revealed 56 per cent of working Aussies had no trustworthy person to turn to for financial information. And of those, 34 per cent said they wish they had someone who could help advise them on their finances and investing decisions. NGS Super s acting chief executive officer Laura Wright has urged fund members to seek any free information available to them to help get their finances on track. Superannuation can be a bit tricky and if you don t seek advice you may be limiting your retirement outcome, she warned. What is a concern of people who got advice is about 19 per cent of these people didn t trust (that) advice. Ms Wright encouraged people to try to obtain information that would boost their own financial understanding. There s so much information available that costs people nothing and it s easy for people to use, Ms Wright said. You don t have to make an appointment with a financial planner, you can go online and use the tools which nearly all super funds have or you can get on the phone. ASIC s MoneySmart website provides free, simplified information to Aussies on financial matters. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia s chief executive officer, Dr Martin Fahy, is concerned that Australians are still not engaged with their financial affairs. The first place for people to start with their superannuation is to ring their fund, he said. They will be able to provide them with general information on their fund and how it s invested and performing. Super funds offer free general advice, but also more specialised advice for a fee. Some funds have their own financial advisers and planners, while smaller funds may refer members to somebody outside the fund. Of those in the survey that said they had a trusted financial adviser not necessarily a trained finance professional 42 per cent said this was a family member while 18 per cent said it was a close friend. Dr Fahy also encourages people to read the financial pages of newspapers to help boost their knowledge.

30 Courier Mail, Brisbane Author: David Libby Koch Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 135,007 Page: 32 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 12,382 Words: 634 Item ID: Page 1 of 3 Q David & Libby In case of emergency Life is not certain, so you need to be prepared EVERY year thousands of Australians are victims of natural disasters, which have a devastating impact on the emotional and financial state of so many families. Then there are those who are blindsided by unexpected retrenchment, long term illness, death of a breadwinner or sexually transmitted debt. On top of that, the car always seems to break down or the fridge needs replacing at a time when you can least afford it. And we haven t even mentioned economic or financial market crashes. Life constantly has a habit of throwing curveballs at us that can ramp up the financial strain to breaking point. It simply can t be avoided. But implementing a suitable financial emergency plan can cushion any unforeseen blow. Bottom line is that Australians are generally hopeless at preparing for financial emergencies. So let s start putting that right with a few simple steps which will make a huge difference; PROTECT YOUR BIGGEST ASSETS BETTER Most flood, fire, cyclone and burglary victims are in trouble because they re either underinsured or not insured at all because they didn t understand the exclusions in the fine print. So today, get out all your insurance policies and make sure the house, contents and car are all covered properly. Then check the fine print for the definitions on what is and isn t covered. Take a walk around the house and do a quick calculation on how much it would be to replace everything inside carpets, furniture, appliances, clothes, jewellery everything. We bet you ll be stunned at the total amount and how you re under-insured. Fix it, quickly. SAFEGUARD CASH FLOW If you are the major breadwinner providing the cash flow to meet commitments, then you must protect that cash flow. That means income protection, life and trauma insurance. Bankruptcy reports show illness as one of the major causes of people becoming insolvent. The level of personal insurance protection will be determined by your age and level of financial commitments. BRING DEBT DOWN TO A MANAGEABLE LEVEL A lot of people get in to strife because they simply borrow too much when interest rates are low (and money is cheap) but then get caught by a double whammy when rates rise and an emergency comes up. First of all, pay off your most expensive debt like credit cards and store financing. Then start working on the rest. START SAVING THROUGH SUPERANNUATION EARLY AND REGULARLY Retirement should be the best time of your life. It shouldn t be a time of financial uncertainty and lifestyle sacrifice. The problem is only 20 per cent of people retire when they planned. The other 80 per cent are forced to retire, generally earlier than expected, because of retrenchment, illness or some other reason. That causes a financial emergency because most people retire on less than what they expected. Superannuation contributions attract terrific tax benefits so take advantage of them. Work out an amount which will support a good retirement lifestyle and then start contributing as early as

31 Courier Mail, Brisbane Author: David Libby Koch Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 135,007 Page: 32 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 12,382 Words: 634 Item ID: Page 2 of 3 well ahead of when you plan to cash in. Just make sure you are in a good superannuation fund that matches your risk profile. BUILD UP AN EMERGENCY STASH EQUAL TO SIX MONTHS SALARY That emergency stash could be kept in a bank account but also could be paid off a home loan and easily drawn down when necessary. That way the money can be saving interest and cutting down the term of the loan just make sure the home loan allows for an easy drawdown even after loss of a job. It will be hard for most people to come up with an emergency stash straight away so make it a project over the next year.

32 Courier Mail, Brisbane Author: David Libby Koch Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 135,007 Page: 32 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 12,382 Words: 634 Item ID: Page 3 of 3 illustration: JOHN TIEDEMANN

33 Adelaide Advertiser, Adelaide Author: Anthony Keane Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 112,097 Page: 41 Printed Size: cm² Market: SA Country: Australia ASR: AUD 3,912 Words: 345 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 money HQ saver COME TO THE PARTY: Financial new year price of loyalty to your bank ANTHONY KEANE JUST IN CASE: Get an emergency fund HALF of Australians do all their banking with just one financial institution, potentially costing themselves a lot every year. Misguided loyalty, fear of the unknown and convenience are keeping almost 80 per cent wedded to the Big Four banks, new research by comparison website Mozo.com.au has found, and suggests it s costing average customers $1600 a year and some much more. No single financial institution has a monopoly over the best value loans, savings accounts and credit cards, and Mozo director Kirsty Lamont said there was little reward for being loyal. She said many people felt switching was too much of a hassle but most would be better off cherry picking products. There are millions of Australians who could be losing thousands of dollars a year due to uncompetitive interest rates and fees, she said. The switching process for banking has become a lot easier in recent years. In many cases you can do it all online now. Government regulations allow you to contact your existing bank for a list of direct debits and credits, then give it to the new bank, which will contact all suppliers with your new account details. It s not really well known. I don t think the banks promote it because they don t want us to switch, Ms Lamont said. Mozo s analysis of 117 financial institutions found that ME is the nation s best-value bank, while Westpac is the best value among the Big Four. Mortgage and consumer finance specialist Lisa Montgomery said some people felt switching would simply mean more of the same. We don t prioritise it in our lives as being a thing that will deliver us enough value, she said. Ms Montgomery said many people were loyal to the first bank they used, which skewed them towards major banks with school banking programs. Others were loyal to banks their parents used also benefiting the Big Four, she said. Before switching, people should examine their existing relationship with their financial institution. If you leave, will it cost you money, and is the grass greener on the other side? lives as being a thing that will deliver us enough value, she said.

34 The Australian, Australia Author: Ben Wilmot Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : National : 94,448 Page: 21 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 11,398 Words: 525 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 Rents must rise to drive construction, says Mirvac BEN WILMOT BUILDING Property group Mirvac believes that office rents in Melbourne will have to rise to spark the building of the next wave of office skyscrapers, as the cost of assembling sites soars. The developer, which is among the prime movers in the current cycle, acknowledged there was a strong supply of buildings hitting the market, including its recently opened 664 Collins Street in Melbourne s Docklands. However, Mirvac s head of office and industrial, Campbell Hanan, said that many of the latest office projects were almost full or had been pre-committed. Demand for space is still growing strongly as the city takes up its mantle as the nation s fastest growing market. But Mr Hanan suggested economic rents may need to rise to cover the higher cost of putting together fresh office sites. He said many of the towers developed in the current boom which includes projects by Cbus Property, QIC, Charter Hall Group, Lendlease and by tycoon Lang Walker were on sites secured before the upturn. For the future development sites the land component is of much higher value, he said. Planning changes requiring larger sets would also drive developers to consolidate sites, potentially boosting costs and the rents required to cover costs. Mr Hanan said once a clearer forecast emerged of the office leasing market around 2021, developers would have a better understanding of the prospects for new towers. If this demand, which has been strong for the last 10 years, continues, it will be interesting to see how the city can create future development opportunities, he said. Mr Hanan noted there was still demand as tenants poured into the city from fast-developing suburbs, where some buildings were being converted to flats. Another opportunity lay in subdividing floors, a market he said had opened up in the A-grade market as tenants upgraded. Mirvac is well positioned to capitalise on these trends and last week opened 664 Collins Street. It is fully occupied by tenants Pitcher Partners, AGL, ExxonMobil, Nexus Mutual and Fujitsu. The completion was the final stage in the redevelopment of the Southern Cross Station precinct and builds on the company s 699 Bourke Street, which opened in Both buildings feature a unique design by Grimshaw Architects that has seen the structures floated on concrete decks above the rail concourse. One feature of the tower is the prominent eight-metre-high LED media wall in the lobby. The giant screen will display digital artwork created by design students from Swinburne University. Mr Hanan said the project was the culmination of more than 10 years of design and construction to deliver a new office precinct in the heart of Melbourne and flagged that the firm was keen to find sites to match its strong pipeline in Sydney and Brisbane. Pitcher Partners managing partner Brendan Britten praised 664 Collins Street s purpose-built open plan design and modern working environment in the reinvigorated Docklands precinct. Grimshaw managing partner Neil Stonell said that creating the new ground plane 15 metres above the rail corridor was incredibly challenging, but said the complex stitched together Melbourne s central business district and Docklands.

35 The Australian, Australia Author: Ben Wilmot Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : National : 94,448 Page: 21 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 11,398 Words: 525 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 Campbell Hanan says demand for office space in Melbourne is still growing

36 The Australian, Australia Author: Glenda Korporaal Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : National : 94,448 Page: 17 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 11,135 Words: 1043 Item ID: Page 1 of 3 Majors name execs as BEAR kicks off GLENDA KORPORAAL GOVERNANCE Directors and senior executives of the big four banks have submitted accountability statements to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority in time for the new Banking Executive Accountability Regime. Announced in the May budget last year, the new accountability regime comes into effect today for the major banks, with smaller banks given another year to comply. The new rules, dubbed BEAR, could see APRA disqualify bank executives or seek to dock their pay. Banks were required to submit a list of directors and senior executives to APRA, and describe the areas of accountability for each person. While the law operates from today, APRA asked the major banks to submit what are now known as BEAR statements by mid-june to allow them to be registered in time for today s start date. While the announcement of the new regime took the banks by surprise last year, the atmosphere has changed considerably since then, particularly with the start of the royal commission into misconduct of the banking and finance industry this year. The chief executive of the Australian Banking Association, Anna Bligh, said the banks welcome reforms that strengthen accountability and competition in the system. She said the BEAR regime would sharpen the minds of those working in banks to ensure they, at all times, work in the best interest of both the customer and the organisation. BEAR is an important initiative that will help in the transformation of culture and conduct already under way in the industry, she said. A spokesman for Westpac told The Australian that the bank supports the rationale of BEAR and has done an extensive amount of work to implement the new regulations. Clear and transparent accountability is an essential part of good corporate governance, he said. If implemented well, BEAR will play an important role in rebuilding trust and confidence in the industry by setting standards and establishing a framework for how banks should respond when things go wrong. APRA would not make any comment on Friday on whether all major banks had submitted their BEAR statements, but banking sources told The Australian that all had been working to submit them by the mid-june deadline. Under the legislation, which is modelled on similar requirements introduced in Britain, accountable persons such as directors and senior executives at major banks are now required to be officially registered with APRA before they can begin working. Under the previous regime, banks were only required to inform APRA of the appointment of senior executives after their appointment. Continued on Page 18 Anna Bligh

37 The Australian, Australia Author: Glenda Korporaal Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : National : 94,448 Page: 17 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 11,135 Words: 1043 Item ID: Page 2 of 3 Big four name execs as BEAR begins Continued from Page 17 The legislation gives APRA the power to disqualify executives from their role in cases of poor behaviour. In extreme cases, APRA can prevent them from working in a similar role in banking. The legislation also requires banks to defer a minimum amount of the person s variable remuneration, generally about 40 per cent for executives and 60 per cent for the chief executive of a large bank, for a minimum of four years. It also requires them to have remuneration policies that allow executive pay to be adjusted if the director or executive fails to meet their obligations. Banks have had teams in place working on complying with the new regime for some time. The legislation gives the banks until the end of next year to adjust remuneration policies to comply with the new requirements if there are pre-existing executive employment contracts. But banks have already been moving in this direction. Westpac already has a strong framework around the deferral of variable remuneration for key executives, the spokesman said. Our existing practices leave us well placed to comply with BEAR. A spokesman for ANZ said the bank had met APRA s requirements to comply with the beginning of the BEAR regime by the required timeline. While the details of the new regime are clear, the industry will be watching how it is implemented in practice by APRA in response to specific events. In a recent speech, APRA chairman Wayne Byres said the new BEAR regime imposed substantially strengthened requirements in relation to accountability within banking or- ganisations. Mr Byres said the new regime did not mean that APRA would be vetting all new bank executive appointments, but he said the pre-appointment registration process provided an opportunity for APRA to discuss any concerns if it was aware of any information that might make an appointee unsuitable. The new legal obligations require accountable persons to act with honesty and integrity, due care and diligence and to deal with APRA in an open, constructive and co-operative way. They must also take reasonable steps to prevent matters arising that would undermine the bank s prudential standing and prudential reputation, he said. He rejected suggestions that the new laws were too onerous for bank executives. I don t think they are notably more onerous than the existing requirements in our prudential standards, which requires that responsible persons possess the competence and the character to perform their roles, he said. But he added that the big change with the new regime is identifying individual accountability for specific areas within the bank. In many banks, there is often collective responsibility for various aspects of the business, he said. But this creates the risk of collective responsibility leading to no individual accountability. Clarity of accountability the foundation of BEAR goes to the heart of a strong risk culture. The new laws give APRA the power to take court action to fine an executive or a director if there is a material offence. In extreme cases, it can take action to disqualify the executive or director. Mr Byres said APRA could not impose fines unilaterally on any executive who fell short of their responsibilities but could take a case to court. That will require APRA to have a belief as to its reasonable grounds for success and that the offence is material. He said APRA did not intend to use its powers of disqualification or fining lightly. But he said that the power would be used in a way that was appropriate and useful where necessary to eliminate known poor behaviour endangering prudential safety.

38 The Australian, Australia Author: Glenda Korporaal Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : National : 94,448 Page: 17 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 11,135 Words: 1043 Item ID: Page 3 of 3 HOLLIE ADAMS The new laws give APRA the power to take court action to fine an executive or a director

39 The Australian, Australia Author: Richard Gluyas Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : National : 94,448 Page: 18 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 4,022 Words: 428 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Sale closer for CBA s Tyme unit RICHARD GLUYAS BANKING A minority shareholder in Tyme- Digital, Commonwealth Bank s digital banking business in South Africa, is the most likely buyer of the business. African Rainbow Capital, described on its website as a fully black-owned and controlled company focusing on the South African and African financial services industry, has a 10 per cent stake in Tyme. It is the leading contender to buy CBA s 90 per cent holding, which is the subject of a strategic review. As reported in The Weekend Australian, there is also a cloud over the future of CBA s Hong Kong base for its international financial services division. Tyme is under the wing of IFS. If CBA exits Tyme, IFS could relocate to another Asian market on expiry of its lease. A CBA spokesman said on Friday that Tyme was on track to launch its full digital banking offering by the end of the year. As the business continues to gain momentum, we have begun exploring the most suitable long-term structure for TymeDigital, she said. We are in the early stages of a strategic review and we will provide updates on any significant developments. The approach is in line with CBA s strategy to build a simpler, better bank that is focused on our core banking franchise in Australia and New Zealand. CBA bought Tyme, a South African fintech company, in 2015 to bring a full digital banking model to emerging markets. One of the key attractions was disruption of customer onboarding, with the $100 cost of acquiring a customer using legacy systems collapsing to about $1. Tyme uses leading-edge technology at its selfservice kiosks, which are placed in retail stores to enable authentication of a customer and verification of address details. Customers can transfer money within minutes. Chief executive Sandile Shabalala said in October last year that Tyme wanted to focus on retail and small, medium and micro enterprises, using a full digital model without any branch infrastructure. We won t be servicing the wealth segment we will be servicing the emerging to middle class, Mr Shabalala said. We won t be focusing on corporates either that segment is thoroughly serviced in South Africa. We have a lot of value to add in segments we have chosen. Tyme soft-launched in South Africa last year as a money-transfer app. It is scheduled to debut later this year with a broader suite of products, including credit cards and lending. It is not known how many customers have signed up for the app. We have a lot of value to add in segments we have chosen SANDILE SHABALALA TYMEDIGITAL CEO

40 The Australian, Australia Author: Pauline Hanson Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : National : 94,448 Page: 12 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 6,083 Words: 840 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 WE CAN T REWARD BIG COMPANIES IN WHICH AUSTRALIANS HAVE LOST FAITH And we need to properly tax foreign-owned operators profiting richly from our gas PAULINE HANSON Last year I supported tax cuts for small to medium businesses with a turnover of up to $50 million a year. Eligible companies will pay a rate of 27.5 per cent in The tax rate for these companies will progressively fall to 25 per cent by the financial year The full company tax rate of 30 per cent continues to apply to all other companies. I will not be supporting any further tax cuts for them while so many big companies have lost the support of the Australian people and no one can tell me how the cost of these tax cuts will be offset by other revenue. Business and government will need to work a lot harder to regain the community s trust before this legislation has any prospect of passing through the Senate. The findings of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry mean that companies in those sectors will not survive in their present form. In anticipation of the Hayne inquiry recommendations, banks have already started selling off parts of their business and they have been lobbying government to keep other parts. The banking royal commission is a warning shot over the bows of the foreign-owned gas ships leaving Australia because no companies can operate for long without broad community support. If foreign-owned petroleum giants continue to resist changes to the unfair gas tax law, which they designed and had implemented, then a day will come when the people will force the government to take action, so the economic benefits of our gas are fairly shared between the owners of the gas and the investors. I am angry the government has not implemented a single recommendation from the inquiry into petroleum resource rent tax. Experts say a simple regulatory change to the way we price gas used as feeder stock for liquefied gas would reap more than $1 billion a year to Australia. Failure to change to the net method is an annual windfall of $1bn for a handful of non-resident, foreignowned companies that do not pay tax in Australia. In the lead-up to this year s budget, the government offered a number of concessions to gain my support for further tax cuts. I asked the government to reform the gas tax system. I sought on behalf of all Australians a uniform system of royalties for gas extracted from commonwealth waters, a use it or lose it policy for long-held gas leases, a disclosure and reporting regime for gas reserves, and a domestic gas reserve so we would never be short of cheap gas. I have no regrets advocating for the rights of all Australians, the owners of the gas, when the government and Labor will not. It is a matter of public record that I have changed my mind on whether to support the proposal to cut tax rates for companies with a turnover of more than $50m, and that is because new information became available to me. Changing your mind when new information is available is what sensible people do. I make no apology. I changed my mind on supporting tax cuts for our largest companies following the release of the budget papers in May and the ongoing shocking revelations from the banking royal commission. How can I reward companies that have lost the trust and support of the community? How can I support a massive reduction to the revenue base when no one can tell me how the lost revenue will be replaced? The extension of tax cuts for big companies might have been affordable if the government had a plan to reform the gas tax system and to get multinationals to pay their fair share of tax in Australia, but it does not have a plan to replace the revenue lost by these tax cuts. The extension of tax cuts for big companies might have been affordable if there were any evidence that the tax cuts would be spent on creating new and better jobs, but there is no evidence this will be broadly the case. I am deeply worried about the economic storm just below the horizon and the high level of debt we carry. It is the reason I have introduced legislation to bring the debt ceiling so there will be some brake on out-of-control government waste and the speed with which any government can whip out the national credit card and rack up more debt for the next generation to repay. I have supported personal tax cuts for working Australians but I will not support further company tax cuts. Labor is against personal tax cuts for hardworking Australians and against company tax cuts for all companies. The Liberal government supports personal tax cuts and tax cuts for all companies. One Nation stands alone, supporting hardworking Australians and taking a commonsense and responsible approach to company tax cuts. Pauline Hanson is the leader of Pauline Hanson s One Nation.

41 Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney Author: Clancy Yeates Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 88,634 Page: 25 Printed Size: cm² Market: NSW Country: Australia ASR: AUD 29,453 Words: 574 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 Funeral insurance in spotlight ROYAL COMMISSION Clancy Yeates It s an all too familiar problem in regional and remote Indigenous communities. In one case, a mother spent $18,000 on funeral insurance premiums since the 1990s for herself and two daughters, who were aged one and two at the time the policies were issued. In another, a mother paid $22,000 in funeral insurance premiums for herself and her daughter, who was signed up to the policy when she was a four-year-old. Rebekah Doran, a senior solicitor with Legal Aid NSW, recounts these cases as she explains that inappropriately sold insurance to cover the cost of funerals is an issue that arises time and time again with Indigenous clients and communities. It would be very rare to attend an outreach where this issue does not come up, Ms Doran said. Concerns about funeral insurance being marketed to vulnerable Indigenous communities will be put under the microscope this week, when the royal commission holds public hearings in Darwin. The hearings before Commissioner Kenneth Hayne are expected to initially focus on lending to farmers, before putting the spotlight onto funeral insurance, a product that has long concerned regulators and consumer advocates. The commission will question ACBF Funeral Plans, a Gold Coastbased company which says it is the only insurer with policies specifically designed for Indigenous people. Sydney-based Select AFSL, which trades as Let s Insure and sells products including funeral cover, is also set to appear. Ms Doran said funeral insurance was commonly not understood by the people buying it, with some thinking they were making deposits into a savings account. Others paid far more in premiums than they would spend on a funeral, and bought policies covering young children. Ms Doran said people in Indigenous communities often put a high level of importance on funerals, but were more likely to be financially disadvantaged, which meant they were often looking for ways to pay for funerals. That makes them particularly vulnerable to the marketing that really targets that fear that you would pass away and your family won t be able to afford the cost without hardship, she said. ACBF released a statement last week saying the average funeral cost $7500, an amount many people did not have sufficient savings to cover. Chief executive Bryn Jones said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were two to four times more likely to die young than non-indigenous Australians, and high infant mortality rates meant some in the community expected funeral plans for the very young. Select AFSL did not comment. The chief executive of the Consumer Action Law Centre, Gerard Brody, also referred to the sale of funeral insurance to cover young people, and said there had been cases of people spending thousands of dollars more in premiums than they would ever be paid. The marketing of the products is pretty unethical, Mr Brody said. A 2015 Australian Securities and Investments Commission report found 50 per cent of Indigenous customers paying for funeral insurance were aged under 20. Aaron Davis, chief executive of the Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network, said funeral insurance was a big thing for its clients a decade ago, but the top issues now were payday lenders and consumer leasing. ANZ Bank will also appear before the commission this week. ANZ is expected to face scrutiny over informal overdrafts where the bank charges a fee for allowing customers to overdraw their accounts. 1HERSA1 A025

42 Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney Author: Clancy Yeates Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 88,634 Page: 25 Printed Size: cm² Market: NSW Country: Australia ASR: AUD 29,453 Words: 574 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 The royal commission will hold public hearings in Darwin this week. Photo: Eddie Jim

43 The Australian, Australia Author: Bridget Carter Scott Murdoch Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : National : 94,448 Page: 18 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 15,156 Words: 613 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 DATAROOM Macquarie unit eyes APA Group s assets Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets is the latest group to be circling APA Group, with the infrastructure offshoot of Macquarie Group said to be eyeing some of the APA assets in the event of a company break-up. CK Infrastructure and related companies made a $13 billion takeover offer for APA Group, the gas pipeline operator, on June 13. The offer equates to $11 per share. Speculation has been mounting in recent days that MIRA is working with Canadian pension funds to form a consortium to make a rival bid to the one already on the table from the Hong Kong conglomerate. But sources close to Macquarie denied that MIRA would launch a counterbid. Instead, it is understood the plan by MIRA is to buy assets that the Australian Competition Commission asks the CK consortium to sell before it grants it permission to business. CK Infrastructure is the largest publicly listed infrastructure company in Hong Kong and is one of the major owners of electricity infrastructure in Australia. While the bidders have already offered to sell some assets based in Western Australia, market observers say that those on the east coast will also have to be offloaded. Meanwhile, Canada s Brookfield Asset Management also remains close to the situation, while MIRA is believed to be potentially working with other Canadian super funds such as Omers in anticipation of a possible company carve-up. Analysts at Credit Suisse said in a research note that they did not expect a superior bid to emerge. The CKI bid is at a premium of 33 per cent to its last closing share price. Still, market observers said it would not come as a major surprise if a rival bid did emerge from MIRA, ed by Canadian pension funds. This is given that such an offer would be far more palatable from a political perspective, with a lack of certainty as to whether the Foreign Investment Review Board and the ACCC will wave through the CKI transaction. Macquarie is currently working as defence adviser for APA while its infrastructure arm shops for some of its assets. However, JPMorgan has recently been drafted in alongside the Australian listed group to offer assistance in dealing with the inbound interest from North American parties. Macquarie has always maintained that it can manage any conflict of interest arising from the investment bank providing defence advice to clients while other divisions of the bank look at a client s assets as buyers. But the risk of a possible conflict of interest has prompted some groups that have been eager to draw on Macquarie expertise in investment banking as a defence adviser to instead look elsewhere. Apparently, takeover target Gateway Lifestyle recently reached out to Macquarie to provide defence advice, but found another group when it suspected that the bank may also be looking at acquiring the business. Similarly with Investa Office Fund, there has been speculation that Macquarie could have been looking to find consortium partners to buy the $3bn listed landlord following a takeover bid from Blackstone, prompting IOF to choose JPMorgan as adviser when many would have expected Macquarie to be its logical choice. As an aside, Macquarie may have been among the final parties bidding in the recent sales process for about 200 of Woolworths petrol stations. BP agreed to buy all of Woolworths 527 petrol stations some time ago, but the transaction was blocked by the ACCC. A process was later launched to sell a large slice of the portfolio to appease the competition regulator, but those plans were recently aborted. Speculation has been mounting that MIRA is working with Canadian pension funds to form a consortium to make a rival bid EDITED BY BRIDGET CARTER carterb@theaustralian.com.au SCOTT MURDOCH murdochs@theaustralian.com.au

44 The Australian, Australia Author: Bridget Carter Scott Murdoch Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : National : 94,448 Page: 18 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 15,156 Words: 613 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 APA s revenue split by industry $9.85 $ APA shares closed up RESOURCES 24.6 UTILITY 4.2 INDUSTRIAL & OTHERS Earnings $m % H 8.00 FY ENERGY FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 1H 1H FY FY18 Source: The company, Bloomberg

45 Age, Melbourne Section: Letters Article type : Letter Classification : Capital City Daily : 83,229 Page: 16 Printed Size: cm² Market: VIC Country: Australia ASR: AUD 19,636 Words: 514 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 PENALTIES AND TAXES Cuts are the arithmetic of delusional politics Cutting penalty rates may create new jobs. For example: instead of employing one person and paying them $100 a week, companies could employ 100 people and pay them $1 each a week. But, with no extra money in the mix, how will this boost the economy? Merlyn Robbins, Coburg While some go up, some go down It s somewhat ironic that federal politicians, including Coalition members, many with little sympathy for workers, receive a 2 per cent wage rise (after a 2 per cent rise last year), while hospitality and retail workers will see their penalty rates cut for the second year in a row with further cuts ahead. Hugh McCaig, Blackburn ScoMo s personality comes to the fore Scott Morrison s split personality. Tax cuts: it s your money we are giving. Penalty rates: it s your money we are keeping from you. Phil Lipshut, Elsternwick Shorten has a lot to answer for The hypocritical Bill Shorten continues with his advocacy to reverse Sunday penalty rates, all the while totally ignoring the EBA deals struck by the SDA union with respect to Coles, Woolies, Bunnings and their ilk that guarantee lower wages, lack of the penalty rates he espouses, union membership and the trickling of funds all the way through to the ALP. Mal Alexander, Vermont PM, the trickle down does not work The Prime Minister trumpets the merits of his free market government. He focuses on reducing red tape and prioritises tax cuts to business ahead of all other uses for this revenue. He believes more profitable businesses will trickle benefits down to their workers although there is no evidence that this occurs. There is plenty of evidence to the contrary, however, that business will take all the government handouts on offer while still abusing their workers, customers and the environment. The banking royal commission daily reveals horror stories. This government and overseeing authorities have been incompetently asleep at the wheel. A few dollars a week of personal tax cuts will not resurrect their fortunes. Peter Thomson, Brunswick Timing must be a coincidence Probably just a coincidence that as union membership has decreased in Australia, employers ripping off workers has increased. Phil Alexander, Eltham Sorry for the misconception My sincere apologies to wait staff and chefs. I never left tips as I assumed the exorbitant price of meals was a reflection of the wages

46 Age, Melbourne Section: Letters Article type : Letter Classification : Capital City Daily : 83,229 Page: 16 Printed Size: cm² Market: VIC Country: Australia ASR: AUD 19,636 Words: 514 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 paid to the staff. Andy Indrans, Taradale No profit gained from using this Cash Those 700,000 workers who are affected by the changes to their penalty rates might reflect that it is Senator Michaelia Cash, on behalf of the government, who advocates their pay cut. She doesn t seem to realise that university students, for example, need to maximise their income at weekends when lectures are paused. Single mothers and fathers who struggle to present their children with a happy and healthy upbringing cannot afford to concede to the senator s rhetoric of more employment. The opposition can surely see this attack on our quality of life, as an extra step up the ladder to an election. Graeme Lee, Fitzroy

47 Adelaide Advertiser, Adelaide Author: Sophie Elsworth Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 112,097 Page: 41 Printed Size: cm² Market: SA Country: Australia ASR: AUD 5,370 Words: 397 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 money HQ saver COME TO THE PARTY: Financial new year JUST IN CASE: Get an emergency fund Mind the trust gap Australians are suspicious of financial advice, writes Sophie Elsworth A MAJORITY of Australians have no one they trust to give them sound financial advice, alarming new figures reveal. This comes as the financial services royal commission has made many unsure about information provided by banks or advisers. A study commissioned by NGS Super, which has 95,000 members, revealed 56 per cent of working Aussies had no trustworthy person to turn to for financial information. And of those, 34 per cent said they wish they had someone who could help advise them on their finances and investing decisions. NGS Super s acting chief executive officer Laura Wright has urged fund members to seek any free information available to them to help get their finances on track. Superannuation can be a bit tricky and if you don t seek advice you may be limiting your retirement outcome, she warned. What is a concern of people who got advice is about 19 per cent of these people didn t trust (that) advice. Ms Wright encouraged people to try to obtain information that would boost their own financial understanding. There s so much information available that costs people nothing and it s easy for people to use, Ms Wright said. You don t have h to t make kan appointment with a financial planner, you can go online and use the tools which nearly all super funds have or you can get on the phone. ASIC s MoneySmart website provides free, simplified information to Aussies on financial matters. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia s chief executive officer, Dr Martin Fahy, is concerned that Australians are still not engaged ith their financial with their financial affairs. The first place for people to start with their superannuation is to ring their fund, he said. They will be able to provide them with general information on their fund and how it s invested and performing. Super funds offer free general advice, but also more specialised advice for a fee. Some funds have their own financial advisers and planners, while smaller funds may refer members to somebody outside the fund. Of those in the survey that said they had a trusted financial adviser not necessarily a trained finance professional 42 per cent said this was a family member while 18 per cent said it was a close friend. Dr Fahy also encourages people to read the financial pages of newspapers to help boost their knowledge.

48 The Australian, Australia Author: Anthony Klan Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : National : 94,448 Page: 1 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 7,012 Words: 917 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 How ASIC gouges in fees for business EXCLUSIVE ANTHONY KLAN The corporate regulator is acting against its own charter by charging the public and every registered business in the nation fees that are hundreds or even thousands of times more than what the services cost to deliver. The revelations are likely to put pressure on the federal government to reduce or remove the fees charged by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, particularly in light of the extent of ASIC s failings exposed by the royal commission into financial services. ASIC charges hundreds of millions of dollars a year for fees for no service. The fees, overwhelmingly borne by small business, totalled $801.7 million last year and that impost has soared at an average of more than three times the rate of inflation every year over the past decade. It also dwarfs ASIC s entire operating budget of $342m for the year and the fees were vastly more than those gouged by the big four banks and investigated by ASIC in its landmark fees for no services financial advice action against them. In addition ASIC raised an additional $119m for the federal government by way of fines, taking to $920m the money it raised for the government last financial year, an increase of 20 per cent in just three years. The fees to access the public documents are thousands of times more than what it costs to deliver the service, including charging $40 to obtain a company s simple annual report and $20 for a company s basic details, such as the identity of its directors. Getting online access to a document less than 10 pages costs $19, or $22 if it is ed. Those charges are directly against ASIC s charter under the 2001 ASIC Act, which states it is to provide that information to the public efficiently, and is required to promote the confident and informed participation of investors and consumers in the market. ASIC must strive to receive, process and store, efficiently and quickly, the information given to (it) and ensure that information is available as soon as practicable for access by the public. The ASIC Act also states the regulator is required to act to reduce business costs, which is at direct odds with vastly overcharging businesses and the public. ASIC s website states it has three key mandates, one of which is providing efficient registration services and another is ensuring fair and efficient markets. The regulator s accounts show that while raising $920m for the federal government last year, the government paid ASIC $342m to operate in the year. That payment was less than its $392m actual operating costs, Continued on Page 6

49 The Australian, Australia Author: Anthony Klan Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : National : 94,448 Page: 1 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 7,012 Words: 917 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 ASIC gouges in fees for business Continued from Page 1 causing ASIC to book a $43.6m loss. The regulator s accounts show it is currently carrying a $235.3m accumulated loss, despite having handed $5.9 billion to the government since In May the government indicated it would further increase its share, announcing ASIC s permanent funding would be cut from $346m to $320m and its staff cut by 30 investigators. ASIC is pushing to raise even more money by charging certain industries new charges to cover its costs under its industry funding model despite all businesses already paying more than double in fees the amount the regulator costs to run its entire operation. And in changes effective from today, ASIC has further raised its annual review fee for small proprietary companies by $4. Aside from annual review fees and fees to lodge documents, one of the biggest drivers of the costs come from the regulator charging vastly inflated fees for the public to access its public business registration and company information database. In other words, the regulator charges about $800m a year for companies to lodge documents and for companies and the public to access those public documents. The operations and failures of ASIC have come under greater scrutiny in recent months amid the royal commission into financial services, which has heard scores of examples of bad behaviour by banks that were missed by the regulator. Former ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft, who left the job last year and who famously described Australia as a paradise for white-collar criminals, long argued the nation could only get from ASIC what the government was willing to pay for. New ASIC chairman James Shipton, a former Goldman Sachs banker, has distanced himself from the issue. The regulator provided a terse response that the fees it levied were a matter for the government. A spokesman for Financial Services Minister Kelly O Dwyer said ASIC s fee regimen had been in place for many years and involves both registry and regulatory fees. ASIC collects fees for the use of government-owned infrastructure, similar to other state and federal government agencies, the spokesman said. The true costs of operating the ASIC registry are so small the regulator does not disclose them as a separate item in its annual reports. The Australian Securities Exchange, which handles a free public registry to which all listed companies must file documents, said the cost of running that service was so small to be not material to its costs. Several private companies are contracted by ASIC to provide access to the data, including SAI Global, which charges $51.30 for a company s annual report, while searches can also be done through ASIC s website. Every time a lawyer needs to do a search in a divorce settlement, for example, the fees are added to the bill. Many people are unable to access information due to the prohibitive cost. RAKING IT IN ASIC fees and fines $552m $582m $664m $717m $763m $824m $876m $920m TOTAL: $5.9bn

50 Age, Melbourne Author: Clay Lucas Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 83,229 Page: 10 Printed Size: cm² Market: VIC Country: Australia ASR: AUD 48,559 Words: 719 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 New city design rules to target good, bad and ugly Clay Lucas City editor They are some of Melbourne s biggest design eyesores: buildings that shot up over the past decade, during the central city s biggest ever construction boom. That boom coincided with successive planning ministers loosening regulations, allowing developers to build many urban spaces the city council says simply don t work. We have let too much crap be built, Melbourne City Council s planning chair Nick Reece says. Now, the council wants current Planning Minister Richard Wynne to help it raise the bar: by giving city planners new rules to discourage developers turning streets into unpleasant places to be. It wants Mr Wynne to hand them more power to negotiate with architects and developers over how buildings impact city streets. This week, Mr Wynne released for consultation the council s Central Melbourne Design Guide the biggest rewrite of the city s urban design policies since the 1990s. It attempts to improve building designs by encouraging some types of design, and provides a raft of directions on what developers must avoid. It wants developers to learn from some of the lessons of the worst buildings of the past decade. We want to see more buildings that give to the public realm, says Cr Reece, who argues that while Melbourne is by far Australia s most attractive and interesting city, it has been degraded by recent bad architecture and design. He nominates the 46-year-old former BHP House, on the corner of William and Bourke streets, as evidence that good design holds up and continues to shine over time. He also points to buildings such as the postage stamp sized Monaco House in Ridgway Place, the Riverland bar on the Yarra, Federation Square and the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Parkville as examples of the city s modern design excellence. But these shining beacons are being weighed down by other, terrible examples, he says. We are seeing low-quality design outcomes, says the Labor councillor, who served in senior positions with both ex-victorian premier John Brumby and former prime minister Julia Gillard. The council s proposed design policy wants fewer service doors and outlets to electricity substations, fire equipment and gas outlets placed on footpaths. Their proliferation, caused by a competition for space on the street, sees developers build on tiny plots and opt for the easiest solution: placing essential services on the ground floor. The Age photographed Cr Reece this week on such a street: Literature Lane, behind the new A Beckett Tower. A long row of services along the lane way has cruelled... this gem of a laneway, Cr Reece says. The council s policy also targets the damage done to city streets from parking. It wants huge entrances to underground car parks on major streets wound and would ban above-ground car parks in the CBD. The policy attempts to push developers to design better street frontages and avoid street walls or podiums that present a continuous monotonous facade. Cr Reece cites Spencer Street s discount outlet, next to the awardwinning Southern Cross railway station, as such a building: A scar on Melbourne [blocking] the connection between the city and Docklands. And the policy tries to discourage the use of highly reflective glass that obscures views and causes dangerous reflections for drivers. The Prima Pearl tower in Southbank is in many ways an elegant tall tower, Cr Reece says. But he argues its reflective materials cause unacceptable levels of glare. Retired planning academic Michael Buxton is a vocal critic of Melbourne s recently built skyscrapers and has lambasted successive planning ministers for not standing up to developers. He says the council s new design rules are minor window dressing that would help if approved. But the really big issues height and bulk and apartment size the state government just isn t interested in, Professor Buxton says. With more towers on their way to Melbourne s city centre, though, Cr Reece hopes Mr Wynne will approve his council s new policy so developers and building designers know precisely what will be supported. It makes economic sense to create great streets, he says.

51 Age, Melbourne Author: Clay Lucas Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 83,229 Page: 10 Printed Size: cm² Market: VIC Country: Australia ASR: AUD 48,559 Words: 719 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 THE GOOD AND THE BAD Spencer Outlet Centre (right) next to Southern Cross Station. Photo: Meredith O Shea Monaco House in Ridgway Place Federation Square The Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Parkville Former BHP House, on the corner of William and Bourke streets The Prima Pearl tower in Southbank Above-ground car parks in the CBD

52 Canberra Times, Canberra Author: Clancy Yeates Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 17,579 Page: 41 Printed Size: cm² Market: ACT Country: Australia ASR: AUD 9,400 Words: 574 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 Funeral insurance in spotlight ROYAL COMMISSION Clancy Yeates It s an all too familiar problem in regional and remote Indigenous communities. In one case, a mother spent $18,000 on funeral insurance premiums since the 1990s for herself and two daughters, who were aged one and two at the time the policies were issued. In another, a mother paid $22,000 in funeral insurance premiums for herself and her daughter, who was signed up to the policy when she was a four-year-old. Rebekah Doran, a senior solicitor with Legal Aid NSW, recounts these cases as she explains that inappropriately sold insurance to cover the cost of funerals is an issue that arises time and time again with Indigenous clients and communities. It would be very rare to attend an outreach where this issue does not come up, Ms Doran said. Concerns about funeral insurance being marketed to vulnerable Indigenous communities will be put under the microscope this week, when the royal commission holds public hearings in Darwin. The hearings before Commissioner Kenneth Hayne are expected to initially focus on lending to farmers, before putting the spotlight onto funeral insurance, a product that has long concerned regulators and consumer advocates. The commission will question ACBF Funeral Plans, a Gold Coastbased company which says it is the only insurer with policies specifically designed for Indigenous people. Sydney-based Select AFSL, which trades as Let s Insure and sells products including funeral cover, is also set to appear. Ms Doran said funeral insurance was commonly not understood by the people buying it, with some thinking they were making deposits into a savings account. Others paid far more in premiums than they would spend on a funeral, and bought policies covering young children. Ms Doran said people in Indigenous communities often put a high level of importance on funerals, but were more likely to be financially disadvantaged, which meant they were often looking for ways to pay for funerals. That makes them particularly vulnerable to the marketing that really targets that fear that you would pass away and your family won t be able to afford the cost without hardship, she said. ACBF released a statement last week saying the average funeral cost $7500, an amount many people did not have sufficient savings to cover. Chief executive Bryn Jones said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were two to four times more likely to die young than non-indigenous Australians, and high infant mortality rates meant some in the community expected funeral plans for the very young. Select AFSL did not comment. The chief executive of the Consumer Action Law Centre, Gerard Brody, also referred to the sale of funeral insurance to cover young people, and said there had been cases of people spending thousands of dollars more in premiums than they would ever be paid. The marketing of the products is pretty unethical, Mr Brody said. A 2015 Australian Securities and Investments Commission report found 50 per cent of Indigenous customers paying for funeral insurance were aged under 20. Aaron Davis, chief executive of the Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network, said funeral insurance was a big thing for its clients a decade ago, but the top issues now were payday lenders and consumer leasing. ANZ Bank will also appear before the commission this week. ANZ is expected to face scrutiny over informal overdrafts where the bank charges a fee for allowing customers to overdraw their accounts.

53 Canberra Times, Canberra Author: Clancy Yeates Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 17,579 Page: 41 Printed Size: cm² Market: ACT Country: Australia ASR: AUD 9,400 Words: 574 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 The royal commission will hold public hearings in Darwin this week. Photo: Eddie Jim

54 Northern Territory News, Darwin Author: Sophie Elsworth Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 11,279 Page: 29 Printed Size: cm² Market: NT Country: Australia ASR: AUD 1,440 Words: 397 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Mind the trust gap Australians are suspicious of financial advice, writes Sophie Elsworth A MAJORITY of Australians have no one they trust to give them sound financial advice, alarming new figures reveal. This comes as the financial services royal commission has made many unsure about information provided by banks or advisers. A study commissioned by NGS Super, which has 95,000 members, revealed 56 per cent of working Aussies had no trustworthy person to turn to for financial information. And of those, 34 per cent said they wish they had someone who could help advise them on their finances and investing decisions. NGS Super s acting chief executive officer Laura Wright has urged fund members to seek any free information available to them to help get their finances on track. Superannuation can be a bit tricky and if you don t seek advice you may be limiting your retirement outcome, she warned. What is a concern of people who got advice is about 19 per cent of these people didn t trust (that) advice. Ms Wright encouraged people to try to obtain information that would boost their own financial understanding. There s so much information available that costs people nothing and it s easy for people to use, Ms Wright said. You don t have to make an appointment with a financial planner, you can go online and use the tools which nearly all super funds have or you can get on the phone. ASIC s MoneySmart website provides free, simplified information to Aussies on financial matters. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia s chief executive officer, Dr Martin Fahy, is concerned that Australians are still not engaged with their financial affairs. The first place for people to start with their superannuation is to ring their fund, he said. They will be able to provide them with general information on their fund and how it s invested and performing. Super funds offer free general advice, but also more specialised advice for a fee. Some funds have their own financial advisers and planners, while smaller funds may refer members to somebody outside the fund. Of those in the survey that said they had a trusted financial adviser not necessarily a trained finance professional 42 per cent said this was a family member while 18 per cent said it was a close friend. Dr Fahy also encourages people to read the financial pages of newspapers to help boost their knowledge.

55 Northern Territory News, Darwin Author: David Libby Koch Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 11,279 Page: 30 Printed Size: cm² Market: NT Country: Australia ASR: AUD 3,971 Words: 634 Item ID: Page 1 of 3 David & Libby In case of emergency Life is not certain, so you need to be prepared EVERY year thousands of Australians are victims of natural disasters, which have a devastating impact on the emotional and financial state of so many families. Then there are those who are blindsided by unexpected retrenchment, long term illness, death of a breadwinner or sexually transmitted debt. On top of that, the car always seems to break down or the fridge needs replacing at a time when you can least afford it. And we haven t even mentioned economic or financial market crashes. Life constantly has a habit of throwing curveballs at us that can ramp up the financial strain to breaking point. It simply can t be avoided. But implementing a suitable financial emergency plan can cushion any unforeseen blow. Bottom line is that Australians are generally hopeless at preparing for financial emergencies. So let s start putting that right with a few simple steps which will make a huge difference; PROTECT YOUR BIGGEST ASSETS BETTER Most flood, fire, cyclone and burglary victims are in trouble because they re either underinsured or not insured at all because they didn t understand the exclusions in the fine print. So today, get out all your insurance policies and make sure the house, contents and car are all covered properly. Then check the fine print for the definitions on what is and isn t covered. Take a walk around the house and do a quick calculation on how much it would be to replace everything inside carpets, furniture, appliances, clothes, jewellery everything. We bet you ll be stunned at the total amount and how you re underinsured. Fix it, quickly. SAFEGUARD CASH FLOW If you are the major breadwinner providing the cash flow to meet commitments, then you must protect that cash flow. That means income protection, life and trauma insurance. Bankruptcy reports show illness as one of the major causes of people becoming insolvent. The level of personal insurance protection will be determined by your age and level of financial commitments. BRING DEBT DOWN TO A MANAGEABLE LEVEL A lot of people get in to strife because they simply borrow too much when interest rates are low (and money is cheap) but then get caught by a double whammy when rates rise and an emergency comes up. First of all, pay off your most expensive debt like credit cards and store financing. Then start working on the rest. START SAVING THROUGH SUPERANNUATION EARLY AND REGULARLY Retirement should be the best time of your life. It shouldn t be a time of financial uncertainty and lifestyle sacrifice. The problem is only 20 per cent of people retire when they planned. The other 80 per cent are forced to retire, generally earlier than expected, because of retrenchment, illness or some other reason. That causes a financial emergency because most people retire on less than what they expected. Superannuation contributions attract terrific tax benefits so take advantage of them. Work out an amount which will support a good

56 Northern Territory News, Darwin Author: David Libby Koch Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 11,279 Page: 30 Printed Size: cm² Market: NT Country: Australia ASR: AUD 3,971 Words: 634 Item ID: Page 2 of 3 retirement lifestyle and then start contributing as early as you can so that goal is reached well ahead of when you plan to cash in. Just make sure you are in a good superannuation fund that matches your risk profile. BUILD UP AN EMERGENCY STASH EQUAL TO SIX MONTHS SALARY That emergency stash could be kept in a bank account but also could be paid off a home loan and easily drawn down when necessary. That way the money can be saving interest and cutting down the term of the loan just make sure the home loan allows for an easy drawdown even after loss of a job. It will be hard for most people to come up with an emergency stash straight away so make it a project over the next year.

57 Northern Territory News, Darwin Author: David Libby Koch Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 11,279 Page: 30 Printed Size: cm² Market: NT Country: Australia ASR: AUD 3,971 Words: 634 Item ID: Page 3 of 3 illustration: JOHN TIEDEMANN

58 Hobart Mercury, Hobart Author: Anthony Keane Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 28,265 Page: 17 Printed Size: cm² Market: TAS Country: Australia ASR: AUD 1,026 Words: 345 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Heavy price of loyalty to your bank ANTHONY KEANE HALF of Australians do all their banking with just one financial institution, potentially costing themselves a lot every year. Misguided loyalty, fear of the unknown and convenience are keeping almost 80 per cent wedded to the Big Four banks, new research by comparison website Mozo.com.au has found, and suggests it s costing average customers $1600 a year and some much more. No single financial institution has a monopoly over the best value loans, savings accounts and credit cards, and Mozo director Kirsty Lamont said there was little reward for being loyal. She said many people felt switching was too much of a hassle but most would be better off cherry picking products. There are millions of Australians who could be losing thousands of dollars a year due to uncompetitive interest rates and fees, she said. The switching process for banking has become a lot easier in recent years. In many cases you can do it all online now. Government regulations allow you to contact your existing bank for a list of direct debits and credits, then give it to the new bank, which will contact all suppliers with your new account details. It s not really well known. I don t think the banks promote it because they don t want us to switch, Ms Lamont said. Mozo s analysis of 117 financial institutions found that ME is the nation s best-value bank, while Westpac is the best value among the Big Four. Mortgage and consumer finance specialist Lisa Montgomery said some people felt switching would simply mean more of the same. We don t prioritise it in our lives as being a thing that will deliver us enough value, she said. Ms Montgomery said many people were loyal to the first bank they used, which skewed them towards major banks with school banking programs. Others were loyal to banks their parents used also benefiting the Big Four, she said. Before switching, people should examine their existing relationship with their financial institution. If you leave, will it cost you money, and is the grass greener on the other side?

59 Hobart Mercury, Hobart Author: Sophie Elsworth Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 28,265 Page: 17 Printed Size: cm² Market: TAS Country: Australia ASR: AUD 1,742 Words: 397 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Australians are suspicious of financial advice, writes Sophie Elsworth have no one they trust to give them sound financial advice, alarming new figures reveal. This comes as the financial services royal commission has made many unsure about information provided by banks or advisers. A study commissioned by NGS Super, which has 95,000 members, revealed 56 per cent of working Aussies had no trustworthy person to turn to for financial information. And of those, 34 per cent said they wish they had someone who could help advise them on their finances and investing decisions. NGS Super s acting chief executive officer Laura Wright has urged fund members to seek any free information available to them to help get their finances on track. Superannuation can be a bit tricky and if you don t seek advice you may be limiting your retirement outcome, she warned. What is a concern of people who got advice is about 19 per cent of these people didn t trust (that) advice. Ms Wright encouraged people to try to obtain information that would boost their own financial understanding. There s so much information available that costs people nothing and it s easy for people to use, Ms Wright said. You don t have to t make k an appointment with a financial planner, you can go online and use the tools which nearly all super funds have or you can get on the phone. ASIC s MoneySmart website provides free, simplified information to Aussies on financial matters. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia s chief executive officer, Dr Martin Fahy, is concerned that Australians are still not engaged with their financial affairs. The first place for people to start with their superannuation is to ring their fund, he said. They will be able to provide them with general information on their fund and how it s invested and performing. Super funds offer free general advice, but also more specialised advice for a fee. Some funds have their own financial advisers and planners, while smaller funds may refer members to somebody outside the fund. Of those in the survey that said they had a trusted financial adviser not necessarily a trained finance professional 42 per cent said this was a family member while 18 per cent said it was a close friend. Dr Fahy also encourages people to read the financial pages of newspapers to help boost their knowledge.

60 The Australian, Australia Author: Anthony Klan Section: Edition Changes - All-round Metro Article type : News Item Classification : National : 94,448 Page: 1 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 6,972 Words: 925 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 How ASIC gouges in fees for business EXCLUSIVE ANTHONY KLAN The corporate regulator is acting against its own charter by charging the public and every registered business in the nation fees that are hundreds or even thousands of times more than what the services cost to deliver. The revelations are likely to put pressure on the federal government to reduce or remove the fees charged by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, particularly in light of the extent of ASIC s failings exposed by the royal commission into financial services. ASIC charges hundreds of millions of dollars a year for fees for no service. The fees, overwhelmingly borne by small business, totalled $801.7 million last year and that impost has soared at an average of more than three times the rate of inflation every year over the past decade. It also dwarfs ASIC s entire operating budget of $342m for the year and the fees were vastly more than those gouged by the big four banks and investigated by ASIC in its landmark fees for no services financial advice action against them. In addition, ASIC raised $119m for the federal government by way of fines, taking to $920m the money it raised for the government last financial year, an increase of 20 per cent in just three years. The fees to access the public documents are thousands of times more than what it costs to deliver the service, including charging $40 to obtain a company s simple annual report and $20 for a company s basic details, such as the identity of its directors. Getting online access to a document less than 10 pages costs $19, or $22 if it is ed. Those charges are directly against ASIC s charter under the 2001 ASIC Act, which states it is to provide that information to the public efficiently, and is required to promote the confident and informed participation of investors and consumers in the market. ASIC must strive to receive, process and store, efficiently and quickly, the information given to (it) and ensure that information is available as soon as practicable for access by the public. The ASIC Act also states the regulator is required to act to reduce business costs, which is at direct odds with vastly overcharging businesses and the public. ASIC s website states it has three key mandates, one of which is providing efficient registration services and another is ensuring fair and efficient markets. The regulator told The Australian the fees it levied were a matter for the government. The true costs of operating the ASIC registry, however, are so small that the regulator does not disclose them as a separate item in Continued on Page 6

61 The Australian, Australia Author: Anthony Klan Section: Edition Changes - All-round Metro Article type : News Item Classification : National : 94,448 Page: 1 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 6,972 Words: 925 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 ASIC gouges in fees for business Continued from Page 1 its annual reports. The Australian Securities Exchange, which handles a free public registry to which all listed companies must file documents, said the cost of running that service was so small to be not material to its costs. ASIC s accounts show that while raising $920m for the federal government last year, the government paid ASIC $342m to operate in the year. That payment was less than its $392m actual operating costs, causing ASIC to book a $43.6m loss. The regulator s accounts show it is currently carrying a $235.3m accumulated loss, despite having handed $5.9 billion to the government since In May the government indicated it would further increase its share, announcing ASIC s permanent funding would be cut from $346m to $320m and its staff cut by 30 investigators. ASIC is pushing to raise even more money by charging certain industries new charges to cover its costs under its industry funding model despite all businesses already paying more than double in fees the amount the regulator costs to run its entire operation. And in changes effective from today, ASIC has further raised its annual review fee for small proprietary companies by $4. One of the biggest cost drivers is the regulator charging vastly inflated fees for the public to access its public business registration and company information database. In other words, the regulator charges about $800m a year for companies to lodge documents and for companies and the public to access those public documents. The operations and failures of ASIC have come under greater scrutiny amid the royal commission into financial services, which has heard scores of examples of bad behaviour by banks that were missed by the regulator. Former ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft, who left the job last year and who famously described Australia as a paradise for white-collar criminals, long argued the nation could only get from ASIC what the government was willing to pay for. New ASIC chairman James Shipton, a former Goldman Sachs banker, appears to be distancing himself from the issue with the response that the fees are a matter for the government. A spokesman for Financial Services Minister Kelly O Dwyer said ASIC s fee regimen had been in place for many years and involves both registry and regulatory fees. ASIC collects fees for the use of government-owned infrastructure, similar to other state and federal government agencies, the spokesman said. Several private companies are contracted by ASIC to provide access to the data, including SAI Global, which charges $51.30 for a company s annual report, while searches can also be done through ASIC s website. Every time a lawyer needs to do a search in a divorce settlement, for example, the fees are added to the bill. Many people are unable to access information due to the prohibitive cost. Media, in holding business and wrongdoers to account, is also impeded by the cost particularly freelance and small operators. RAKING IT IN ASIC fees and fines $552m $582m $664m $717m $763m $824m $876m $920m TOTAL: $5.9bn

62 West Australian, Perth Author: Peter Warnes Section: Your Money Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 147,676 Page: 6 Printed Size: cm² Market: WA Country: Australia ASR: AUD 3,910 Words: 460 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Peter Warnes Head of Equities Research CBA brand skewered The Commonwealth Bank, along with the other majors, is shrinking. It has taken a couple of decades for boards and management to realise they should not have been in wealth management, insurance or broking businesses. The hype over cross selling more products to customers has turned out to be a doublecross of shareholders. The bancassurance model is broken. Cross selling a variety of in-house or white labelled products, with different reward benchmarks and staff distraction, created conflict of interests which have been dramatically exposed by the Hayne royal commission. From Wells Fargo to Commonwealth Bank, these previous icons of the banking industry have stumbled, their culture maligned, reputations soiled, trust destroyed, and brand devalued, all at the altar of greed. The Commonwealth Bank s $700 million AUSTRAC fine should not find its way into government coffers. It should be put aside to in some way compensate customers who were mistreated. buying bonds in December and perhaps begin raising rates in Lowe finds himself out of step, but from his standpoint, with soft wages growth and weak inflation together with highly leveraged households, his hands are tied. He cited the lack of wages growth on falling union membership, increasing fear of competition and rising labour supply (probably due to immigration). The RBA did not have to go to the extreme measures of the central banks of the US, the European Union, Japan or Britain. It did not have to cut rates to zero or buy trillions for dollars and euros worth of bonds and other financial assets after the GFC. Australia navigated the GFC better than most. The reference to the next rate move being a hike rather than a cut was absent from the minutes of the June meeting of the RBA board. Lowe has publicly admitted the next increase may be further away than previously thought. But while Lowe may be reticent to move officially, unofficially the banks may tighten. RESERVE BANK BLUES Calls from former Reserve Bank of Australia board member Warwick McKibbin and central bank experts Mark Crosby and James Morley for Governor Philip Lowe to lift the official cash rate, suggesting the current rate is unhealthy, is at odds with Lowe s public stance. This stance was aired again at the European Central Bank forum in Portugal last week where Lowe found himself to be the odd man out. McKibbin also calls for the dumping of the 2 to 3 per cent inflation target and replacing it with a nominal income goal. Not everyone agrees. Former deputy governor Stephen Grenville suggests raising interest rates and removing the inflation target is unnecessary and unwise. The US Federal Reserve has hiked rates seven times since it started tightening monetary policy in December 2015 and the ECB will cease

63 West Australian, Perth Author: Rowan Jones Section: Your Money Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 147,676 Page: 8 Printed Size: cm² Market: WA Country: Australia ASR: AUD 6,925 Words: 292 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 A simple explanation of the finance terms we all hear about but don t really understand with Rowan Jones Make sure advice is clear and concise If you ve ever engaged the services of a financial planner, you d know that they provide their advice to you in a document called a Statement of Advice which is really just a fancy name for a financial plan. Financial planners are required to provide an SOA to all retail clients they provide personal financial advice to. The purpose of the document is not only to set out the advice they recommend but also detail why the advice is being given in the first place. This is often referred to as the basis for advice. This basis should not only detail the why but should also include how the recommendations made are intended to benefit you. For example, if a financial planner recommends the establishment of a Self Managed Super Fund they must also include why they are recommending a SMSF and how establishing one is going to benefit you. An SOA is the most important document that a financial planner produces, so for this reason it is a highly regulated document that must meet a number of legislated requirements as outlined under the Corporations Act. One of those requirements is that the advice must be given in a clear, concise and effective manner. This is important so that the person receiving the advice can easily understand what has been recommended and why. As well as detailing the advice being given, a Statement of Advice must also include who is actually providing the advice and what payments or benefits they will receive as a result. Interestingly, it is also a requirement that all fees and charges are expressed as a dollar amount and not just as a percentage. Rowan Jones is an adviser with Entrust Private Wealth Management

64 West Australian, Perth Author: Rowan Jones Section: Your Money Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 147,676 Page: 8 Printed Size: cm² Market: WA Country: Australia ASR: AUD 6,925 Words: 292 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 Illustration: Don Lindsay

65 West Australian, Perth Author: Neale Prior Section: Your Money Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 147,676 Page: 8 Printed Size: cm² Market: WA Country: Australia ASR: AUD 5,891 Words: 542 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 Right up for fight over industry fund payouts Neale Prior It s been curious watching a row about a campaign being run by conservative activist Andrew Bragg against industry superannuation funds. Bragg, whose day job is the executive director of membership at the Business Council of Australia, has been howling foul about the millions of dollars that flow each year from industry funds to unions and ultimately to Labor. The political activist and former Liberal Party executive runs a website with articles slamming the unassailable role of union apparatchiks in industry funds and the flow of about $50 million to unions in a decade. He provides a you-beaut little page called Supercheck based on disclosures to the Australian Electoral Commission going 13 years. It gives cashflow summaries broken down into super funds, unions and years. Bragg s fans are now fuming over a letter that Industry Super Australia chairman Peter Collins, a former NSW Liberal treasurer, wrote to Business Council members demanding their membership director be stopped from writing propaganda about industry funds. The outrage has included Business Council chairman Tony Shepherd linking the call to a decline in Western civilisation and attacking the person rather than what they saw. Free speech is vital to democracy: you can say anything you like, Shepherd told one trade paper. This is a curious view given there are several limitations on free speech even in the most liberal democracies, including defamation laws. There might also be limitations on what some people can say given their particular job, including working for a lobby group that might soon have to deal with a Labor Federal government full of former union hacks. We live in interesting times, not the least when a former senior Liberal like Collins becomes a supposed enemy of free speech for protesting to members of a lobby group about the politicised activities of one of its senior executives. The Business Council has given its membership boss the all-clear to run a very public and well-structured campaign against industry funds, just as the organisation itself prepares to fight anti-business forces (read Labor). Many people on the Right of politics are hoping the royal commission will probe industry funds for their tendency to pay big sums to unions. Bragg and the Right-tilting think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs, have both cried foul. An IPA report last year attacked the official explanation that payments were generally to compensate the union, industry and employer groups for time given. Despite these funds supposedly being run by a mix of industry groups and trade unions, the IPA said about 70 per cent of the $26 million in third-party payments from to were made to union groups. The big question is what, if anything, the royal commission makes of this nice little earner for unions. The Right will be hoping a lot. Tony Shepherd

66 West Australian, Perth Author: Neale Prior Section: Your Money Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 147,676 Page: 8 Printed Size: cm² Market: WA Country: Australia ASR: AUD 5,891 Words: 542 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 MATES RATES The Institute of Public Affairs report said the CFMEU building union received more than $2.8 million in superannuation fund director fees from to United Voice received more than $2.3 million, and the ACTU received $2 million, according to the institute. All figures are in dollars. The biggest total payments to an industry group were to the Masters Builders Association, with $613,663 reportedly paid over four years.

67 West Australian, Perth Author: Stephen Anthony Section: Your Money Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 147,676 Page: 8 Printed Size: cm² Market: WA Country: Australia ASR: AUD 3,822 Words: 402 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Affordable housing a necessity Stephen Anthony Australia stands on the precipice of a major social crisis. Industry Super estimates a national affordable housing shortage of 350,000 dwellings is looming. The rising tide of housing distress leads to homelessness, wage stagnation and welfare dependency. The problem reflects 30 years of inadequate national and regional planning, and short-term thinking. Successive governments have directed too many resources at spurring demand for existing property rather than building new homes for the most needy. Together we must address this, before the trickle becomes a flood and our nation has a homelessness epidemic. All levels of government must pool existing housing subsidies and re-prioritise them for the sole purpose of building and operating housing for the disadvantaged. All levels of government must identify underused public and private landholdings. The Federal Government must provide incentives for asset recycling and for charities, churches and community groups to offer up excess landholdings on long-term leasing. Governments must lever the balance sheets of long-term investors such as overseas pension funds, Australian super funds, insurance companies and family offices to invest in affordable housing. The affordable housing sector is being denied access to the scale of equity capital necessary to address housing shortages. Sure, banks will lend them debt finance for a price, but that has to be repaid on commercial terms. The missing link in this policy chain is providing an efficient and effective mechanism to deliver equity capital to affordable housing providers. Such a policy would provide the means to allow institutional investors to effectively writedown or write-off every dollar they ever invest in a sector with no adverse impact on their rate-ofreturn benchmarks. Affordable housing tax credits are the missing link. Assume the Productivity Commission identified the location of a material housing shortage. The Federal Government could authorise a statutory corporation to tender for the construction of these places. The successful developer/operator would structure the project financing based on receipt of tradable tax credits the funding source for the equity capital which they would sell to long-term portfolio investors. Portfolio investors who purchase tax credits could then write-off their tax liabilities immediately. The now defunct National Rental Assistance Scheme provided a good foundation for the proposed tax credit scheme. But a new scheme must incentivise and guide State-based effort and call for expressions of interest for very large tranches of support to attract the institutions. Stephen Anthony is chief economist of Industry Super Australia

68 Australian Financial Review, Australia Author: Sarah Thompson And Anthony Macdonald Section: Companies and Markets Article type : News Item Classification : National : 44,635 Page: 22 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 9,992 Words: 809 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 From Regal to Longlead, it's all about spotting change Monday fundie Hunting for long and short opportunities in Asia. Sarah Thompson and Anthony Macdonald When big offshore pension funds and their asset allocators come to Australia to check out the local hedge fund scene, they typically hop between meetings with the same few firms. First stop is Regal Funds Management, then established players like K2 Asset Management and Watermark Funds Management, and then it's home after a few days scattered with one-on-ones among the small handful of other loca] hedge funds. Now, a new name has forced its way on to the must-see list thanks to its 30 per cent annual returns. Longlead Capital Partners is the brainchild of Andrew West and Tim Campbell. It is a pan-asian hedge fund specialising in long-short equity strategies with offices in Singapore and Sydney, about $400 million under management and 10 staff. Longlead takes lessons learnt from one market to look for opportunities in the next It has a unique process that looks for industry change, which it can use to pick winners and losers in regional and local markets. Campbell and West met at Australia's biggest pure-play equities hedge fund, Regal, 10 years ago. Their first joint project was looking at the market for glyphosate - a chemical that kills weeds. The pair spotted a build-up in.inventory in the supply chain which they knew at some stage had to get flushed out and would hurt operators. They came at the problem from different grounds. Chief investment officer Campbell grew up in rural NSW but had been a portfolio manager at Ellerston Capital and worked in M&A in London and as an institutional trader in New York. West came out of ANZ Private Equity, buying and selling businesses and managing mid-market Australian management buyouts and buy-ins, and had a PhD in economics. "We both value the time that we had at Regal and respect the business Phil [King] has built," West says. "It was at Regal where we developed our unique process and Longlead has been about building the team to apply that properly across the pan-asian company landscape." The pair's proprietary process, which they developed while running a pan-asian strategy at Regal, has performed well for investors. Longlead's Absolute Return Fund targets a mid-tohigh teens return profile with a low correlation to the equity market, and has historically generated a 30 per cent compound annual return off realised volatility of 12 per cent Campbell now works out of Singapore, while West lives in Sydney. They invest across Hong Kong and China, Taiwan, Korea, Australia, Singapore and Japan, and have a multi-lingual team. "We think of Asia as a hub for global manufacturing and also increasingly global services industries," West says. "This means that the businesses we look at around the region can provide new and unique perspectives on operating conditions of a wide variety of global industries. And in these developed Asian countries you have a lot more large liquid names, valuations in aggregate can be a lot more attractive and often stocks stay undiscovered for longer, which we like." Campbell says one example of how his team searched for and found changing operating conditions was in March 2015 in Korea, where the government introduced the Cloud Act which promoted cloud-based business migration. "As a team we had good DNA on understanding this shift from the Australian players but also internationally," Campbell says. "One stock that we saw was well-placed was Douzone Bizon, which had 90 per cent market share amongst the SME accounting firms. We saw the potential for a re-rating and this was largely missed by the domestic analysts that didn't necessarily have the context of Xero or Intuit "Our ideas all start from spotting change - Douzone is a good example of structural regulatory change that creates a persistent growth opportunity." One of its biggest Australian investments now is ASX-listed but Chinesefocused Sino Gas & Energy, which is subject to a takeover by US private equity firm Lone Star Funds. West says it is a stock that was hard for Australian-only investors to understand because it is a pure-play Chinese gas producer, while it is less visible for Asian investors because it is listed in Australia. Longlead is also focused on computer chip manufacturers in Taiwan and has had success shorting franchise businesses in Asia based on their experience in Australia. "Shorts in Lawson in Japan and some of the Korean convenience store operators are examples of how we are leveraging our experience in the Australian franchising space," West says. "After strong periods of franchise network growth a number of issues always begin to manifest themselves, as we have also seen in Retail Food Group in Australia." Douzone (is an example that) creates a persistent growth opportunity. Tim Campbell, co-founder, Longlead Capital Partners

69 Australian Financial Review, Australia Author: Sarah Thompson And Anthony Macdonald Section: Companies and Markets Article type : News Item Classification : National : 44,635 Page: 22 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 9,992 Words: 809 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 Andrew West (left) and Tim Campbell's Longlead Capital Partners manages about $400 million, PHOT&JAMES BRICKWOOD

70 Australian Financial Review, Australia Author: james frost Section: Companies and Markets Article type : News Item Classification : National : 44,635 Page: 16 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 7,686 Words: 618 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 Bendigo to face the music over Rural Bank purchase James Frost The state of a loan book purchased by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank in 2010 will be explored in detail at the Hayne royal commission on Monday when Rural Bank's CEO Alexandra Gartmann takes a seat in the witness box. Ms Gartmann will be the first bank CEO to front the public hearings following appearances by senior bankers such as NAB's chief customer officer Andrew Haggar and Commonwealth Bank's deputy CEO David Cohen in the second and third round of hearings respectively. Rural Bank's CEO will be questioned about a number of issues that have emerged at the bank including those the bank has already admitted to such as underpayment of interest, excessive overdraft fees and examples of employee misconduct A key line of inquiry however will be the state of Rural Bank's loan book at the time of sale following revelations from CBA and ANZ that the bank's purchases of BankWest and Landmark in 2009 and 2010 respectively revealed the loan books to be of a much poorer quality than anticipated. Prior to being appointed Rural Bank's managing director and CEO in October 2015, Ms Gartmann was a non-executive director of the bank. She has deep links to the rural and agricultural sectors including several non-profits but comparatively less banking experience. Rural Bank was a joint venture between Bendigo Bank and agribusiness conglomerate Futuris launched in 1999 and was originally named Elders Rural Bank. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank acquired the outstanding share of Rural Bank it did not own in 2010 for $165 million, or 1.2 times book value. During the opening statement from counsel assisting Rowena Orr, QC, last Monday in Brisbane, it was revealed that Rural Bank's agricultural customers were four times more likely to have one or more facilities in default than Bendigo Bank's farming customers. The disparity between the agricultural customers of the two banks was also evident across other metrics. While taking into account that Rural Bank had four times as many agribusiness customers as Bendigo the specialist agribusiness lender had participated in eight times as many farm debt mediations and ten times as many enforcement actions. Last week, the Hayne royal commission heard evidence from 68-year old Mel Ruddy, a cattle grazier who shifted his business from Rural Bank to Bank- West when his relationship manager changed jobs. Mr Ruddy would end up a client of the same bank manager who was heard to inflate property valuations, tamper with internal records and misappropriate client funds on at least one occasion before resigning. In her opening statement, Ms Orr said the actions of Rural Bank staff led to circumstances where loans granted to Queensland cattle farmers became non-performing loans. "Rural Bank staff did not appropriately establish loan serviceability, overrelied on security values and did not adequately manage the loans," Ms Onsaid. Ms Orr said the bank self-identified five examples of conduct where it failed to meet community standards and expectations. These included an example where a customer had her signature forged and the document was improperly witnessed by a bank employee. She also touched on the experiences of a customer in 2015 who had been given verbal approval for a loan and then successfully bid on a property only to have the bank renege on its approval. The bank would settle the complaint by refunding the deposit amount after legal action was threatened. On Friday, counsel assisting Mark Costello confirmed the first case study would involve Rural Bank however the witness list published by the royal commission did not list names of any farmers. The hearings will begin at 10am central time in Darwin.

71 Australian Financial Review, Australia Author: james frost Section: Companies and Markets Article type : News Item Classification : National : 44,635 Page: 16 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 7,686 Words: 618 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 Bendigo Bank has admitted to five instances of conduct falling below or failing to meet expectations. PHOTO: JOE ARMAO

72 Australian Financial Review, Australia Author: Alice Uribe Section: Companies and Markets Article type : News Item Classification : National : 44,635 Page: 17 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 8,131 Words: 707 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 KPMG questions the retirement income covenant Alice Uribe Superannuation fund trustees must be given flexibility to offer separate, but complementary, retirement products giving their members access to capital in early retirement and protection for those living for a long time later on. In a submission to a government position paper discussing its landmark proposals for introducing a "retirement income covenant", consultancy group KPMG said trustees must be able to offer more than a "single bundled product" to best meet the needs of their members. The position paper, issued in May, outlined that, for the first time, super funds would be required to help their members meet their retirement income objectives and also proposed requirements for a comprehensive income product in retirement But the KPMG paper, authored by former union leader turned KPMG partner Paul Howes and the partner of the group's super advisory business Adam Gee, said while the "implied design" in the paper split the product into two phases - an account-based pension phase (ABP) and a deferred lifetime annuity (DLA) phase - it did not necessarily allow for trustees to offer separate products for these phases. An ABP is a regular income stream, bought with money accumulated in super, after a person has reached preservation age - generally between 55 and 60. DLAs swap less access to capital in return for guaranteed income that clients literally can't outlive. Some industry commentators believe ACPs are inadequate to provide retirees with an income stream through the last stages of life, viewing DLAs as the missing link in retirement "We recommend... consideration be given to allowing trustees to segment the CIPR strategy into two phases and offer distinct products rather than a single blended product and permitting additional flexibility in product design," KPMG said. Financial Services Minister Kelly O'Dwyer in May made headway in the government's plans to force superannuation funds to offer a CIPR. 'To fulfil the overarching purpose of superannuation, it is essential that trustees develop a retirement income strategy and consider the retirement income needs of their members," she said. In addition, the government reduced the proportion of the purchase price of longevity products, such as annuities, that would be counted towards the asset test for the age pension, making them more attractive. Submissions to the accompanying position paper closed in mid-june but some members of the super sector raised concerns about the short window of time the government had given for funds to respond. "We think in the context of what*s required, it's actually a very short leadin period," Michael Berg, a senior consultant at actuarial group Rice Warner, told The Australian Financial Review last month. "This would hamper innovation both from existing players in the market and potential new providers." Challenger is the country's dominant annuities player, but more life insurers will start launching annuities, industry sources said. In May, giant Allianz and global fixed-income manager PIMCO said it would set up a business to create retirement income products. Retirement assets make up 30 per cent of the $2.6 trillion sector, but industry experts said this was likely to increase to 40 per cent in 15 years. In its submission to Treasury's position paper, Rice Warner said the design proposals for the CIPR "do not adequately consider the personal and financial circumstances of members". It said the proposed framework should not mandate the types of products required for longevity protection. It was critical of the government's suggestion there be a "flagship CIPR", with trustees able to offer the three based on an account balance without having to provide financial advice. It added the proposed framework should not mandate the types of products required to provide longevity protection. "Given the complex nature of people's personal financial circumstances, financial advice will need to be provided to offer a CIPR product under the proposed framework," it said. "This will likely make these products relatively more expensive, which will reduce the take-up of these products." The paper, part of stage one of the Retirement Income Framework, proposes to legislate the covenant by July 1, 2019, but to delay start until July 1,2020. key points Super funds will need to help members meet retirement income objectives. More life insurers will start launching annuities.

73 Australian Financial Review, Australia Author: Alice Uribe Section: Companies and Markets Article type : News Item Classification : National : 44,635 Page: 17 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 8,131 Words: 707 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 Former union leader Paul Howes co-authored the KPMG paper, PHOTO: JANIE BARRETT

74 The Australian, Australia Author: Scott Murdoch Lending Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : National : 94,448 Page: 1 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 8,811 Words: 912 Item ID: Page 1 of 3 Banks facing rates pressure The major Australian banks are coming under pressure from escalating funding costs and could raise lending rates soon in a decision that is likely to keep the Reserve Bank from taking official action on interest rates. Benchmark short-term rates, which the major banks borrow against, have been rising steadily since the start of the year and the increase has already forced some smaller lenders to jack up rates independently of the central bank. One top executive with a big four bank said pricing for deposits was rising across the board. BUSINESS P17 PRE-EMPTIVE MOVE COULD PREVENT RBA CHANGES Big banks pressured to lift rates SCOTT MURDOCH LENDING The major Australian banks are coming under pressure from escalating wholesale funding costs and could raise lending rates soon in a decision that is likely to keep the Reserve Bank from taking official action on interest rates. Benchmark short-term rates, which the major banks borrow against, have been steadily rising since the start of the year and the increase has already forced some smaller lenders to jack up rates independently of the central bank. One top executive with a big four bank told The Australian that pricing for deposits was rising across the board, adding to pressure on mortgage margins. Bank of Queensland, Suncorp, AMP Bank, IMB and ME Bank have increase standard variable lending rates between 0.4 per cent and 0.12 per cent in recent weeks. The rising money-market rates will be high on the Reserve Bank s agenda when the bank meets in Sydney tomorrow for its monthly board meeting to consider the official cash rate. The three-month bank bill swap rate has risen from 1.79 per cent at the start of the year to 2.11 per cent, a 61 basis point spread compared the official cash rate of 1.5 per cent. The six month rate has gained 24 basis points from 1.99 per cent to 2.23 per cent, which also places it well above the Reserve Bank s rate. The three-month rate traded for most of the past year around 1.7 per cent. The recent increase has been partly attributed to the US dollar rising on the of currency repatriation. Analysts have blamed the rising bank bill spread in Australia on banks trying to lock in funding in the second half of the year. At the same time global wholesale money markets had taken a cautious approach to Australian commercial bank debt during the royal commission, a senior banker said. Rivkin Securities investment analyst William O Loughlin said wholesale funding rates were expected to remain higher in the short-term. If these rates remain elevated banks may be forced to hike borrowing rates independently from any change in the official cash rate, he said. AMP Capital estimates the major banks derive about 20 per cent of their funding from the bank bill markets, while the smaller lenders rely more heavily on the debt source. AMP Capital head of investment strategy Shane Oliver said the international money market rates started to increase as US companies began to bring US dollars to their home markets. But it has continued in Australia, possibly reflecting a desire to lock in funding ahead of the fi-

75 The Australian, Australia Author: Scott Murdoch Lending Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : National : 94,448 Page: 1 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 8,811 Words: 912 Item ID: Page 2 of 3 nancial year end after the squeeze into the March quarter end, the Westfield takeover and regulatory reforms including the impact of the royal commission, he said. The increased cost of funding for banks only amounts to less than 0.1 per cent if it s fully passed on to all rates, so it s small. Banks so far seem to be focusing the pass-through on rates other than traditional owneroccupiers on principal and interest loans given the desire to avoid more adverse publicity which will reduce the impact on households. Big banks which are yet to move, but are expected to do the same. JPMorgan Australia s chief economist Sally Auld said the prospect of the Reserve Bank shifting from its long-held official cash rate of 1.5 per cent was reduced if the big banks shifted lending rates. The RBA has held the cash rate steady for nearly 23 months and is not expected to change that stance tomorrow. Bank analysts have forecast, using Westpac as an example, that a 31 basis point rise in the threemonth money market rates spread, compared to official interest rate, could hit bank profits by 4-5 per cent. Continued on Page 18 MORE REPORTS P18 Rising funding costs Basis points month BBSW/ OIS spread Source: JPMorgan

76 The Australian, Australia Author: Scott Murdoch Lending Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : National : 94,448 Page: 1 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 8,811 Words: 912 Item ID: Page 3 of 3 Banks under pressure to lift rates Continued from Page 17 The big banks net interest margins could be impacted by nearly 7 basis points. JPMorgan s Sally Auld said the banks would have to raise lending rates by 9 to 15 basis points to recoup those costs. The independent repricing of mortgage rates should it be im- plemented by the major banks will further entrench the RBA s inaction on policy and will bias estimates of the neutral cash rate low, Ms Auld said. Brokerage Citi has tipped that the big four lenders could start lifting variable mortgage rates from September to shore up earnings expectations for the 2019 fiscal year. Citi said short-term wholesale funding costs had remained high since February and there were few signs of them reversing. Citi said the Big Four banks were likely to announce a repricing if the spike in funding costs continued. Mortgage-centric lenders can no longer hold on, and have repriced, the Citi analysts said. AUSE01Z01MA - V1 The independent repricing of mortgage rates should it be implemented by the major banks will further entrench the RBA s inaction on policy. SALLY AULD, JPMORGAN

77 Daily Mercury, Mackay QLD Author: Sophie Elsworth Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 7,738 Page: 14 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 454 Words: 397 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 14 MONDAY, JULY 2, 2018 DAILYMERCURY.COM.A Money Saver HQ with Libby and David Koch Mind the trust gap Australians are suspicious of financial advice, writes Sophie Elsworth A MAJORITY of Australians have no one they trust to give them sound financial advice, alarming new figures reveal. This comes as the financial services royal commission has made many unsure about information provided by banks or advisers. A study commissioned by NGS Super, which has 95,000 members, revealed 56 per cent of working Aussies had no trustworthy person to turn to for financial information. And of those, 34 per cent said they wish they had someone who could help advise them on their finances and investing decisions. NGS Super s acting chief executive officer Laura Wright has urged fund members to seek any free information available to them to help get their finances on track. Superannuation can be a bit tricky and if you don t seek advice you may be limiting your retirement outcome, she warned. What is a concern of people who got advice is about 19 per cent of these people didn t trust (that) advice. Ms Wright encouraged people to try to obtain information that would boost their own financial understanding. There s so much information available that costs people nothing and it s easy for people to use, Ms Wright said. You don t have to make an appointment with a financial planner, you can go online and use the tools which nearly all super funds have or you can get on the phone. ASIC s MoneySmart website provides free, simplified information to Aussies on financial matters. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia s chief executive officer, Dr Martin Fahy, is concerned that Australians are still not engaged with their financial affairs. The first place for people to start with their superannuation is to ring their fund, he said. They will be able to provide them with general information on their fund and how it s invested and performing. Super funds offer free general advice, but also more specialised advice for a fee. Some funds have their own financial advisers and planners, while smaller funds may refer members to somebody outside the fund. Of those in the survey that said they had a trusted financial adviser not necessarily a trained finance professional 42 per cent said this was a family member while 18 per cent said it was a close friend. Dr Fahy also encourages people to read the financial pages of newspapers to help boost their knowledge.

78 Daily Mercury, Mackay QLD Author: Sophie Elsworth Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 7,738 Page: 14 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 454 Words: 397 Item ID: Page 2 of 2

79 Daily Mercury, Mackay QLD Author: Anthony Keane Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 7,738 Page: 14 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 313 Words: 345 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 14 MONDAY, JULY 2, 2018 DAILYMERCURY.COM.A Money Saver HQ with Libby and David Koch Heavy price of loyalty to your bank ANTHONY KEANE HALF of Australians do all their banking with just one financial institution, potentially costing themselves a lot every year. Misguided loyalty, fear of the unknown and convenience are keeping almost 80 per cent wedded to the Big Four banks, new research by comparison website Mozo.com.au has found, and suggests it s costing average customers $1600 a year and some much more. No single financial institution has a monopoly over the best value loans, savings accounts and credit cards, and Mozo director Kirsty Lamont said there was little reward for being loyal. She said many people felt switching was too much of a hassle but most would be better off cherry picking products. There are millions of Australians who could be losing thousands of dollars a year due to uncompetitive interest rates and fees, she said. The switching process for banking has become a lot easier in recent years. In many cases you can do it all online now. Government regulations allow you to contact your existing bank for a list of direct debits and credits, then give it to the new bank, which will contact all suppliers with your new account details. It s not really well known. I don t think the banks promote it because they don t want us to switch, Ms Lamont said. Mozo s analysis of 117 financial institutions found that ME is the nation s best-value bank, while Westpac is the best value among the Big Four. Mortgage and consumer finance specialist Lisa Montgomery said some people felt switching would simply mean more of the same. We don t prioritise it in our lives as being a thing that will deliver us enough value, she said. Ms Montgomery said many people were loyal to the first bank they used, which skewed them towards major banks with school banking programs. Others were loyal to banks their parents used also benefiting the Big Four, she said. Before switching, people should examine their existing relationship with their financial institution. If you leave, will it cost you money, and is the grass greener on the other side?

80 Daily Mercury, Mackay QLD Author: Libby David Koch Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 7,738 Page: 15 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 597 Words: 634 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 Money Saver HQ with Libby and David Koch In case of emergency Life is not certain, so you need to be prepared EVERY year thousands of Australians are victims of natural disasters, which have a devastating impact on the emotional and financial state of so many families. Then there are those who are blindsided by unexpected retrenchment, long term illness, death of a breadwinner or sexually transmitted debt. On top of that, the car always seems to break down or the fridge needs replacing at a time when you can least afford it. And we haven t even mentioned economic or financial market crashes. Life constantly has a habit of throwing curveballs at us that can ramp up the financial strain to breaking point. It simply can t be avoided. But implementing a suitable financial emergency plan can cushion any unforeseen blow. Bottom line is that Australians are generally hopeless at preparing for financial emergencies. So let s start putting that right with a few simple steps which will make a huge difference; PROTECT YOUR BIGGEST ASSETS BETTER Most flood, fire, cyclone and burglary victims are in trouble because they re either underinsured or not insured at all because they didn t understand the exclusions in the fine print. So today, get out all your insurance policies and make sure the house, contents and car are all covered properly. Then check the fine print for the definitions on what is and isn t covered. Take a walk around the house and do a quick calculation on how much it would be to replace everything inside carpets, furniture, appliances, clothes, jewellery everything. We bet you ll be stunned at the total amount and how you re underinsured. Fix it, quickly. SAFEGUARD CASH FLOW If you are the major breadwinner providing the cash flow to meet commitments, then you must protect that cash flow. That means income protection, life and trauma insurance. Bankruptcy reports show illness as one of the major causes of people becoming insolvent. The level of personal insurance protection will be determined by your age and level of financial commitments. BRING DEBT DOWN TO A MANAGEABLE LEVEL A lot of people get in to strife because they simply borrow too much when interest rates are low (and money is cheap) but then get caught by a double whammy when rates rise and an emergency comes up. First of all, pay off your most expensive debt like credit cards and store financing. Then start working on the rest. START SAVING THROUGH SUPERANNUATION EARLY AND REGULARLY Retirement should be the best time of your life. It shouldn t be a time of financial uncertainty and lifestyle sacrifice. The problem is only 20 per cent of people retire when they planned. The other 80 per cent are forced to retire, generally earlier than expected, because of retrenchment, illness or some other reason. That causes a financial emergency because most people retire on less than what they expected. Superannuation contributions attract terrific tax benefits so take advantage of them. Work out an amount which will support a good retirement lifestyle and then start contributing as early as you can so that goal is reached well ahead of when you plan to cash in. Just make sure you are in a good superannuation fund that matches your risk profile. BUILD UP AN EMERGENCY STASH EQUAL TO SIX MONTHS SALARY That emergency stash could be kept in a bank account but also could be paid off a home loan and easily drawn down when necessary. That way the money canbesavinginterestand cutting down the term of the loan just make sure the home loan allows for an easy drawdown even after loss of ajob. It will be hard for most people to come up with an emergency stash straight away so make it a project over the next year.

81 Daily Mercury, Mackay QLD Author: Libby David Koch Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 7,738 Page: 15 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 597 Words: 634 Item ID: Page 2 of 2

82 Daily Mercury, Mackay QLD Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 7,738 Page: 10 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 205 Words: 299 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Cut execs pay: poll Most Aussies believe limits should be placed on high earners THREE-QUARTERS of Australians believe strict limits should be placed on executive salaries, which have almost returned to pre-global financial crisis levels. New polling from the leftleaning Australia Institute found 80 per cent of people believe the nation s chief executives are paid too much. The survey asked 1557 people about executive salaries and presented proposals to limit pay packets. The results showed 75 per cent of those polled supported a strict limit on how much a company can pay a CEO or executive. Almost 80 per cent supported making companies pay tax on large payments to executive staff, such as bonuses. A similar number of respondents supported a new higher rate of income tax for individuals with very large pay packets. Australia Institute deputy director Ebony Bennett said most people nominated $720,000 a year or less as a reasonable salary for a CEO. It is clear the reality of what CEOs are paid is not in line with community expectations, Ms Bennett said. Former treasurer Wayne Swan said corporate rules needed to change to bring executive pay under control. If you look at what s going on basically the top end of town and those on the highest incomes are basically gorging themselves, Mr Swan told the ABC yesterday. Mr Swan, who was recently elected ALP president, said bad behaviour revealed by the financial royal commission had been driven by the reward and incentive systems in banks pay structures. He also touched on the inequality in our economy that would come from the Federal Government s planned tax cuts for companies with turnover of more than $50 million. That (inequality stemming from the cuts) is bad for living standards, bad for economic growth, and it poisons society, Mr Swan said.

83 Age, Melbourne Author: Clancy Yeates Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 83,229 Page: 23 Printed Size: cm² Market: VIC Country: Australia ASR: AUD 20,476 Words: 574 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 Funeral insurance in spotlight ROYAL COMMISSION Clancy Yeates It s an all too familiar problem in regional and remote Indigenous communities. In one case, a mother spent $18,000 on funeral insurance premiums since the 1990s for herself and two daughters, who were aged one and two at the time the policies were issued. In another, a mother paid $22,000 in funeral insurance premiums for herself and her daughter, who was signed up to the policy when she was a four-year-old. Rebekah Doran, a senior solicitor with Legal Aid NSW, recounts these cases as she explains that inappropriately sold insurance to cover the cost of funerals is an issue that arises time and time again with Indigenous clients and communities. It would be very rare to attend an outreach where this issue does not come up, Ms Doran said. Concerns about funeral insurance being marketed to vulnerable Indigenous communities will be put under the microscope this week, when the royal commission holds public hearings in Darwin. The hearings before Commissioner Kenneth Hayne are expected to initially focus on lending to farmers, before putting the spotlight onto funeral insurance, a product that has long concerned regulators and consumer advocates. The commission will question ACBF Funeral Plans, a Gold Coastbased company which says it is the only insurer with policies specifically designed for Indigenous people. Sydney-based Select AFSL, which trades as Let s Insure and sells products including funeral cover, is also set to appear. Ms Doran said funeral insurance was commonly not understood by the people buying it, with some thinking they were making deposits into a savings account. Others paid far more in premiums than they would spend on a funeral, and bought policies covering young children. Ms Doran said people in Indigenous communities often put a high level of importance on funerals, but were more likely to be financially disadvantaged, which meant they were often looking for ways to pay for funerals. That makes them particularly vulnerable to the marketing that really targets that fear that you would pass away and your family won t be able to afford the cost without hardship, she said. ACBF released a statement last week saying the average funeral cost $7500, an amount many people did not have sufficient savings to cover. Chief executive Bryn Jones said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were two to four times more likely to die young than non-indigenous Australians, and high infant mortality rates meant some in the community expected funeral plans for the very young. Select AFSL did not comment. The chief executive of the Consumer Action Law Centre, Gerard Brody, also referred to the sale of funeral insurance to cover young people, and said there had been cases of people spending thousands of dollars more in premiums than they would ever be paid. The marketing of the products is pretty unethical, Mr Brody said. A 2015 Australian Securities and Investments Commission report found 50 per cent of Indigenous customers paying for funeral insurance were aged under 20. Aaron Davis, chief executive of the Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network, said funeral insurance was a big thing for its clients a decade ago, but the top issues now were payday lenders and consumer leasing. ANZ Bank will also appear before the commission this week. ANZ is expected to face scrutiny over informal overdrafts where the bank charges a fee for allowing customers to overdraw their accounts. NATAGE A023

84 Age, Melbourne Author: Clancy Yeates Section: Business News Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 83,229 Page: 23 Printed Size: cm² Market: VIC Country: Australia ASR: AUD 20,476 Words: 574 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 The royal commission will hold public hearings in Darwin this week. Photo: Eddie Jim

85 Queensland Times, Ipswich QLD Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 6,815 Page: 10 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 177 Words: 299 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Cut execs pay: poll Most Aussies believe limits should be placed on high earners THREE-QUARTERS of Australians believe strict limits should be placed on executive salaries, which have almost returned to pre-global financial crisis levels. New polling from the leftleaning Australia Institute found 80 per cent of people believe the nation s chief executives are paid too much. The survey asked 1557 people about executive salaries and presented proposals to limit pay packets. The results showed 75 per cent of those polled supported a strict limit on how much a company can pay a CEO or executive. Almost 80 per cent supported making companies pay tax on large payments to executive staff, such as bonuses. A similar number of respondents supported a new higher rate of income tax for individuals with very large pay packets. Australia Institute deputy director Ebony Bennett said most people nominated $720,000 a year or less as a reasonable salary for a CEO. It is clear the reality of what CEOs are paid is not in line with community expectations, Ms Bennett said. Former treasurer Wayne Swan said corporate rules needed to change to bring executive pay under control. If you look at what s going on basically the top end of town and those on the highest incomes are basically gorging themselves, Mr Swan told the ABC yesterday. Mr Swan, who was recently elected ALP president, said bad behaviour revealed by the financial royal commission had been driven by the reward and incentive systems in banks pay structures. He also touched on the inequality in our economy that would come from the Federal Government s planned tax cuts for companies with turnover of more than $50 million. That (inequality stemming from the cuts) is bad for living standards, bad for economic growth, and it poisons society, Mr Swan said.

86 Queensland Times, Ipswich QLD Author: Sophie Elsworth Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 6,815 Page: 16 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 377 Words: 397 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Money Saver HQ with Libby and David Koch Mind the trust gap Australians are suspicious of financial advice, writes Sophie Elsworth A MAJORITY of Australians have no one they trust to give them sound financial advice, alarming new figures reveal. This comes as the financial services royal commission has made many unsure about information provided by banks or advisers. A study commissioned by NGS Super, which has 95,000 members, revealed 56 per cent of working Aussies had no trustworthy person to turn to for financial information. And of those, 34 per cent said they wish they had someone who could help advise them on their finances and investing decisions. NGS Super s acting chief executive officer Laura Wright has urged fund members to seek any free information available to them to help get their finances on track. Superannuation can be a bit tricky and if you don t seek advice you may be limiting your retirement outcome, she warned. What is a concern of people who got advice is about 19 per cent of these people didn t trust (that) advice. Ms Wright encouraged people to try to obtain information that would boost their own financial understanding. There s so much information available that costs people nothing and it s easy for people to use, Ms Wright said. You don t have to make an appointment with a financial planner, you can go online and use the tools which nearly all super funds have or you can get on the phone. ASIC s MoneySmart website provides free, simplified information to Aussies on financial matters. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia s chief executive officer, Dr Martin Fahy, is concerned that Australians are still not engaged with their financial affairs. The first place for people to start with their superannuation is to ring their fund, he said. They will be able to provide them with general information on their fund and how it s invested and performing. Super funds offer free general advice, but also more specialised advice for a fee. Some funds have their own financial advisers and planners, while smaller funds may refer members to somebody outside the fund. Of those in the survey that said they had a trusted financial adviser not necessarily a trained finance professional 42 per cent said this was a family member while 18 per cent said it was a close friend. Dr Fahy also encourages people to read the financial pages of newspapers to help boost their knowledge.

87 Gladstone Observer, Gladstone QLD Author: Domanii Cameron Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 3,301 Page: 8 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 539 Words: 819 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 New year, new policies Some of the big changes you should know about DOMANII CAMERON FROM yesterday, a range of federal and state tax and subsidy changes, as well as new policies, kicked in with the financial year. Longed-for reductions in power prices and some of the Federal Government s tax relief will roll out automatically, but other changes will require more hands-on action if they are to provide assistance, including the revamping of childcare assistance Immediate hip-pocket pleasure will be delivered by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull s tax pitch to battlers which passed in the Senate last week, lifting the lid on the 32.5 per cent tax bracket from $87,000 to $90,000 and a 3.5 per cent increase in the minimum wage will also help battlers budgets. But changes to penalty rates will deliver pain to workers in the fast-food, hospitality, pharmacy and retail industries. Meanwhile, Australian job seekers will have to abide by a demerit points system similar to that used with driver s licences. The Personal Responsibility Phase will include a three strikes system, aiming to identify those who need help earlier while cracking down on those cheating the system. The Government hopes the change will stop job seekers from turning down work or persistently missing requirements. Online overseas purchases under $1000 will be slugged with GST from July 1, a move hailed by the Australian Retailers Association as creating a fairer tax system and putting local retailers on a level playing field. Changes to superannuation rules aimed at helping older Australians wanting to downsize their homes and boost their retirement nest-eggs will also come into effect. First-home buyers who have been saving since last year in the first home super saver scheme will be able to use up to $15,000 of those voluntary contributions for a deposit. Meanwhile in Queensland, new state taxes kick in, including an extra 2 per cent stamp duty on luxury cars costing more than $100,000. CHANGES AT A GLANCE FEDERAL SUPERANNUATION People aged 65+ will be able to contribute up to $300,000 from the sale of a family home to their super. INCOME TAX RELIEF PERSONAL: 32.5 per cent bracket will lift to $90,000, saving someone earning that about $135 a year in tax while a new rebate, to be paid in the tax return, applies for people earning up to $125,000 ayear. CORPORATE: companies with a turnover of between $25 million and $50 million a year will pay a lower tax rate of 27.5 per cent. IMMUNISATION Parents receiving Family Tax Benefits could have up to $28.28 a fortnight cut from POWER Origin Energy will cut residential power bills by 1.3 per cent and small business power bills by 4 per cent. AGL to reduce residential power bills by payments if their children aren t immunised. CHILDCARE Families earning $66,958 or less will have 85 per cent of 1.6 per cent. LAND TAX A 2.5 per cent hike on land tax for owners of aggregated land holdings with an unimproved value of $10 million. FIRST HOMEOWNERS The First Homeowners Grant will reduce from $20,000 to $15,000. WORKPLACE SAFETY A new offence of industrial manslaughter takes effect. FOREIGN LAND OWNERS Additional Foreign Acquirer Duty up from 3 per cent to 7 per cent. LUXURY VEHICLES Stamp duty will increase by $2 per $100 of dutiable value for vehicles costing more than $100,000. their childcare fees covered by the Government, with the subsidy gradually reducing to 50 per cent for families earning $171,958, then to 20 per cent for a $351,248 income. Households earning up to $186,958 will have the subsidy cap of $7613 a year removed, while those between that income and $351,248 will benefit from a higher cap of just over $10,000 per child. p TAX ON ONLINE BUYS GST will be applied to all online purchases made overseas, irrespective of price. TOUGHER EMISSION STAN- DARD Gardening and other equipment not meeting new emission standards will start to be phased out. MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE The 2.3 million lowest paid workers will get a pay increase of PENALTY 3.5 per cent. RATE CUTS Rates for hospitality workers will decrease by 10 per cent, retail workers by 15 per cent, with casual workers copping an extra 5 per cent decrease. Pharmacy workers rates will drop 15 per cent and fast-food employees 10 per cent. FOOD LABELS The green and gold kangaroo label will have a new bar showing the percentage of Australian produce in the item. PLANE RESTRICTIONS A 350g limit on inorganic powder in carry-on luggage during international flights takes effect. PASSPORTS Glasses ARE no longer be allowed in passport photos. STATE PLASTIC BAGS Single-use plastic bags banned.

88 Gladstone Observer, Gladstone QLD Author: Domanii Cameron Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 3,301 Page: 8 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 539 Words: 819 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 NOT KIDDIN : Port City Kids director Rachel Kelly, pictured with children who attend the centre, recently encouraged parents to sign up for the new childcare subsidy. Photo: Matt Taylor GLA130618CHILD Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull s tax pitch to battlers was passed by the Senate. Photo: David Geraghty

89 Gladstone Observer, Gladstone QLD Author: Anthony Keane Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 3,301 Page: 16 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 126 Words: 345 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Heavy price of loyalty to your bank ANTHONY KEANE HALF of Australians do all their banking with just one financial institution, potentially costing themselves a lot every year. Misguided loyalty, fear of the unknown and convenience are keeping almost 80 per cent wedded to the Big Four banks, new research by comparison website Mozo.com.au has found, and suggests it s costing average customers $1600 a year and some much more. No single financial institution has a monopoly over the best value loans, savings accounts and credit cards, and Mozo director Kirsty Lamont said there was little reward for being loyal. She said many people felt switching was too much of a hassle but most would be better off cherry picking products. There are millions of Australians who could be losing thousands of dollars a year due to uncompetitive interest rates and fees, she said. The switching process for banking has become a lot easier in recent years. In many cases you can do it all online now. Government regulations allow you to contact your existing bank for a list of direct debits and credits, then give it to the new bank, which will contact all suppliers with your new account details. It s not really well known. I don t think the banks promote it because they don t want us to switch, Ms Lamont said. Mozo s analysis of 117 financial institutions found that ME is the nation s best-value bank, while Westpac is the best value among the Big Four. Mortgage and consumer finance specialist Lisa Montgomery said some people felt switching would simply mean more of the same. We don t prioritise it in our lives as being a thing that will deliver us enough value, she said. Ms Montgomery said many people were loyal to the first bank they used, which skewed them towards major banks with school banking programs. Others were loyal to banks their parents used also benefiting the Big Four, she said. Before switching, people should examine their existing relationship with their financial institution. If you leave, will it cost you money, and is the grass greener on the other side?

90 Gladstone Observer, Gladstone QLD Author: Sophie Elsworth Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 3,301 Page: 16 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 230 Words: 397 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Mind the trust gap Australians are suspicious of financial advice, writes Sophie Elsworth A MAJORITY of Australians have no one they trust to give them sound financial advice, alarming new figures reveal. This comes as the financial services royal commission has made many unsure about information provided by banks or advisers. A study commissioned by NGS Super, which has 95,000 members, revealed 56 per cent of working Aussies had no trustworthy person to turn to for financial information. And of those, 34 per cent said they wish they had someone who could help advise them on their finances and investing decisions. NGS Super s acting chief executive officer Laura Wright has urged fund members to seek any free information available to them to help get their finances on track. Superannuation can be a bit tricky and if you don t seek advice you may be limiting your retirement outcome, she warned. What is a concern of people who got advice is about 19 per cent of these people didn t trust (that) advice. Ms Wright encouraged people to try to obtain information that would boost their own financial understanding. There s so much information available that costs people nothing and it s easy for people to use, Ms Wright said. You don t have to make an appointment with a financial planner, you can go online and use the tools which nearly all super funds have or you can get on the phone. ASIC s MoneySmart website provides free, simplified information to Aussies on financial matters. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia s chief executive officer, Dr Martin Fahy, is concerned that Australians are still not engaged with their financial affairs. The first place for people to start with their superannuation is to ring their fund, he said. They will be able to provide them with general information on their fund and how it s invested and performing. Super funds offer free general advice, but also more specialised advice for a fee. Some funds have their own financial advisers and planners, while smaller funds may refer members to somebody outside the fund. Of those in the survey that said they had a trusted financial adviser not necessarily a trained finance professional 42 per cent said this was a family member while 18 per cent said it was a close friend. Dr Fahy also encourages people to read the financial pages of newspapers to help boost their knowledge. i

91 Gladstone Observer, Gladstone QLD Author: Libby David Koch Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 3,301 Page: 17 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 507 Words: 634 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 Money Saver HQ with Libby and David Koch In case of emergency Life is not certain, so you need to be prepared EVERY year thousands of Australians are victims of natural disasters, which have a devastating impact on the emotional and financial state of so many families. Then there are those who are blindsided by unexpected retrenchment, long term illness, death of a breadwinner or sexually transmitted debt. On top of that, the car always seems to break down or the fridge needs replacing at a time when you can least afford it. And we haven t even mentioned economic or financial market crashes. Life constantly has a habit of throwing curveballs at us that can ramp up the financial strain to breaking point. It simply can t be avoided. But implementing a suitable financial emergency plan can cushion any unforeseen blow. Bottom line is that Australians are generally hopeless at preparing for financial emergencies. So let s start putting that right with a few simple steps which will make a huge difference; PROTECT YOUR BIGGEST ASSETS BETTER Most flood, fire, cyclone and burglary victims are in trouble because they re either underinsured or not insured at all because they didn t understand the exclusions in the fine print. So today, get out all your insurance policies and make sure the house, contents and car are all covered properly. Then check the fine print for the definitions on what is and isn t covered. Take a walk around the house and do a quick calculation on how much it would be to replace everything inside carpets, furniture, appliances, clothes, jewellery everything. We bet you ll be stunned at the total amount and how you re underinsured. Fix it, quickly. SAFEGUARD CASH FLOW If you are the major breadwinner providing the cash flow to meet commitments, then you must protect that cash flow. That means income protection, life and trauma insurance. Bankruptcy reports show illness as one of the major causes of people becoming insolvent. The level of personal insurance protection will be determined by your age and level of financial commitments. BRING DEBT DOWN TO A MANAGEABLE LEVEL A lot of people get in to strife because they simply borrow too much when interest rates are low (and money is cheap) but then get caught by a double whammy when rates rise and an emergency comes up. First of all, pay off your most expensive debt like credit cards and store financing. Then start working on the rest. START SAVING THROUGH SUPERANNUATION EARLY AND REGULARLY Retirement should be the best time of your life. It shouldn t be a time of financial uncertainty and lifestyle sacrifice. The problem is only 20 per cent of people retire when they planned. The other 80 per cent are forced to retire, generally earlier than expected, because of retrenchment, illness or some other reason. That causes a financial emergency because most people retire on less than what they expected. Superannuation contributions attract terrific tax benefits so take advantage of them. Work out an amount which will support a good retirement lifestyle and then start contributing as early as you can so that goal is reached BUILD UP AN EMERGENCY STASH EQUAL TO SIX MONTHS SALARY That emergency stash could be kept in a bank account but also could be paid off a home loan and easily drawn down when necessary. That way the money canbesavinginterestand cutting down the term of the loan just make sure the home loan allows for an easy drawdown even after loss of ajob. It will be hard for most people to come up with an emergency stash straight away so make it a project over the next year.

92 Gladstone Observer, Gladstone QLD Author: Libby David Koch Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 3,301 Page: 17 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 507 Words: 634 Item ID: Page 2 of 2

93 Gladstone Observer, Gladstone QLD Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 3,301 Page: 9 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 177 Words: 299 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Cut execs pay: poll Most Aussies believe limits should be placed on high earners THREE-QUARTERS of Australians believe strict limits should be placed on executive salaries, which have almost returned to pre-global financial crisis levels. New polling from the leftleaning Australia Institute found 80 per cent of people believe the nation s chief executives are paid too much. The survey asked 1557 people about executive salaries and presented proposals to limit pay packets. The results showed 75 per cent of those polled supported a strict limit on how much a company can pay a CEO or executive. Almost 80 per cent supported making companies pay tax on large payments to executive staff, such as bonuses. A similar number of respondents supported a new higher rate of income tax for individuals with very large pay packets. Australia Institute deputy director Ebony Bennett said most people nominated $720,000 a year or less as a reasonable salary for a CEO. It is clear the reality of what CEOs are paid is not in line with community expectations, Ms Bennett said. Former treasurer Wayne Swan said corporate rules needed to change to bring executive pay under control. If you look at what s going on basically the top end of town and those on the highest incomes are basically gorging themselves, Mr Swan told the ABC yesterday. Mr Swan, who was recently elected ALP president, said bad behaviour revealed by the financial royal commission had been driven by the reward and incentive systems in banks pay structures. He also touched on the inequality in our economy that would come from the Federal Government s planned tax cuts for companies with turnover of more than $50 million. That (inequality stemming from the cuts) is bad for living standards, bad for economic growth, and it poisons society, Mr Swan said.

94 Townsville Bulletin, Townsville QLD Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 16,484 Page: 14 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 1,177 Words: 299 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Cut execs pay: poll Most Aussies believe limits should be placed on high earners THREE-QUARTERS of Australians believe strict limits should be placed on executive salaries, which have almost returned to pre-global financial crisis levels. New polling from the leftleaning Australia Institute found 80 per cent of people believe the nation s chief executives are paid too much. The survey asked 1557 people about executive salaries and presented proposals to limit pay packets. The results showed 75 per cent of those polled supported a strict limit on how much a company can pay a CEO or executive. Almost 80 per cent supported making companies pay tax on large payments to executive staff, such as bonuses. A similar number of respondents supported a new higher rate of income tax for individuals with very large pay packets. Australia Institute deputy director Ebony Bennett said most people nominated $720,000 a year or less as a reasonable salary for a CEO. It is clear the reality of what CEOs are paid is not in line with community expectations, Ms Bennett said. Former treasurer Wayne Swan said corporate rules needed to change to bring executive pay under control. If you look at what s going on basically the top end of town and those on the highest incomes are basically gorging themselves, Mr Swan told the ABC yesterday. Mr Swan, who was recently elected ALP president, said bad behaviour revealed by the financial royal commission had been driven by the reward and incentive systems in banks pay structures. He also touched on the inequality in our economy that would come from the Federal Government s planned tax cuts for companies with turnover of more than $50 million. That (inequality stemming from the cuts) is bad for living standards, bad for economic growth, and it poisons society, Mr Swan said.

95 Townsville Bulletin, Townsville QLD Author: Sophie Elsworth Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 16,484 Page: 19 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 1,620 Words: 397 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Mind the trust gap Australians are suspicious of financial advice, writes Sophie Elsworth A MAJORITY of Australians have no one they trust to give use, Ms them sound financial advice, Wright said. alarming new figures reveal. You don t This comes as the financial have to make an services royal commission has appointment with a made many unsure about financial planner, you can go information provided by banks online and use the tools which or advisers. nearly all super funds have or A study commissioned by you can get on the phone. NGS Super, which has 95,000 members, revealed 56 per cent of working Aussies had no trustworthy person to turn to for financial information. And of those, 34 per cent said they wish they had someone who could help advise them on their finances and investing decisions. NGS Super s acting chief executive officer Laura Wright has urged fund members to seek any free information available to them to help get their finances on track. Superannuation can be a bit tricky and if you don t seek advice you may be limiting your retirement outcome, she warned. What is a concern of people who got advice is about 19 per cent of these people didn t trust (that) advice. Ms Wright encouraged people to try to obtain information that would boost their own financial understanding. There s so much information available that costs people nothing and it s easy for people to ASIC s MoneySmart website provides free, simplified information to Aussies on financial matters. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia s chief executive officer, Dr Martin Fahy, is concerned that Australians are still not engaged with their financial affairs. The first place for people to start with their superannuation is to ring their fund, he said. They will be able to provide them with general information on their fund and how it s invested and performing. Super funds offer free general advice, but also more specialised advice for a fee. Some funds have their own financial advisers and planners, while smaller funds may refer members to somebody outside the fund. Of those in the survey that said they had a trusted financial adviser not necessarily a trained finance professional 42 per cent said this was a g. pages of newspapers to help boost their knowledge. family member while 18 per cent said it was a close friend. Dr Fahy also encourages people to read the financial A

96 Gold Coast Bulletin, Gold Coast QLD Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 21,468 Page: 17 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 1,244 Words: 299 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Cut execs pay: poll Most Aussies believe limits should be placed on high earners THREE-QUARTERS of Australians believe strict limits should be placed on executive salaries, which have almost returned to pre-global financial crisis levels. New polling from the leftleaning Australia Institute found 80 per cent of people believe the nation s chief executives are paid too much. The survey asked 1557 people about executive salaries and presented proposals to limit pay packets. The results showed 75 per cent of those polled supported a strict limit on how much a company can pay a CEO or executive. Almost 80 per cent supported making companies pay tax on large payments to executive staff, such as bonuses. A similar number of respondents supported a new higher rate of income tax for individuals with very large pay packets. Australia Institute deputy director Ebony Bennett said most people nominated $720,000 a year or less as a reasonable salary for a CEO. It is clear the reality of what CEOs are paid is not in line with community expectations, Ms Bennett said. Former treasurer Wayne Swan said corporate rules needed to change to bring executive pay under control. If you look at what s going on basically the top end of town and those on the highest incomes are basically gorging themselves, Mr Swan told the ABC yesterday. Mr Swan, who was recently elected ALP president, said bad behaviour revealed by the financial royal commission had been driven by the reward and incentive systems in banks pay structures. He also touched on the inequality in our economy that would come from the Federal Government s planned tax cuts for companies with turnover of more than $50 million. That (inequality stemming from the cuts) is bad for living standards, bad for economic growth, and it poisons society, Mr Swan said.

97 Cairns Post, Cairns Author: Noel Whittaker Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 13,896 Page: 29 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 1,179 Words: 538 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Rolling all loans into home loan could fire badly NOEL WHITTAKER YOUR ADVICE IN A recent article you warned about the inherent dangers in debt consolidation, and mentioned the scenario where a family with several personal loans could get out of trouble by focusing on paying the smallest loan off first, and then using the payments no longer needed for that to attack the second smallest loan. If a family could not do that, what would be the harm of rolling all the personal loans into their housing loan and so getting a cheaper rate overall. Rolling all the debts into the housing loan would certainly pay them off quicker, provided the family were disciplined enough to increase the payments on the housing loan to dramatically speed up the loan term. The problem is that most people end up in financial strife because of bad money management if they don t change their ways many would be in worse problems if they increased the housing loan, as they would end up paying all personal loans over 30 years. I VE read conflicting information about the ability to convert a property from non-tax-deductible owneroccupied to a tax-deductible investment property. My current understanding is that if a home loan is taken out for the purposes of buying a home to live in, and that property is later rented out, the loan interest cannot be claimed as a tax deduction against rental income because the original purpose of the loan was not for investment purposes. Is this correct? I ve recently read commentary suggesting that when the property becomes an investment property the interest becomes deductible even for the same loan. The interest is not deductible while you are living in the property but as soon as you move out and rent it the rents become taxable income and all expenses, such as interest and rates, become deductible. However, if you move into your rental property the interest ceases to be deductible. I HAVE a $200,000 mortgage. I am 60, not working or receiving any government support. I have $170,000 in super. Currently it pays my mortgage via a transition to retirement (TTR) but I am considering using my unemployment status to withdraw my super and pay it off my home loan. Is this the way to go or should I just enjoy the 10.5 per cent growth and leave it alone for now? I think you need to take expert advice. As you point out, a good superannuation fund should generate better longterm returns than you would be paying in interest on the housing loan, so I don t think you should rush to withdraw it. Because your superannuation is in pension mode due to your transition to retirement pension it is counted for Centrelink purposes and may well be precluding you from any government benefits. The best strategy may be to move your super to accumulation, and just to make withdrawals as necessary maybe every six months to cover your mortgage payments. Noel Whittaker is the author of Making Money Made Simple and other finance books. His advice is general in nature and readers should seek their own professional advice before making any financial decisions. noel@noelwhittaker.com.au The problem is that most people end up in financial strife because of bad money management

98 Cairns Post, Cairns Author: Sophie Elsworth Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 13,896 Page: 26 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 1,274 Words: 397 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Mind the trust gap Australians are suspicious of financial advice, writes Sophie Elsworth A MAJORITY of Australians have no one they trust to give them sound financial advice, alarming new figures reveal. This comes as the financial services royal commission has made many unsure about information provided by banks or advisers. A study commissioned by NGS Super, which has 95,000 members, revealed 56 per cent of working Aussies had no trustworthy person to turn to for financial information. And of those, 34 per cent said they wish they had someone who could help advise them on their finances and investing decisions. NGS Super s acting chief executive officer Laura Wright has urged fund members to seek any free information available to them to help get their finances on track. Superannuation can be a bit tricky and if you don t seek advice you may be limiting your retirement outcome, she warned. What is a concern of people who got advice is about 19 per cent of these people didn t trust (that) advice. Ms Wright encouraged people to try to obtain information that would boost their own financial understanding. There s so much information available that costs people nothing and it s easy for people to use, Ms Wright said. You don t have to make an appointment with a financial planner, you can go online and use the tools which nearly all super funds have or you can get on the phone. ASIC s MoneySmart website provides free, simplified information to Aussies on financial matters. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia s chief executive officer, Dr Martin Fahy, is concerned that Australians are still not engaged with their financial affairs. The first place for people to start with their superannuation is to ring their fund, he said. They will be able to provide them with general information on their fund and how it s invested and performing. Super funds offer free general advice, but also more specialised advice for a fee. Some funds have their own financial advisers and planners, while smaller funds may refer members to somebody outside the fund. Of those in the survey that said they had a trusted financial adviser not necessarily a trained finance professional 42 per cent said this was a family member while 18 per cent said it was a close friend. Dr Fahy also encourages people to read the financial pages of newspapers to help boost their knowledge. s

99 Cairns Post, Cairns Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 13,896 Page: 27 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 2,839 Words: 634 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 In case of emergency Life is not certain so you need to be prepared EVERY year thousands of Australians are victims of natural disasters, which have a devastating impact on the emotional and financial state of so many families. Then there are those who are blindsided by unexpected retrenchment, long term illness, death of a breadwinner or sexually transmitted debt. On top of that, the car always seems to break down or the fridge needs replacing at a time when you can least afford it. And we haven t even mentioned economic or financial market crashes. Life constantly has a habit of throwing curveballs at us that can ramp up the financial strain to breaking point. It simply can t be avoided. But implementing a suitable financial emergency plan can cushion any unforeseen blow. Bottom line is that Australians are generally hopeless at preparing for financial emergencies. So let s start putting that right with a few simple steps which will make a huge difference; PROTECT YOUR BIGGEST ASSETS BETTER Most flood, fire, cyclone and burglary victims are in trouble because they re either underinsured or not insured at all because they didn t understand the exclusions in the fine print. So today, get out all your insurance policies and make sure the house, contents and car are all covered properly. Then check the fine print for the definitions on what is and isn t covered. Take a walk around the house and do a quick calculation on how much it would be to replace everything inside carpets, furniture, appliances, clothes, jewellery everything. We bet you ll be stunned at the total amount and how you re underinsured. Fix it, quickly. SAFEGUARD CASH FLOW If you are the major breadwinner providing the cash flow to meet commitments, then you must protect that cash flow. That means income protection, life and trauma insurance. Bankruptcy reports show illness as one of the major causes of people becoming insolvent. The level of personal insurance protection will be determined by your age and level of financial commitments. BRING DEBT DOWN TO A MANAGEABLE LEVEL A lot of people get in to strife because they simply borrow too much when interest rates are low (and money is cheap) but then get caught by a double whammy when rates rise and an emergency comes up. First of all, pay off your most expensive debt like credit cards and store financing. Then start working on the rest. START SAVING THROUGH SUPERANNUATION EARLY AND REGULARLY Retirement should be the best time of your life. It shouldn t be a time of financial uncertainty and lifestyle sacrifice. The problem is only 20 per cent of people retire when they planned. The other 80 per cent are forced to retire, generally earlier than expected, because of retrenchment, illness or some other reason. That causes a financial emergency because most people retire on less than what they expected. Superannuation contributions attract terrific tax benefits so take advantage of them. Work out an amount which will support a good retirement lifestyle and then start contributing as early as you can so that goal is reached well ahead of when you plan to cash in. Just make sure you are in a good superannuation fund that matches your risk profile. BUILD UP AN EMERGENCY STASH EQUAL TO SIX MONTHS SALARY That emergency stash could be kept in a bank account but also could be paid off a home loan and easily drawn down when necessary. That way the money can be saving interest and cutting down the term of the loan just make sure the home loan allows for an easy drawdown even after loss of a job. It will be hard for most people to come up with an emergency stash straight away so make it a project over the next year.

100 Cairns Post, Cairns Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 13,896 Page: 27 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 2,839 Words: 634 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 illustration: JOHN TIEDEMANN

101 Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton QLD Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 9,376 Page: 17 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 209 Words: 299 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Cut execs pay: poll Most Aussies believe limits should be placed on high earners THREE-QUARTERS of Australians believe strict limits should be placed on executive salaries, which have almost returned to pre-global financial crisis levels. New polling from the leftleaning Australia Institute found 80 per cent of people believe the nation s chief executives are paid too much. The survey asked 1557 people about executive salaries and presented proposals to limit pay packets. The results showed 75 per cent of those polled supported a strict limit on how much a company can pay a CEO or executive. Almost 80 per cent supported making companies pay tax on large payments to executive staff, such as bonuses. A similar number of respondents supported a new higher rate of income tax for individuals with very large pay packets. Australia Institute deputy director Ebony Bennett said most people nominated $720,000 a year or less as a reasonable salary for a CEO. It is clear the reality of what CEOs are paid is not in line with community expectations, Ms Bennett said. Former treasurer Wayne Swan said corporate rules needed to change to bring executive pay under control. If you look at what s going on basically the top end of town and those on the highest incomes are basically gorging themselves, Mr Swan told the ABC yesterday. Mr Swan, who was recently elected ALP president, said bad behaviour revealed by the financial royal commission had been driven by the reward and incentive systems in banks pay structures. He also touched on the inequality in our economy that would come from the Federal Government s planned tax cuts for companies with turnover of more than $50 million. That (inequality stemming from the cuts) is bad for living standards, bad for economic growth, and it poisons society, Mr Swan said.

102 Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton QLD Author: Sophie Elsworth Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 9,376 Page: 20 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 264 Words: 397 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Mind the trust gap Australians are suspicious of financial advice, writes Sophie Elsworth A MAJORITY of Australians have no one they trust to give them sound financial advice, alarming new figures reveal. This comes as the financial services royal commission has made many unsure about information provided by banks or advisers. A study commissioned by NGS Super, which has 95,000 members, revealed 56 per cent of working Aussies had no trustworthy person to turn to for financial information. And of those, 34 per cent said they wish they had someone who could help advise them on their finances and investing decisions. NGS Super s acting chief executive officer Laura Wright has urged fund members to seek any free information available to them to help get their finances on track. Superannuation can be a bit tricky and if you don t seek advice you may be limiting your retirement outcome, she warned. What is a concern of people who got advice is about 19 per cent of these people didn t trust (that) advice. Ms Wright encouraged people to try to obtain information that would boost their own financial understanding. There s so much information available that costs people nothing and it s easy for people to use, Ms Wright said. You don t have to make an appointment with a financial planner, you can go online and use the tools which nearly all super funds have or you can get on the phone. ASIC s MoneySmart website provides free, simplified information to Aussies on financial matters. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia s chief executive officer, Dr Martin Fahy, is concerned that Australians are still not engaged with their financial affairs. The first place for people to start with their superannuation is to ring their fund, he said. They will be able to provide them with general information on their fund and how it s invested and performing. Super funds offer free general advice, but also more specialised advice for a fee. Some funds have their own financial advisers and planners, while smaller funds may refer members to somebody outside the fund. Of those in the survey that said they had a trusted financial adviser not necessarily a trained finance professional 42 per cent said this was a family member while 18 per cent said it was a close friend. Dr Fahy also encourages people to read the financial pages of newspapers to help boost their knowledge.

103 Gold Coast Bulletin, Gold Coast QLD Author: Anthony Keane Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 21,468 Page: 24 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 1,697 Words: 345 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 money HQ saver COME TO THE PARTY: Financial new year Heavy price of loyalty to your bank ANTHONY KEANE HALF of Australians do all their banking with just one financial institution, potentially costing themselves a lot every year. Misguided loyalty, fear of the unknown and convenience are keeping almost 80 per cent wedded to the Big Four banks, new research by comparison website Mozo.com.au has found, and suggests it s costing average customers $1600 a year and some much more. No single financial institution has a monopoly over the best value loans, savings accounts and credit cards, and Mozo director Kirsty Lamont said there was little reward for being loyal. She said many people felt switching was too much of a hassle but most would be better off cherry picking products. There are millions of Australians who could be losing thousands of dollars a year due to uncompetitive interest rates and fees, she said. The switching process for banking has become a lot easier in recent years. In many cases you can do it all online now. JUST IN CASE: Get an emergency fund Government regulations allow you to contact your existing bank for a list of direct debits and credits, then give it to the new bank, which will contact all suppliers with your new account details. It s not really well known. I don t think the banks promote it because they don t want us to switch, Ms Lamont said. Mozo s analysis of 117 financial institutions found that ME is the nation s best-value bank, while Westpac is the best value among the Big Four. Mortgage and consumer finance specialist Lisa Montgomery said some people felt switching would simply mean more of the same. We don t prioritise it in our lives as being a thing that will deliver us enough value, she said. Ms Montgomery said many people were loyal to the first bank they used, which skewed them towards major banks with school banking programs. Others were loyal to banks their parents used also benefiting the Big Four, she said. Before switching, people should examine their existing relationship with their financial institution. If you leave, will it cost you money, and is the grass greener on the other side?

104 Gold Coast Bulletin, Gold Coast QLD Author: Sophie Elsworth Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 21,468 Page: 24 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 2,424 Words: 394 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 money HQ saver COME TO THE PARTY: Financial new year JUST IN CASE: Get an emergency fund Mind the trust gap Australians are suspicious of financial advice, writes Sophie Elsworth A MAJORITY of Australians have no one they trust to give them sound financial advice, alarming new figures reveal. This comes as the financial services royal commission has made many unsure about information provided by banks or advisers. A study commissioned by NGS Super, which has 95,000 members, revealed 56 per cent of working Aussies had no trustworthy person to turn to for financial information. And of those, 34 per cent said they wish they had someone who could help advise them on their finances and investing decisions. NGS Super s acting chief executive officer Laura Wright has urged fund members to seek any free information available to them to help get their finances on track. Superannuation can be a bit tricky and if you don t seek advice you may be limiting your retirement outcome, she warned. What is a concern of people who got advice is about 19 per cent of these people didn t trust (that) advice. Ms Wright encouraged people to try to obtain information that would boost their own financial understanding. There s so much information available that costs people nothing and it s easy for people to use, Ms Wright said. You don t have to make an appointment with a financial planner, you can go online and use the tools which nearly all super funds have or you can get on the phone. ASIC s MoneySmart website provides free, simplified information to Aussies on financial matters. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia s chief executive officer, Dr Martin Fahy, is concerned that Australians are still not engaged with their financial affairs. The first place for people to start with their superannuation is to ring their fund, he said. They will be able to provide them with general information on their fund and how it s invested and performing. Super funds offer free general advice, but also more specialised advice for a fee. Some funds have their own financial advisers and planners, while smaller funds may refer members to somebody outside the fund. Of those in the survey that said they had a trusted financial adviser not necessarily a trained finance professional 42 per cent said this was a family member while 18 per cent said it was a close friend. Dr Fahy also encourages people to read the financial pages of newspapers to help boost their knowledge. S

105 Australian Financial Review, Australia Author: Vesna Poljak And Sarah Turner Section: Companies and Markets Article type : News Item Classification : National : 44,635 Page: 1 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 28,155 Words: 1235 Item ID: Page 1 of 4 AFR economist survey shows minority concern NoRBA rate hikes for a year Vesna Poljak and Sarah Turner Market economists have sharply pushed out the expected timing of the next Reserve Bank interest rate rise, amid warnings that Australia's central bank is running out of "policy space" to deal with the next economic downturn. A slightly dovish shift in governor Philip Lowe's latest commentary and spike in funding costs to a two-year high has caused market rate rise expectations to fall away sharply despite annual growth exceeding 3 per cent The median economist surveyed by The Australian Financial Review now sees interest rates on hold through to June 2019, compared to March's survey, which indicated that the Reserve Bank would hike twice by this time next year. Those hikes have been pushed out to December 2019, which would take the cash rate to 2 per cent from 1.5 per cent in 18 months' time. Expectations for growth in have been upgraded, to 3 per cent from 2.85 per cent, and forecast unemployment as of December 2018 is intact at 5.3 per cent The Australian dollar is now seen at US72.7<t by year end, from US75<t. But a view among select experts that the Reserve Bank has created a policy paralysis for itself by declaring the current level of wage growth will not support reaching the midpoint of the inflation target has fuelled heated debate around the outlook. An absence of labour productivity growth and high household debt add to Dr Lowe's challenges. No change to rates is anticipated at Tuesday's meeting, although the RBA in its June minutes removed language from the text of the statement that explicitly stated the next move was likely to be "up". Economist Warren Hogan, who has worked in federal Treasury and was ANZ chief economist until 2016, urged the Reserve Bank to consider carving out policy space with a nod to the BIS' determination late last month that central banks should capitalise on favourable conditions to "rebalance the policy mix" to avert walking into a debt trap, concluding: "building room is a priority". "This means getting on with the task of monetary policy normalisation even if it comes at some cost in terms of growth and employment" said Mr Hogan in The Australian Financial Review's quarterly survey of economists. "There is genuine strategic value in having the capacity to provide policy accommodation in the event of a future shock to the economy. Most commentators put no emphasis on flu's Continued p20 From page 1 No RBA rate hikes for another year perspective for policy, which, of course, makes it even more difficult for the RBA to begin the task of normalisation." Mr Hogan, who is now an adjunct professor at UTS Business School, pencilled in one rate rise by June Many economists Dr Lowe's approach, including the chief economists of the big four banks. NAB's Alan Oster said he had no doubt the RBA was closely following the unconventional policy tools deployed by other central banks and could consider borrowing from these if ever more monetary stimulus was required. "Foreign central banks should be looking at us," said CBA's Michael Blythe. "No recession in 27 years. The longest running expansion in the modern era. Above-trend growth [for now]. Falling unemployment Inflation almost in the target band. Low debt and shrinking budget deficit Shrinking current account deficit as well." But Mr Hogan is not the only economist sensing that the approach that has served the Australian economy faithfully could benefit from more deliberate thinking. "Since August 2016, the RBA has been boxed into a position whereby it can't cut rates for fear of flaming higher household indebtedness and house prices, and can't hike rates due to low underlying wage and economic growth," QIC chief economist Matthew Peter said. 'This has meant that unlike the central banks in other major advanced economies, the RBA has been on the sidelines in terms of macro policy in Australia, contributing to the

106 Australian Financial Review, Australia Author: Vesna Poljak And Sarah Turner Section: Companies and Markets Article type : News Item Classification : National : 44,635 Page: 1 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 28,155 Words: 1235 Item ID: Page 2 of 4 overall malaise of economic policymaking in this country." Unlike the Fed, which is steering the world away from quantitative easing in an orderly way, the RBA "has become more transactional - focused on shorter-term trends and data - and less strategic, which is diminishing its ability to guide fixed income markets in Australia," Dr Peter, who also sees the RBA hiking to 1.75 per cent by June 2019, said. Another consideration for the RBA, but more pertinently the Fed, was the risk of "gradualism" as rates normalised, Mr Hogan said. 'To be overly gradual and predictable in raising rates risks undermining its impact on the economy. While this is most relevant to the Fed right now, it is also something the RBA should be considering, especially if it is delaying the normalisation process for fear of derailing the housing sector. "The later they leave the normalisation process, i.e. the next tightening cycle, the more concerted it will need to be," the independent economist said. He too credited the Reserve Bank for its stewardship of the economy over the past 25 years. If the Financial Review's forecasters are correct, the Federal Reserve's key rate will be 150 basis points ahead of the RBA by the time Australian rates rise in the second half of IFM chief economist Alex Joiner took the view that there was no blueprint for much of where contemporary monetary policy had led, but more coordination outside of monetary policy appeared necessary. "Accommodative monetary policy in isolation is not enough to foster growth and prosperity on an unlimited basis, especially without creating its own risks and imbalances," he said, bemoaning the absence of more proactive fiscal and regulatory responses. "All central banks are struggling with the role of monetary policy over the past decade or so. Using inflation as an intermediate target to achieve the RBA's end goal of enough growth to promote full employment without accelerating inflation needs some recasting, but I cannot think of another central bank that has developed a better monetary policy framework than the RBA," Stephen Roberts of Laminar Capital said. Stephen Koukoulas of Market Economics - the lone forecaster looking at the next move to be a cut - volunteered a shift to using monetary policy as a more straightforward demand management policy aimed at inflation and the labour market Capital Economics and Westpac believed the market would benefit from scheduled press conferences to clarify the Reserve Bank's guidance, in the same way that the ECB and Fed expand on their written statements. The RBA has been on the sidelines in terms of macro policy... contributing to the overall malaise of economic policymaking in this country. Matthew Peter, QIC

107 '! Australian Financial Review, Australia Author: Vesna Poljak And Sarah Turner Section: Companies and Markets Article type : News Item Classification : National : 44,635 Page: 1 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 28,155 Words: 1235 Item ID: Page 3 of 4 Crystal ball Economists' forecasts for key Australian indicators Stephen Walters AICD SA (USii CaahnM GDPqiowth t"..yoy) Infl.ition (". YoY) Unemployment r.ite (%) * FtuHlindsr.ilr ( ' ', lippei) Sepl8 I Dec 18 Dec 18 I Jun'19 6 Dec I FY18-19 t 2019 I U " der!i' 1 " 9 S u " der i y' n 9 [ Dec 18 Junl9 Dec 18 Jun'19 i fit E i uec l» I i" n» ( fl Shane Oliver AMP Capital David Plank ANZ Tony Morriss BAML S Rahul Bajoria Barclays David Bassanese Betashares Sarah Hunter BIS Oxford Economics Paul Dales Capital Economics Paul Brennan Citi Michael Blythe Comm Bank SaulEslake Corinna Economic Advisory Andrew Boak Goldman Sachs Paul Bloxham HSBC , Alex Joiner IFM Investors Warren Hogan Independent, UTS Business Stephen Anthony Industry Super Australia Sally Auld JPMorgan Stephen Roberts Laminar Capital : Ric Deverell Macquarie Capital Stephen Koukoulas Market Economics Katrina Ell Moody's Analytics Michael Knox Morgans Alan Oster NAB Matthew Peter QIC Su-Lin Ong RBC Capital Markets Besa Deda St. George Matthew Hassan Mean Median Median Mar'18 RBA" Westpac HHHMHH Hi MM "Year-ended trimmed mean *"Year-average SOURCE: FINANCIAL REVIEW

108 Australian Financial Review, Australia Author: Vesna Poljak And Sarah Turner Section: Companies and Markets Article type : News Item Classification : National : 44,635 Page: 1 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 28,155 Words: 1235 Item ID: Page 4 of 4 Economist Warren Hogan (left) and Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe, PHOTOS: LISA MAREE WILLIAMS, BLOOMBERG

109 Australian Financial Review, Australia Author: Joyce Moullakis Section: Companies and Markets Article type : News Item Classification : National : 44,635 Page: 13 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 7,039 Words: 574 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 Under-fire AMP eyes global giant for upgrade Exclusive Joyce Moulla kis Embattled financial services group AMP is preparing to overhaul a core technology system in its banking division, and is understood to have signed a preliminary agreement with global giant Temenos. The Australian Financial Review understands AMP is working with Temenos to replace its dated proprietary system, which underpins its banking arm and manages and stores customer data. Sources suggested an upgrade of that magnitude could see AMP invest $50 million to $100 million in the project if it leads to a complete replacement of its so-called banking product ledger. An AMP spokeswoman said: "We have been talking for some time about how we are investing in the bank to scale it for growth. We continue to pursue technology opportunities to support our ambitions, and our discussions with Temenos are an example of this." She declined to comment further on the scale or scope of the investment The Temenos website says more than 3000 companies globally, including 41 of the top 50 banks, use its software systems. AMP Bank, which has a loan book of about $19.8 billion, is led Sally Bruce. At the company's annual general meeting, Continued p17

110 Australian Financial Review, Australia Author: Joyce Moullakis Section: Companies and Markets Article type : News Item Classification : National : 44,635 Page: 13 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 7,039 Words: 574 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 From page 13 Under-fire AMP eyes global giant for upgrade the bank was highlighted as having "strong growth potential", despite its bmited market share in mortgages and deposits. The banking ledger technology upgrade is perceived in industry circles as a key project as it is a repository of real-time customer data for transactions and balances. It is unclear if AMP has a timetable for the upgrade and the migration of customer information. But the technology investment at AMP's banking arm comes as the broader group continues to search for a permanent chief executive after a horror year, which includes the departure of chairman Catherine Brenner and chief executive Craig Meller and a board shake-up, after the Hayne Royal Commission uncovered a string of instances when AMP had misled the corporate regulator. The situation took another turn last week when the Australian Securities and Investments Commission kicked off a civil claim against AMP for failing to take action against planners who "churned" clients. That was alleged to have seen financial advisers move customers into similar, new insurance policies to inflate their own commission payments. It will be up to a new team to decide whether to fight that and several class actions against AMP. Banking veteran David Murray took the reins as chairman last month, while Mike Wilkins is acting chief executive and plans to return to his post as a non-executive director once a permanent appointment is made. With reputation and restoring customer trust being top of mind at AMP, the group will also want to tread cautiously on any associated migration of banking customer data to ensure no hiccups. A scandal has embroiled Britain's TSB Bank this year after issues in a computer systems upgrade led to a host of problems and left it vulnerable to attacks by hackers. When TSB separated from Lloyds Banking Group, it continued to use the latter's computer system while a new one was developed. TSB then moved customers' data from a Lloyds platform to its own system managed by Spanish owner Sabadell. AMP's shares are 31 per cent lower this year and the company's market capitalisation has slid to $10.3 billion.lt is due to release its interim results on August 8. Restoring customer trust is top of mind at AMP. AMP Bank is said to have strong growth potential, despite its limited market share in mortgages and deposits, PHOTO:TAMARAVONINSKI

111 West Australian, Perth Author: Neale Prior Section: Your Money Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 147,676 Page: 3 Printed Size: cm² Market: WA Country: Australia ASR: AUD 13,920 Words: 1008 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 Time to check your assets Neale Prior Single pensioners with between about $266,000 and $281,000 of assessable assets have a sixfold incentive to triple check their Centrelink disclosures as we head into the financial year. And couples with between about $390,000 and $410,000 of assessable assets may have a nine-times bigger incentive to check numbers lodged with Centrelink. This is because six-monthly changes in age pension means testing thresholds that took effect yesterday could potentially be shifting thousands of pensions from the brutal assets test to the somewhat milder income test. New pension assets test thresholds took effect yesterday that increase by about $5000 the total assessable assets a single person can have before their pension is decided by the assets test. The updated test thresholds have also been lifted by about $7800 the total assets a couple can have before their pension is decided by the assets test, which reduces the fortnight pension by $3 for every extra $1000 of assets. Yesterday s half-yearly change to asset level thresholds means that the assets test is only theoretically applied to a single homeowner s assessable assets valued above $285,500. The previous theoretical threshold for the single homeowner s assets test was $253,750, an increase of $4750. Due to the overlapping yet distinctly different nature of the two means test and changes to the income test thresholds, the asset value at which the income test still applies has increased by about $5000 for singles. Whatever test produces the lower result decides the pension. This means that the assets test generally does not determine someone s pension until their asset values are at least $10,000 above the threshold where the test begins to be theoretically applied. The income test generally takes into account only financial assets that are capable of producing an income, while the assets test counts both financial assets and nonfinancial assets such cars, furniture, artworks and sporting goods. Someone who has spent a lot on flash cars and other luxury possessions is more likely to have the asset level kick in at lower total assets that someone whose total assets are dominated by incomegenerating investments. A single retiree with furniture and a car with a written down value totalling just $10,000 will now likely have the assets test determine their pension when their assets total about $281,500. This $281,500 of assets would include $271,500 of income-generating assets. Under the old thresholds that applied until June 30, the assets test would have kicked in around $276,500 for someone who had $10,000 and about $266,500 of financials assets. The lifting thresholds mean that people in the zones between the new and old thresholds could well move from having their pension determined by the assets test to having their pension determined by the income test. Someone whose age pension now and last week was clearly determined by the income test can expect to enjoy a fortnightly pension rise of about $2.29 because of yesterday s lift in thresholds for the income test. A single person whose age pension now and last week was clearly determined by the asset test can expect a $14.25 fortnightly boost A single person in the zone where they yesterday moved from the assets test to the income test can expect to have their age pension boosted somewhere between $2.29 and $14.25, with the better off enjoying the bigger rise. The test switch zone for a single homeowner with $20,000 of nonfinancial assets has risen from $273,800 to $278,900 of total assets. The switch zone for someone with $50,000 of non-financial assets has risen from $266,000 to $271,000 of total assets. It is crucial for all people claiming a pension to keep Centrelink up to date with asset value and to check Centrelink records to make sure they are not recording assets that might long ago have been sold or lost value. Having $10,000 of overvalued or non-existent assets recorded at Centrelink can cost someone about $780 a year in pension if they re in the asset test zone and more than $160 if they are squarely in the income test zone. Not keeping proper track of Centrelink records can negate the effects of half-yearly changes in the various income and asset test thresholds designed to keep pensions growing with inflation. Means testing thresholds are adjusted on January 1 and July 1 each year, while inflation adjustments to the base pension rates take effect on April 1 and October 1. The latest batch of means test changes lift the fortnightly pension rate by about $2.29 for couples subject to the assets test and by $21 for couples squarely in the assets test zone. But a couple with $20,000 of nonfinancial assets and between about $402,100 and $409,900 of total assets could well be in the zone where they move from having their pension decided by the assets test to enjoying the mercies of the income test. Similarly, a couple enjoying $75,000 of material items and with total assets between $387,700 and $395,400 could well move from the

112 West Australian, Perth Author: Neale Prior Section: Your Money Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 147,676 Page: 3 Printed Size: cm² Market: WA Country: Australia ASR: AUD 13,920 Words: 1008 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 asset test to the income test. The closer couples are to the test changeover point, the closer their pension boost will be to the full $21 rise. PENSION BUNGLE GETS PHONES RINGING Your Money might have caused some heart tremors among pensioner couples and some very unnecessary excitement among single people with our page one graphic last week. We transposed the full pension amounts for singles and couples. The full couples pension is, in fact, $ and the full singles pension is $ and not the other way around as shown in our graphic. It was my mistake. Please accept my apologies. Neale Prior Your Money editor FORTNIGHTLY PENSION ON CUSPS SINGLE HOMEOWNER WITH $10,000 OF NON-FINANCIAL ASSETS Total assets Last week From July 1 $276,000 $ $ $278,000 $ $ $280,000 $ $ $282,000 $ $ COUPLE WITH $20,000 OF NON-FINANCIAL ASSETS Total assets Last week From July 1 $402,000 $ $ $404,000 $ $ $406,000 $ $ $408,000 $ $ $410,000 $ $ Results in orange are generated by income test. Results in plain text from assets tests.

113 West Australian, Perth Author: Neale Prior Section: Your Money Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 147,676 Page: 4 Printed Size: cm² Market: WA Country: Australia ASR: AUD 9,029 Words: 869 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 Smarten up for looming adviser shortfall Seller s market will offer plenty but buyers need to be wary of poor advice Neale Prior The financial advice industry in Australia is about to undergo massive upheaval just as many baby boomers and older Australians are going to be needing some decent advice. We ll be searching for financial planners in an industry likely to be enduring a mass exit of experienced advisers. It will be a seller s market for people offering financial planning services next decade. And in a seller s market, buyers have to be particularly careful. With as few as 35 per cent of financial planners believed to have a university degree, many will decide it is just plain too hard to complete the necessary qualifications to stay in the game beyond January There will be a shortage of advisers around early next decade if the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority buggers up the implementation of new laws requiring all financial planners to have the equivalent of a university degree by Those of us who don t have already have a trusted financial planner who we know is going to stay in the game will have to start hunting for a new adviser. In this world you re going to be better off being as capable as possible spotting a bulldust artist and a barely-disguised product flogger. It will be more important than every to have some basic knowledge to understand what you re being told and to make the most of finding a good adviser. Rather than despite, it is because of lessons learnt in a post-graduate insurance unit that I am turning right now to a trusted financial planner to fix the structure of my life insurance policies. Yet I ve worked out for myself the asset mix in my work super fund that I believe suits my complex financial situation. I don t need an expert to tell me I need to spend less and do more to pay my mortgage off faster, but some tips on budgeting have been handy because I share humanity s limited capacity for self-reflection on habitual behaviour. Reading insights from the likes of Nick Bruining and other specialists helps keep me up with the financial issues that I need to consider for myself and my family and other people who I care deeply about. Seeking advice and constantly building financial understanding are complementary concepts. And as we get closer to retirement, that understanding becomes increasingly crucial. Even those who haven t ever had a financial adviser may well need help over the next decade sorting out super, retirement income or funding and finding nursing home places for ourselves, our partners or parents. If you re lucky enough to have parents who are still alive, chances are they will get to an age where they re going to need an increasing amount of assistance either staying independent for as long as possible and dealing with life s inevitable decline. The job of supporting parents will increasingly involve understanding the complex world of account-based pensions, home care and the nightmare of complexity around Commonwealth funding of residential aged care. No longer will our income earning capacity, parental support from hard-working parents raised in the shadows of two world wars and optimism about our future be enough to get we baby boomers through. An increasing number of families are dealing with the overlapping superannuation, taxation and means-tested age pension and nursing home care funding systems. And couples face the financial and emotionally complex issue of one staying in their home while a beloved is in need of nursing care. You can add to that the financial challenges many of us will face preparing for our final years in the full-time workforce and hopefully for a long full or partial retirement. Arguably the simplest thing in all this is adjusting the asset mix in your superannuation to better reflect your time of life, what you hope to do with your super savings and your own appetite for investment risk. For those of us still in the workforce, the more complicated stuff

114 West Australian, Perth Author: Neale Prior Section: Your Money Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 147,676 Page: 4 Printed Size: cm² Market: WA Country: Australia ASR: AUD 9,029 Words: 869 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 might involve issues like do you start a transition-to-retirement super arrangement to reduce your over-sized mortgage? Do you maximise mortgage payments or top-up your super as much as possible with pre-tax dollars? And do you need all that life insurance now the kids have finished university? Or more importantly, is that insurance set up by the friendly planner at the local outfit skimming commissions for which you are getting no service. These are all issues many people in their 50s have to confront, as do others in their 60s and even 40s. They are sometimes extremely complex but can be made easier by getting some good advice. So far, there is confusion about what courses will have to be done by existing planners and many seem to be examining how to cash in their chips. This will mean that the planners left and new entrants may well have less time available to do the comprehensive advice that so often has marked the industry for better and for worse. There will have new players, new rules and a new environment. Anyone entering such an environment should be as informed as possible about what you know and what you don t know.

115 West Australian, Perth Section: Your Money Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 147,676 Page: 4 Printed Size: cm² Market: WA Country: Australia ASR: AUD 15,586 Words: 198 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 QUESTION TIME: WHAT YOU SHOULD ASK YOUR PLANNER WHAT ARE YOUR QUALIFICATIONS? HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO GET THEM? The adviser should tell you about what they ve studied and the length of any courses. MoneySmart says a diploma, advanced diploma or degree qualification in finance, economics, accounting or financial planning is desirable. New rules will require planners to have the equivalent of a degree. ARE YOU AUTHORISED TO PROVIDE ADVICE ON THE PRODUCTS YOU ARE RECOMMENDING? The last thing you want is someone to advise you on matters on which they aren t qualified. Check the MoneySmart financial adviser register to see what products and issues an adviser is legally allowed to help you with. CAN YOU ADVISE ON MY CURRENT PRODUCTS? Some advisers have highly limited product lists, which may result in them being unable to help you with your current life insurance or super fund. The nightmare scenario is an adviser who moves you from a perfectly good fund or policy just to snare you as a client. WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE? Ask the adviser about their typical clients. This will help you judge whether they have the experience to deal with people with similar issues and goals as you. Source: MoneySmart

116 West Australian, Perth Section: Your Money Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 147,676 Page: 4 Printed Size: cm² Market: WA Country: Australia ASR: AUD 15,586 Words: 198 Item ID: Page 2 of 2

117 West Australian, Perth Author: Neale Prior Section: Your Money Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 147,676 Page: 4 Printed Size: cm² Market: WA Country: Australia ASR: AUD 3,436 Words: 308 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Self-managed funds must improve Neale Prior The Federal financial services watchdog has warned there needs to be a big improvement in the quality of advice about setting up Self Managed Superannuation Funds. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission said a check of 250 files randomly selected based on tax office data found massive non-compliance with rules related to advisers having to act in the best interest of clients. ASIC said 91 per cent of files checked did not comply with best interest rules and related obligations, while an estimated 10 per cent of clients were expected to be significantly worse off in retirement because of the poor advice. The regulator also found clients were at increased risk of financial detriment because of a lack of diversification in their DIY super. There has long been concern about property spruikers using SMSFs to divert people s retirement savings from properly balanced super funds into investments promoted by the spruikers. ASIC again confirmed these worries, saying some people had moved to SMSFs to get into the property market and lacked a wider investment strategy. The regulator said interviews with SMSF trustees identified the growing use of so-called one-stop shops where advisers had relationships with real estate agents or developers. ASIC deputy boss Peter Kell said the standard of advice on SMSFs must improve. The Financial Planning Association said the ASIC report contained practical pointers on issues such as the suitability of SMSF structures, the role and obligations of trustees, investment strategy, alternatives to DIY super and record keeping. The SMSF Association said many files ASIC ruled as non-compliant had not indicated financial detriment. Instead they had attracted scrutiny for meeting record keeping and process requirements. Chief executive John Maroney said inappropriate advice by property one-stop shops was worrying. ASIC said it was important consumers understood the risks, time, resources and compliance obligations linked with setting up SMSFs.

118 West Australian, Perth Author: Nick Bruining Section: Your Money Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 147,676 Page: 4 Printed Size: cm² Market: WA Country: Australia ASR: AUD 6,101 Words: 761 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 Stay ahead of changes to the game Nick Bruining The Commonwealth Bank s decision to spin off its wealth management division could accelerate the financial adviser departures from CBA-owned financial advice firms. It heralds a significant shift in the financial advice game, with many players reassessing their long-term commitment to the industry. Incredibly, all of this is occurring before the royal commission into banking misconduct hands down any findings. For consumers, these changes could mean new arrangements that are foisted on you. Taking action now might put you ahead of the game as the dwindling supply of decent financial planners are forced to deal with thousands of abandoned clients. To understand what might accelerate the departures, you have to understand the exit strategies for some planners. About 80 per cent of Australia s existing 23,000 financial planners work under a licence owned by an institution. There are the big four banks but there are also a number of ASXlisted entities and a few privately held bigger firms. They re all interested in the ongoing fees you pay. In the case of older products, typically left over from the last century, the fees you pay may include commissions that are passed through to the adviser. Products post-2001 but acquired pre-2013 will more than likely include a more transparent adviser fee which is usually a percentage of the money invested. Any new arrangement post-2013 will have been caught up in the new rules that require you to regularly opt-in. That means purposely reappointing your financial adviser every two years or they don t get paid. Needless to say, that approach has many advisers more than a little edgy. Here s the thing: those older pre-2013 products essentially allow you, the client, to be sold on to someone else like a head of cattle. The new adviser simply picks up your fees and hopefully provides a service for the fees you continue to pay. The amount paid is generally based on what an adviser collects on your account. The going rate could start around 1.5 times their annual collect, but this could swell up to around four times their annual collect if they ve used in-house products.

119 West Australian, Perth Author: Nick Bruining Section: Your Money Article type : News Item Classification : Capital City Daily : 147,676 Page: 4 Printed Size: cm² Market: WA Country: Australia ASR: AUD 6,101 Words: 761 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 Given the bigger potential value for a business stuffed with in-house products, imagine the temptation facing an AMP adviser preparing for retirement. In some cases, there is a buyer of last resort arrangement (BOLR) where the parent firm will buy the book off the exiting adviser and then onsell it to a new recruit. Some of us believe that BOLR arrangements should be spelt out to clients as visibly as the fees they pay on entry. After all, if your planner is set to retire in three or four years, and there s a big fat BOLR carrot at the end, it might influence the recommendation provided to you. Irrespective of what happens, the idea of the adviser fee is that the fees you pay are supposed to provide you with an ongoing service. Therein lies the problem. Good financial advice service means you are seeing your adviser at least once a year. The meeting will hopefully be more than an attempt to flog you something new or to add to the investment. Rather they ll at least discuss how the investment is going and recommend changes if required. The better ones will be discussing everything financial that s relevant to you. Tax, super, how much Centrelink pension you should be getting and even what happens to your money when you pass on. That s what good planners do. Those planners who fail to meet the tougher educations standard or who really just collect fees without doing much of anything are reportedly looking for an easy exit. There is a strong possibility that the royal commission might change the rules and compel all advisers to change to the opt-in regime, including those with the older products. What you might not know is that even if you ve never met your new adviser, or the last time you saw him he had a full head of hair and was 30kg lighter, he may still be getting paid. And the question you should be asking is: For what? If you can t answer that question, then the good news is that a short letter or even a phone call to your super fund will immediately turn off the fee. That saving might be anywhere between 0.4 per cent all the way up to 1 per cent a year. And if you re paying a one per cent fee on a million-dollar super fund and receiving nothing for it, that 10 grand is better off in your pocket, not theirs.

120 Australian Financial Review, Australia Section: Companies and Markets Article type : News Item Classification : National : 44,635 Page: 14 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 3,742 Words: 459 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 APA Group goes global in hunt for -up takeover bid APA Group has headed to North America to prove the best method of defence is attack. Street Talk understands APA boss Mick McCormack is to meet a cast of North America's cashed up infrastructure and utilities investors, in a series of meetings arranged by investment banks Macquarie Capital andjpmorgan. It's understood the meetings include the big Canadian pension funds - which have historically been major buyers of Australian infrastructure assets - as part of the Australia-Canada Economic Leadership Forum in Montreal next week. The meetings are said to be aimed at drumming up a competing bid for APA - or at least trying to find a -up offer should suitor CK Infrastructure be blocked or fall by the wayside. CKI and two sister companies have offered $11 a share and a 24<t a share dividend for APA shareholders, which seems highly unlikely to be bettered. If completed, it would be the second biggest listed Australian takeover ever and about a $13 billion equity cheque; that's close to three times what half a dozen financial heavyweights and ASX-listed Qube tipped in to buy Australian ports and rail company Ascianoin2016. However, CKTs bid is expected to come under intense scrutiny from Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board and competition regulator, given both the size of the deal and its preexisting portfolio of Australian gas and electricity infrastructure assets. Sources said APA had about another fortnight to meet interested parties. CKI is part-way through due diligence and, should it firm up its offer as expected, APA would be prevented from talking to other potential acquirers under standard "no shop, no talk" clauses, and would be liable to a $100 million-plus break fee. Sources said APA's talks could also help shore-up interest in West Australian gas assets, likely to be worth about $3 billion, that CKI has proposed to spin off. It is understood there is increasing concern FIRB and the ACCC could place significant ownership constraints on CKI. Australia has been a happy hunting group for CKI and it already owns stakes in SA Power Networks, Victoria Power Networks, Multinet Gas, Australian Gas Networks, United Energy, Dampier to Bunbury Pipeline and Energy Developments, which means it has been able to acquire control of big chunk of east coast gas and electricity distribution networks. Adding APA mean they own the bone of gas transmission across the eastern seaboard. It is unclear whether there is appetite for a competing bid. Most funds cannot compete with CKI on price. It is worth remembering FIRB has placed ownership caps on utilities networks in the past Only last year, it prevented any one investor from taking more than 50 per cent of NSWs Endeavour Energy and required 20 per cent Australian equity as part of bidding syndicates.

121 Newcastle Herald, Newcastle NSW Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 23,625 Page: 10 Printed Size: cm² Market: NSW Country: Australia ASR: AUD 3,571 Words: 558 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 JACK ARCHER Balanced vision for population growth WITH Australia set to increase its population by the equivalent of a new Melbourne every 12 years, there is real concern about what this will mean for the future of our communities and economy. Getting the balance right between outer suburban and connected regional population growth needs far more attention in our future population and economic debate. Currently, our outer suburbs are facing enormous future growth pressures and it is questionable whether they have the capacity to sustain this growth without risking enormous increases in congestion and a level of density that permanently changes the lifestyle for locals. In contrast, regional cities nearby have a capacity to sustain greater growth without the scale of congestion and cost of living increases likely in outer suburban areas. Last week, outgoing Infrastructure Australia chief Phillip Davies suggested that many of the anxieties brought about by rapid population growth could be solved by identifying the best population pathway over the next 30 years. However, surprisingly little work has been done to explore the economic outcomes of alternative population growth scenarios that include faster growth in regional cities and moderated major city growth. This option has largely just been dismissed by commentators or excluded from key analysis such as Infrastructure Australia s recent Future Cities paper. The main assumption behind this attitude is that it will leave us worse off economically. In analysis released this week, the Regional Australia Institute has found that there are similar levels of income and employment in outer suburban and regional areas. You are just as likely to be employed in the outer suburbs as you are in regional cities and, when housing costs are factored in, you are likely on average to have a higher disposable income. Most importantly, the productivity (how much economic activity takes place for each worker) is often higher in regional areas than in outer suburbs so the argument that we would suffer a productivity loss doesn t stack up either. If we are not going to substantially curb population growth, we need to look at options for managing population pressures while we still have the time to make major changes to planning, migration, taxation and infrastructure policies that substantially shape Australia s population growth. This is the first results from a major study by the Regional Australia Institute examining whether Australia would be better off if it successfully used these policy levers to shift a significant share of future population growth from outer suburbs. These first results should serve to challenge the assumption in our public debate about Big Australia that only growth within our largest cities can deliver high quality economic outcomes for the nation. The inner city is great for the lucky who can afford it, but the reality is that most Australians live in either the outer suburbs of our major cities or nearby regional areas. This is not a fact that is going to change. We do not need to confine our vision of the nation s future to one of privileged and wealthy inner cities, heaving outer suburbs and laggard regions.

122 Newcastle Herald, Newcastle NSW Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 23,625 Page: 10 Printed Size: cm² Market: NSW Country: Australia ASR: AUD 3,571 Words: 558 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 The regional option so often dismissed is worth a long hard look in this most important public debate to ensure we get our future population balance right. Jack Archer is CEO of the Regional Australia Institute. Prepared in collaboration with Ben Vonthethoff and Kevin Le.

123 News Mail, Bundaberg QLD Author: Sophie Elsworth Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 6,176 Page: 14 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 234 Words: 397 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Mind the trust gap Australians are suspicious of financial advice, writes Sophie Elsworth A MAJORITY of Australians have no one they trust to give them sound financial advice, alarming new figures reveal. This comes as the financial services royal commission has made many unsure about information provided by banks or advisers. A study commissioned by NGS Super, which has 95,000 members, revealed 56 per cent of working Aussies had no trustworthy person to turn to for financial information. And of those, 34 per cent said they wish they had someone who could help advise them on their finances and investing decisions. NGS Super s acting chief executive officer Laura Wright has urged fund members to seek any free information available to them to help get their finances on track. Superannuation can be a bit tricky and if you don t seek advice you may be limiting your retirement outcome, she warned. What is a concern of people who got advice is about 19 per cent of these people didn t trust (that) advice. Ms Wright encouraged people to try to obtain information that would boost their own financial understanding. There s so much information available that costs people nothing and it s easy for people to use, Ms Wright said. You don t have to make an appointment with a financial planner, you can go online and use the tools which nearly all super funds have or you can get on the phone. ASIC s MoneySmart website provides free, simplified information to Aussies on financial matters. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia s chief executive officer, Dr Martin Fahy, is concerned that Australians are still not engaged with their financial affairs. The first place for people to start with their superannuation is to ring their fund, he said. They will be able to provide them with general information on their fund and how it s invested and performing. Super funds offer free general advice, but also more specialised advice for a fee. Some funds have their own financial advisers and planners, while smaller funds may refer members to somebody outside the fund. Of those inthe survey that said they had a trusted financial adviser not necessarily a trained finance professional 42 per cent said this was a family member while 18 per cent said it was a close friend. Dr Fahy also encourages people to read the financial pages of newspapers to help boost their knowledge.

124 News Mail, Bundaberg QLD Author: Libby David Koch Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 6,176 Page: 15 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 662 Words: 634 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 Money Saver HQ with Libby and David Koch In case of emergency Life is not certain, so you need to be prepared EVERY year thousands of Australians are victims of natural disasters, which have a devastating impact on the emotional and financial state of so many families. Then there are those who are blindsided by unexpected retrenchment, long term illness, death of a breadwinner or sexually transmitted debt. On top of that, the car always seems to break down or the fridge needs replacing at a time when you can least afford it. And we haven t even mentioned economic or financial market crashes. Life constantly has a habit of throwing curveballs at us that can ramp up the financial strain to breaking point. It simply can t be avoided. But implementing a suitable financial emergency plan can cushion any unforeseen blow. Bottom line is that Australians are generally hopeless at preparing for financial emergencies. So let s start putting that right with a few simple steps which will make a huge difference; PROTECT YOUR BIGGEST ASSETS BETTER Most flood, fire, cyclone and burglary victims are in trouble because they re either underinsured or not insured at all because they didn t understand the exclusions in the fine print. So today, get out all your insurance policies and make sure the house, contents and car are all covered properly. Then check the fine print for the definitions on what is and isn t covered. Take a walk around the house and do a quick calculation on how much it would be to replace everything inside carpets, furniture, appliances, clothes, jewellery everything. We bet you ll be stunned at the total amount and how you re underinsured. Fix it, quickly. SAFEGUARD CASH FLOW If you are the major breadwinner providing the cash flow to meet commitments, then you must protect that cash flow. That means income protection, life and trauma insurance. Bankruptcy reports show illness as one of the major causes of people becoming insolvent. The level of personal insurance protection will be determined by your age and level of financial commitments. BRING DEBT DOWN TO A MANAGEABLE LEVEL A lot of people get in to strife because they simply borrow too much when interest rates are low (and money is cheap) but then get caught by a double whammy when rates rise and an emergency comes up. First of all, pay off your most expensive debt like credit cards and store financing. Then start working on the rest. START SAVING THROUGH SUPERANNUATION EARLY AND REGULARLY Retirement should be the best time of your life. It shouldn t be a time of financial uncertainty and lifestyle sacrifice. The problem is only 20 per cent of people retire when they planned. The other 80 per cent are forced to retire, generally earlier than expected, because of retrenchment, illness or some other reason. That causes a financial emergency because most people retire on less than what they expected. Superannuation contributions attract terrific tax benefits so take advantage of them. Work out an amount which will support a good retirement lifestyle and then start contributing as early as you can so that goal is reached well ahead of when you plan to cash in. Just make sure you are in a good superannuation fund that matches your risk profile. BUILD UP AN EMERGENCY STASH EQUAL TO SIX MONTHS SALARY That emergency stash could be kept in a bank account but also could be paid off a home loan and easily drawn down when necessary. That way the money canbesavinginterestand cutting down the term of the loan just make sure the home loan allows for an easy drawdown even after loss of ajob. It will be hard for most people to come up with an emergency stash straight away so make it a project over the next year.

125 News Mail, Bundaberg QLD Author: Libby David Koch Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 6,176 Page: 15 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 662 Words: 634 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 illustration: JOHN TIEDEMANN

126 Queensland Times, Ipswich QLD Section: Letters Article type : Letter Classification : Regional : 6,815 Page: 13 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 136 Words: 327 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Help needed for farmers to manage drought times I AM calling on the big banks to help farmers manage drought and tough times by offering offset accounts for farm management deposits. FMDs allow farmers to remove money from their taxable income in good years by depositing it into an FMD account. They can withdraw the money during a bad year and pay tax on the withdrawal then. The Coalition Government increased the cap on FMD accounts from $400,000 to $800,000 in The Coalition also allowed banks to give farmers the chance to use their FMD to offset interest on their loans, the same as a home loan often has an everyday offset account which offsets interest from the home loan. However no big bank has taken the opportunity. This was a chance for the big banks to regain their standing in the community following evidence in the royal commission this week. The Coalition Government created laws in 2016 to allow banks to offer an FMD offsetting product, yet none of the big four banks bothered to create one. The big banks have been able to provide these FMD offsets since 2016, and time s up. The big banks need to right their wrongs. Our banks should our farmers. The only bank to have jumped on board FMD offset accounts is the Rural Bank. I applaud them for it. Big banks lend almost as much to credit card debt as they do to agriculture in this country. Agriculture is a much better bet than credit card debt the sector continues to grow; farmers are becoming more efficient and the reputation of Aussie produce around the world is growing. I call on the big banks to offer farm management deposit offset accounts and help our farmers manage through the good and bad years. Farmers grow the food we eat including food for the bankers. DAVID LITTLEPROUD MP Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources INTEREST: Mr Littleproud says farmers need support. Photo: Heath Pukallus

127 Geelong Advertiser, Geelong VIC Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 16,687 Page: 13 Printed Size: 62.00cm² Market: VIC Country: Australia ASR: AUD 207 Words: 145 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Super way to buy first home FIRST-HOME buyers now can make withdrawals from their superannuation through a national scheme to help them get into the property market. Australians have been able to divert part of their wage or make voluntary contributions into their super account to help form a deposit since July 1 last year under the First Home Superannuation Saver Scheme. The scheme allows firsthome buyers to contribute up to $15,000 a year and $30,000 in total, within contribution caps, to go towards the purchase of a property, and can accelerate savings through the concessional tax treatment and any associated earnings within a super fund. These contributions along with deemed earnings can be withdrawn for a house deposit. Once savings have been released, first-timers have up to 12 months to sign a contract to buy or construct a home. For more details, go to the Australian Taxation Office website.

128 Border Mail, Albury-Wodonga Author: Jack Archer Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 13,519 Page: 13 Printed Size: cm² Market: NSW Country: Australia ASR: AUD 1,298 Words: 583 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 JACK ARCHER Balanced vision for increasing population WITH Australia set to increase its population by the equivalent of a new Melbourne every 12 years, there is real concern about what this will mean for the future of our communities and economy. Getting the balance right between outer suburban and connected regional population growth needs far more attention in our future population and economic debate. Currently, our outer suburbs are facing enormous future growth pressures and it is questionable whether they have the capacity to sustain this growth without risking enormous increases in congestion and a level of density that permanently changes the lifestyle for locals. In contrast, regional cities nearby have a capacity to sustain greater growth without the scale of congestion and cost of living increases likely in outer suburban areas. This week, outgoing Infrastructure Australia chief Phillip Davies suggested that many of the anxieties brought about by rapid population growth could be solved by identifying the best population pathway over the next 30 years. However, surprisingly little work has been done to explore the economic outcomes of alternative population growth scenarios that include faster growth in regional cities and moderated major city growth. This option has largely just been dismissed by commentators or excluded from key analysis such as Infrastructure Australia s recent Future Cities paper. The main assumption behind this attitude is that it will leave us worse off economically. In analysis released this week, the Regional Australia Institute has found that there are similar levels of income and employment in outer suburban and regional areas. You are just as likely to be employed in the outer suburbs as you are in regional cities and, when housing costs are factored in, you are likely on average to have a higher disposable income. Most importantly, the productivity (how much economic activity takes place for each worker) is often higher in regional areas than in outer suburbs so the argument that we would suffer a productivity loss doesn t stack up either. If we are not going to substantially curb population growth, we need to look at options for managing population pressures while we still have the time to make major changes to planning, migration, taxation and infrastructure policies that substantially shape Australia s population growth. This is the first results from a major study by the Regional Australia Institute examining whether Australia would be better off if it successfully used these policy levers to shift a significant share of future population growth from outer suburbs. These first results should serve to challenge the assumption in our public debate about Big Australia that only growth within our largest cities can deliver high quality economic outcomes for the nation. The inner city is great for the lucky who can afford it, but the reality is that most Australians live in either the outer suburbs of our major cities or nearby regional areas. This is not a fact that is going to change. We do not need to confine our vision of the nation s future to one of privileged and wealthy inner cities, heaving outer suburbs

129 Border Mail, Albury-Wodonga Author: Jack Archer Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 13,519 Page: 13 Printed Size: cm² Market: NSW Country: Australia ASR: AUD 1,298 Words: 583 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 and laggard regions. The regional option so often dismissed is worth a long hard look in this most important public debate to ensure we get our future population balance right. Jack Archer is CEO of the Regional Australia Institute. Prepared in collaboration with Ben Vonthethoff and Kevin Le. OPTIONS: "We do not need to confine our vision of the nation s future to one of privileged and wealthy inner cities, heaving outer suburbs and laggard regions."

130 Warrnambool Standard, Warrnambool VIC Author: Jack Archer Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 8,274 Page: 11 Printed Size: cm² Market: VIC Country: Australia ASR: AUD 882 Words: 556 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 JACK ARCHER Balanced vision for population growth WITH Australia set to increase its population by the equivalent of a new Melbourne every 12 years, there is real concern about what this will mean for the future of our communities and economy. Getting the balance right between outer suburban and connected regional population growth needs far more attention in our future population and economic debate. Currently, our outer suburbs are facing enormous future growth pressures and it is questionable whether they have the capacity to sustain this growth without risking enormous increases in congestion and a level of density that permanently changes the lifestyle for locals. In contrast, regional cities nearby have a capacity to sustain greater growth without the scale of congestion and cost of living increases likely in outer suburban areas. Last week, outgoing Infrastructure Australia chief Phillip Davies suggested that many of the anxieties brought about by rapid population growth could be solved by identifying the best population pathway over the next 30 years. However, surprisingly little work has been done to explore the economic outcomes of alternative population growth scenarios that include faster growth in regional cities and moderated major city growth. This option has largely just been dismissed by commentators or excluded from key analysis such as Infrastructure Australia s recent Future Cities paper. The main assumption behind this attitude is that it will leave us worse off economically. In analysis released this week, the Regional Australia Institute has found that there are similar levels of income and employment in outer suburban and regional areas. You are just as likely to be employed in the outer suburbs as you are in regional cities and, when housing costs are factored in, you are likely on average to have a higher disposable income. Most importantly, the productivity (how much economic activity takes place for each worker) is often higher in regional areas than in outer suburbs so the argument that we would suffer a productivity loss doesn t stack up either. If we are not going to substantially curb population growth, we need to look at options for managing population pressures while we still have the time to make major changes to planning, migration, taxation and infrastructure policies that substantially shape Australia s population growth. This is the first results from a major study by the Regional Australia Institute examining whether Australia would be better off if it successfully used these policy levers to shift a significant share of future population growth from outer suburbs. These first results should serve to challenge the assumption in our public debate about Big Australia that only growth within our largest cities can deliver high quality economic outcomes for the nation. The inner city is great for the lucky who can afford it, but the reality is that most Australians live in either the outer suburbs of our major cities or nearby regional areas. This is not a fact that is going to change. We do not need to confine our vision of the nation s future to one of privileged and wealthy inner cities, heaving outer suburbs and laggard regions. The regional option so often dismissed is worth a long hard look in this most important public debate to ensure we get our future population balance right. Jack Archer is CEO of the Regional Australia Institute. Prepared in collaboration with Ben Vonthethoff and Kevin Le.

131 Sunshine Coast Daily, Maroochydore QLD Author: Anthony Keane Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 10,046 Page: 18 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 154 Words: 345 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Heavy price of loyalty to your bank ANTHONY KEANE HALF of Australians do all their banking with just one financial institution, potentially costing themselves a lot every year. Misguided loyalty, fear of the unknown and convenience are keeping almost 80 per cent wedded to the Big Four banks, new research by comparison website Mozo.com.au has found, and suggests it s costing average customers $1600 a year and some much more. No single financial institution has a monopoly over the best value loans, savings accounts and credit cards, and Mozo director Kirsty Lamont said there was little reward for being loyal. She said many people felt switching was too much of a hassle but most would be better off cherry picking products. There are millions of Australians who could be losing thousands of dollars a year due to uncompetitive interest rates and fees, she said. The switching process for banking has become a lot easier in recent years. In many cases you can do it all online now. Government regulations allow you to contact your existing bank for a list of direct debits and credits, then give it to the new bank, which will contact all suppliers with your new account details. It s not really well known. I don t think the banks promote it because they don t want us to switch, Ms Lamont said. Mozo s analysis of 117 financial institutions found that ME is the nation s best-value bank, while Westpac is the best value among the Big Four. Mortgage and consumer finance specialist Lisa Montgomery said some people felt switching would simply mean more of the same. We don t prioritise it in our lives as being a thing that will deliver us enough value, she said. Ms Montgomery said many people were loyal to the first bank they used, which skewed them towards major banks with school banking programs. Others were loyal to banks their parents used also benefiting the Big Four, she said. Before switching, people should examine their existing relationship with their financial institution. If you leave, will it cost you money, and is the grass greener on the other side? deliver us enough value, she said.

132 Sunshine Coast Daily, Maroochydore QLD Author: Sophie Elsworth Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 10,046 Page: 18 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 281 Words: 397 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Mind the trust gap Australians are suspicious of financial advice, writes Sophie Elsworth A MAJORITY of Australians have no one they trust to give them sound financial advice, alarming new figures reveal. This comes as the financial services royal commission has made many unsure about information provided by banks or advisers. A study commissioned by NGS Super, which has 95,000 members, revealed 56 per cent of working Aussies had no trustworthy person to turn to for financial information. And of those, 34 per cent said they wish they had someone who could help advise them on their finances and investing decisions. NGS Super s acting chief executive officer Laura Wright has urged fund members to seek any free information available to them to help get their finances on track. Superannuation can be a bit tricky and if you don t seek advice you may be limiting your retirement outcome, she warned. What is a concern of people who got advice is about 19 per cent of these people didn t trust (that) advice. Ms Wright encouraged people to try to obtain information that would boost their own financial understanding. There s so much information available that costs people nothing and it s easy for people to use, Ms Wright said. You don t have to make an appointment with a financial planner, you can go online and use the tools which nearly all super funds have or you can get on the phone. ASIC s MoneySmart website provides free, simplified information to Aussies on financial matters. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia s chief executive officer, Dr Martin Fahy, is concerned that Australians are still not engaged with their financial affairs. The first place for people to start with their superannuation is to ring their fund, he said. They will be able to provide them with general information on their fund and how it s invested and performing. Super funds offer free general advice, but also more specialised advice for a fee. Some funds have their own financial advisers and planners, while smaller funds may refer members to somebody outside the fund. Of those in the survey that said they had a trusted financial adviser not necessarily a trained finance professional 42 per cent said this was a family member while 18 per cent said it was a close friend. Dr Fahy also encourages people to read the financial pages of newspapers to help boosttheir knowledge.

133 Sunshine Coast Daily, Maroochydore QLD Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 10,046 Page: 12 Printed Size: cm² Market: QLD Country: Australia ASR: AUD 218 Words: 299 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Cut execs pay: poll Most Aussies believe limits should be placed on high earners THREE-QUARTERS of Australians believe strict limits should be placed on executive salaries, which have almost returned to pre-global financial crisis levels. New polling from the leftleaning Australia Institute found 80 per cent of people believe the nation s chief executives are paid too much. The survey asked 1557 people about executive salaries and presented proposals to limit pay packets. The results showed 75 per cent of those polled supported a strict limit on how much a company can pay a CEO or executive. Almost 80 per cent supported making companies pay tax on large payments to executive staff, such as bonuses. A similar number of respondents supported a new higher rate of income tax for individuals with very large pay packets. Australia Institute deputy director Ebony Bennett said most people nominated $720,000 a year or less as a reasonable salary for a CEO. It is clear the reality of what CEOs are paid is not in line with community expectations, Ms Bennett said. Former treasurer Wayne Swan said corporate rules needed to change to bring executive pay under control. If you look at what s going on basically the top end of town and those on the highest incomes are basically gorging themselves, Mr Swan told the ABC yesterday. Mr Swan, who was recently elected ALP president, said bad behaviour revealed by the financial royal commission had been driven by the reward and incentive systems in banks pay structures. He also touched on the inequality in our economy that would come from the Federal Government s planned tax cuts for companies with turnover of more than $50 million. That (inequality stemming from the cuts) is bad for living standards, bad for economic growth, and it poisons society, Mr Swan said.

134 Illawarra Mercury, Wollongong NSW Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 10,806 Page: 12 Printed Size: cm² Market: NSW Country: Australia ASR: AUD 1,999 Words: 558 Item ID: Page 1 of 2 JACK ARCHER Balanced vision for population growth WITH Australia set to increase its population by the equivalent of a new Melbourne every 12 years, there is real concern about what this will mean for the future of our communities and economy. Getting the balance right between outer suburban and connected regional population growth needs far more attention in our future population and economic debate. Currently, our outer suburbs are facing enormous future growth pressures and it is questionable whether they have the capacity to sustain this growth without risking enormous increases in congestion and a level of density that permanently changes the lifestyle for locals. In contrast, regional cities nearby have a capacity to sustain greater growth without the scale of congestion and cost of living increases likely in outer suburban areas. Last week, outgoing Infrastructure Australia chief Phillip Davies suggested that many of the anxieties brought about by rapid population growth could be solved by identifying the best population pathway over the next 30 years. However, surprisingly little work has been done to explore the economic outcomes of alternative population growth scenarios that include faster growth in regional cities and moderated major city growth. This option has largely just been dismissed by commentators or excluded from key analysis such as Infrastructure Australia s recent Future Cities paper. The main assumption behind this attitude is that it will leave us worse off economically. In analysis released this week, the Regional Australia Institute has found that there are similar levels of income and employment in outer suburban and regional areas. You are just as likely to be employed in the outer suburbs as you are in regional cities and, when housing costs are factored in, you are likely on average to have a higher disposable income. Most importantly, the productivity (how much economic activity takes place for each worker) is often higher in regional areas than in outer suburbs so the argument that we would suffer a productivity loss doesn t stack up either. If we are not going to substantially curb population growth, we need to look at options for managing population pressures while we still have the time to make major changes to planning, migration, taxation and infrastructure policies that substantially shape Australia s population growth. This is the first results from a major study by the Regional Australia Institute examining whether Australia would be better off if it successfully used these policy levers to shift a significant share of future population growth from outer suburbs. These first results should serve to challenge the assumption in our public debate about Big Australia that only growth within our largest cities can deliver high quality economic outcomes for the nation. The inner city is great for the lucky who can afford it, but the reality is that most Australians live in either the outer suburbs of our major cities or nearby regional areas. This is not a fact that is going to change. We do not need to confine our vision of the nation s future to one of privileged and

135 Illawarra Mercury, Wollongong NSW Section: General News Article type : News Item Classification : Regional : 10,806 Page: 12 Printed Size: cm² Market: NSW Country: Australia ASR: AUD 1,999 Words: 558 Item ID: Page 2 of 2 wealthy inner cities, heaving outer suburbs and laggard regions. The regional option so often dismissed is worth a long hard look in this most important public debate to ensure we get our future population balance right. Jack Archer is CEO of the Regional Australia Institute. Prepared in collaboration with Ben Vonthethoff and Kevin Le.

136 Newcastle Herald, Newcastle NSW Section: Letters Article type : Letter Classification : Regional : 23,625 Page: 12 Printed Size: cm² Market: NSW Country: Australia ASR: AUD 2,898 Words: 131 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Equal pay demand should span past top tier WHEN Aspro (as we used to call Associate Professors) Griffiths states that he wants "all staff on the same superannuation level" ( Uni staff vote for industrial action, Herald 28/6) I assume that he also extends that to staff who are not academic. I assume he includes all the administrative, support, maintenance, counselling, library, and all other staff who provide the support without which he could not deliver his message. I hope it also includes the casual, short-term and contract staff, and all others who don't have his surety of ongoing employment. I could be wrong - perhaps Mr Griffiths is not tenured. Marion Wilson, Maryland TEACHING MOMENT: Reader Marion Wilson points to University of Newcastle employees whose conditions she says should benefit from recent industrial demands.

137 Australian Financial Review, Australia Author: Misa Han Section: Companies and Markets Article type : News Item Classification : National : 44,635 Page: 16 Printed Size: cm² Market: National Country: Australia ASR: AUD 4,955 Words: 591 Item ID: Page 1 of 1 Funeral insurers exploiting loophole Misa Han A loophole in the Corporations Act that allows some funeral insurers to avoid complying with product disclosure rules will be examined when the banking royal commission moves to Darwin this week. Consumer Action chief executive Gerard Grody said one of the funeral insurers expected to appear, ACBF Funeral Plans, runs an expenses-only model that is not caught by the ban on hawking. Consumer Action is one of 20 parties that has been granted permission to appear in this round of the Hayne inquiry, which will probe the behaviour of the financial industry in Indigenous communities. "There is a loophole in the Corporations legislation which means they [ACBF] don't have to comply with some of the protections in the Corporations Act, [such as] the product disclosure statement and also anu'-hawking rules banning unsolicited selling," he said. Mr Grody said there have been complaints in the past about ACBF visiting people at their workplaces or homes to sell funeral insurance policies. ACBFs insurance product, Aboriginal Community Funeral Plan, provides a payout to meet funeral and related expenses but does not provide a lump sum. This means ACBF and similar expenses-only providers are not governed by the financial services licensing and conduct regime of the Corporations Act Gold Coast business ACBF sold funeral insurance under the brand of Aboriginal Community Benefit Fund which was controversial due to its potentially misleading nature of its name Since then it has rebranded and it sells funeral insurance under the banner of Aboriginal Community Funeral Plan. ACBF is a private company, which is not connected with any governmental or Aboriginal organisation. Legal Aid NSW senior solicitor Rebekah Doran said many Indigenous customers end up spending multiples of the funeral insurance payout on premiums. Legal Aid is also appearing in this round. She said some funeral insurers are marketed to parents to cover children and some babies as young as one or two years old have been signed up for funeral insurance. She said policy reforms are needed in the sector to protect customers. "We are keen to see a mandatory disclosure requirement around how much [in] premiums they would pay over the life of the product, compared to the cost of the funeral," she said. "Clients often understand the fortnightly cost of their premium, but do not appreciate the overall cost of the policy if they continue to pay." She said there should also be a prohibition on the sale of funeral insurance products covering children. ANZ will also appear as a case study this week to address the issues it had with informal overdrafts. ANZ is the only major bank scheduled to appear this week. An informal overdraft was marketed by ANZ as a service provided by the bank to "give customers a convenient way to meet unplanned short-term borrowing needs". Informal overdrafts do not have to be prearranged and preapproved by the bank and customers. The focus is likely to be on Indigenous customers who were granted informal overdrafts and accrued interests and fees while on benefits. ANZs Queensland and Northern Territory retail branch general manager Tony Tapsall, is expected to appear as ANZs witness. Another case study that is scheduled to appear is Sydney-based funeral and life insurer Select AFSL, which trades under the name Let's Insure. Its products are issued by St Andrew's Life Insurance, which is part of the Bank of Queensland. Clients often... do not appreciate the overall cost of the policy. Rebekah Doran, Legal Aid NSW Babies as young as one or two have been signed up to funeral insurance.