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Category: General news

Managing director of Ebono Institute and major sponsor of The Generator, Geoff Ebbs, is running against Kevin Rudd in the seat of Griffith at the next Federal election. By the expression on their faces in this candid shot it looks like a pretty dull campaign. Read on

  • Is capitalism at war with the climate? NAOMI KLEIN GET UP

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    This changes everything

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    GetUp!
    3:01 PM (5 minutes ago)
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    Below is an email from journalist and author Naomi Klein to GetUp members. Naomi is currently touring the world to talk about her book ‘This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate’ and forthcoming documentary film ‘This Changes Everything’. She is speaking at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas this Saturday, 5th September, and her talk is being live-streamed for GetUp members for free. Register here. Your contact details have not been shared with anyone.

    NEVILLE,

    Is capitalism at war with the climate?

    It’s a question that has come up again and again over the past few years as I’ve had the privilege of travelling the world meeting with First Nations peoples, activists, farmers, unionists, scientists, and politicians who are trying to respond effectively to global warming.

    One thing is clear: with corporations wielding so much political power, we can’t get away with tinkering around the edges of our economic and social system and still avoid a climate disaster. In my book and documentary This Changes Everything, I argue that climate change demands much deeper changes. The real question is: how can we make sure those changes deliver a better and fairer system for all?

    That’s what I’ll be discussing when I speak at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas at the Sydney Opera House this Saturday 5th September. I’m pleased to invite you as a GetUp member to view the live-stream of my presentation for free.

    You can RSVP for the free live-stream of the show now: http://getup.org.au/klein-dangerous-ideas

    It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the scale of the climate challenge, especially when combined with our broken economic and political systems. But what we always need to remember is that while we can’t change the laws of nature, we can change our economy. That’s why climate change doesn’t have to end in disaster. It could just be our best chance to demand, and build, a better world.

    People the world over are already working on it – they aren’t waiting for the political elite to come to agreement at the Paris climate talks in December. We already know what needs to happen. We need to build a movement that’s strong enough to force our political leaders to make a choice about whose side they are on. Strong enough to say to them: you can come with us on the journey of transforming our economy and society, or you can be left behind.

    For this, we need to build a movement of movements, one which brings together Indigenous peoples, farmers, unionists, health professionals, the faith community, aid organisations and environmentalists.

    To hear all about it, you can register to watch the free live-stream of my presentation here.

    It’s all in, or we all lose.

    I’ll be speaking at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas but I know not everyone can make it to the Sydney Opera House. So thanks to GetUp, my talk will be live-streamed to tens of thousands of Australians on the GetUp website, where there’ll be an opportunity for you to comment and have your say, too.

    To change everything, we’ll need everyone.

    Are you in?

    Naomi Klein
    Author of This Changes Everything, Capitalism vs the Climate

    P.S. from Getup – we’ll be working with Naomi Klein and the This Changes Everything team over the coming weeks, and this is the exciting first step. We’ll set up a live twitter feed on our website for you to make comments as Naomi’s talk is live-streamed on Saturday. Make sure you RSVP!

  • Send shockwaves through the party GET UP

    Send shockwaves through the party

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    Nat – GetUp!
    8:46 PM (4 minutes ago)
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    Wow, NEVILLE!

    In one of the biggest fundraising efforts of the year, GetUp members are piling in to make the Canning by-election a day of reckoning for Prime Minister Abbott’s conservative agenda, and his relentless attacks on our clean energy future.

    In just 18 days, Canning could go from a super safe Liberal seat to an LNP loss in a knife-edge by-election. And with the 12th highest solar uptake in the country, Canning has been transformed into a key fighting ground for clean energy candidates.

    Polling shows that clean energy is a serious vote-shifter in Canning, which means that this by-election is our chance to put the writing on the wall: Australians are sick of a government that puts the vested interests of big polluters at the expense of our Reef, our climate, and investment in clean energy and renewables jobs.

    We’ve already locked in two billboards and digital ads across multiple platforms, but we’re still scrambling for some prime local newspaper advertising, which could see our messages land in the laps of 56% of Canning voters.

    Can you chip in to get game-changing renewables ads like this in front of Canning voters, combining the impact of massive billboards with full page local newspaper ads, and targeted digital advertising?

    Thanks for being a part of it,
    Nat, Mark, Kajute and Sam L, for the GetUp team

    PS – For more info on the Canning by-election, see the email below that inspired one of GetUp members’ biggest fundraising efforts of the year.

    “What if I didn’t have to wait until 2016? What if I could make Tony Abbott a half-term PM?”

    No joke, NEVILLE, this is our chance.

    Nominations just closed for the by-election that could seat the fate of Tony Abbott’s radical right wing agenda and shift the political direction of the nation. Now we’ve just 23 days for an all-out, banners blazing election campaign.

    Here’s what you need to know. Canning in WA was a safe Liberal seat, by a nearly 12% margin. But thanks to the Abbott Government’s unpopularity, the race is virtually tied: 50.1% Labor, 49.9% Coalition.1

    Senior Liberal figures say the loss from a swing of this size will likely cost Tony Abbott his job. And Liberal MPs in marginal seats are “mildly terrified” about their future.2 This means that the result in Canning could force a political retreat, pushing the Coalition to:

    • stop wasteful handouts to mining companies that end up in the pockets of overseas investors
    • reverse the $80 billion in cuts to our public schools and hospitals
    • stop the attacks on renewable energy jobs

    We’re armed with polling from Canning voters telling us the very issues that will shift votes. Local GetUp members will hit the streets, joining grassroots efforts on the ground. And to back them up, we’ll blanket the electorate with hard-hitting outdoor, print and digital advertising. But ad space is in high demand and we have to make decisions now about what we can afford to do.

    Click here to chip in to our game-changing Canning campaign now.

    Imagine it. An end to the relentless attacks on our public school and hospitals, pensioners and young people, a clean energy future, and fair go for all Australians. That’s exactly what we could see if the Abbott Government meets its downfall on 19 September in Canning.

    Even Mr Abbott has said that Canning will be the ‘real’ test for how people feel about his government’s performance.3 The West Australian was more emphatic: “If the ReachTEL poll is reflected on polling day, it would certainly spell the end of Tony Abbott’s prime ministership.”4 The battle lines have been drawn, but how much we can tip the scales to send a strong message in Canning depends on how much we can raise.

    Are you up for it? https://www.getup.org.au/canning

    It’s been two years since Mr Abbott became top dog, and in this time we’ve lost so much. Massive cuts to our ABC and the SBS, thousands of experts forced out of the CSIRO, attacks on clean energy, pensions and social welfare – not to mention efforts to dismantle our world-class Australian healthcare and education systems. No generation has been spared, no working family left unscathed.

    And despite widespread public consensus they’ve overstepped their mark, Mr Abbott’s Government continues to pig-headedly ram through his radically conservative agenda.

    But the people of Canning could change all that when they cast their ballots on 19 September, in a by-election that’s become a full-blown referendum on Tony Abbott’s agenda.5 Throwing an election campaign together in three weeks is ambitious, but rapid grassroots campaigning and cutting-edge political advertising is what GetUp does best.

    There are billboards available now in major Canning commuter corridors, but we’ve only 24 hours to book them in if we’re to get them up in time.

    Click here to help transform the Canning by-election into a day of reckoning for Tony Abbott’s ideological right-wing agenda.

    There are defining moments in a nation’s history where a people must decide what type of country they want to be. Our movement must speak out now, on behalf of families, the sick, the vulnerable, the marginalised, students, teachers, nurses, clean energy workers, the ageing – all those who don’t have a team of lobbyists treading the halls of Parliament House – because if we don’t, who will?

    Enough is enough,
    Nat, Mark, Kajute and Sam L, for the GetUp team

    PS – This vital work is about more than just Canning. With your help, the fight will continue in the months ahead with cut-through ads, polling, and election-changing grassroots networking – the very tactics that has established our movement as a formidable force for change. We’ll carry the fight right through to next year’s federal election with our biggest campaign effort ever. We’ll hold this government’s feet to the fire on universal healthcare, university fees, cuts to our public schools and hospitals and its ideological war on clean energy. We’ve been able to change the course of elections before, but to do so, we need to invest now. Click here to chip in.

    References
    [1] ‘Canning poll on a knife edge’, The West Australian, 26 August 2015
    [2] ‘Storm clouds gathering over Tony Abbott’s leadership’, Sydney Morning Herald, 22 August 2015
    [3] ‘Newspoll: Bill Shorten’s stocks bounce to three month high’, The Australian, 25 August 2015
    [4] ‘Canning poll on a knife edge’, The West Australian, 26 August 2015
    [5] ‘Canning byelection a referendum on PM’, The West Australian, 21 August 2015

  • Earn income from top clean-techs

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    Investment and finance newsletterEarn income from top clean-techs

    Earn income from top clean-techs

    This article appeared in the March 2014 ASX Investor Update email newsletter. To subscribe to this newsletter please register with the MyASX section or visit the About MyASX page for past editions and more details.

    Some small clean-technology stocks have grown into much larger, profitable companies that regularly pay dividends.

    Photo of Victor Bivell By Victor Bivell, Eco Investor

    The 80 or so clean-tech stocks listed on ASX can be divided into two neat sections. It is generally known than the speculative end of the sector is fraught with high risk and suits only professional investors and punters. But it is less well known that the top end of about 17 stocks can offer stable income and some of the dividends are fully franked.

    These stocks are a good place for conservative investors to start looking if they want a few environmental investments in their portfolio and also need them to be relatively safe and provide income.

    When I say environmental, I mean environmentally positive, not sustainable. The difference is that environmentally positive companies provide solutions to environmental problems, while sustainable companies are consumers of those solutions.

    For example, Tox Free Solutions provides a wide range of waste management services and offers them to its many industrial and resource company clients, helping them to be more sustainable.

    Recent research by Eco Investor, which tracks all ASX-listed environmental stocks, showed that waste management and pollution control is by far the biggest environmental theme on ASX. The 80 stocks have a combined market capitalisation of around $27 billion and almost all are in some way related to pollution and waste, particularly if clean energy is seen as a way of managing carbon pollution.

    In recent years, two trends have emerged among the top environmental stocks: their environmental credentials have improved, and some have matured along the development curve from small speculative stocks into much larger, profitable companies that regularly pay dividends.

    Two recent floats fit the bill

    (Editor’s note: Do not read the following analysis as stock recommendations. Do further research of your own or talk to a licensed financial adviser before acting on themes in this article.)

    Two recent floats that combine excellent environmental credentials with a history of regular dividends are the New Zealand utilities Meridian Energy and Mighty River Power.

    Meridian Energy is New Zealand’s largest utility, producing 30 per cent of the country’s electricity. All of it is from renewable sources – more than 90 per cent from hydro energy and the rest from wind. Among its assets are two wind farms in Australia.

    Mighty River Power generates about 17 per cent of New Zealand’s electricity – around 58 per cent from hydro, 40 per cent from geothermal and about 2 per cent from gas as a back-up.

    Not only do Meridian Energy and Mighty River Power offer dividend-paying investments in hydro and geothermal power, they also let us see what the clean utilities of the future will look like.

    The closest we have to these in Australia are Snowy Hydro and Hydro Tasmania, but both are unlisted. Of our largest listed utilities, Origin Energy owns a black-coal power station.

    Meridian and Mighty River also look good financially.

    Mighty River is part of the S&P/ASX 300 Index and has a market capitalisation of $2.5 billion.

    Meridian has a current market capitalisation of $1.3 billion but its securities are partly paid instalment receipts with the final instalment of NZ50 cents due in May 2015. When that happens its market cap will be around $2 billion. But as the New Zealand Government owns 51 per cent of the shares, its true size is around $4 billion.

    Importantly for investors, both companies pay regular dividends.

    Mighty River paid a final dividend of 6.24 cents last September and is paying an upcoming interim dividend of about 6 cents. With the current exchange rate, and with the share price at around $1.90, the yield is about 6.4 per cent before tax.

    Meridian Energy is paying an interim dividend of NZ 4.19 cents and forecast a full year dividend of NZ 10.5 cents per instalment receipt. The interim dividend is imputed to 90 per cent, so assuming this carries through to the full year dividend, the yield for Australian investors on the current instalment price of 95 cents and the current exchange rate could be around 11.5 per cent before tax. Yes, there is a bonus here from the partly paid instalment receipts, and the yield will fall when the second (50 cent) instalment is due in 2015. On current numbers the yield would around be 7.3 per cent.

    Growth stories

    Two companies that illustrate how local clean-techs can grow their way into the top ranks of ASX listings and start to look like income stocks are salmon farmer Tassal and the previously mentioned Tox Free Solutions. Both are in the S&P/ASX 300 Index.

    Although Tassal is seen as an agricultural play, it is also environmentally positive because overfishing is a major international issue, and fish farming provides an alternative supply that takes pressure of wild and endangered fish resources.

    Five years ago Tassal had a market cap of $330 million and today this has grown to $525 million. Annual net profit has grown from $20 million to $33 million last June, and earnings per share from 16.4 cents to 22.8 cents. The latest half-year results strongly continue this trend with profit at $22 million and earnings per share at 15.3 cents.

    Dividends have done even better. In 2007-08 Tassal paid 6.5 cents per share unfranked. The latest running 12-month dividend is 10.5 cents. This is made up of 5 cents last September and 5.5 cents this March. This latest interim dividend is also, for the first time, 50 per cent franked, and the company says it expects the dividend to continue to grow.

    Tassal’s share price has doubled in the last year from $1.85 to around $3.60. This gives a current yield of about 2.9 per cent before the partial franking, perhaps suggesting the market thinks the company has more growth to come.

    Six years ago Tox Free Solutions was a WA-based company with plans to expand into the eastern states. Revenue was $20 million, net profit was $6 million, and earnings per share were 9 cents. It did not pay a dividend.

    The company has expanded dramatically through a combination of acquisitions and organic growth. By last year it had facilities in every state and territory except the ACT, revenue of $285 million, net profit of $13.6 million, and earnings per share of 11.5 cents.

    Importantly for investors, it has begun paying a regular and rising final dividend and, with this reporting season, an interim dividend. The rolling 12 month dividend is 8 cents per share fully franked. Over five years the share price has risen from $1.20 to $3.20. At this level the yield before franking is 2.5 per cent, which suggests the market still sees Tox as a growth stock.

    Conclusion

    I am not recommending the four stocks mentioned, but pointing them out as good places where the more conservative and income-focused investors can start their research into clean-techs.

    The stocks illustrate that the clean-tech sector has been growing and maturing with some strong positive developments even if these are sometimes overshadowed by the volatility at the speculative end of the clean-tech sector. At present, Eco Investor follows 17 listed securities and four unlisted securities that pay regular dividends.

    About the author

    Victor Bivell has been a magazine editor for 27 years. He is the founder and editor of Eco Investor magazine.

    From ASX

    ASX Investment videos are a great way to learn about latest investing trends and insights, from some of the market’s leading commentators.

    The views, opinions or recommendations of the author in this article are solely those of the author and do not in any way reflect the views, opinions, recommendations, of ASX Limited ABN 98 008 624 691 and its related bodies corporate (“ASX”). ASX makes no representation or warranty with respect to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the content. The content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Independent advice should be obtained from an Australian financial services licensee before making investment decisions. To the extent permitted by law, ASX excludes all liability for any loss or damage arising in any way including by way of negligence.

    © Copyright 2015 ASX Limited ABN 98 008 624 691. All rights reserved 2015.

  • NEVILLE, will you help end business in abuse? GET UP

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    NEVILLE, will you help end business in abuse?

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    Aurora – GetUp!
    8:56 PM (1 hour ago)
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    *Trigger warning – discussion of abuse*

    NEVILLE, GetUp members are coming together to stop corporations profiting from abuse. Will you join us? Find out more and add your name here: www.getup.org.au/nobusinessinabuse

    No Business In Abuse banner

    NEVILLE,

    Corporations are profiting from the abuse of asylum seekers. We need to hit them where it hurts – their bottom line.

    The Senate Inquiry into the detention centre on Nauru just released its final report,1 detailing a brutal system of abuse, paid for by the government and run by corporations.

    The report comes on the heels of last week’s reminder of just how cashed-up the violent detention business has become – Transfield Services, the contractor in charge of Australia’s offshore incarceration regime on Manus and Nauru, announced their annual revenue was $3.79 billion.2

    Much of that money is earned through the very system the Senate Inquiry investigated – one that sees brave men, women and children abused. People seeking asylum are imprisoned indefinitely, psychologically traumatised, beaten and raped.3 Clearly, though, the government doesn’t care – even before the Senate Inquiry released its report, Transfield Services was given a new 5 year contract to keep up their horrible work.4

    It’s a savage system, but its architects and profiteers forgot one thing: the strength of the Australian public, standing united as investors and consumers against corporations profiting from human suffering.

    We’ve got a plan to get these businesses out of abuse. GetUp members, their friends and family are going to give corporations like Transfield an ultimatum: clean up your act, or we’re pulling our financial and public support. If enough of us sign on, we’ll force companies like Transfield to end their toxic involvement in Australia’s detention camps. Click here to help bring down this abusive business model.

    As GetUp members know from our game-changing corporate campaigns to save the Reef and protect renewable energy, in the modern economy no corporation operates in a vacuum – and that gives us power. The network of money that keeps abuse in business is huge – but we’re at the centre of it. And that means we can turn it on its head.

    Transfield already knows how vulnerable it is. Two weeks ago one of Australia’s largest super funds – HESTA – dumped $23 million of its shares in the company, citing evidence of human rights abuses.5 Since then, the business headlines have been full of reports of other investors getting more and more worried, forcing Transfield to stop hiding behind the Government and deal with the issue itself. It’s the perfect moment for GetUp members to do what we do best – create unstoppable momentum. Together, we can push other businesses to follow HESTA’s lead, and begin to break the system that lets Transfield profit from abusing some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

    If enough of us publicly declare that we will not support businesses who finance or profit from abuse, we can bring the whole system tumbling down.

    To make this audacious plan work, we need to show corporate Australia just how many people are deeply committed to the decent treatment of people seeking asylum, whether it’s by organising in our local communities or moving our super funds away from harmful investments.

    GetUp members are signing on to say we will only give financial and public support to companies, institutions and organisations that refuse to support or profit from abusive practices towards people seeking asylum.

    Will you join us in this game-changing campaign, NEVILLE? Add your name here.

    In hope and determination,

    Aurora for the GetUp team

    PS. This audacious new approach will complement the crucial work that GetUp members already do campaigning against the terrible legislation that lands in Parliament with frightening regularity. Together, we’re strengthening our refugee and asylum seeker campaign, exploring new avenues to use our collective power to drive change. The national debate has stalled, and our major political parties are clearly too frightened to move. This campaign is the circuit breaker.

    Will you be a part of it? www.getup.org.au/nobusinessinabuse


    References
    [1] ‘Taking responsibility: conditions and circumstances at Australia’s Regional Processing Centre in Nauru’, Final Report, Select Committee on the Recent Allegations relating to Conditions and Circumstances at the Regional Processing Centre in Nauru, 31 August 2015
    [2] Transfield Services FY2015 Full Year Results, page 7
    [3] ‘Rapes, sexual assault, drugs for favours in Australia’s detention centre on Nauru: independent Moss review’, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 March 2015
    [4] ‘Transfield wins new contract to run offshore detention centres’, The Australian, 31 August 2015
    [5] ‘HESTA dumps Transfield citing detention centre abuses’, Sydney Morning Herald, 18 August 2015

  • How population growth can make us worse off KELVIN THOMPSON MP

     

     

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    How population growth can make us worse off

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    Ryan, Julie (K. Thompson, MP) <Julie.Ryan@aph.gov.au>
    		1:03 PM (1 hour ago)

    Dear Population Supporter Please find the link to a very interesting article by the economic journalist Ross Gittins ‘How population growth can make us worse off’. Two things in particular are worth noting:He points out that rising population growth equals falling productivity per person. So, when people say they want to improve productivity, they ought to support slowing population growthHe says politicians are always boasting about record government spending on this or that, but never make allowance for population growth. The Budget Papers, for example, don’t talk about GDP per person. What we should do is start talking about ‘population creep’ in the same way some economists talk about ‘bracket creep’ in relation to tax. We should demand that politicians, economists etc. talk about spending per capita, tax per capita, and so on. http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/how-population-growth-can-make-us-worse-off-20150704-gi57fx.html The Hon Kelvin ThomsonFederal Member for Wills

    to Julie

  • The Goods Line Central Station to Darling harbour

    The Goods Line

    The Goods Line

    The Goods Line urban renewal project opens up a new pedestrian and cycle network from Railway Square and Ultimo to Darling Harbour. It also set new benchmarks for public domain, having won an Australian Award for Urban Design 2014.

    The Goods Line North transforms a disused rail corridor running parallel with Harris Street and Darling Drive from the Ultimo Road rail underbridge to the end of Macarthur Street, Ultimo.
    The Goods Line creates a new urban hub and connects more than 80,000 tertiary students, locals and visitors to the many major attractions of Sydney’s much-loved Darling Harbour. The corridor features a series of elevated spaces or platforms which can be used for a variety of public entertainment, recreation, study and other activities. It further connects arts, education and cultural institutions along Sydney’s Cultural Ribbon.
    Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority commissioned the unique design from ASPECT Studios and CHROFI, that captures and interprets the original heritage corridor, state significant rail underbridge and signal box.

    It is a great new public space for pop-up events, invigorating and bringing new activity into the precinct.

    The Goods Line North is a stage of a larger project. The next stage will be to redesign The Goods Line South, which runs from Ultimo Road rail underbridge through to Railway Square. In total, the northern and southern sections will be approximately 500 metres long.

    Milestones achieved by the Authority:

    • Dec 2011: Appointed the Principal Consultant, ASPECT Studios
    • Feb 2012: Workshop held with key stakeholders
    • Jun 2012: Community Open Days held
    • Dec 2012: Lodged a Development Application with City of Sydney
    • Mar 2013: Development Application approved
    • Apr 2013: Value Management Workshop
    • Oct 2013: Tender advertised for the Principal Contractor
    • Mar 2014: Appointed the Principal Contractor, Gartner Rose
    • Jul 2014: Bridge Works Deed executed between SHFA and Sydney Trains, allowing works on the Ultimo Road rail underbridge
    • Aug 2014: Piling completed
    • Oct 2014: First precast concrete planks installed
    • Feb 2015: Opened the forecourt to UTS’s Chau Chak Wing building
    • Mar 2015: Began construction on the heritage listed and state significant Ultimo Road rail underbridge
    • Apr 2015: Mary Ann Street heritage culvert completed
    • May 2015: Darling Drive stairs opened
    • Aug 2015: The Goods Line North opens – see media release

     

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    Last update: Sunday 30 August 2015