Professional services organization the Goal Group has predicted that the number of securities class actions in Australia was about to rise significantly, after they opened their first Australian office in Melbourne.
This comes after Maurice Blackburn announced their class action against each of the big banks over credit card charges.
Andreas Costi predicted last week that securities class actions, which had been averaging 11 a year, would rise to approximately 20 following the entrant of a new and aggressive specialist law firm ACA.
Goal has estimated that more than $31.5 billion of withholding tax is deducted globally each year and that its products and services facilitate the recovery of about $11.5 billion of that. However, there is still about $10.6 billion left unclaimed by its rightful owners.
The Goal global class action service supports corporates and institutions such as superannuation funds, fund managers and custodians that have suffered financial loss from owning shares in a company where there has been mismanagement or unlawful behaviour.
Goal, which started life in 1989 in the UK as an investment technology company, is now one of the world’s major providers of securities class action outsourcing services and global withholding tax reclamation services.
Home building company owner Michael Arthurs has lost his attempt to sue investors over a building contract breach, while also being forced to remove his caveat over the land in question.
Arthurs, owner of MJ Arthurs Pty Ltd, was suing Peter and Leonie Heaysman for terminating the purchase contract when he was seeking the $15,000 build deposit.
However it was revealed in court that financial planning group Optima Wealth Solutions did not notify Mr and Mrs Heaysman in time for them to know about any building contract, which was already countersigned by Mr Arthurs. The court found the Heaysmans’ were within their rights to terminate the contract as it was within the 5 day withdrawal window.
It was originally Optima Wealth Solutions who signed up Mr and Mrs Heaysman to the package purchase which was settled in June, but after a break down in relations between Optima and Arthurs the builder made the call requiring the buyers front with the $15,000 build deposit.
The court upheld the Heaysman’s termination of the original contract and order Mr Arthurs to pay Mr and Mrs Heaysman’s legal costs.
Anja in her element at Flowers of the World on Grey St
South Bank business owner Anja Van Goor is a strong supporter of small business, with her Grey Street florist and café sourcing and stocking local produce.
As Queensland prepares to celebrate Buy locally Saturday on 6 September, Ms Van Goor said she supports local business as part of the company’s sustainable business philosophy.
She said the majority of her stock at Flowers of the World was produced in or around south-east Queensland, particularly the Lockyer Valley.
“We only buy locally produced seasonal flowers,” Ms Van Goor said. “One of our suppliers from Warwick has been growing roses for 25 years.”
Buy locally Saturday is part of the Queensland Government’s 2014 Queensland Small Business Week, which runs from 1-6 September.
Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games, the Honourable Jann Stuckey MP, said “Buy locally Saturday is about supporting local small businesses and boosting the local economy.”
“I encourage all business owners to get involved in this great campaign.
Ms Van Goor said the café also reflected the business philosophy, which was to be sustainable, organic and support local produce.
“I have been working with local producers to reduce the use of chemicals since 1998, 14 years after I first opened the shop in Brisbane’s CBD”, Ms Van Goor said.
“What I find is that small business that works with passion, works,” Ms Van Goor said.
She said small business faced multiple challenges, and welcomes this support from the Queensland Government.
Anja hosts Sustainable Drinks on the third Friday of every month from 6:00pm. Meet like-minded business owners at 176 Grey St, South Brisbane
The Stafford by-election swing of over 18% against the LNP conveyed a dramatic message. The public has had enough of the extreme decisions of the Newman government. This brings sharper focus to Campbell Newman’s “cash for legislation” deal with North Stradbroke sand miner Sibelco.
Following the deal, the Newman government spread misinformation to the media over its November 2013 amendments to North Stradbroke Island sand mining legislation.
An absence of fact checking by the media led to false reports that sand mining had already been extended to 2035. In the public interest, these require correction. Some media outlets have begun to make corrections.
If the Newman amendments are not repealed, the financial benefit to Sibelco,the privately owned Belgian mining company, could be $1.5 Billionby its own reckoning – see Jackie Trad.com.au – stop sandmining Straddie. But contrary to media reporting, an extension of mining at the Enterprise sand mine to 2035 (or 2027, as Sibelco previously sought) is not scheduled to occur until 2019. This is because relevant mining leases do not expire until 31 December, 2019.
In a revised article titled “Clive Palmer, Jeff Seeney and Campbell Newman’s Straddie donation”, published by the online newspaper Independent Australia.net, highly respected barrister Stephen Keim SC recently agreed that Sibelco cannot apply to extend the time frame for sand mining until 2019.
Parliament can repeal the Newman amendments at any time before 2019. That is likely to occur without a change of government, if the native title owners win their High Court action for a declaration that he Newman amendments are invalid under the Australian constitution.
The Newman government has misled the media and the public into believing that sand mining has already been extended to 2035 to quell dissent from the many who want to see the Queensland icon protected. If people think the extension has already occurred, maybe they will think it’s a waste of time talking about repealing the Newman amendments?
The reality is that even if the native title challenge to the validity of the amendments fails, if the LNP is voted out before 2019, the Newman amendments can be repealed by a future parliament. No compensation would be payable to Sibelco. Section 6 of the North Stradbroke Island Protection and Sustainability Act specifically rules out compensation.
This would not be an unjust result. Sibelco purchased the mine in 2009 knowing that a key mining lease had expired in 2007 and had not been renewed. It was also aware that under the State’s expired lease laws there were legal obstacles to renewal of expired North Stradbroke mining leases. It also knew that there was significant opposition from indigenous owners, environment groups and others.
The Fraser Island Inquiry in 1976 concluded that sand mining causes “major, permanent and irreversible environmental harm.” The Federal government accepted the findings and ended sand mining on Fraser almost immediately. The Bjelkie-Petersen government’s request for a two year transition was rejected.
Stradbroke’s future clearly depends upon its natural environment being protected. It is remarkable that Campbell Newman, with a straight face, can talk about a so called ‘transition’ away from mining of 22 years when 40 years ago Joh Bjelkie Petersen would have settled for 2 years for Fraser Island !
Richard Carew is a city-based lawyer and active member of Friends of Stradbroke Island
This is the best ‘SuperMoon’ in ages joined in the night sky buy the annual Perseids meteor shower
Get ready for a ‘supermoon’ on Monday 11 August. The supermoon is a rare sight that doesn’t happen very often but when it does you’ll want to make sure you’re outside of your house and ready to check out just how breathtakingly beautiful it looks in the night sky.
A ‘Super Moon’ occurs at the time in the moon’s orbit when it’s closest to Earth. Not only will the moon be full, it will also look slightly larger and much brighter when rising early evening . If you’re going fishing watch for ‘King Tides.’ This will be the closest full moon of 2014!
Now, this week’s coming Supermoon will face off against everyone’s favourite meteor shower, the Perseids, and the outcome could be spectacular. People are already seeing fireballs which peaks overnight on August 12th and early dawn August 13. Look eastward anytime after midnight from any part of Australia.
Generally, this is a good shower for beginners with estimates of dozens of meteors per hour. As with all showers, the best time for viewing will be from around 3am until an hour before sunrise.
Download the ‘Fireballs in the Sky’ app now. Developers have created an easy to use app for iOS and Android users. As well as reporting detailed meteor sightings, the app also keeps you up to date with the latest images, news and announcements from the Desert Fireball Network project. www.fireballsinthesky.com.au
Meteor showers originate from leftover fragments of comets and asteroids. Comets that travel through the sun leave dust behind, and when the Earth passes through that debris, those remnants clash with the atmosphere, disintegrate, and generate colourful, sparkling streaks.
I bet you didn’t know space rocks, or meteorites, could burn. Well, they can and they do! Police, emergency services and radio stations always get phone calls from people thinking they were distress flares being shot into the sky or returning space junk that might hit their house.
The rocks often appear as green lights as they burn heading towards earth. They come in at between 30 and 60 kilometres a second. Just think about that! No wonder they burn, the friction sets them ablaze and we see them streak across the night sky. Don’t forget the name, they’re called ‘fireballs,’ not meteors which are much smaller.
What exactly are meteor showers? Well, they’re basically the tail ends of comets. As comets orbit the Sun, they shed an icy, dusty debris stream along the comet’s orbit. If Earth travels through this stream, we will see a meteor shower.
Meteorites look pretty when they fall but you know, there’s money in space rocks. Many stony iron meteorites contain extremely valuable Platinum group metals with grades 10 to 20 times higher than available here on Earth!
The resources of the solar system are essentially infinite, and they’re just waiting for us to use. Heck, we just found an exoplanet that may be half diamond but for now it’s back down to earth. Want some free stuff? Head on over to my website www.davidreneke.com and download a whole range of fact sheets and free e-books on astronomy.
David Reneke is an astronomy writer, lecturer, broadcaster and media personality. Get David’s free astronomy newsletter and a free 323 page e-book called ‘The Complete Idiots Guide To Astronomy. Visit the webpage: www.davidreneke.com
Tigers may be rare in Australia, but there are a growing number in Queensland…small business tigers that is.
Minister for Small Business, Jann Stuckey, said ‘small business tigers’ were those small operations that expected to see their revenue grow substantially over the next 12 months.
“Research conducted by DBM Consultants shows that Queensland has proportionally 50% more small business tigers than the other states,” Ms Stuckey said.
“Tigers account for 12% of all small businesses, 14% of the dollars earned in Queensland, and employ 13% of the workforce, the Queensland Government but they are growing fast. They are three times more likely to employ more staff in the next 12 months.
“These small enterprises really hold their own right across the board. They are less fazed by the current economic environment, more focused on managing cash flow, finding suitable staff, assessing the best ways to manage their expansion and have great capacity to finance the growth of their business.”
The Queensland Government is working to make it easier for small business to succeed through the Small Business Strategy and Action Plan 2013-2015.
“This is the first coordinated plan for small business in recent years, and supports the growth of small businesses that are competitive, create jobs and contribute to building a robust and diversified economy,” Ms Stuckey said.
“The upcoming 2014 Queensland Small Business Week, running from 1 to 6 September, will be an opportunity to put the spotlight on small business tigers.
<link>For more information visit business.qld.gov.au/smallbusinessweek
<caption tiger.jpg>Business tigers show speed, intelligence and success.
