The Federal Government has said it will not respond to the Henry Tax review until early next year, according to Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan.
In an interview with reporters yesterday, Swan said once again he would not address any speculation regarding the report and noted a response would occur next year.
“The Henry Review is not yet with the Government. And as I’ve said on so many occasions, there will be speculation about what may or may not be in the Henry Review. There will be speculation about what the Government may accept or may not accept in the Henry Review, and I expect to see a lot more of this in the days and weeks ahead.”
“But we have not received the Henry Review. It is too early for people to speculate about what may be or not be in the Henry Review. We will receive that review soon. We will deal with it early next year.”
Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted estimate for total sales of new motor vehicles increased by 5.5% during October to November, and is up by 15.8% when compared to November 2008, the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal.
The figures show all vehicle types increased in sales, with sports utility vehicles up by 13.9%, other vehicles by 9% and passenger vehicles by 1.2%.
Sales increased for seven out of eight states or territories, with NT recording the largest percentage increased at 13.2%, followed by VIC and NSW at 7.5% and 5.7% respectively.
Shares open higher after good week on Wall Street
The Australian sharemarket has opened 0.5% higher today after good leads from Wall Street and positive performances on equities markets.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 30 points or 0.66% to 4681.1 at 12.00 AEST, while the Australian Dollar increased slightly to US89c.
Commonwealth Bank shares increased 0.2% to $52.98, while ANZ lose 0.3% to $21.27. Westpac lost 0.2% to $23.45 as NAB gained 1.8% to $26.45.
Qantas has announced an expectation of before-tax profit of between $50 million and $150 million for the first half of the 2009-10 financial year.
The company has said in a statement that both passenger volumes and yields have improved, but economic volatility is still persistent.
“High levels of volatility in the economic outlook, industry capacity, passenger demand, fuel prices and exchange rates continue”, the statement read. The company has said revenue was four percentage points higher than in 2009 at 82.3% for the month, while total domestic yield excluding foreign exchange for the financial year to November fell by 8.9%.
International operations including Qantas and Jetstar International recorded a 23.2% fall in yield, while the company has said it hedged 85% of expected fuel requirement in the 2010 financial year at a worst-case oil price of $US88 per barrel.
Qantas shares have jumped over 4% as a result of the announcement to $2.87.
RHG Group in breach of loan covenant
Home loan lender RHG Group, known as the Rams Home Loans Group, has been found in breach of a $324 million loan covenant by the NSW Supreme Court – resulting in a cross default of $2.53 billion.
“In addition to the potential loss of future income of $47 million there is potentially $26.8 million of RHG’s cash used as credit enhancement at risk,” RHG said in a statement. The lender’s shares have dropped by 11% this morning as a result.
Noteholders in Centro Shopping Centre Securities have agreed to extend five loans totalling $370 million, which were scheduled to mature in December 2009.
“The support from CMBS noteholders to extend the facilities demonstrates a degree of renewed confidence from the CMBS market in Australian retail property and the quality of centres owned by Centro funds, ” chief executive Glenn Rufrano said in a statement.
As reported in The Australia, The Commonwealth Bank will pull out of finance operations in Malta due to problems with tax planning and the complexities involved in the structure of the deals.
Sources have told the paper the bank has begun winding down its operations, and that some finance staff are now considering their next moves.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
