THE Australian Taxpayers' Alliance, which claims to be the nation’s largest grassroots advocacy group representing taxpayers, today announced they are accepting donations through bitcoin in a move to give their supporters more financial privacy.

“The world is naturally moving away from traditional cash transactions and the government has threatened to begin restricting the use of cash. But Australians still have a right to privacy, something big banks don’t afford their customers,” ATA policy director, Emilie Dye said.

“Many don’t want the government, their banks, and their friends knowing how they spend, and how they give their hard earned money. We are giving our supporters another option to feel more secure.

“In the modern social-media driven world, data is one of the most precious commodities we hold. Banks shouldn’t get information about your spending habits without anything in return. Bitcoin, like cash, competes with big banks and credit card companies forcing them to do better," Ms Dye said.

“Many have begun to worry Australia will see negative interest rates. Aussies should have have a variety of viable saving and spending options instead of relying on corporate banks which are notorious for charging high fees.

“The tide is moving in the direction of cryptocurrency. We are getting on board by offer our supporters the option to use bitcoin when they donate.”

www.taxpayers.org.au

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THE Australian Export Tourism Council (ATEC) has welcomed Tourism Australia’s innovative new campaign targeting UK visitors which draws on the strengths of one of the country's 'national treasures': actor and singer Kylie Minogue.

“Australia has had a long and strong connection with visitors from the UK and the new ‘Matesong’ campaign will help to strengthen that bond,” ATEC managing director Peter Shelley said.

“Putting Australia in front of the British audience at a time when everyone is watching is a masterstroke in timing that will provide great exposure for our destination.

“We have so many assets -- from our beaches to our wildlife, our food and wine -- and TA’s latest campaign featuring the much loved Kylie Minogue uses one of our great human assets to remind Brits of our strong connection," Mr Shelley said.

“The UK remains one of our largest spending markets and despite a softening which has coincided with the Brexit uncertainty, it will continue to be a valuable source for our industry in the coming decade.
 
“This campaign will remind Brits they can retreat from the cold of the English winter and the turmoil of political uncertainty to our ‘sun drenched’ destination where they are always warmly welcomed.”

www.tourismdrivesgrowth.com.au

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HOUSES in southeast Queensland are enjoying higher demand and improved capital growth as buyer confidence rises.

According to the latest RiskWise Property Research Risks & Opportunities Report, housing finance in Queensland is showing signs of improvement with an increase of 16.9 percent since February 2019 after a reduction of 7.7 percent relative to August 2018.

However, according to RiskWise CEO Doron Peleg, at this stage only modest (i.e. 3-5%) price growth is expected with the likelihood for strong (i.e. double digits) price increase low.

Mr Peleg said while the Sydney and Melbourne markets were experiencing continued (while improving) issues in relation to housing unaffordability, southeast Queensland enjoyed a more stable market, good population growth and healthy rental returns, making it attractive to both home buyers and property investors.

However, he said while houses were enjoying a resurgence in demand, this was not the case for units.

“Units in Queensland, particularly in high-supply areas and other places where the demand for units is consistently low (and houses enjoy strong popularity as a dwelling alternative), also carry a higher level of risk,” he said.

“One of the reasons for this is because the demand for units among owner-occupiers is low.

“Also, in addition to APRA’s lending restrictions, units in some suburbs are also subject to voluntary lending restrictions by major lenders, such as lower loan-to-value ratio due to oversupply.

“Units in inner-city Brisbane have the highest level of risk with a very large number of properties in the pipeline and increased rates of defaults for those bought off-the-plan. In fact, many areas with oversupply have been labelled 'danger zones' by lenders and also have low sales volumes.”

Mr Peleg said with many of these over-supply areas also presenting a major financing barrier due to requirements for large deposits, in particular off-the-plan units, there was a high level of risk that should be further assessed based on the absorption of the current supply into the market in the next two years and the reduction in commencements.

He said the impact in the short to medium term would be gradually mitigated by a reduction in these dwelling commencements alongside strong population growth.

Mr Peleg noted that the Queensland market greatly varied between high and low-performing areas and special attention should be given to the different job markets across the state, particularly since the unemployment rate had risen from 5.9 percent in April to 6.5 percent in October.

“This is especially the case in the mining towns in Central and North Queensland, that generally experience low demand, versus houses in popular beachside suburbs on the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast that have delivered strong capital growth,” he said.

“It is important to remember that a softer employment market is well connected with low population growth, lower demand for dwellings and price reductions.

“The risk associated with the Queensland market should be monitored closely at the SA4 level, as deteriorating employment conditions are likely to have a significant negative impact on dwelling prices.

“The mining towns still present a relatively higher investment risk due to a very large proportion of investors with negative equity and insufficient growth drivers since the end of the boom.”

www.riskwiseproperty.com.au

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MACQUARIE Telecom Group Limited (ASX: MAQ) has entered into an agreement with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to provide Secure Internet Gateway (SIG) and cyber security services estimated to be worth approximately $20 million over the initial three-year term.

The Secure Internet Gateway is a critical service to securely manage the connection between the ATO’s IT environments and the internet, protecting the ATO’s IT environments from security threats.

The deal will leverage Macquarie’s Australian 24x7 Security Operations Centre (SOC), its sovereign data centres and its ASD-certified cloud computing platforms. Services will commence in 2020.

Aligned with its ongoing investment in its Government business, Macquarie will invest in upgrading its whole-of-government Secure Internet Gateway to support this deal and introduce the latest cyber security technology for all its Government customers.

Total Group Capex, excluding IC3 East, is now expected to be between $61m-$64m for FY20.

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