THE ACCC will not oppose the proposed $6.6 million acquisition by Cabcharge Australia Limited (ASX:CAB) of Mobile Technologies International Pty Ltd (MTI).

MTI is the most widely used provider of taxi dispatch systems to taxi networks in Australia.

The ACCC found that it was unlikely that the acquisition would result in Cabcharge supplying inferior dispatch systems or withholding technology features from rival networks.

“Alternative dispatch system providers are available in Australia and the threat of network switching is likely to provide sufficient constraint on Cabcharge,” ACCC chair Rod Sims said.

The ACCC also investigated concerns that Cabcharge could put rivals at a competitive disadvantage by accessing the dispatch data of competing networks through the MTI system.

“Cabcharge is unlikely to be able to substantially lessen competition through any use of the data. Because of the threat of networks switching to alternative providers, we consider Cabcharge is unlikely to use the data to harm its competitors,” Mr Sims said.

The ACCC also considered whether Cabcharge could harm rival providers of taxi dispatch systems and payment systems by bundling the supply of the MTI dispatch system with its payment terminal.

“It is unlikely that Cabcharge would engage in anti-competitive bundling, as this would risk degrading its payment processing business. Further, drivers generally have another payment terminal available in their vehicles,” Mr Sims said.

Cabcharge is an ASX-listed company that provides services, including booking and dispatch services and taxi network services to its network-affiliated taxi operators and drivers.

Cabcharge does not have its own dispatch technology and uses MTI’s taxi dispatch system and equipment to provide booking and dispatch services to taxis in its network.

MTI is a privately owned Australian company that provides technology for the processing, management and distribution of bookings to the taxi industry.

Further information is available at Cabcharge Australia Limited - proposed acquisition of Mobile Technologies International Pty Ltd.

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A REPORT from the Gonksi Institute for Education at UNSW Sydney released on Monday calculates that Australia could add more than $50 billion to its annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by improving educational outcomes for students in regional, rural and remote areas of the country.

The Economic Impact of Improving Regional, Rural & Remote Education in Australia – Closing the Human Capital Gap Report shows there is a $56 billion difference in earnings potential between rural, remote and regional students and their urban counterparts. 

To put the figure in perspective, $56 billion is larger than the contribution of the entire Australian tourism industry and four times the size of the Australian beef industry.

The report is the first major analysis from the Gonski Institute for Education, which was officially launched during an event on Monday. Based in the UNSW Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the Institute brings together scholars, policy-makers and practitioners to conduct research that will help improve academic and well-being outcomes particularly for disadvantaged students and those who live in rural and remote Australia. 

Adrian Piccoli, director of the Gonski Institute for Education, said it is widely acknowledged that closing the attainment gap is an educational and social imperative and the report further bolsters the argument by quantifying enormous financial gains. 

“The typical policy approach to improving economic growth, increasing employment opportunities and improving the standard of living in regional Australia is characterised by major investments from governments into regional infrastructure like roads, rail and hospitals,” Mr Piccoli said. “These investments are welcome, but the huge economic effect of investment in education is often underestimated and undervalued.” 

The report, led by UNSW Economics professor Richard Holden, analysed 2017 NAPLAN test scores to measure the educational attainment gap between nonurban and urban students. Using comparable data from the United States measuring differences in educational attainment and the earnings gap between black and white students, researchers scaled Australian results proportionally to determine that the earnings gap between rural, remote and regional Australia compared with urban Australia due to differences in human capital formation is 18.3 percent. 

Prof. Holden then mapped the result into economic outcomes by observing how much of economic output is earnt by labour, as opposed to other factors of production.

In Australia, this is currently 57 percent, according to ABS figures. Applying the share of the population living in rural and regional areas in Australia (31.5%) equals an economic gap attributable to differences in human capital of 3.3 percent of GDP. This implies that closing one-third of the gap between rural-remote-regional and urban human capital attainment would increase Australian GDP by 1.1 percent or $18.5 billion. Fully closing the gap represents a $55.5 billion GDP improvement.

Prof. Holden said the report’s findings are conservative as there is also a multiplier effect throughout the economy from increased productivity and wages.

“This report highlights the potential benefits to closing the urban and non-urban education gap, while also pointing to the types of interventions that need to be taken to do so,” Prof. Holden said.

“These are only the direct effects, on wages, of closing the human capital gap. There are important spill-overs in addition to this, such as improvements in physical and mental health and enrichment of communities.”

A copy of the report will be available at https://education.arts.unsw.edu.au/about-us/gonski-institute-for-education/research-and-policy-reports/

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THE Industry, Innovation, Science and Resources Committee will hold a public hearing in Canberra on Wednesday, 24 October 2018 as part of its inquiry into mining sector support for regional businesses.

The committee will meet with the Minerals Council of Australia, the industry body representing many major mining companies, to discuss ways the mining industry can contribute more to the communities where resources are extracted.

“There’s a lot more mining companies could be doing to help the regions,” said Committee Chair, Barnaby Joyce MP.

“This might be through increasing local procurement and employment, investing in training and skill development, and providing fair payment terms.”

Origin Energy will also be giving evidence at the hearing.

Public hearing details: 10:45am to 12pm, Wednesday, 24 October 2018, Committee Room 1R3, Parliament House, Canberra.

The hearing will be broadcast live at www.aph.gov.au/live

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THE Health, Aged Care and Sport Committee today presented its Report on the Inquiry into the Quality of Care in Residential Aged Care Facilities in Australia. The inquiry examined the delivery and regulation of the current aged care system and the prevalence of mistreatment.

The Committee Chair, Trent Zimmerman MP, stated that "while many Australians experience high quality aged care, the community is justifiably concerned about the many examples of abuse and mistreatment that have been exposed through recent inquiries and reporting".

"Our Committee received submissions from many residents and family members which outlined harrowing examples of mistreatment. This is not good enough for a nation like Australia," Mr Zimmerman said.

"Australia’s population is ageing, which will inevitably lead to more demand for residential aged care places. It is vital that there is an aged care system in place which has the confidence of consumers, is able to respond to changing expectations of care, and which responds effectively to any instance of mistreatment.’

"As the inquiry was nearing its end, the Australian Government announced a Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. The Committee has welcomed this announcement and other recent government measures to improve the provision of aged care services.

"At the same time, the Committee considers that the Royal Commission should not delay the implementation of improvements recommended in this Report and other recent reviews," Mr Zimmerman said.

The report made 14 recommendations, including:

• The development of national guidelines for the Community Visitors Scheme, including policies related to observed or suspected abuse or neglect;
• A review of the Aged Care Funding Instrument to ensure it is providing for adequate levels of care, is indexed annually and includes for penalty breaches;
• A Medicare Benefits Schedule review of medical practitioner visits to residential aged care facilities;
• That one Registered Nurse is always on site in residential aged care facilities; monitoring and reporting on the correlation between standards of care and staffing mixes;
• An independent review and parliamentary inquiry into the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission after two years of operation;
• Ensuring that unannounced visits by regulators to residential aged care facilities are not confined to business hours;
• Amending the Aged Care Act 1997 to limit and place conditions on the use of restrictive practices in residential aged care facilities; and
• Making information regarding the number of complaints and complainants at individual aged care facilities available on the My Aged Care website.

The Report is available at: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Health_Aged_Care_and_Sport/AgedCareFacilities/Report

Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the http://www.aph.gov.au/health.

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