THE Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has announced it would introduce a Wholesale Demand Response Mechanism (DRM).

The  DRM will pay large energy users, such as water treatment plants, if they reduce their energy use at times that benefit the energy system. Reducing demand during a heatwave, or when the output of generators is very low, can help keep the electricity system stable and lower energy bills for all energy users.

This reform will support the development of more demand response capacity in the National Electricity Market (NEM), and has long been advocated by a broad coalition consumer, environment and industry groups.

AEMC chief executive, Benn Barr, said, “We have considered requests to delay this reform, but we think the case for pressing forward is strongest because acting now will help keep the power system reliable and secure ahead of the 2021/22 summer. Despite COVID, we still need to keep prices down, keep the market working efficiently and work to lower emissions in the energy sector.”

Energy Efficiency Council CEO, Luke Menzel, said, "Kudos to the AEMC for pushing ahead with this crucial reform. And congratulations to the many passionate advocates that have driven this conversation over the last decade. The hard work has paid off, and resulted in a rule change that will deliver lower energy bills for everyday Australians.”

www.eec.org.au

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THE Indigenous Affairs Committee will hear from the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) and the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) at the first public hearing for its inquiry into food prices and food security in remote communities.

Committee chair Julian Leeser MP said that the Committee looked forward to discussing the current policy frameworks with these key agencies.

“As the national Indigenous policy agency, NIAA will play a central role in formulating the government’s approach to dealing with this issue,” Mr Leeser said. “The ANAO has conducted detailed audits of government activities and initiatives in remote food security. Both of these witnesses have valuable insights and expertise to bring to the inquiry.”

Public hearing details

Date: Thursday 11 June 2020
Time: 11.35am to 12.55pm

A full program will be available at the inquiry website.

Due to social distancing requirements at Parliament House, members of the public will not be permitted to attend the hearing. An audio broadcast will be accessible at https://www.aph.gov.au/Watch_Read_Listen.  

For more information about this inquiry, including its terms of reference, details of upcoming public hearings, and instructions on making a submission, please visit the Committee’s webpage.

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UNIVERSITY research projects and jobs are being given a vital boost with prominent early-stage venture capital fund Stoic Venture Capital increasing its investment in start-ups that are commercialising university inventions.

Stoic is bucking the trend of other venture capital funds that are backing away from university research and start-up companies because of heightened volatility and risk.

Stoic Venture Capital managing partner for investments, Geoff Waring said the impact of COVID-19 was exacerbating the short supply of early stage venture capital in Australia leaving universities unable to commercialise their innovations.

“Stoic presents universities with a critical source of seed stage capital to help transform their research into emerging companies,” Dr Waring said.

“This will ensure that many high potential university research projects can move out of the lab and into development or trials despite the impact of COVID-19.”

Stoic is an Early Stage Venture Capital Limited Partnership (ESVCLP) which gives investors rare access to disruptive companies not available elsewhere with added tax benefits.

Stoic’s team includes executive chairman of Atlas Advisors Australia and former chief executive officer of award-winning private bank Macquarie Private Bank Guy Hedley, executive director of Atlas Advisors Australia Fiona Zhuang and Dr Waring. 

“Our close partnership with university-backed investment fund Uniseed gives Stoic investors access to returns commensurate with the rich opportunities coming out of Australia’s top universities,” Dr Waring said.

“These leading universities produce some of the country’s highest potential technology addressing global unmet needs.

“Investing in unlisted start-ups via top performing venture capital funds presents higher long term returns than top fund managers in more established asset classes such as property, public equities or bonds. 

“It also offers diversification benefits with less exposure to market volatility and risk because of their lower correlation with traditional asset classes.”

Stoic’s portfolio of investments includes some of Australia’s most game-changing products in robotics, computer hardware, medicine, science, agritech and biotech.

These include Agerris (robotics), Aurtra (power management), Cardihab (telehealth), Certa (biotech), Ena Therapeutics (immunity enhancer), Exonate (eyedrops for macular degeneration), Ferronova (cancer diagnostic) Forcite Helmet Systems (motorcycle tech), Kinoxis (treating addiction), Nexgen Plants (genetics), PERKii (probiotic armour), Que Oncology (drug) and Wildlife Drones (tracking).

“These companies are potentially Australia’s future exporters that will help grow our economy, jobs and reward investors,” Dr Waring said.

About Stoic Venture Capital

Stoic Venture Capital provides financing for early-stage companies, particularly those arising from university research. Stoic is unconditionally registered as an ESVCLP and it takes a collaborative approach to investing in the highest potential companies.

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WEALTHY migrant investors could provide a vital source of funding to support universities and the return of international students, leading wealth manager Atlas Advisors Australia has claimed.

Atlas Advisors Australia executive chairman, Guy Hedley said universities, jobs and vital research projects were being unnecessarily put at peril because of a failure to look at smarter, more sustainable funding alternatives.

Mr Hedley said the Australian Government’s current review of the Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP) was an opportunity to enhance the economic and social outcomes of the program by directing more funds towards priority sectors such as universities.

“The complying investment framework of BIIP should be restructured to give priority to high net worth migrant investors who can provide a rich, long-term source of funding,” Mr Hedley said.

“Reopening applications under the BIIP could immediately unlock millions of dollars in available funds to support universities to recover and grow in a post-COVID-19 economy.”

Mr Hedley said revamping the BIIP complying investment framework to channel more funds towards critical research, positions and projects matched the strategic focus of universities and the Australian Government towards international education.

“The Australian Government and universities aim to increase the $37.6 billion contribution that international education made to the Australian economy last financial year,” Mr Hedley said.

“Wealthy migrant investors could play a greater role in making up for the loss of international students and strengthening the capabilities of our universities to build better ties to the rest of the world.

“It could also lead to more university endowments, another growing source of stable revenue.”

University-focused venture capital fund Stoic Venture Capital has united with Atlas Advisors Australia to call for greater funding under the BIIP for universities and venture capital.

Stoic Venture Capital managing partner for investments,Geoff Waring said the BIIP complying investment framework should be also revamped to increase funding for early stage venture capital and to assist the commercialisation of university innovation.

“Many Australian startups that could go on to become industry leaders have emerged from research conducted in university laboratories,” Dr Waring said. 

“Revamping the complying investment framework to prioritise capital constrained companies rather than to support more mature companies and assets reconfigures immigration policy to address the gaps in capital markets.”

About Atlas Advisors Australia

Atlas Advisors Australia is a leading funds manager and investment advisory business, operating between China and Australia, offering a wide range of financial services and wealth management solutions. With operations in Sydney and Melbourne in Australia and Shanghai in China, Atlas is able to support investors in China and Australia locations.

About Stoic Venture Capital

Stoic Venture Capital provides financing for early-stage companies, particularly those arising from university research. Stoic is unconditionally registered as an Early Stage Venture Capital Limited Partnership (ESVCLP), taking a collaborative approach to investing in the highest potential companies.

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SLATER AND GORDON has filed a class action against Commonwealth Bank, alleging the Big Four bank sold its customers junk credit card and personal loan insurance.

The class action, filed in the Federal Court, is the fourth in the #GetYourInsuranceBack campaign.

The Commonwealth Bank has admitted that these products were worthless, even though they were sold to hundreds of thousands of their customers, Slater and Gordon claimed.

During the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, it was revealed the bank’s CEO Matt Comyn, had pushed for the bank to stop selling the junk insurance in 2015. Mr Comyn was, however, told by the then CEO to “temper [his] sense of justice”, and the products continued to be sold until March 2018.

Existing policies, however, have simply been rolled over and many customers are continuing to be charged thousands of dollars in fees for the worthless products to this day.

Slater and Gordon practice group leader Andrew Paull said the class action gave a voice to those who were vulnerable and duped into buying worthless insurance. It would allow those customers to hold the bank to account for its wrongdoing.

Mr Paull said he hoped the class action would help the customers get their money back, while keeping corporate giants honest.

“A 2018 review of the Commonwealth Bank’s sale of consumer credit insurance products revealed that more than 200,000 people who were unemployed or not working full time had been sold this type of policy, meaning it was very unlikely they would have been able to claim against the insurance,” Mr Paull said.

“This is reprehensible behaviour by the bank, which has chosen to compensate only a negligible portion of its customers, despite their admission that they knew the insurance was worthless.

“This move to return only a small portion of its customers premiums seems to have been a tokenistic effort to protect the bank’s brand, rather than a genuine attempt to make good its past wrongdoing.

“Slater and Gordon is still being contacted by large numbers of Commonwealth Bank customers who should never have been sold the products, yet have never been remediated.”

Mr Paull called on the Commonwealth Bank to do the right thing and properly address the claims brought in this class action by ensuring that all aggrieved customers are compensated.

Slater and Gordon recently settled a class action against NAB for $49.5 million and is preparing to start distributing compensation in the coming month. The firm filed similar class actions against ANZ and Westpac earlier this year.

Consumers who purchased either Credit Card Plus, or Personal Loan Insurance and have paid a premium since 2010 may be included in the class action.

The class action is being run no-win, no-fee.

www.slatergordon.com.au

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THE Queensland Resources Council has repeated its call for the Palaszczuk Government to match the LNP Opposition commitment to a 10-year freeze on all resource royalties.

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the industry noted the Palaszczuk Government’s commitment today to a five-year freeze for new petroleum royalty arrangements, following its earlier commitment to freeze the rate and threshold for coal and metal royalties for three years.

“The government has recognised that stable royalties provide greater investment and employment certainty for the resources industry.  The LNP promised 12 months ago, if elected, it would stabilise royalties for 10 years,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“The resources sector has been paying more than $5 billion in royalties to the Queensland Government to reinvest in services and infrastructure for all Queenslanders.

“The role of the resources sector is even more important to Queensland with COVID-19’s impact across the state’s economy. The resources sector employs one in seven jobs in Queensland and it contributes more than $220 million to the State’s economy each week," he said.

“The last royalty increase, under the Newman Government in 2012, compounded the regional impact of a global downturn in commodity prices and led to a significant reduction in resource investment and jobs.

“QRC welcomes the use of actual sales rather than an index for calculating gas royalties and the lower rates the model will offer for domestic production.”

Mr Macfarlane said QRC would have preferred the Queensland Government to continue dialogue with the gas industry to better inform the development of the new petroleum royalty arrangements.

“QRC will continue to work with its gas members to ensure the government’s new royalty arrangements are workable and do not detract from their planned investment and employment, particularly in the COVID-19 recovery,” he said.

www.qrc.org.au

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THE CARAVAN Industry Association of Australia has identified a strong, sustainable surge in caravan park visits and occupancy.

Caravan Industry Association of Australia CEO Stuart Lamont said over the weekend many Australians were once again able to explore "our great country".  For many residents, this was the first taste of overnight freedom in months and fell over the Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend in some states.  

Weekly accommodation data for the Caravan Industry indicates a strong resurgence is already taking place, highlighting the rapid uptake and potential to lead the path to recovery for the regional Australia visitor economy.

Cabin occupancy around Australia increased by 61 percent last week, compared with the week previous. This was on the back of a lifting of restrictions in many states with NSW seeing the largest week-to-week increase of 185 percent. Victoria also saw a more than doubling of cabin occupancy, up 105 percent. These two states were assisted with a long weekend.

South Australia was the national leader in terms of cabin occupancy, a 42 percent increase from the previous week – noting that intrastate travel restrictions had eased earlier in South Australia.

Powered site occupancy around Australian caravan parks increased by 109 percent  last week, compared with the week previous. NSW saw a quadrupling in occupancy which led all states, with Victoria seeing a 150 percent increase. In a similar fashion to cabins, South Australia topped the states with occupancy for powered sites (31%) exceeding for the week beginning June 1.

Mr Lamont said, “As anticipated, movement of Australians getting back out on the road has begun and is gaining quick momentum again.

“Whilst many Australians still care to dream and are desiring a local getaway our caravan parks and amazing camping ground options are plentiful and are attracting many of us to hit the road. Coming from ground zero, this early data shows real green-shoots are occurring in caravanning which is now driving our tourism industry forward,” Mr Lamont said

“Travel intention remains high, with 80 percent of Caravan Industry Association of Australia’s consumer audience indicating they would like to take a trip in the next two months.”

"Caravan and camping holidays are a fun and safe way to reconnect with friends and family, nature, and the wonderful country we live in.  They also act as the lifeblood for many regional communities throughout the country."

www.caravanindustry.com.au

The Caravan Industry Association of Australia is the peak body for caravanning and camping industry, a $23.3 billion industry that manufactures 23,000 vehicles per annum, services over 700,000 vehicles on the road, generates 12 million trips and creates 60 million visitor nights across the country.

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NEW INDEPENDENT modelling from corporate energy adviser Schneider Electric highlights the need for the Queensland Government to plan for a smooth, well managed transition from coal to wind, solar and hydro power. 

The report by Schneider Electric, revealed by Fairfax media today,  highlights  that Queensland's coal power plants will soon become uneconomic to run, as they are pushed out of the market by  cheaper, cleaner, renewable energy. 

The privately owned Gladstone power plant is likely to be the first Queensland coal plant to close earlier than expected, possibly as soon as 2025 according to UBS utilities analyst Tom Allen. 

Queensland Conservation Council urges the State Government not to drag their heels any longer on making solid plans for replacing the six state government owned coal fired power plants, and ensuring that workers have secure, quality jobs to go to, and communities are supported through the transition

Closing and replacing coal power stations with clean energy will create new opportunities and will mean a brighter future for Queensland, the council said.

According to the council, with the average cost of electricity from large scale solar plants in Australia falling dramatically – by a claimed 78 percent between 2010 and 2019 – the path to future prosperity for the state is clear.

"We need to stop relying on dirty fossil fuels and move rapidly towards renewable energy," Queensland Conservation Council director, Louise Matthiesson said. "The transition to a clean, renewable future is both essential and possible. 

"Burning coal has no long-term future for our economy, our health or our environment. Queensland is rich in clean energy resources – including sun and wind – that power new forms of renewable energy. 

 “It’s well beyond time for our politicians to take positive action in the energy arena and replace outdated coal power with cheaper, cleaner renewables,” Ms Matthiesson said. “A well-planned transition to clean, renewable energy can provide Queenslanders with a better, safer future.”

About Queensland Conservation Council

Queensland Conservation Council is a leading independent voice for the environment in Queensland. The council's mission is to protect Queensland’s landscapes, wildlife and climate, conserve its precious natural resources and make the state's businesses and communities more sustainable. Queensland Conservation Council is the state’s peak body for Queensland’s environmental movement, representing over 50 community environment groups across the state. 

www.queenslandsconservation.org.au

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