Policy Update Volume 21: April to May 2016
This policy update provides a brief and general review of the most recent policies, strategies and initiatives announced in the lead up to the Federal election.
Month: June 2016
Client Brief – QCA’s Final Decision on Queensland Rail’s Draft Access Undertaking
On 10 June 2016, the QCA released its final decision on Queensland Rail’s (QR’s) draft access undertaking proposal (DAU), submitted in May 1015. This has been a lengthy process, having initially kicked off when QR submitted its initial DAU in March 2012 for an intended commencement date of June 2013. The QCA now requires that […]
Economic Modelling – how useful is it really?
There has been a lot of noise in the media of late about the lack of credibility of economic modelling. This debate was originally sparked by the release of ‘independent’ BIS Shrapnel modelling of the costs of negative gearing changes (which was roundly criticised by economists), but has continued with commentators seemingly lining up to […]
Where now with benchmarking?
In its recent decision in the Australian Competition Tribunal (‘the Tribunal’) has just delivered a serious blow to the Australian Energy Regulator’s (‘AER’) use of benchmarking to assess allowable revenues for electricity distributors. Their decision, was in response to an application for merits review of the AER 2015 decisions on the allowable revenues of NSW and […]
Client Brief – Port of Newcastle: ACT upholds Glencore’s appeal on decision to not declare channel services
On 31 May 2016, the Australian Competition Tribunal (the Tribunal) released its Decision to uphold Glencore’s appeal against the Commonwealth Treasurer’s January 2016 decision to not declare the channel services at the Port of Newcastle under the National Access Regime (NAR). The Tribunal has determined that all the declaration criteria have been satisfied.
Why it feels like a recession despite the growth
Figures released yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that real net national disposable income (NNDI) fell by 1.1% over the year. In per capita terms this equates to a whopping 2.4% decline in per capita incomes for every man, woman and child across the country.
Policy Update Volume 20: February to March 2016
The Federal and some State and Territory governments have released medium to long term infrastructure plans. These plans list proposed projects for roads, schools, hospitals, digital connectivity, water, energy, public transport, airports, ports, emergency services, and corrections. Projects are usually classified as immediate or long term priorities and some plans also discuss the funding and […]