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CONTENTS
who/what/where
carbon issue
6
Phone up:
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AUGUST 2011 | $4.95 (GST INC.)
Business Times / ISSUE 16 / AUGUST 2011
FRANKSTON / MORNINGTON PENINSULA / DANDENONG
Carbon
essentials, comments & impact
10
MANAGEMENT BENCHMARKING (OR STEALING THE BEST FROM THE REST)
Copper recoil:
MARKETS
IT ISSUES
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Features
BUSINESS & LEISURE: Frankston | Mornington Peninsula | Dandenong
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Carbon tax to change nature of business
HOW TO ASK FOR A PAY RISE: P14
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LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Design starts on civic centre GREATER Dandenong Council has named Newpolis Pty Ltd – trading as Lyons – as preferred tenderer to design the new $64.1 million civic centre and library in the city’s heart. Council will buy the site on the corner of Lonsdale and Walker Streets from VicUrban for the municipal building comprising a library, council administration office and a civic square. Engineering Services director Bruce Rendell said design work was to begin in July with construction starting in July next year. The expected completion date is the first half of 2014. Council’s Clow Street customer service centre site, including the Stuart Street car park, will be re-developed once a new multi-deck is provided for the Dandenong Market. The development will include market expansion, multi-deck car parking and high density housing. Pioneer Park will remain in its current location, Rendell said. Council’s evaluation panel recommended Lyons as councils preferred tenderer because
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they received “an excellent non-price score and Lyons also submitted the lowest priced tender. Council said Lyons had “an excellent track record in Australia of designing iconic and award-winning public buildings”. “They have completed numerous significant buildings in the commercial, education and public sector including the award winning Hume City Council Offices,” the panel stated.
Shire to raise $114m Mornington Peninsula Shire Council will raise $114.4 million in rates and charges to help finance its 2011-12 budget. $91.2 million of the total will be raised from the general land rate of 0.20167 cents in the dollar of Capital Improved Value. Rates on vacant residential, commercial and industrial property will be 0.24200 cents in the dollar of CIV, while agricultural properties will be charged a lower rate, 0.06050 cents in the dollar of CIV. The municipal charge of $150 on each rateable will raise $14.1 million. Council says the charge covers some of the shire’s administrative costs.
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NEWS
City lights up
n Bizzquiz
THE facade of Frankston’s ugly duckling Peninsula Centre will be lit up this month in an attempt to draw people out after dark to see the building brought to life. Frankston City council hopes the $60,000 lighting ‘performance’ by Bluebottle Lighting Designers will “spark an ongoing mid winter festival like the successful arts projection projects in Dandenong. Bluebottle is basing the lighting show on the theme of ‘bringing the building to life’. The intention is to create interest and curiosity and make the building look ‘surreally inhabited’. Council stated it wants to make the CAD “a vibrant, interesting and safe place for the Frankston community”. An additional $52,000 is available during the 2011/12 financial year to develop a further lighting exhibition.
Mark Dunsford, of Financial Services Partners, played top level cricket and football on the Mornington Peninsula. He played senior cricket at Pines, helping win three provincial flags. Played sub district cricket at Frankston and district cricket with St Kilda in the early 1980s under Shaun Graf and Gary Cosier. Returned to the peninsula to coach Frankston in sub-district. Also captaincoached Pines in provincial cricket. Mark played senior football for Pines from 1976 to 1988 playing in nine grand finals in 13 years and winning five. He also played VFA first division football at Frankston, under Mike Patterson back in the old 16-a- side VFA days.
more time travelling on my boat Our business planning entails… macro and micro issues. Tip for success… always say please and ‘thank-you; don’t be late; delegate; treat people as you would like to be treated. I am inspired by… Craig Bellamy [Manchester City striker Welsh international]. President of Frankston Little Athletics for five years, describing it as “one of the most fulfilling sporting experiences I have had”. I dreamed of being… a Melbourne premiership captain. My first paid job was… shucking mussels. In 10 years I will be… spending
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Apartment tower goes to tribunal FRANKSTON City Council has sidestepped a call to ask the state planning minister to intervene and approve the 13-storey Ario apartment building proposed in central Frankston. Developer Ross Voci wanted council to request that planning minister Matthew Guy “call in” and fast track the plan after a late objection to council’s decision sent the matter to the planning appeals tribunal for review. Mr Voci said delays were costing him about $1000 a day in interest payments and he estimated the appeals tribunal process would cost an extra $100,000. Along with changes to the plans to the building at 10-12 Davey St, the extra costs were in danger of making the enterprise unviable, Mr Voci stated in a letter to council. He said he believed the single objection from the owner of 1 Plowman Place stemmed from a grudge against council and the project
Council’s general manager for development, Jane Homewood, said the proposed development “will set a benchmark for high quality apartments in Frankston and could act as a catalyst project to stimulate quality development…” “Council will represent its decision at the VCAT hearing and the decision of the tribunal will be watched with interest. “A merits hearing has been listed for October and a decision is likely to be made on the matter by the end of this calendar year,” Ms Homewood said. She added that Frankston
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Central Activities Area (CAA) was one of six designated CAAs in metropolitan Melbourne. “The role of a CAA is to perform a capital city role for their respective sub-metropolitan region. “Frankston is working with the State Government to develop Frankston as a capital city, serving the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula region.” n Meanwhile, the Peninsula Centre has again been taken off the market by the Deague family which has signalled it will proceed with earlier plans to redevelop the building as a corporate hotel. The Deague family property arm Asian Pacific Building Corporation paid $11.2 million for the Nepean Highway building and plans to spend $50 m on refurbishment. The renovations by architects RotheLowman will include a hotel with a ballroom, penthouse, conference centre, shops, cafes and bars.
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August 2011 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 5
BUSY bites
Pinot in wine challenge CRITTENDEN Estate Dromana has been asked to enter its 2009 Zumma pinot noir in the invitation only 2011 Five Nations Wine Challenge chaired by Australian wine writer Huon Hooke. The Mornington Peninsula pinot will be judged against wines from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and Chile. One hundred wines from each country will be scrutinised this month by five judges representing the competing nations. Trophy wines in 16 classes will be announced at the presentation dinner on the 9th of September. “This makes our Pinot, according to Huon Hooke, among the top seven in Australia at the present time,” said a delighted Garry Crittenden.
Cement plant approval GREATER Dandenong Council is supporting the establishment of a cement manufacturing plant in Dandenong South. The existing two-storey office building on the site at 71-75 Licola Crescent will be raised about 6.5 m for the enclosure of seven silos required for the manufacturing operation. Applicant Tract Consultants said the plant would produce between 5000 to 150,000 of cement products a year.
Business confidence down: NAB Business confidence ebbed in June, according to National Australia Bank Ltd’s (NAB) June monthly business survey retail conditions turned south, in circumstances not seen since the global financial crisis. And consumer confidence fell in July, also to levels not seen since the global financial crisis, according to the Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index. The NAB survey indicated confidence fell from +6 points to zero, seasonally adjusted. The bank said that the domestic sector was struggling to gain momentum following the Queensland floods in January. “The loss in economic momentum over the first half of this year, together with stalled asset prices, appear to be weighing on business confidence levels,” NAB said. Business conditions picked up slightly, rising two
points to +2. The bank said the retail sector result was most concerning, but added that manufacturing, wholesale and construction wholesale were poor, too. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index fell 8.3 per cent in July to 92.8, with consumer uncertainty being hit by several economic and political factors. It followed a 2.6 per cent drop in June and left the index down 17.9 per cent on July last year. The disappointing result reinforces market expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia will not be raising interest rates for months to come and might even be forced to cut should the global outlook deteriorate much further. The result was the lowest level for the index since May, 2009. The survey was undertaken before the full details of the carbon tax were announced.
Smartphone use rising Australia’s obsession with next-generation smartphones knows no limit with Telstra’s 2011 Smartphone Index revealing we use mobile internetconnected phones everywhere from business meetings to first dates. Telstra consumer executive director Rebekah O’Flaherty, said demand for smartphone technology had soared in the past year, challenging personal computers as a preferred way to access certain online content. “Telstra’s Smartphone Index shows 46 per cent of Australian mobile phone owners now have a smartphone – up from 31 per cent last year – and this is expected to grow to more than 60 per cent over the next 12 months.” “It’s clear smartphones are becoming an inseparable
part of our lives, with Telstra’s research indicating they now help us to shop smarter, connect with our social networks and kill boredom during business meetings,” Ms O’Flaherty said. Four in 10 smartphone web-surfers now access social networking sites every day, a nine per cent increase over last year.
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Harrassment rife in workplace Australians may consider themselves laid‐back and easy going, but a poll in June suggested that the working experience for many Australians is a different story. The survey conducted by Essential Research for JobWatch found that 46 per cent of part-time workers were either aware of bullying and harassment in the workplace or had been bullied and harassed themselves. JobWatch executive director Zana Bytheway said the poll results showed that workplace bullying and harassment was a significant national problem. “Going to work when you’re being intimidated and bullied can feel like being stuck in a neverending nightmare. “That’s why workplace harassment can cause enormous stress and hardship, especially for people who feel powerless to fight back” Ms Bytheway said that while people reported experiences of bullying and harassment across the board, it was more prevalent for part-time workers and among women.
“Almost one quarter of part-time workers and one quarter of women polled had personally experienced intimidation, bullying or harassment from a colleague or boss in the past few years.” In total, almost one in five Australians polled reported being intimidated, bullied or harassed at work. JobWatch is a not-for-profit employment rights community legal service based in Victoria that provides assistance to disadvantaged workers. JobWatch services are currently being cut back following a 60 per cent funding cut from the Victorian state government. Ms Bytheway said federal government funding was being sought to ensure JobWatch could survive into the future. “Around 55 per cent of phone calls to JobWatch are referrals from Fair Work Australia and the Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman. “We’re hopeful that the federal government will get onboard and help us protect the workplace rights of disadvantaged and low income Australians.”
SMX boosts email security CLOUD-based email security company SMX Ltd has signed a global agreement to integrate Symantec’s Brightmail software into the SMX anti-spam and anti-virus mail service. SMX’s email solution targets large international systems integration vendors and internet service providers (ISPs) looking for a comprehensive antispam and anti-virus service to offer under their own brand and local infrastructure. SMX co-founder and CEO Jesse Ball said the collaboration was an opportunity to deliver a world class cloud-based email security service that is
quickly and efficiently deployed on a customer’s own infrastructure – enabling their complete control and visibility. “As an example, working with CMC, our market partner in India, we have just implemented such a solution for Times Group, India’s largest media group,” Ball said. “Times Group uses the service under its own brand and runs in their own local data centre, but is managed remotely by SMX. The SMX solution was up and running literally in days, tightly integrating an advanced billing and provisioning system.”
Hardware co. fined Tait Timber and Hardware Pty Ltd has pleaded guilty to failing to provide and maintain a safe workplace after a worker was hurt in a forklift accident. Convicted and fined $80,000 at Frankston Magistrates Court on 15 July by Magistrate Ross Betts, the company pleaded guilty to one charge laid under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Costs of $2787 were also ordered against the company. Mr Betts was told a forklift was being used to pull a fence post out of the ground at Tait Timber and Hardware’s Somerville outlet in March 2009. WorkSafe told the court two workers attached a chain to a fence post and the forklift, but the chain broke causing it to whip back and hit one man, knocking him two to three metres. He suffered multiple rib fractures, a collapsed lung, bruising to the heart, chest and torso.
‘No’ to retail, units A petition signed by 105 objectors and a letter from one objector oppose a planning application for shops and multi-unit development in Buckley St, Noble Park. The petition and submission will be considered by Greater Dandenong Council as part of the statutory planning process.
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CARBON COST
Carbon tax: the essential facts... The carbon price has been set at $23 a tonne, payable by the nation’s 500 biggest polluters. The beleaguered tax is a precursor to an emission trading scheme from July 1, 2015. Here we briefly outline the implications of the tax and report reaction from around the world and what our business leaders said. In his market report (P.21), Richard Campbell discusses carbon capture stocks, while our cover story (P.10) looks at the impact the tax will have on a Dandenong copper wire manufacturer.
n Carbon price to start on July 1, 2012, starting at $23 a tonne rising at 2.5 per cent a year. n Paid by about 500 of the biggest polluters. n Replaced by an emissions trading scheme from July 1, 2015. n Price ceiling and floor to apply when trading starts. n There will be two rounds of tax cuts and increases in allowances, payments and benefits. n The tax free threshold will almost triple to $18,200 from July 1, 2012, and then increase to $19,400 from July 1, 2015. n Every taxpayer with income below $80,000 to get tax cut from July 1, 2012. n Costs for the average household will rise by $9.90 a week. n Average household assistance, under the “clean energy supplement”, will be $10.10 a week. n $9.2 billion will be allocated over the first three years for industry assistance. n Most exposed industries such as steel, aluminium, zinc, pulp and paper makers will get
free permits representing 94.5 per cent of industry average carbon costs. n $300 million has set aside help the steel industry move to a clean energy future. n $1.3 billion has been set aside for a Coal Sector Jobs Package, targeted at mines that are most affected by the carbon price. n A $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation will be established to invest in new technology. n $3.2 billion has been allocated to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. n Closure of 2000 megawatts of dirtiest power generators by 2020. n Agriculture is not subject to carbon price, farmers to benefit from carbon farming. n Small grants will be made for communitybased energy efficiency programs. n Transport fuel excluded, but heavy transport to start paying carbon tax in 2014. n Climate Change Authority to advise on pollution caps and meeting emissions targets.
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Serving Metropolitan Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula 8 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | August 2011
and reaction The market: Australian stocks slumped the morning after the carbon tax announcement, hurt by rising concerns over the global economic recovery and the tax’s impact on corporate profits. At the close on Monday, June 11, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 72.4 points, or 1.6 per cent, to 4582.3, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 69.2 points, or 1.5 per cent, to 4646.8. Among the sectors, financials and energy shares plunged 2 per cent, while materials fell 1.7 per cent. Telcos were the only sector in the black, rising 0.6 per cent. Coal miners, steel and airlines were trading sharply lower on concern over the tax, the largest emissions scheme outside Europe and Australia’s most sweeping economic reform in decades. Five weeks later, the S&P/ASX 200 was trading at around 18 points lower. What the world thought THE GUARDIAN, UK “The Australian government has unveiled one of the world’s most ambitious schemes to tackle climate change, a plan to tax carbon emissions from the country’s worst polluters. With a population of 22 million, Australia is responsible for 1.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. By comparison, Britain, with nearly three times the population, produces just 1.7 per cent.” NEW YORK TIMES Tim Jordan, a senior analyst at Deutsche Bank in Sydney, dismissed the bulk of … concerns as driven by political, not financial, orthodoxy.”
“He called the program a “solid start to reducing emissions,” but said the tremendous concessions given under the plan proved that, if anything, the government listened to businesses’ complaints.” SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST “Australia unveiled its most sweeping economic reform in decades yesterday with a plan to tax carbon emissions from the nation’s worst polluters, reviving hopes of stronger global climate action with the largest emissions trade scheme outside Europe.” NEW ZEALAND HERALD “Prime Minister John Key said a review of the ETS was underway and the Government would await its result. “But I think we’re actually in good shape -- we have an emissions trading scheme which currently costs the average household I think about $160 or $180 a year,” he said. “The Australian scheme is proposing to cost Australian households $560 a year, so as you can see New Zealand’s doing quite well.” What business leaders said MITCH HOOKE, CEO, Minerals Council of Australia: “It will impose the highest carbon price in the world, compromising the competitiveness of Australia’s export and import competing sectors without environmental benefit. The design of this new tax scheme is wrong. Australian industry is being hit with the world’s biggest carbon tax to fund a package that will not reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Under the carbon tax package, the minerals industry will face costs of $25 billion between 2012 and 2020.”
JOHN CONNOR, CEO, The Climate Institute: “It’s a very good package, a vital step forward which breaks the political investment and environmental deadlock. I think investors have much greater confidence now to be investing in renewables and (less-polluting) closed-cycle gas.” Professor DAVID SCHLOSBERG, Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney: “The important thing is that Australia is actually doing something. It shows that the country is abiding by its commitment to do something as part of the original U.N. and part of Kyoto agreements to curb emissions. Australia is finally doing that It meets an obligation. It starts the ball rolling.” PETER STRONG, executive director of the Council of Small Business of Australia: The government should fund modelling so that each industry understood any impacts from the tax. “We want to know how this will affect the retailer in the shopping mall, what it means for a pharmacist. At the moment, it’s simply everyone yelling at each other.” “Will it increase costs and by how much? It’s difficult for businesses to plan if they don’t know how much they’ll be impacted.” PETER ANDERSON, of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry: The tax “represents big pain for little gain.” “Unfortunately, the environmental gain the government is looking for through innovation and changed business and consumer behaviour will be very limited because this is a tax that gets passed on, coupled with widespread compensation to protect people from it.”
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August 2011 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 9
COVER STORY: Down to the wire
copper
RECOIL THE future of Dandenong-based copper wire manufacturer Tycab is being guided by the carbon tax. The source and cost of raw materials and products made will all be affected by the tax. Chief operating officer Greg Northrop believes the company will survive, but not in its present form. The changes will have a flow-on effect to Tycab’s suppliers, mostly small businesses in the same area. Northrop believes Australia is making a mistake in trying to be a world leader by introducing a tax that will not hit importers of similar products. “Tycab is a niche player in size and product. We’re a small-run operator in a specialised market, including the automotive, irrigation and welding,” he says. “New markets are being found with the increasing use of solar panels, but from the carbon tax point of view we’re looked on as a big power user because we melt copper.” Northrop estimates the tax will cost Tycab an extra $70,000 a year and expects the cost of copper, delivered in flat plates or cathodes to also rise. “Copper smelting is one of the so-called dirty industries and the tax could cause a huge premium to be added at the source.” Tycab’s raw material comes from the Xtrata refinery at Townsville, but Northrop says that plant is slated to be closed with the miner aiming to export its copper ore rather than a finished product. “We can buy from BHP’s Roxby Downs mine, but that’s a slightly different product and we’ll have to rethink our process. “I would prefer to keep Xtrata, but that would mean buying the
ABOVE: Tycab chief Greg Northrop.
Words & pictures by Keith Platt
copper from an overseas source and I don’t that’s feasible.” The most likely scenario will see Tycab buy copper rod, which will also be a slightly different product leading to more breaks in the wire during production and more downtime. Tycab is the sole Australian manufacturer of security cable, with China being the major supplier. Losing that product because of the flow-on effects of a carbon tax would be a big hit that Northrop says would add to a growing list of products already lost to Australian manufacturers. An option would be for Tycab to become an importer and distributor rather relying on being a manufacturer. He says this can be avoided if the carbon tax was added to imported products as is done with the GST. “This imposition would put us on a level playing field with importers while exporters could be given a refund on the carbon tax,” Northrop says. “But I know it would be a nightmare for them [the government] to work out. “I think it’s shocking, the country will lose what little manufacturing base it has. “We would become dependent on overseas suppliers and what would the workers do? They can’t all be absorbed into service industries. “Our intention is to survive and find other niche markets. It will be a different, but smaller company.” Most of Tycab’s 70 staff have been with the company for some time – 75 per cent more than 10 years and 20 per cent more than 20 years.
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10 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | August 2011
t
This record of continuity of employment also equates to an ageing workforce: 92 per cent are over 40, 50 per cent over 50 and 17 per cent over 60. “It would be hard for many to find other jobs, they’re locked into this industry,” Northrop says. “The work is physically hard, a problem faced by all manufacturers. “They have fantastic skills and experience and are so efficient.” The company has spent more than $5 million upgrading and improving processes in the past five years, including weight lifting devices, more automation and safety equipment – costs are not incurred by overseas competitors where labour is cheap. “I don’t like to think of us stopping manufacturing, but sometimes the investment is not worth it. “There’s already a reluctance to invest more capital in equipment and we could eventually replace broken machines by importing what they created. “It’s not [parent company’s] Tyree’s desire, either. It has a strong work ethic of looking after people – [stopping] is not on [owner] Sir William’s agenda.” Northrop sees Australia as a minnow among global giants “and yet [Prime Minister Julia] Gillard is trying to lead the market”. “China and the United States won’t even notice what we’re doing. “By all means encourage people to do the right thing by the environment – using solar or wind energy and saving water – but we should not be leading on a carbon tax.
“Where is the incentive to reduce our carbon footprint if we just add to prices? The timing is wrong as we’re still in the grip of the GFC [global financial crisis]. “It would be an absolute disaster if the world’s bigger economies did it. In Germany they’re encouraging companies to be innovative without taxes, Northrop is “very sceptical” about the science of global warming as “there will never be agreement in the scientific world”. Northrop says making copper wire should be core industry for every country. “Copper wire civilised countries and is vital to a nation’s wellbeing,” he says. “It’s a global attitude, people never think a war will cut them off from imports.” Tycab sells mainly to distributors who then on-sell to wholesalers and retailers. It is part of the Tyree Group, started by Sir William Tyree who, at 89, is still very actively involved in running the business. Tycan in Mittagong, NSW, makes transformers and Tycab was created because of Sir William’s “why buy if you can make it yourself” approach. That was carried through to Tycab, which makes its own plastic coverings for its wire. Northrop took over as CEO just over a year ago, after leaving the French-owned Olex Cables Australia. He sees no conflict as Olex as “big run, high turnover” as opposed to Tycab being “a small-run operator in a specialised market”. “We have a similar process but on a smaller scale,” Northrop says. Tycab is a 24/7 operation and has 70 staff. Its raw material, copper, is seen as “volatile” and subject to price fluctuations as a result of market speculation, especially in the past five years. In 2003 copper was $2900 a tonne, in 2008 is was $8000 and now hovers near $10,000. Tycab buys about 2500 tonnes of copper a year. “It kills your working capital because you need triple the amount to operate without the same increase in profit,” said Northrop. “This is the other side of the mining boom which sees most Australian copper going overseas.” Tycab melts its copper in electric powered furnaces before it is stretched through an injection system into oxygen-free wire. Wire of varying thickness end up on rolls that can be up to five kilometres long. Aluminium is an alternative to copper, although needs to be thicker. “More aluminium gets used when copper prices go up – there’s a tipping point – but it’s harder for contractors to install and needs bigger fittings,” Northrop says.
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August 2011 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 11
IT ISSUES
Working smarter Half the time it’s as simple as asking the question: can it be done? This is my vision…. Is this possible? I sure get some curly questions from time to time, but diversity is the spice of life. The reality is that everyone’s business is different and its ideas that breed innovation, and innovation can have a very positive effect on your bottom line. The number of exciting new technologies being released is spiralling out of control – so how do you stay in touch with it all? Is there one single list you can subscribe to that will keep you up to date and informed? Unfortunately not. Having said that, it’s the new technologies that are our speciality, and as consultants it’s our job to keep abreast of their development and ensure your systems fit with your expectations, no matter how wild and innovative the idea is. Letting us focus on the technology allows you to do what you do best – run your business. One of the more enjoyable elements of our job is listening to your ideas and translating them into solutions and, all gimmicks aside, this part is free. If you’ve got the idea and have always wondered if it’s possible, let us bring the technology to the table that could make it happen. If it’s as simple as a “do you think this is possible?” feel free to give us a call. By Matthew Gordon, Managing Director, Solution One (03) 5987 1565.
The only guarantee is you It’s simple – nine times out of 10 when a computer is infected with a virus or its user is presented with a phony website requesting private details it has come through in their email. Gone are the days when self-propagating viruses can wander the globe infecting millions and turning them into an army of bank detail-giving clones. These days even the basic protection included with windows is enough to stop these self-propelled marauders from possessing your machine and taking hold of your important details. So how does this happen? We’ve all heard stories of people having their banking details stolen, their PayPal account manipulated or personal details accessed. Sometimes it’s as simple as robbery. Money is taken without permission. Other times they are simply tricked into paying for a product they didn’t need. How did we end up here, they ask? It’s simple – you opened an email attachment (or clicked on a link) from someone who’s never sent you one before. Now before you leap to their defence and start thinking that it might be easy for an IT professional like me to tell real mail from fakes, I’ll put my hand up and say that I’ve come within an inch of falling for these a few times myself. The problem is that they look so convincing and usually the website they take you to looks no different from the real thing. Why didn’t the virus scanner stop me, is usually their next question? That’s fairly straightforward – it’s not a virus. It’s either going to be a link to a very
Watch for bogus websites posing as legitimate operations.
convincing website that will then ask you for personal/banking details, or it’s an attachment that will record keystrokes and eventually glean your personal details. The end result is that now someone else is in control of your information. How do we protect ourselves? What do we need to buy? What can we install? There is a single answer to all of these: Only you can guarantee your own protection. There are two rules to follow: If you receive an email from someone that’s never sent you an email or attachment before and is asking you to update your details, this should be an immediate red flag. Bogus links to bogus sites are very easy to weed out. Hold your mouse over the link, windows will display the actual destination. Does it match the link (see above)? Bingo!
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MARINE SAFETY
All clear after rig transfer bungle
A FIRE tug tests its pumps during low tide on exposed mud flats in Western Port.
the operator to prevent a recurrence of this type of incident, and will not be taking any further action”. However, harbourmaster Shane Vedamuttu told The Western Port News that a new rope being used by tugs to hold the Kan Tan IV oil rig in position above the semi-submerged MV Transporter had broken because “the wind and tide was
too strong for this particular vessel”. While the rig drifted off, the Transporter dragged its anchor and was unable to get underway as it was partly submerged. Once the vessel and rig were secured by tugs, Mr Vedamuttu ordered the tricky operation be carried out in Port Phillip where the tidal currents are not as strong. The failure of the transfer has already prompted a warning from the Victorian National Parks Association that Western Port is not a risk-free “natural port”. Marine and coastal projects officer Simon Branigan said 40 per cent of the bay’s floor was exposed at low tide “complicating large equipment transfers”. He said the public should be told what “operational changes have been implemented to safeguard the bay’s marine environment from shipping accidents”.
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Biznet A network of successful businesses helping your business prosper & grow. We would like to invite business leaders to the inaugural business expo to be held at Mornington Yacht Club
Wednesday 7th september 2011 - 3-7pm Mornington Yacht Club Schnapper Point, Mornington Vic 3913
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IT will be business as usual the next time an oil rig is towed into Western Port to be loaded onto a ship for transportation. A safety investigation has cleared all parties involved when a 1700 tonne oil rig and 54,000 tonne carrier ship drifted apart during a transfer operation off Cowes in January. A preliminary investigation by Transport Safety Victoria (TSV) ruled out any infringement of regulations or work practices and found there was no need to take the matter any further. There was no written report of the investigation that appears to have consisted of phone calls and a follow-up letter to the Western Port harbourmaster. TSV’s acting director maritime safety Lisa Faldon said privacy laws prevented her from releasing details of the incident but was “satisfied with the operational improvements proposed to be taken by
August 2011 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 13
EMPLOYMENT
Eight steps to a pay rise MOST people want to earn more money and most employees – from the top down – feel they deserve more money. Leading light in the human behaviour and personal development market, globetrotting John Demartini has devised eight steps to making a successful approach when seeking a pay rise. Dr Demartini has his own research and education institute in the United States and two trademarked methodologies, the Demartini Method and the Demartini Value Determination. An author, Dr Demartini has 40 books published in 28 different languages and more than 50 CDs and DVDs covering subjects such as development in relationships, wealth, education and business. Interview subjects suggested by his publicist during July Australian visit included: how to accumulate more money; are you a rich or poor millionaire?; the
upside of the economic crisis; creating a compelling company vision; fail safe selling techniques; dealing with a tyrant boss; how to deal with midcareer dilemmas; and the seven laws of networking. Here are his tips for gaining a pay rise: 1. Compose a list of clear and certain accomplishments you have made for your company and memorise it prior to the raise request meeting. 2. Compose a list of new accountabilities, responsibilities and achievements you have fulfilled or are about to fulfill since the previous salary determination. 3. Define clearly what raise, or new wage or salary you desire and feel you deserve to receive. 4. Determine the highest values, priorities or objectives of the employer, HR manager or boss who will be your raise decision maker and demonstrate that you share and are fulfilling those values.
Your own banking team THE TEAM: Darren Nelson, Business Development Manager, Scott Hine, Relationship Manager, Toni-Anne Licciardi, Assistant Relationship Manager. Our team works across the small to medium businesses sector in the South East of Melbourne with our office based in Robinson St, Dandenong. BACKGROUND: Darren Nelson has more than 15 years banking experience and has been with Bankwest for about seven months. He enjoys all sports but mainly AFL, cricket and horse racing. A passionate Melbourne Football Club supporter Darren has a young family of two children under three years. “So work outside the bank is always busy, but always rewarding,” he said. Scott Hine has 20 years banking experience (CBA14 years and Bankwest six years) and a further four years in funds management with Australian Unity.
5. Write out 30+ benefits to the company of paying you the newly desired wage or salary and 30+ drawbacks to the company of paying you only the current wage or salary. 6. Embody the same intimidating traits that your manager might display during the meeting so that you can negotiate on an equal footing. Walk in with the attitude that you will leave the job if you do not get the raise you deserve. (If you cannot walk away from the raise request negotiation to an alternative job offer that pays what you desire then you would be wise to add more value to the company and decision maker by adding to action step 1, 2, 4 before the meeting.) 7. Rehearse your raise request presentation, focusing on steps 1, 2, 3 and 4, imagining yourself receiving the raise. 8. Dress for the part and position.
Scott enjoys cricket, footy – a Tiger supporter, Scott says he likes “pretty much all sports, movies and camping with the family”. His outside interests include Warranwood Cricket Club player/committee member, Tinternvale Primary School Council member, and courier to three daughters with sporting commitments. Toni-Anne Licciardi has more than 10 years’ banking experience in numerous roles. “I take pride in my work as we help people achieve their goals by providing optimal solutions that help them grow and strengthen their business. Tonie-Anne is a Magpie supporter who enjoys gardening, horse riding, netball, travel, local community activities and spending time with family and friends at Bankwest. COMMITMENT: “We pride ourselves on our service proposition and taking the time to understand our customers needs and requirements to help them achieve their goals.” – Darren Nelson.
Dedicated to your business At Bankwest we see a need for a smarter approach to Commercial Banking – that’s why we take the time to get to know you, your business and your industry. Our relationship managers understand the challenges you may face and are committed to developing unique strategies to help your business achieve ongoing success. Contact us today to see how you can benefit from Bankwest Commercial Banking.
Darren Nelson Senior Business Development Manager π 0438 992 409 µ darren.nelson@bankwest.com.au South East Bank of Western Australia Ltd ABN 22 050 494 454 AFSL 236872
14 | BusinessTimesFrankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | August 2011
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it support
Dealing with data loss By Extreme Networks Dealing with data loss can be a painful experience. From that first moment when the server crashes and fails to reboot, the denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance. But the saddest part of data loss is knowing that it could have all been avoidable. In recent weeks we had an occasional customer call us in a panic (over the weekend). He had been doing some maintenance on his server and it didn’t quite go as expected. Now he just wanted to get back to where he was before he started. The biggest problem was that he had his most recent backup was from 6 days ago. We spent quite a few expensive hours on the Saturday to fix the error, with no luck. What would have been an easy couple of hours restoring his data, was a long afternoon and early night for an engineer trying to repair Master Boot Records, recreate RAID Arrays and return the drive to it’s original state. Like a lot of data recovery disasters, there were multiple problems: • The server was bought from an auction site and didn’t have a warranty. This meant that we couldn’t call the manufacturer for assistance. • The most recent backup was not recent enough. Obviously a lot of work had been done in the last six days, because for the customer it was unacceptable to restore back to the previous backup. • The server had two backups running each day, but one had failed a long time ago and the other one had not worked since Monday. Trial restores are important to ensure that you can actually restore what you think you are backing up. • There was no restore procedure set out for the server. It is a lot easier to restore data when there is a plan set out. • There was no remote monitoring of the server to pick up errors with the hardware and software before they became critical. Our remote monitoring is saving customers time and money by letting us know when hard drives are about to fail so that hard drives can be proactively replaced, rather than reactively with a dead server. Extreme Networks industry update at Max’s Restaurant Staying up to date with what is going on in IT is difficult so we put on an Industry Update Night at Max’s restaurant with special
Guests at Extreme Networks’ industry update night at Max’s Restaurant.
guest speakers from Intel and Acer. Colin Purkis from Intel spoke about how PCs and Server had increased in power and decreased in power consumption over the last five years and also discussed what Intel expects the world for SMEs to be like in five years. Keagan Schmitz spoke about Acer’s new range of Servers and the upcoming Acer Ultrabooks which generated a lot of interest. James Eling from Extreme Networks went through his top seven things that are Big in IT for SMEs this year. It was a great night with around 30 customers braving the cold weather for a great night of networking, IT information and of course, the great food and wine at Max’s Restaurant in Red Hill. Small Business rostering just got easier The developers at Extreme Networks have been busy working on a solution for the nightmare that is rostering for many small and medium businesses. We conducted a straw poll of our customers and discovered that most customers were using Pen and Paper or Excel. We found one customer with 120 customers that employed two people full time to manage their rosters. There has to be a better way. Time 2 Roster has been in development for two years now and is designed to make it easier for small and medium sized businesses to get their employees availabilities and preferences, build their rosters with all of the complex rule checking that they need and then get the rosters out to their employees and then manage the swaps. www.time2roster.com is now in a public Beta, which is free and we are looking for customers to log in and start to do away with pain of rostering. For more details on Time 2 Roster or if you need help with building a database customised for your business, visit www.time2roster.com or call us on 03 9785 7162.
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August 2011 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 15
NETWORKING
Carbon forum DUNKLEY Forum was a Liberal Party hosted get together giving baysiders a chance to question Coalition leader Tony Abbott at Frankston Arts Centre on Wednesday, 13 July: 1. Tina Billson (right) with Margie Abbott and daughters Bridget (left) and Frances. 2. Bruce Billson with Tony Abbott. Mr Billson is the federal MP for Dunkley and shadow minister for small business.
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Making babies Pregnant staff at The Sports Injury Clinic, Frankston are from left, Kate Lambert, Gwen Harrop, Sam Dunne with baby Eloise, Lynda Miller and Leah Horne.
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Frankston Chamber of Commerce networking night at Long Island Country Club on Tuesday 19 July: 1. From left Sharon Reinhard, of NAB Mornington; Neil Forrester, of Pixelfire Design; and Gillian Turnbull, community safety officer, Frankston City Council. 2. Don Taylor, of Two Bays Office Products; and Mark Middleton, of Bioenergizer.
MELBOURNE Racing Club staff at a corporate sponsors’ lunch at Mornington racecourse on Wednesday 6 July. Pictured above from left are Yulie Jojkity, business development manager, sales and events; Erin McGrath, events sales executive (Mornington); Angela Cleland, manager Mornington; Jessica Hymet, corporate sales account manager (Caulfield); Ashleigh Fraser, special events coordinator; Lauren Lacava, sales manager; and Rebecca Trezise, events coordinator (Mornington).
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MANAGEMENT
Stealing shamelessly from the best Every business can become repetitive and boring after a while, even for the business leader. While there are always topical issues that can keep your key people and yourself busy, the repetitive process of running your business can stifle creativity with the result that you and your people start to lose the sense of fun and excitement that you had when you first started the business. When this happens, it is time for you to start to look for stimulation and ideas by stealing ideas and processes from other businesses. The process to do this should be carefully considered and planned, so that it will bring back the creativity and challenge that you loved when your first started your business. This process has been called benchmarking, and it starts within your operation by the development of a shopping list. This shopping list should be based on a critical review of your business where you identify the main opportunities to improve. This should include all of the areas where you can eliminate waste in your current processes. Can you cut some time from a process, can you simplify the way that your front people are supported, can you source your raw materials in a different form, what will simplify or streamline your processes, can you identify inventories that are too large, can you improve your connections with your customers? There are hundreds of issues or questions that you could discuss and then prioritise to find the vital few that will reinvigorate your business. Once you have these target areas, then comes the fun piece of trying to find the best businesses where you can steal ideas. While there is an obvious temptation to go directly to copy businesses with the same products or services, it is important to consider businesses that may have comparable processes rather than just products or services. For example, when I was running a chemical production business, we found that we could learn a lot from Toyota’s car production processes. There was no similarity in the products, but Toyota’s processes often had clear parallels in our business. The harder we looked, the easier it became to see parallels and lessons that we could apply in our business. Once you have identified your target businesses, then it is valuable to select
Hamish Petrie*
Business Consultant © Hamish Petrie 2011
people from your organisation that can participate in your benchmarking process. If your shopping list has mainly leadership issues, then it is important to ensure that your internal leaders are involved. If your focus is on sales processes, then include a slice of your sales people. The best design is to include at least three people from your business and to select them carefully according to their ability to help you to implement the ideas that you are seeking. The actual benchmarking normally requires travel to the target businesses and this can be a great opportunity for you to build your team and prepare them for change. While looking at local businesses is a great starting point, it is usually worth the effort to really stretch your scope by determining the best on a broader scale and to even include interstate or, potentially, international travel. I had the opportunity to take a group of operations managers to benchmark the best in world in safety and health leadership which we identified as DuPont in the USA. The results were remarkable and we were able to drive our injury rates down substantially following this benchmarking process. Once you have commenced the actual visit, it is very important to have an open mind and to seek to understand not just what they do but why they do things their way. By following their thinking, you can discover not just the very best of their ideas, but also the rationale behind them. There are often greater differences in the way businesses think than first impressions and this is where you can often find your stimulation and creativity. During any benchmarking visit, you will
18 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | August 2011
also find a lot of little ideas that are like golden nuggets. Collect these and write them down on your good ideas list, as they will often be directly applicable to your business. Keep this list with you during the visit and then review it when you return to your business to determine when and how you can apply them within your business. As with any effective business process, you need to reflect on the ideas and concepts that you observed during your visits and work out which ones will help your business best. This process of analysis and decisionmaking is best completed before you return to your own business so that your creativity is not stifled by the routine issues that await you on your return. Once you have your implementation plan, then this should be shared quickly with your people before you re-immerse yourself in your routine business. Make sure that they all understand that, while the benchmarking process has stimulated your thinking, you have connected it back to your business strategy, your customers, etc. If you get asked at some stage to allow others to benchmark your business, then take it as a compliment that they think that they can learn from you. I am sure that, under most circumstances, you will enjoy the process and get some benefits by spending time with your visitors. You will enjoy seeing their business improve as a result. So, from either perspective, the benchmarking process can be done openly and constructively, as both parties will benefit from the process to steal good ideas from each other, without shame. Action Planning Questions: 1. Does your business face risks of stagnation while your competitors are improving every day? 2. Have you taken time out of your business recently to determine which organisations you admire most for relevant aspects of their business processes? 3. Have you designed a benchmarking process with the objective of stimulating creativity and change in your business? 4. Do you maintain a “Good Ideas List” that contains creative ideas developed both within your business and externally? *Hamish Petrie had a 37-year corporate career including 29 years with Alcoa Inc. His last position was as VP–People and Communication for the global Alcoa corporation based in New York, NY. He can be contacted at hamish@nitroworld.net or on 0404 345 103.
Frankston Arts Centre offers facilities, experiences and services, tailored to suit the activities of businesses, educational institutions and government. The impressive public building lends panache to any function planned in cooperation with the centre’s events and functions team. It could be a ‘thank you’ or award dinner for 30 or 500: an exhibition, celebration or a seminar. The event may utilise the theatre, the foyer or function area … or all three areas. One phone call will sort out options and costs. The centre offers complete accessibility for all. It’s the standout venue for any function requiring fine catering and an uptown atmosphere.
E U N A VE ALL FOR ONS S A E R
ns raduatio 800 AGM’s & G equipped has a fully ns, e tr tio n a e u d C e ra g Th erfect for p , e tr a e d n Th seat GM’s a monies, A formal cere , more. al support site technic ced n rie e Offering on xp e services, nal box office d professio ination an rd at -o th o c re t n su eve will en ouse staff . h itc h a Front-of- H t u t runs witho 9784 your even ctions, 03 ents + Fun Ev t: c Conta 1071.
Expos The function room offers natual daylight, high ceilings, ceiling hung spots and the opportunity to open out into a large foyer – an ideal location to stage an expo. The centre is easily accessible from the freeway and Eastlink and is loctated in the heart of Frankston, For more Information on capacities and hire rates, catering, audio visual and terms and conditions. Contact: Events + Functions, 03 9784 1071.
Meetings & Conference s
Nine comfortabl e and stylish ful ly air-conditioned conference an d meeting spaces are available at FAC. Each room is unique with pr ofessional centre staff available to help with everyth ing. Each room has comprehensive audio visual facil ities. An extens ive menu desig ned by the executive chef will ensure a conference or m eeting experienc e to remember. Contact: Events + Functions, 03 9784 1071.
Events
Functions &
An ideal venu e in a easily accessible location for all function an d event needs. The fu nction rentre is versatile and able to host intimate events from 10 peop le or accom modate a large sit dow n dinner for 450 people. Versatility ex tends to the variety of room size, structure and set up options. Ope n the functio n room on to the foyer and comforta bly cater a cocktail party for up to 1000 or sit down di people nner for 600. Contact: Even ts + Functions , WHAT’S ON 13 August: Van Morrison Tribute Van Morrison Tribute presented in Cabaret in Cube 37 $25.00 - $30.00 14 August: The Line Up MC Bob ‘Bongo’ Starkie introduces five emerging musical groups All Tickets $20.00 19 August: The Merry Widow The Merry Widow features a superb cast, the Melbourne Opera Orchestra and Melbourne Opera Chorus. $41 - $52
TEL. 9784 1051 BOOKINGS: 03 9784 1060 EMAIL: artscentre@frankston.vic.gov.au WEB: www.artscentre.frankston.vic.gov.au
August 2011 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 19
HEALTH
What about dairy foods... What about dairy foods, I am often asked? Can I eat dairy? There can scarcely have been a more frequent question in the rooms of medical and alternative medical practitioners everywhere. And the answer you got over the years has depended on the person you asked. Ask your naturopath and the reply tended to be something along the lines of “dairy products create mucous” and therefore congestion. Run the same thing past your GP and the reply would likely include a shake of the head and the advice that while some people’s digestive systems were intolerant of lactose (the sugar component in milk), there was no scientific evidence to suggest that dairy products created mucous. That is notwithstanding the personal experience of many people. Consult a Chinese medicine practitioner and the answer is this: Dairy products are very rich sources of nutrition. They have a high calcium content, for example. But few humans can adequately digest them, and whether that calcium is actually digestible is open to debate. According to Chinese medicine, if your digestive system is good enough, you can transform food into usable nutrition, with no unwanted by-products (like mucous) and no wastage. Even dairy foods. But if, like most of us, your digestion is weakened by years or decades of poor digestive health, then dairy products are likely to be incompletely digested, generating mucousy congestion and further compromising your digestive vitality. They are particularly problematic for infants and young children. As a rule, do not feed cow’s milk to your kids (unless they are baby
Michael Ellis*
Chinese Herbalist
cows, for which it is evolved). Don’t put your toddler to bed with a bottle of cow’s milk, for goodness sake, unless you want them to wake up with a lung full of phlegm and a runny nose. They don’t need that bottle. Australians are hardly under-nourished anyway. We and our kids already eat too richly. And the rich nutrients I referred to in dairy are far more easily absorbed from foods such as green vegetables and seeds. Standard maternal health advice in Australia recommends against giving children cow’s milk until 12 months of age. We think it should be at least two years of age. So there you go – the standard advice from all quarters. OK, but what about low-fat dairy? Is that all right? After all, the heart foundation says low-fat foods cut the risk of cardiovascular disease. Now this is where things get interesting. I recall a family discussion on this topic some 15 years ago involving my brother-in-law – father of two young kids – and (I’m sure he’d forgive me for saying) a bit of a stickler. My side of the family had all moved to low-fat milk – for taste reasons they said, but also because they felt they were making a healthier choice. “We’re not drinking that low-fat crap,” the brother-in-law declared. “It’s not natural.” You know occasionally when someone says something and you get this little inkling
that they might be right? I had one of those moments then. OK, what he’s saying is based on nothing more than his inherent conservatism – he also resists drinking light beer – but maybe he’s actually right. Maybe this tinkering with whole foods is inherently unhealthy. Well, it’s increasingly apparent that he was right. Last year, the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) completed a 16-year study into the consumption of full-fat dairy food and the risk of cardiovascular disease. The study matched the dairy consumption of 1529 adult Australians aged 25 to 78 against the national death index from 1992 to 2007. The study showed no correlation between dairy consumption and deaths. It did show, however, an interesting relationship between full-fat dairy eaters and heart disease deaths. But not the relationship you might expect. The people who consumed full-fat dairy had a 69 per cent lower risk of death by heart attack than those doing the right thing by Western nutritional advice and consuming low-fat dairy. Yes, it seems that low-fat dairy not only makes you fatter (ref. previous issue’s column) but also is worse for your heart. Before the editor is inundated by dairy industry outrage, I should quickly add that it’s likely that low-fat products – not just dairy – have the effect of making you fatter and dramatically increasing your risk of heart disease. And that is probably because reduced fat usually means increased sugar. So the moral of the story is this: Dairy foods are nutritious but hard to digest. If your system can handle them, good luck. And if you do choose to consume them, eat the full-fat products. (Oh, and without added sugar.)
* Michael Ellis is a registered Chinese herbalist in Mt Eliza: www.mtelizaherbal.com.
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STAY WHERE THE BUSINESS IS! You couldn’t be more central. 20 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | August 2011
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MARKETS
Mitigating carbon pain Climate change politics has added even more bruises to an already abrasive investment scene. After 150 years of modern physics and chemistry we fully understand why some gases trap heat far more than others and why ocean ph is becoming more acidic, but from that point on the issues seem to get lost in mud-slinging, error and sheer nonsense. Richard Campbell* Stock Analyst
sharp rise in the price of the forestry carbon groups, Carbon Conscious and CO2, since the announcement of the ETS scheme also testifies to the fact that the same has been happening here largely out of sight. Their clients (Woodside, Qantas, Newmont and others) take the long view, partly out of public spirit, but partly out of sheer financial prudence. The tree planting they finance (mallee gums mostly) is pulling carbon down to these spreading roots which builds a bank of credits against their emissions over many years. For CO2 it is long term annuity style income. Cash build-up is high at a current $14m. As the political dust settles and people realise that the scientists have, if anything, been under-playing the risks of human forced climate change, companies like CO2 will gradually gain serious investment attention. The ETS only works if the credits are totally verifiable, which is what CO2 has spent the last decade establishing. Potential investors can at least be confident that hard-nosed number crunchers at Qantas are confident that these long-lived trees can survive kangaroo, drought, flood and fire and make a real, if small, national impact. There is also a vast difference between this form of “carbon accountancy” and big
Richard Campbell is Executive Director of Peninsula Capital Management. Tel. 9642 0545.
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Our pollies are almost entirely bereft of scientific or even technical qualifications, with one group prone to making absurd assumptions about the economics of renewables and the other equally absurd claims about the economics and efficacy of carbon capture and storage. Bedevilling it all is the massive cost advantage of Victoria’s brown coal which sets the lowest national grid price. Since the calorific quality is so low – being over 60 per cent water – the Victorian government sells it to the power stations for $3-4 a ton (no one will come clean on the actual figure) which means that this coal can generate power at around $20 a megawatt. Even in gas rich Australia, gas generated power costs about twice as much. It is in this context that the ETS scheme implies that we or our fund managers should punt our savings on technologies in the hope that the carbon price will lift the price of “dirty” coal and so assist the new technologies to close this cost gap. This sounds OK when “the market” bears the cost but is less compelling when we realise that it is our jobs and investments that carry both cost and risk. It would be interesting to know how much federal superannuation is exposed in this way. But cynicism aside, the fact is that hundreds of large companies in Europe and several in Australia have for years participated in regulated and voluntary carbon capture schemes. The
break- through solutions, partly due to the throw-away pricing of lignite. In some parts of the world it’s different. Scotland’s total hydro, wind, wave and tidal endowment is enormous by sheer fortune of latitude and land formation, so much so, that Scotland has lifted its 2020 target from 80 per cent renewables to 100 per cent – perhaps the first country in the world to do so . If money were no object the sun-rich, uranium-rich, geothermal-rich, wave and wind-rich Australia could do the same , but money is an object and so is existing infrastructure, costs and jobs. As investors in our crushed geothermal companies know only too well, the capital required to do these things is painfully scarce and the technical hurdles are very high. But there are indirect ways of profiting from this changed carbon landscape. One was mentioned last column. As about 40 per cent of the cost of the grid is designed to meet no more than 40-50 days a year of super peak demand, proven storage is agnostic about the source of the current, it just levels the very expensive peaks. At the more development stage, Silex Systems has developed a method of greatly reducing the power required to enrich uranium – a big deal as about one per cent of all US power generation goes to uranium enrichment. Cheaper nuclear offers one immense advantage: post build-it has zero carbon emissions. But finding a low risk way through this carbon stressed era will be far from easy. As Churchill might have said, climate change is an ache wrapped in a pain veiled in a misery. Disclaimer: The writer holds indirect interests in CO2 and Silex Systems.
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August 2011 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 21
NEWS WHEELS
A big car for a big country might sound like a hackneyed phrase. But there’s no doubt that the Holden Caprice meets the needs of many Australian motorists.
Holden Caprice ... for those looking for a luxury machine with a healthy dash of sportiness.
Magnificent cruiser Ewen Kennedy Motoring Journalist
saloons provide significantly more legroom in the rear seat. Because of their intended market, they offer stretch-out luxury for four adults because the back seat is tailored for two executives rather than three children. Front seat comfort is exceptionally good.
For a car of this size and intent the Holden Caprice handles remarkably well. We tossed it around our special test circuit with ease and were yet again reminded of the expertise of Holden suspension engineers. The car grips hard and changes direction neatly and at the same time provided plenty of feel through
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Caprice is a stretched version of the Holden Commodore, the latter being the biggest selling car in Australia for many years. Interestingly, anyone who isn’t into cars would be unlikely to see any similarities between Caprice and Commodore. That’s because Caprice has been styled with overseas markets in mind, principally countries that are part of the Middle East. External differentiation between Commodore and Statesman/Caprice is substantial, with only the front doors being shared. The interior of the Caprice shares the same ‘wave form’ of the Commodore dashboard. The seats are larger and the trim is more luxurious in both its materials and styling. The extra length of the Caprice over the Commodore means the large Holden
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TESTING: HOLDEN CAPRICE
the steering to let the driver understand the machine’s limitations. Electronic controls do finally interfere to keep the Caprice on course should the driver become too enthusiastic. Ride comfort is fine, though there is some firmness in the suspension that not all passengers may appreciate on harsh road surfaces. Boot space in the Holden Caprice is good, though not outstanding, being about the same as in the standard Commodore. The fact that the Caprice uses rear-wheel drive takes some space away from the depth of the boot. But any designer who doesn’t use rear drive in a car in this upmarket class would be making a serious mistake.
Caprice comes with the choice of V6 or V8 engines. Our road test review Caprice was powered by the new 3.6-litre unit. Most Holden V6 engines featuring the new SIDI (Spark Ignition Direct Injection) principles have a capacity of 3.0 litres, but a larger capacity unit has been developed for the Caprice. It is also used as standard on Calais and Calais V-Series and the SV6 sedan, Sportswagon and ute. The 3.6 Holden engine has 210 kW of power and 350 Nm of torque. That torque output of close to 100 Newton metres per litre is impressive, all the more so when you consider that this is an engine built down to a price. Indeed, many big name Euro engines
don’t manage to obtain that figure of 100 Nm per litre. Throttle response is sharp, but the engine isn’t as smooth as we feel it should be. The powerplants are matched to a new six-speed automatic transmission that complements the engine’s torque output. Fuel consumption is about nine to 10 litres per hundred km cruising in the bush or on motorway. Those buyers who want a large comfortable car with luxurious fittings, but who don’t feel the need for the ego boost of a German machine will love the Holden Caprice. Here’s quality and dynamics that are almost as good as the Germans’, but at a saving of many tens of thousands of dollars.
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