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Volume 4, Thursday 7th February, 2007
ROXBY DOWNS NEEDS JPs Written by Michelle Thomas
Roxby Downs is crying out for new Justices of the Peace (JPs), with community members complaining they are having difficulty getting crucial paperwork witnessed. “Roxby Downs is in great need of more JPs,” overworked local JP Margie Anchor said. “The three JPs in Roxby Downs are trying to fulfil their duties, alongside their working obligations, which can be very difficult. “We have people at the mine who are working a lot of shift work and odd hours and although their needs may be quite urgent, if their leisure hours don’t coincide with the hours of operation of a JP it can be difficult for them to get an appointment. “A town like Roxby would benefit from the services of six or seven JPs,” she said. In fact , the South Australian Government’s Justice Portfolio website lists eight JPs in Roxby Downs, six in Woomera and two in Andamooka, but due to the transient nature of these communities, many of these JPs have left the area. “Because we are such a transient community in Roxby we are constantly losing skilled community members, like JPs, when they move on to take up employ-
ment elsewhere,” Mrs Anchor said. “We have a high turnover of people and a lot of visitors and contractors, so we require more JPs. “In times of shutdown there may be an extra 500 people in town, suddenly our population has increased greatly overnight, and those people require a range of services, including the services of a JP. “With our town set to expand, hopefully we will have current registered JPs moving to the area,” she said. Mrs Anchor gets up to three requests for JP services a day. Fellow local JP Mark Jarvis has also noticed an increase in demand for his services. “It has cranked up a bit lately,” Mr Jarvis said. “I get three or four witness requests a week. “People are welcome to drop into the Coates office on Charlton Rd if they need to see me, but will need to call first to make sure I am there,” he said. Manager, Justice of the Peace Services, Attorney-General’s Department, Melana Virgo said the Attorney-General’s Department is aware of the need for JPs in remote areas. “The need for applicants in widely dispersed communities is an issue we have been aware of since the new Justices of the Peace Act came into effect on July 1, 2006,” Ms Virgo said. Continued on Page 4
Above: The screeching Little Corella’s are back in town. Some are worse for wear like the one pictured above. Read full story on Page 2.
Charity cocktail function being planned for Roxby Downs during February. Find out more in the story on Page 3
Alliance says ... ‘No rate rise for us’ In a significant announcement for home borrowers especially in Roxby Downs, Alliance One Credit Union is bucking the trend of major banks announcing that it will not be increasing its variable rates independently of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) for at least the remainder of the financial year. In the wake of rate rises by all major banks and similar announcements by some of the larger Credit Unions over the past weeks, this is a market leading move that will result in further questioning of major banks’ decisions and a potential shift for home lending finance to Credit Unions that are absorbing increased costs. “As a mutual organisation, Alliance One is owned by its customers (members) which requires our focus to be on returning the benefits to our members and the community, including better interest rates,” Phil Lynch, Chief Executive of Alliance One Credit Union said. “Increases in interest rates need to be considered at an individual and community level, and not just to recoup lost shareholder profits.
“For this reason, Alliance One has decided not to increase our interest rates independently of the RBA at least until June 30,” confirmed Mr Lynch. Alliance One’s current standard variable rate will remain at 8.55%, with linked discount rates also remaining unchanged. This is a full 0.27% lower than the standard variable rate at some other financial institutions. “In most situations, major banks that have increased interest rates above the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) official adjustments have only applied this increase to ‘current’ loans and still offer large ‘discount’ rates to ‘new’ customers. “Is this fair that existing customers are paying for the Banks’ ‘new business’?” Mr Lynch posed. Although Alliance One funds the majority of its loans through member deposits and does not have a reliance on international money markets, a rise in the cost of funds has still been experienced. “We fund nearly 90% of our loans from
member deposits,” explained Mr Lynch. “However, the cost of retaining and attracting deposits has increased substantially due to the extremely high demand for liquid (cash) assets in Australia. “That being said, we are willing to absorb this increase in cost for the benefit of our members and other people in the community who want a home loan at a competitive interest rate and with fairer fees,” Mr Lynch said. With the attention on major banks increasing interest rates, the focus is now poised to shift towards financial institutions such as Alliance One when considering home loan finance. “Alliance One remains a safe, competitive and fully regulated financial institution offering a full range of banking services for all people,” Mr Lynch said. Alliance One Credit Union is the only regionally based financial institution in South Australia with a membership base of over 20,000. Alliance One has established branches in Whyalla, Port Lincoln, Roxby Downs and Clare, with a current asset base of $142 million and a loan book in excess of $121m.