A senior rail industry body has initiated a consultation on the development of the next Rail Technical Strategy, due for publication in 2012.

The Technical Strategy Advisory Group (TSAG) has begun the on-line consultation, with its publication ‘Shaping the 30-year Rail Technical Strategy’ which takes stock of where industry is, and seeks wide engagement in forming and developing the strategy.

At the heart of thinking is the 30-year aspiration, which TSAG has established to guide its work - to halve the cost of rail operations and its carbon footprint while doubling network capacity and increasing customer satisfaction. These challenges resonate with both the government spending review and the Value for Money review being conducted by Sir Roy McNulty and support the industry’s Planning Ahead process. By setting the bar deliberately high, TSAG wants to inspire ambitious thinking now, to secure a sustainable future and long term value for money.

The consultation document has been emailed to a wide range of rail industry personnel in all companies making up the GB rail industry to encourage those leading engineering, operations, commercial, performance and planning disciplines to provide their input. Alongside that, a four-page brief has been sent to managing directors and chief executives to provide a concise overview of the challenges ahead.

Source: http://www.riagb.org.uk/news/RSSB%20rts.pdf

Australia - The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Australia’s largest and most representative employer organisation, has joined with other national employer organisations to oppose the NSW Government’s recent backflip on the national harmonisation of occupational health and safety laws.

ACCI on behalf of our members, the Australian Federation of Employers and Industries, Australian Industry Group, Business Council of Australia, and Australian Constructors’ Association, have taken out a joint advertisement in this morning’s Australian and Daily Telegraph calling for national OHS laws that are effective in improving workplace safety, fair to all stakeholders, and nationally consistent.

The unilateral decision of the New South Wales Government to derail an exhaustive national process to develop harmonised national OHS laws threatens to undermine all that has been done over almost three years to put in place an agreed framework.

“By isolating itself from the agreed national consensus, the NSW Government is sending a very negative message to industry and investors.”

Source: http://www.acci.asn.au/text_files/media_releases/2010/No%20126-10.pdf

Australia : The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Chief Executive, Peter Anderson, has accepted an invitation by the Australian Government to participate in the Business Roundtable advising the government of industry views on climate change policy.

“It is a crucial opportunity for ACCI to constructively present the case against a pre-emptive move to carbon pricing, which will damage our competitiveness, and also put the views of the hundreds of thousands of mainstream businesses, including those small and medium enterprises who were ignored during the development of the earlier carbon pollution reduction scheme, on the table.”

“It is also an opportunity for all stakeholders to hear alternative views.”

ACCI is Australia’s largest and most representative business organisation, representing each of the principal State and Territory Chamber of Commerce, plus 26 Industry Organisations. Over 80% of the 350,000 businesses in the ACCI network are small and medium enterprises.

Source: http://www.acci.asn.au/text_files/media_releases/2010/No%20125-10.pdf

Australia : Printing Industries Association of Australia (Printing Industries) has welcomed the call for public submissions by the Book Industry Strategy Group and is seeking some additional information for an overall industry submission.

The Association has been an active member of the Group since its inception and has already indicated its support to the Federal Government to help shape the book industry’s future.

Printing Industries National Manager for Policy and Government Affairs, Hagop Tchamkertenian said the opportunity to make submissions should be taken up not only by dedicated book printers but also by other printing businesses as some of the issues faced by book printers, such as digital content management, were not confined to just the book printing sector.

“The industry should be grateful that we have in Minister Carr a person dedicated to the future economic sustainability of the local book production sector. It is important that book printing businesses as well as others engaged in book production, but on a less regular basis, participate in the current submission process,” he said.

Mr Tchamkertenian encouraged printing business to either prepare their own submissions or forward their material to him for inclusion in an industry submission.

“While there are specific issues that feedback is being sought on, I encourage the industry to approach the opportunity from a strategic point of view and provide the appropriate feedback to us for inclusion in an overall industry submission.

“Understandably the focus is on the industry’s digital future, but is this an appropriate vision for every stakeholder? This is an issue that needs to be properly addressed,” he said.

Mr Tchamkertenian said in addition to the questions that are being asked by the submission process, Printing Industries is interested in obtaining additional information to gain useful industry insights.

Source: http://www.printnet.com.au/news_items/book_strategy_move_welcomed.html

Australia - “As a member of the Government’s newly-formed Business Roundtable on Climate Change, I look forward to ensuring that the international competitiveness of Australian industry is at the forefront of considerations,” Australian Industry Group Chief Executive, Heather Ridout, said today.

“In the absence of global action on climate change, any steps taken in Australia seriously risk undermining our industrial competitiveness. There is no point in reducing emissions in Australia if this merely results in emissions, industries, jobs and investment moving offshore to countries that do not constrain their greenhouse gas emissions. Any measures putting a price on carbon will need to be accompanied by strong provisions that prevent an erosion of competiveness. At the same time, industry in Australia needs to be environmentally sustainable to ensure its future and measures to address competiveness should not detract from incentives that businesses face to reduce their carbon footprints.

“Ai Group looks forward to continuing to play a constructive and principled role in the debate over the shaping of climate policy. Over this year, Ai Group has further developed our climate policy principles through a high level Leaders’ Group of companies from across Ai Group’s diverse membership. The key principles are that:

• The competitiveness of Australia’s trade-exposed industries cannot be eroded;
• Australia should be able to meet its international emissions reduction commitments at least cost;
• Cimate policy must respect existing investments to avoid acute short - medium term disruptions while supporting efficient long-term investment in the energy and other sectors;
• A central feature of policy should be supporting research and development of new approaches to emissions reduction and refinement of existing approaches; and
• Compliance costs and regulatory burdens should be kept to a minimum.

“Ai Group acknowledges the need for a mature and informed debate to build greater consensus around this critical policy area. If we are smart about it we will develop a long-term response around the idea of least cost abatement delivered by a market-based mechanism. That said, climate policy should not be a revenue raiser and instead any net proceeds should be used to reduce other taxes and charges,” Mrs Ridout said.

Source: http://www.aigroup.com.au/

Australia - NTUC FairPrice stores go green (and gold) this October when they present A Taste of Australia at all 98 of its Singapore locations. From 21 October – 3 November Singaporeans can buy an authentic “Great Australian Bite” with delicacies from Down Under including nuts, chocolates, honey, muesli bars and fresh milk on sale.

A Taste of Australia is sponsored by the Australian Made, Australian Grown (AMAG) Campaign, a not-for-profit organisation that promotes genuine Australian products and produce globally. Australian products are recognised throughout Asia for their high quality and innovation.

Mr Tng Ah Yiam, FairPrice Managing Director, Group Purchasing, Merchandising and International Trading said,

“With many Singaporeans now well-travelled, they look for a diverse range of products and are keen on items brought in from other countries like Australia. We are constantly looking for new partners to bring in a greater range of quality products for our customers and are excited to be partnering with AMAG.”

AMAG Chief Executive Ian Harrison says there has been a significant increase in want of
Australian products in the region.

“Singaporeans are highly educated and more affluent than consumers in other parts of the region. They understand that Australian products and produce are of a high quality with stringent health and safety regulations, and they make their purchase decision based on that.”

Source: http://www.australianmade.com.au/amag-sponsors-in-store-promo-of-aussie-products-in-singapore/

The elimination of the word ‘catastrophic’ from the Fire Danger Rating is good news for Victoria’s regional tourism industry, says the Victorian Tourism Industry Council (VTIC).

VTIC along with Tourism Alliance Victoria (TAV) advocated strongly for the removal of ‘catastrophic’ after it became clear the connotations of the word were having detrimental effects on visitor numbers.

VTIC Chairman Jeremy Johnson said both industry organisations recognise how important Fire Danger Ratings are for the community’s safety but had argued long and hard that the word ‘catastrophic’ was unnecessary.

“Both VTIC and TAV campaigned the State Government strongly for clearer, more effective messaging system around bushfire threats,” Mr Johnson said.

“The clearer ‘Code Red’ warning, serves the purpose of cautioning the public without confusing people as to the severity of the risk.

“Importantly, for the regional tourism industry the clearer Fire Danger Rating will mean visitors are not unduly threatened by the rating.

Source: http://www.vecci.org.au/news/Pages/Victoria_peak_tourism_bodies_welcome_removal.aspx

The news just keeps getting better for Victoria’s tourism operators with Royal Brunei Airlines announcing today it will start direct flights to and from Melbourne in March next year.

VTIC Chairman Jeremy Johnson said the announcement provided more great opportunities for the State’s tourism industry to tap into the South-East Asian market.

“We continue to see increases in visitor numbers through Melbourne Airport and Royal Brunei Airlines’ announcement combined with increased flights from carriers Air India, Qantas, Virgin, Jetstar, China Southern and Air China, means Victoria’s tourism industry is set to benefit,” said Mr Johnson.

“To capitalise on this increase in flights, tourism operators need to make sure they are tailoring the experiences they offer to cater for what these visitors want.

“More also needs to be done to ensure these visitors are experiencing what regional Victoria has to offer.

“In this respect, the tourism industry needs to have more support from the State Government in helping to facilitate the development of tourism infrastructure close to iconic regional destinations, especially at the Twelve Apostles and the Grampians.

Source: http://www.vecci.org.au/news/Pages/More_international_flights_for_Melbourne.aspx

Victoria’s peak business group is calling for the next State Government to commit to a range of taxation and regulatory reforms for regional business to help boost employment, attract young people and reduce red tape.

VECCI released its pre-election policy paper on Regional Victoria on day two of its 2010 Regional Business Convention being held in Ballarat, ahead of presentations by Premier John Brumby and Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu.

VECCI CEO Wayne Kayler-Thomson says despite significant achievement in jobs, investment and export growth over the past decade, the future growth of Victoria’s regional and rural areas cannot be left to chance.

“The first priority for the next State Government in regards to regional Victoria must be support for new business expansion and encouraging economic activity,” says Mr Kayler-Thomson.

“This can be achieved by making it more attractive for small businesses to operate in regional Victoria, investing in vital infrastructure and supporting initiatives to help retain and attract young people to regional areas.”

Source: http://www.vecci.org.au/news/Pages/VECCI_calls_for_tax_relief_for_small_regional_businesses.aspx

“It is certainly an Aladdin’s cave online at the moment with many bargains to be found after parity was reached on Friday evening,” Mr Driscoll said.

“It is one of those cases of taking the good with bad and realising that whilst online retail is bound to experience a boom it actually presents another hurdle for many Australian retailers who must contend with that.

“However we need to understand that Australian retailers are currently in a position where the major banks are holding the guillotine above their heads in the form of interest rates coming into the Christmas
trading period and this is yet another hurdle.

“Consumers are smiling on this latest development but that could very quickly turn to a frown once interest rates rise leading into the Christmas holiday period,” Mr Driscoll said.

Source: http://www.unitedretailfederation.com.au/media_releases/2010