Christmas crackdown on dangerous toys

A national crackdown on dangerous toys will make this Christmas safer for Australian children.

Federal and State authorities  removed some 500 lines of dangerous toys from the nation’s shops, in their joint operation.

Shoppers, though, should still be careful to avoid other dangerous children’s gifts, which might have escaped.

The authorities targeted 3,000 suppliers.

They studied toys ranging from small stocking fillers to bicycles.

The joint operation was conducted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commision and fair trading regulators in each State and Territory

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer David Bradbury said most of the dangerous had been found in “$2 discount variety stores.”

They had included basketball rings and aquatic toys without appropriate labelling, face paints with dangerous levels of lead and toys with small parts that posed choking hazards to young children.

“This was the first pre-Christmas surveillance operation under the Australian Consumer Law, which came into effect from 1 January this year,” Mr Bradbury said.

“For the first time we have nationally consistent product safety laws so that all products can be assessed against the same set of rules, regardless of which State or Territory they are sold in,” he added.

He said suppliers who sell dangerous toys could face fines of up to $1.1 million.

However Mr Bradbury said parents still have responsibilities, too.

“Parents should take steps to make sure that the toys their children are playing with are safe,” he said.

“Remember to always read the warning labels, check for small parts,” Mr Bradbury said.

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RBA chief warns of EU risks

Reserve Bank Deputy Governor, Ric Battellino, is warning that the European debt crisis is posing serious global risks, including deflation precipitated by prolonged harsh austerity measures.

Addressing a banking conference in Sydney, Mr Battellino said steps the EU authorities are might produce a relatively benign outcome to the crisis.

But he warned “… other outcomes, including deflation caused by prolonged fiscal austerity…” could not be ruled out.

Oddly, perhaps, Mr Battellino added, that the risks also include: “inflation caused by large-scale debt monetisation, or some disruptive event such as a change in the composition of the euro area.”

He said Australian authorities must stay alert.

“We therefore need to monitor the situation carefully and remain alert to the risks,” Mr Battellino said.

“ Having said that, “ he added “I remain confident that Australia…is well placed to deal with events that may unfold.”

Mr Battellino cited Australia’s “ strong government finances, “ to support his case.

He also spoke of Australia’s “ resilient banking system, relatively low exposures to the troubled countries and strong links to the dynamic Asian region.

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Confidence falls, despite rate cuts

Consumer confidence has fallen sharply in Australia, despite two recent rate cuts.

The Westpac Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment, which has just been released,  shows confidence falling by 8.3 per cent this month.

Westpac’s Chief Economist, Bill Evans said: “The Index has now fallen to its lowest level since August this year.”

The bank is blaming news of both the European debt crisis and economic conditions for the fall.

People who responded to the survey had seen the news on local economic conditions, international conditions, the Budget and taxation as the worst since the global financial crisis.

“Despite the positive perception of interest rates the confidence of respondents with a mortgage fell by 9.5 per cent,” Mr Evans said.

“Specific news which is likely to have unnerved respondents is the reported increase in the unemployment rate from 5.2 per cent 5.3 per cent with a loss of 40,000 full time jobs,” he added.

“Of course, the constant stream of news on developments in Europe is also likely to have impacted respondents, while equity markets were volatile,” Mr Evans said.

He said respondents were worried about economic conditions in the year ahead and both current and future family finances.

“The sub-index tracking views on “whether now is a good time to buy a major household item fell by 3 per cent,” Mr Evans said.

He said, too, that risk aversion increased markedly in this survey

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Farm exports to rise

Australia’s farm export earnings expected to  rise by 6 per cent this financial year, to be worth $34.5 billion.

The Agricultural commodities report for the December quarter, published by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics makes this forecast.

It credits both higher exports and relatively favourable agricultural prices.

The Federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig, described these estimates as “welcome news.”

Recent rains, particularly in the West Australian wheatbelt town of Williams, though, have not been.

Late rains can wreak havoc on unharvested wheat crops.

Overall, though, the Bureau still expects, export earnings from wheat to rise by 3 per cent.

Mr Ludwig hailed the peformance of Australian farmers.

“During my visit to North Asia this past week, I’ve been encouraged to see so much Australian produce on supermarket shelves,” he said.

“ABARE’S forecasts the demand for agricultural products in the Asian region is expected to remain strong, with more than 60 per cent of Australia’s farm exports to the Asian region in 2010-11,” Mr Ludwig added.

ABARE also forecasts that livestock and livestock products will increase by close to 2 per cent in 2011-12, reflecting higher lamb turn-off rates and increased wool and milk production.

“The good news continues for livestock producers, who are expected to continue to rebuild herd and flock numbers to take advantage of relatively favourable seasonal conditions,” Mr Ludwig said.

Fisheries and forestry export earnings are forecast to increase too, to around $1.4 billion and $2.5 billion in 2011-12 respectively, taking the total value of Australian agricultural, fisheries and forestry exports $38.4 billion in 2011-12, an increase of around 6 per cent from $36.1 billion in 2010-11.

“The forecast for increased export earnings is good news for producers at any time, but particularly when world economic growth is expected to slow down,” Mr Ludwig said.

“The forecasts in this report are great news for Australia’s agricultural, fisheries and forestry exporters and are evidence of the hard work and ground-breaking approaches adopted by Australian producers,” he said.

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PM “does not understand” Union

A big union has sharply criticised Julia Gillard’s reshuffle, but it a major employer body welcomed it.

The Australian Workers’ Union is making no secret at its anger at  Kim Carr’s removal from Cabinet.

Ian Jones, who heads the union’s vehicle division, said the downgrading of manufacturing, to the outer ministry is “yet another sign that the Prime Minister does no understand manufacturing’s importance to the economy.”

Senator Carr, who was Innovation, Industry and Science Minister – at Cabinet level – becomes Minister for Manufacturing and Defence Materiel, in the outer ministry.

Greg Combet becomes Minister for Industry and Innovation, within Cabinet.

Peter Anderson, the Chief Executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, urged business leaders to seize the opportunities presented by the reshuffle.

He said the new arrangements should  be seen as “a chance to redirect the government’s energy to lifting economic capacity, productivity and competitiveness.”

The superannuation industry welcomed Bill Shorten’s elevation to Cabinet.

Pauline Vamos,  Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Superannuation Funds Association, said this provided “certainty and continuity” in a period of “significant reform.”

But the AWU’s reaction was sharp.

Mr Jones said the Prime Minister should pop her head out into her electorate to see the 4,000 Toyota workers she has just “downgraded.”

Her message is that “they are a second tier priority,” the union chief said.

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Nick Sherry stands down

The only Tasmanian in the Federal Minister, Nick Sherry has announced that he will stand down.

Senator Sherry, who held the Small Business Portfolio, said he would continue as a Senator, but not seek pre-selection at the next election.

Senator Sherry, who spoke just before an expected Cabinet reshuffle said:”I stress that this was my decision.”

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How to get more

Economic growth is possible in a finite world – if we increase productivity.

But what does that mysterious, economists’ word,  really  mean?

Getting more blood out of a stone, perhaps, by working smarter, not harder.

Frustration with the way we are expected to work is very common  and – all often – thoroughly justified.

Your correspondent has some experience with this, as joint author of a book on productivity, called “Because no Bastard Ever Asked Me.”

The anecdote, which led to that odd title, was  of a production worker,   Bob,  who worked in factory making  washing machines.

But too many of those washing machines were so unstable that they “walked” around laundry floors.

In desperation, Bob’s boss had hired consultants, to find out why.

As the consultants watched machines moving down the production line, Bob’s boss heard Bob, mutter “another bad one.”

Bob did that  once or twice more.

So the  boss asked him if he could identify machines that would “walk” before they left the factory.

“Yes,” Bob said.

“They have rough metal under the rim of their bowls.”

“We have had this problem for for a long time,” the boss replied.

“Why didn’t you speak up?”

“Because no bastard ever asked me,” Bob said.

(We still have a few copies of the book. Email me at alanthornhill@netscape.net if you want one).

The Treasurer, Wayne Swan, also argued the case for increased productivity at the weekend, saying the government is pursuing it by:-

• A doubling of the investment in roads, rail and ports over the six years from 2008-09;
• Building the National Broadband Network, which will help drive down costs of doing business;
• A greater focus on skills, training and apprenticeships, including the $3 billion investment in the Budget;
• Putting a price on carbon pollution, which will help shift our economy to clean energy and low-pollution technologies in a way that provides maximum support to productivity growth;
• Promoting innovation through better targeting of tax incentives, and $9.4 billion in spending on science and research;
• Reducing regulatory barriers and business red tape by working with the states on consistent rules and processes, such as uniform occupational health and safety laws and a national occupational licensing system;
• Building on our tax reform agenda, such as cutting the company tax rate to boost competitiveness, and tripling the tax-free threshold to provide workforce incentives; and
• A Fair Work Act built on enterprise bargaining that supports firms’ efforts to be more productive, and balances fairness and flexibility.

That’s the government’s response to the Coalition’s argument that it is wasting taxpayers’ money.

It’s a wordy one,  though.

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Julia Gillard’s inspirations

The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, paid tribute today,  both to Australians who never give up and those who are finding new jobs and opportunities.

She gave several examples, as she opened Labor’s national conference in Sydney.

Ms Gillard said she had seen “achievement” reflected in the face of a hard-working woman she had met last month in Melbourne’s west.

“She suffers an acquired brain injury but she’s never been a victim,” the Prime Minister said.

This woman had started a business in her own home – marketing gourmet dog biscuits over the internet!

She is “now selling them to Harrod’s of London for thirty five pounds each,” Ms Gillard said.

This woman’s courage had influenced the government’s decision to lay the foundations for national disability insurance, Ms Gillard said.

This would lead to a fairer future  for two million Australians, people with disabilities and their carers.

“It will be a defining Labor reform,” Ms Gillard said.

The Prime Minister also said she had seen “opportunities reflected in the face of a woman I met in Darwin last year.”

This woman – a cancer survivor  had been worried by a sore leg that wouldn’t heal.

Ms Gillard said the woman is now getting the care she needs, because her dermatologist in Adelaide could examine her leg on a high speed video link on-line.

“That’s why we’re rolling out high speed broadband,” Ms Gillard said.

The Prime Minister said Tasmania  had led the nation in this development,  starting with the replacement of its hundred-year old copper wire network.

“And now this year in Brunswick and Armidale, Townsville and Kiama, the National Broadband Network is an investment in the future which is operating now,” she said.

Ms Gillard said new opportunities are also arising, from what she called “ our clean energy future.”

“I’ve met workers at a Brisbane tip generating power from methane, traditional apprentices with clean technology skills in Brunswick and wind farm technicians in Bungendore.”

Workers at one of our cleanest baseload power stations at Dalby and staff who told me about pioneering technology at Kogan Creek.

“ The faces of the new jobs being created in our clean energy economy,” the Prime Minister said.

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