Retail Financial Services 2009 on ABC Lateline Business

Doctor Malcolm Edey, Assistant Governor, RBA, spoke at IIR Conferences‘ Retail Financial Services 2009 Forum earlier this week and this event was reported on ABC Lateline Business news.

Caution needed as Australian economy recovers, says economist

Although the Australian economy has performed better than expected in the current economic climate, Chief Economist of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Michael Blythe says Australia still needs to be cautious.

Mr Blythe who will be addressing SEAAOC 2009 in Darwin on the 9-11 of September, says the resources industry was one of the reasons the Australian economy defied the global recession.

“Weak as our economy activity may have been, we have had very good results because of the backlog…from the mining boom and the fact that now the global recovery is driven by China,” he said.

Mr Blythe says caution is needed because financial crises weaken recovery in the early stages.

“We’ve got to look for an economy that…is growing at a slower than usual rate,” he says. “That means we haven’t seen the peak in the unemployment rate just yet.”

Mr Blythe says lower interest rates will be in place for some time.

Capital spending will be of the key decisions impacting the economy as it is currently the weakest.

“Certainly only few months ago there were big concerns the way companies were cancelling, deferring their capital spending plans- something that could have deepened or lengthened the downturn in Australia,” Mr Blythe says.

“Now all of a sudden, there’s a global backdrop…It’s the sort of environment where you may see some of the projects…suddenly look a lot more attractive and they’re potentially big drivers of the Australian economy.”

Mr Blythe hopes his presentation will give delegates a better understanding of the global financial crisis and some idea about the risks that will be experienced over the next year or two.

Other speakers include:
The Hon Paul Henderson MLA, Chief Minister of Northern Territory Government, Mr Alfredo Pires, Secretary of State – Natural Resources of Timor-Leste, Joseph Marushack, President of ConocoPhillips Australia, Sean Kildare, General Manager Darwin of Inpex and Mr. Yoichi Norisugi, Director, Secretary General of Nippon GTL Technology Research Association.

www.seaaoc.com

To arrange a media pass, request more information or arrange speaker interviews at the SEAAOC 2009 conference, please contact:
John Wilson
Informa-IIR
02 9080 4107; 0405751012
John.wilson@informa.com.au

Michael Blythe, Chief Economist of Commonwealth Bank of Australia discusses the economy

Michael Blythe, Chief Economist of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, spoke to us about his thoughts on the outlook for the resources industry in light of the current economic climate, the Australian economy over the next 6-12 months and key oil and gas related decisions that will impact the economy, and his upcoming presentation at this year’s SEAAOC in Darwin.

For more information on SEAAOC 2009, visit www.seaaoc.com or contact Customer Service on +61 2 9080 4090.

Progress has been made with National Water Initiative but more needs to be done

The progress and success of the National Water Initiative (NWI) was a topic of discussion at 7th Annual Australian Water Summit held last month.

According to the National Water Commission, the NWI is “Australia’s enduring blueprint for water reform…[and] represents a shared commitment by governments to increase the efficiency of Australia’s water use, leading to greater certainty for investment and productivity, for rural and urban communities, and for the environment.”

The agreement was signed in 2004 by the Australian government and all the state and territory governments.

Chairman and CEO of the National Water Commission, Ken Matthews said Australia’s water supply would be in a more adverse state without the NWI.

“It has initiated a whole lot of things that just would not be happening otherwise,” he said. “A whole lot of reforms processes, management improvements that were overdue and actually have started and in some cases, are finished.”

Demonstrable progress has been made in areas such as groundwater, water accounting, water trading, and urban water security.

However, Mr Matthews admitted there had been delays in implementation in almost every area of water reform which was affecting the progress of other reforms.

A number of urgent problems had also arisen including over-allocation, environmental degradation, the 4 per cent and 10 per cent rule in Victoria, cost recovery commitments by the Government, suspension of water plans and rural adjustment pressures.

“There have been developments since 2004 which are not being properly accommodated and the best example is climate change,” he said. “It now needs to be built more effectively into reforms.”

The NWI also had “forgotten areas” such as risks assignment & compliance and enforcement which had not been developed at all.

Mr Matthews said there were new risks emerging, particularly rural adjustment pressures which was the biggest risk to continuing water reform.

Other issues that needed to be addressed were the mining industry, adjustment arrangements and urban water institutional reforms.

Mr Matthews said there were grounds for reform optimism: the NCI had a plan, unprecedented resources being devoted to water, high levels of political attention and the loyalty of stakeholders.

“It could be different. We could be in a position where governments and important stakeholder groups were resigning from the NWI and we wouldn’t have a plan,” he said. “There are still big opportunities for further reform and big opportunities for improving water management.”

Water shortages, lack of water security, environmental degradation, the increasing impacts on communities and the lack of government agreements were still issues of concern.

Mr Matthew said he was very worried as a citizen that water reform in Australia was not happening fast enough.

“I worry that if it slows down even more, it will grind to a halt altogether,” he said. “[However], I think it’s important to communicate to people that there has been progress. Had there not been a NWC, a lot of things which are happening wouldn’t be happening.”
Managing Director of Yarra Valley Water and Chairman of WaterAid Australia, Tony Kelly said the National Water Commission needed to focus more on rural areas and the way water is managed in those areas.

He said the National Water Commission had been successful in its performance reporting in urban water as there were now national comparisons which act as a stimulus for further improvements.

“In the next three or four years, I think most of the capital cities in Australia will be in a much more secure position after investing 50 billion dollars in new sources.”

However, Mr Kelly said the imbalance between rural and urban areas needed to be addressed.

“On the national level… urban [areas] are only using 10 per cent of Australia’s fresh water and a majority of the balance is used in rural areas,” he said. “The emphasis now needs to be on rural areas and particularly on irrigation usage.”

Older irrigation systems needed to be upgraded as they could not longer meet the needs of modern farming.

Mr Kelly said the biggest national water issue in the next year and a half was the way water was managed in rural areas.

“Improving the efficiency of rural irrigation systems has been a major element in Victoria’s Reform Agenda but much less so in other states,” he said. “What’s happened down here in Victoria is that we have had the urban water users funding improvement in irrigation infrastructure in exchange for a share of the water savings.

The Victorian experience would provide cheap water for urban areas, increased security for farmers and benefit the environment as savings would go back into stress rivers.

In his address, Mr Kelly spoke about the progress of water reform in Victoria and the establishment of a state wide water grid which would link various regions together.

”These linkages really do need to be managed if we are going to exploit the potential of this grid,” he said. “Allying that with the introduction of more competition and third party access in the whole sale end of the system in particular holds great promise for further improvements in Victoria.

The water grid would allow Victoria to optimise their supplies across the state for the benefit of farmers, urban consumers and the environment. In the past this has been compromised by a lack of coordination across utility boundaries and a lack of a state wide perspective experiencing the same water restrictions, he said.

“We will be able to even out the pain a little bit but also when things return back to normal hopefully we will have access to cheaper whole-sale water. That’s got to be good for urban users and farmers because it’s going to keep pressure off the prices.”

NB
Readers may also be interested in a follow-up conference being hosted by IIR Conferences:
Water Pricing & Trading Conference
24–26 August 2009 | Rendezvous Hotel, Melbourne
Analysing pricing mechanics of the Australian water market
www.iir.com.au/waterpricing

Not for the faint hearted

Workers on a Pilbara mine site were surprised to find a snake in the middle of a meal which took it five hours to consume. They managed to keep the serpent safe from traffic in the meantime.

You may be able to catch exciting sights like these if you’re at Pilbara for our 3rd Annual Mining the Pilbara conference happening on the 10-11 June 2009.  Click here to find out more about the conference!

These pics were taken by one of the the NRW crew at Cloudbreak this week.

National Water Reform needs to focus on rural areas

The National Water Commission needs to focus on rural areas and the way water is managed in those areas, says Managing Director of Yarra Valley Water and Chairman of WaterAid Australia, Tony Kelly.

Mr Kelly will be addressing the 7th Annual Australian Water Summit on June 4 and 5 in Brisbane.

He says the National Water Commission has been successful in its performance reporting in urban water as there are now national comparisons which assist with further improvements.

However, Mr Kelly says the imbalance between rural and urban areas needs to be addressed.

“On the national level… urban [areas] are only using 10 per cent of Australia’s fresh water and a majority of the balance is used in rural areas,” he said. “The emphasis now needs to be on rural areas and particularly on irrigation usage.”

Older irrigation systems needed to be upgraded as they could not longer meet the needs of modern farming.

Mr Kelly says the biggest national water issue in the next year and a half is the way water is managed in rural areas.

“Improving the efficiency of rural irrigation systems has been a major element in Victoria’s Reform Agenda but much less so in other states,” he says. “What’s happened in Victoria is that we have had the urban water users funding improvement in irrigation infrastructure in exchange for a share of the water savings.

The Victorian experience will provide cheap water for urban areas, increased security for farmers and will benefit the environment.

In his address, Mr Kelly will touch on the progress of water reform in Victoria and the establishment of a state wide water grid which will link various regions together.

This would allow Victoria to optimise their supplies across the state for the benefit of farmers, urban consumers and the environment. In the past this has been compromised by a lack of coordination across utility boundaries and a lack of a state wide perspective experiencing the same water restrictions, he said.

“When the Grid is fully operational, we’ll also have access to cheaper whole-sale water. That’s got to be good for urban users and farmers because it’s going to keep pressure off the prices.”

Other speakers attending the conference include Ken Matthews, Chairman and CEO of the National Water Commission; Joe Flynn, Chief Executive of Water Industry Alliance; Andrew Gregson, Chief Executive Officer of NSW Irrigator’s Council; Rob Freeman, CEO of the Murray Darling Basin Authority; and Elaine Prior, Director of Citi Investment Research.

Adviser relationship skills crucial in current economic climate

Consumers have very real concerns about the state of the global economy and specifically, the effect it is having on their portfolios and the realisation of their goals and objectives. Now more than ever, they need good financial advice to avoid making costly decisions, although the state of the markets, the well-publicised demise of Storm Financial, and ongoing public denouncement of financial advisers by Industry funds all combine to undermine the trust that advisers have with their existing clients, and create a poor framework for which to build trust with a new client.

Interpersonal communication skills and client relationship management are vital attributes of any good adviser, although there are very few training programs designed specifically for financial planners to develop and improve their skills in these areas. Sue Viskovic, Managing Director from Elixir Consulting will be presenting on these very issues at the upcoming Kaplan Professional Financial Adviser Roadshows.

“Advisers who have an ability to connect with their new and existing clients on more than just a superficial level – indeed, those who can create and develop real relationships based on trust, gain much greater mutual satisfaction from their client relationships. Their clients feel more secure with their financial affairs and advisers find they are able to deliver better quality advice because they are privy to a better knowledge of their client and they understand ALL of the issues they face. This of course leads to longer, often inter-generational relationships with their clients, and ultimately a better financial outcome for their clients”, says Sue.

“There are some very specific skills and techniques that are required by advisers to communicate what are often complex, and particularly in the current environment, disconcerting issues with their clients. This workshop will give advisers some skills and techniques that they can take back to their office and put into practice immediately.”

Sue’s presentation entitled “An effective and client-focused approach to sales, communication and relationship skills” is one of the sessions in the agenda for the Financial Adviser Roadshow appearing in Brisbane on the 16th and 17th of February and Melbourne on the 24th and 25th February.

Register at www.kaplanprofessional.edu.au/FAR or call 02 9080 4080 for more information.

Terrorism, natural disasters have similar national impacts

TONY PEARCE, Director-General of Emergency Management Australia

Natural disasters are as big an issue as terrorism in the national security context, says Tony Pearce, Director-General of Emergency Management Australia (EMA).

“Natural disasters have very similar impacts, on the economy, the psychology of the nation, on the business sector and on communities generally,” he says in an interview.

Mr Pearce, who is to address the National Security Australia 2009 conference in Sydney in March, says EMA has two roles in managing risks to the community and environment.

“We have the pre-emergency phase where we work with communities, governments, schools and others on identifying risks and developing strategies, publications and education programs to assist in reducing community risk . This also includes coordinating and administering the Australian Government funded Natural Disaster Mitigation Program.

“In the event of an emergency where a state or a territory needs assistance above it’s own capacity, we coordinate the Australian Government response to the emergency and work with the aeffected jurisdiction.”

One objective of EMA is to develop ‘community resilience’, “trying to get the community to a situation where it’s able to bounce back from adversity”.

“It means communities working with government in partnership. It’s the government working with the private sector and non-government organisations in a collective sense to have people understand their risk, to be able to deal with the event and once the issue’s past, to be able to recover from it.”

Mr Pearce says that in his address he will look at the concept of ‘all hazards’ emergency management — the terrorism event as well as natural disasters and the similarities.

“I want to look at the potential consequences of the future risks we’re facing, such as climate change and adapting to climate change and how that’s going to impact on Emergency Management’s response.

“I’ll also look at some lessons we’ve identified from recent events and the community resilience issue.”

www.nationalsecurityaus.com

To arrange a media pass, request more information or arrange speaker interviews at the National Security Australia 2009 conference please contact: Nigel Dique
Informa-IIR 02 9080 4108; 0423 024 819; nigel.dique@informa.com.au

Adam Dunne of Aura Interactive talks mobile technology

ADAM DUNNE, CEO of AURA Interactive Pty Ltd, talks to us about the future of mobile phones, how businesses are utilising the value of mobile technology and the possibility of a trend to convergence or divergence of mobile phone and notebook computer technology.

He is a speaker at the Digital Media Leaders Forum in Sydney in March 2009.

For more information, go to www.iir.com.au/digital

Legal businesses at the crossroads

Many ‘traditional’ law firms need to change their business model if they’re to be at all competitive during the economic downturn, says consultant Ashley Balls, principal of Legal Best Practice.

Mr Balls makes the point that law is a business, lawyers, are not ‘different’ and need to ask repeatedly: what service aspects can be delivered more efficiently and for lower cost without compromising quality?

He says clients are now in the box seat and will demand more for less.

“Investment in IT is part of the solution, not a panacea. Email, the Internet, work-flow tools and automatic document assembly is not the end of the IT journey – it is the beginning.

“Failure to commoditise legal services wherever possible is an insult to clients who are already very familiar with computers and the Internet.”

Mr Balls says outsourcing is not innovation, it is a lifeline and questions the necessity of having expensive, grand offices when support personnel can be located remotely.

He says time and cost-based charging is finished – clients want fixed or annual fees and firms must change their billing practices to accommodate this need.

Mr Balls will elaborate on these issues in an address titled the Future of Law Firms at the 2nd Annual Legal IT Forum in Sydney on 1-2 April 2009.

International speakers include Neil Cameron, Principal of Neil Cameron Consulting (UK), who will discuss the use of technology to improve margins; Janet Day, CIO of Berwin Leighton Paisner (UK), who will give a UK focus on managing partners in lean times; and ILTA President Joy Heath-Rush, who is Enterprise End User Services Director for U.S.-based Sidley Austin LLP.

There will also be panel sessions featuring representatives of Blake Dawson, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Deloitte Digital and international firms.

www.iir.com.au/legalit

To arrange a media pass, request more information or arrange speaker interviews please contact:

Nigel Dique
Informa-IIR 02 9080 4108; 0423 024 819; nigel.dique@informa.com.au