Friday 29th of March 2024

all is best in the best of the world as long as you can wipe your butt...

don't panic

Fears over the Coronavirus have now spread to the Australian Stockmarket where $100 billion has been wiped off the value of shares.

There are predictions Australian shares are on track for their worst day since the Global Financial Crisis as the stock market tumbles.

Federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who is preparing to announce a major economic stimulus package this week, has called for calm.

But falling oil prices could deliver good news for motorists at home, with the Morrison Government instructing the consumer watchdog to ensure that falls in the wholesale price are passed on to consumers.

“Australia is well prepared, economically, and we go into this challenge from a position of strength,” Mr Frydenberg said.

“This is a very different situation to what we saw through the GFC, which was essentially, a problem with the banking and the financial system and issues of liquidity. We haven’t seen those same problems in relation to this health crisis.”

 

Read more:

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2020/03/09/josh-frydenberg-asx-...

a strausz waltz...

From: Trevor Poulton  
Sent: Sunday, 8 March 2020 8:22 PM
Subject: Federal Court - No. VID1351/2019 Staindl -v- Frydenberg - Erroneous 'stateless passport' claim

To: 
Intervener – Commonwealth Attorney-General Christian Porter MP
Thomas Wood – Counsel for the Solicitor-General 
Respondent – Hon Joshua Frydenberg MP’s Lawyers
Arnold Bloch Leibler Lawyers
Catherine G Button QC – Counsel
Petitioner – Michael Staindl’s Lawyers
Bleyer Lawyers 
Alex Aleksov – Counsel

 

Hi All

 

I refer to the Staindl -v- Frydenberg case.  

 

I am the author of the Frydenberg Case – Legal Opinion (11/7/2019), and have been following the case with interest. It is clear the Federal Court Justices have been erroneously advised by the lawyers for the parties about the legal status of the French Titre d’Identité et de Voyage (TIV) substitute passport. The claim in the Expert Opinion of Dr Balint that the Strausz family were deemed to be ‘stateless refugees’ by the International Refugee Organisation (IRO) because they were able to obtain a Titre d’Identité et de Voyage (substitute passport) is factually not maintainable, and is a legal nonsense.

Dr Balint was not called as a witness by ABL Lawyers at the hearing on 18 February 2020. According to the court record of filed documents, the Petitioner’s lawyers did not file an opinion in response to Dr Balint’s Expert Opinion. Further, they did not require Dr Balint’s attendance for cross-examination. As such, it can be assumed that the lawyers acting for the Petitioner opted to not dispute the controversial TIV claim. Regrettably, the 3 presiding Justices, Chief Justice Allsop, Justice Kenny and Justice Robertson would not have had an opportunity to inquire into Dr Balint’s opinion, and may now be accepting it on face value.  

 

There is no reliable evidence that the Strausz family were the concern of the IRO. Nor is there evidence that they were recognised as ‘stateless refugees’ when they obtained the Titre d’Identité et de Voyage in Paris from the Le Préfet de Police. Informing the Justices of a factual and accurate legal account of the status of the Titre d’Identité et de Voyage is relevant to the attention given by the Justices to the historical account of the family’s migration from Hungary to Australia. The Justices need to be confident that the Strausz narrative aligns with factual realities to avoid drawing erroneous or false conclusions in the reasons given for their judgement. Whilst the TIV may or may not be a key issue for determining Frydenberg’s Mother’s Hungarian citizenship status, perpetuating an entirely erroneous narrative about the TIV may distort the Justices’ perceptions with regards to other factual and legal implications, such as those relating to inside Hungary.   

 

One cannot second-guess what weight or credence the Justices will give to the ‘stateless refugee’ claim, including in determining whether Joshua Frydenberg had taken reasonable steps to renounce his Hungarian citizenship in the circumstances of this particular case.

 

In my view, Bleyer Lawyers for the Petitioner, Arnold Bloch Leibler Lawyers for the Respondent, and the Commonwealth Attorney-General The Hon Christian Porter have a duty to now alert the Federal Court Justices to the discrepancies surrounding the TIV before the Justices hand down their judgment. In that regard, my attached commentary dated Monday 8 March 2020 is available for the Justices to peruse upon revisiting the issue. 

 

Regards

 

Trevor Poulton
Solicitor


 

Read more:


https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/the-frydenberg-case-and-the-stateless-refugee-claim,13671

virus-proofing the ceiling with stimulation splash...

Scott Morrison will jettison the budget surplus in an attempt to recession-proof the Australian economy with a wage subsidy for apprentices, a cash splash for welfare recipients, and tax breaks for small businesses.

The New Daily has confirmed the Prime Minister’s coronavirus stimulus plan will wipe out the forecast $5 billion surplus, sending the promised “back in black” budget back into the red.

Small businesses will also secure more generous instant asset write-off changes that will apply from Thursday until July 1 to encourage immediate investment.

These changes are expected to be worth $700 million.

Eligible employers with a turnover under $50 million will also secure up to $25,000 in tax-free payments to help cash flow at a cost to the budget of $6.7 billion over the forward estimates.

Any small business that withholds tax from the Australian Taxation Office on their employees’ salary and wages will receive a payment equal to 50 per cent of the amount withheld, up to a maximum payment of $25,000.

Warning there are predictions that the coronavirus will wipe 0.5 percentage points from Australia’s GDP in the March quarter, the Prime Minister will argue action is needed but insist the nation is “well placed” to manage the economic shock from the coronavirus.

“We’ve balanced the budget and managed our economy, so we can now use this to protect the health, wellbeing and livelihoods of Australians,” Mr Morrison said.

“Our targeted stimulus package will focus on keeping Australians in jobs and keeping businesses in business so we can bounce back strongly.”

He said the various actions would protect the jobs of 120,000 apprentice tradies and trainees, and assist about 690,000 small and medium employers.

The measures will include wage subsidies of $7000 a quarter for each apprentice to retain existing trainees or to re-employ those who lose their jobs because of any coronavirus downturn.

Employers will secure a wage subsidy of 50 per cent of the apprentice’s or trainee’s wage from January 1 to September 30.

Eligible businesses will be those with 20 full-time employees or less, but larger employees can also benefit if they re-engage an eligible out-of-trade apprentice or trainee.

The apprentice or trainee must have already been in training with a small business as of March 1.

Employers can register for the $1.3 billion subsidy plan from April 2.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the measures will be temporary and would not repeat the “mistakes” of the Rudd government during the global financial crisis.

“In our response, we have been very careful not to repeat the mistakes of previous stimulus programs and not undermine the structural integrity of the budget,” Mr Frydenberg said.

“By acting decisively, this package will put Australia in the strongest possible position to deal with the economic challenges we face and to make sure our economy bounces back even stronger.”

Pensioners and Newstart recipients could also secure a one-off $500 cash splash to help protect the economy from the impact of the coronavirus and a recession, Sky News reported on Wednesday.

That’s about half of the $900 handout that PM Kevin Rudd used to fight the global financial crisis in 2009 and avoid a recession.

 

Read more:

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/03/11/stimulus-package-coronavirus/

 

Read from top.

 

Note: every measures come with a bonus toilet roll, compliment of our Prime Minister, Scott Morrison. 

saved by the toilet paper rush...

How toilet paper almost kept us out of recession, even as the economy went down the drain

By business editor Ian VerrenderBY BUSINESS EDITOR IAN VERRENDER