What you need to know about theMurrayinquiry

If history is any guide, David Murray's financial system inquiry will shape the landscape of banking, superannuation and insurance for years to come.

Its final report, to be published on Sunday, follows in the footsteps of inquiries that have had profound legacies for consumers, businesses and the entire economy.

The 1981 Campbell inquiry paved the way for a wave of deregulation, and the 1997 Wallis inquiry recommended Australia's modern system of market and banking regulation.

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There have been seismic shifts in finance since Wallis: a six-fold rise in the $1.9 trillion superannuation pool, a sharp increase in the share of bank loans going to housing, and a shift towards greater concentration in banking.

Depending on what the government decides to do with Murray's recommendations, it has the potential to affect just about everyone in Australia.

But as we learnt during the global financial crisis, finance can be so complex that even many bankers do not truly understand it. With that in mind, here's our guide to the topics that matter most.

Bank capital

The biggest fear among bank investors is thatMurraywill increase substantially the amount of equity capital the big four must set aside. This would make banks more resilient but also dilute returns, and possibly raise costs for customers.

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Murray's work to shape our financial world for years to come

New Delhi, December 2:

To improve penetration and increase value proposition in the employment landscape, job portal Monster.com India has announced three new initiatives to improve the experience for job seekers and employers.

The company has revamped its mobile app, launched a new professional networking feature for job seekers and designed Monster Analytics to help companies understand attrition better and retain talent.

Sanjay Modi, Managing Director, Monster.com (India, Middle East, Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, said, With the professional networking feature, job seekers and recruiters can create unique profiles and connect with other professionals if they have worked or studied together. Also, it will give recruiters who are interested in a talent domain the access to similarly qualified pool.

Revamps mobile app

The Monster mobile app allows active and passive job seekers better access based on their career lifecycle with send alerts with recommendations even if they are not actively searching. Through the app, users can also search for and share jobs, connect with other users and recruiters, and identify salary and hiring trends.

It has also designed Monster Analytics for companies to understand attrition trends. Monster also plans to customise its employment index and salary index for specific sectors, he said.

The job portal currently has a user base of 43.8 million people and is growing at an average of 16,000 resumes daily, Modi added.

(This article was published on December 2, 2014)

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Monster.com unveils new features

(PRWEB) November 28, 2014

Southview Design won a silver COTY (Contractor of the Year) award for Residential Exterior Specialty by the Minnesota Chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI).

Contractors from all across the country compete for the prestigious COTY awards. Winners are selected by an impartial panel of experts in the remodeling industry who review photographs and narratives describing the projects functionality, aesthetics, craftsmanship, innovation and degree of difficulty in solving the design problem. NARI members represent an elite group of approximately 800,000 companies and individuals in the remodeling industry.

Southview Designs winning project is a backyard in Wayzata, Minn. which has already won three other awards this year: a Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association award for Excellence in Landscape Design, a silver award for Outdoor Living from Professional Remodeler magazine, and a National Landscape Award of Excellence from PLANET (Professional Landcare Network).

Southview Design transformed an overgrown, unkempt and largely unusable backyard into an award-winning backyard that was the backdrop for the wedding of the familys oldest son.

My goal was to overcome the many major site issues to create a beautiful and functional recreational area, said Southview landscape designer Colleen Moran. Moran explained that when they removed the old pool deck, they unearthed two timber retaining walls and 13 footings. We suspected we were building on top of an old barn, she said. The ground under the pool deck had settled, revealing large sinkholes. When they excavated the old tennis court, they found that gas and high voltage lines had not been buried at the right depth.

Southview Design rebuilt the retaining walls one section at a time to stabilize the soil surrounding the pool. The design also included overhauling the pool, putting in a new sport court and installing a kitchen as well as a cabana complete with fireplace and AV equipment. They also created a private patio area under the deck next to the home and connected to the pool area.

Taking the existing homes architecture into careful consideration, Southview Design used the same roof shingles on the new kitchen and pergola; copper used on the cabana chimney mimics copper on the windows on the home. Colors found in the natural stone used in the kitchen, the cabana fireplace and the deck posts match the homes two indoor fireplaces.

For photos of the four-time landscape award-winning design, visit the page on Southview Designs award winners: http://southviewdesign.com/landscape-designs/award-winners/swimming-pool-overhaul.html

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Southview Design Wins COTY Award

BRADFORD City Park has won plaudits in a national landscape awards scheme.

The 24 million city centre urban park, which features a mirror pool, 100 fountains and laser lights, was highly commended in the Medium Scale Public category at the Landscape Institute Awards.

Eastside City Park in Birmingham took the award.

Urban park designs across the country won five of the 16 prizes on offer.

Among the other winners were the world's first tidal lagoon at Swansea Bay and Tumbling Bay Playground for children in Stratford's Queen Elizabeth II Park, east London.

Noel Farrer, president of the Landscape Institute, said: "There is an increased public appetite for urban parks and landscape architects are a key component in the success of these schemes that ensure our cities pleasant places to live."

Bradford City Park has won a clutch of awards since it opened nearly three years ago.

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City Park wins more plaudits

Tuesday 11 November 2014 Three summer pools make a comeback

This summers pool party season will be the biggest in years, with three favourites Waltham Pool, Lytteltons Norman Kirk Memorial Pool and theScarborough paddling pool opening for the first time since the 2011 earthquakes.

These pools will join Jellie Park, Halswell and Templeton as the 2014/15 summer pool season hits. Festivities officially begin on Saturday 15 Novemberwith the opening of the Jellie Park and Halswell pools, with Templeton Pool following on Saturday 6 December.

Christchurch City Council Recreation and Sports Unit Manager John Filsell says theres extra cause for celebration this year.

The Councils Facilities Rebuild team has pushed hard to reopen these three biggies in time for the summer season, so were thrilled to be able to include Waltham and Lyttelton pools in the party season. Theyll be a bit of a present to these communities that have been without for nearly four years, and the welcome-back parties are a thank-you for their patience and support.

Show Weekend sees the citys paddling pools opening for the summer, including New Brighton Whale Pool, Christchurch Botanic Gardens, AbberleyPark, Edgar MacIntosh Park, Spencer Park and Woodham Park. The paddling pool at Scarborough will follow before Christmas.

Sponsors MORE FM and Streets will be at each party with giveaways, competitions and prizes to keep the kids entertained. Details of all the summer pool parties will be broadcast on MORE FM (92.1FM).

For opening hours, prices, and further information on the Summer Pool Parties please visit http://www.ccc.govt.nz/outdoorpools Norman Kirk Memorial PoolThe anticipated December opening date for Lytteltons Norman Kirk Memorial Pool has been revised to 23 January 2015. The delay has been due to more-complex-than-expected ground conditions, with 400 cubic metres of ground needing to be dug out and replaced. The Lyttelton Lives On pool party will be held on Saturday 28 February.

Waltham PoolThis popular summer facility caters for a wide section of the community, with more than 17,000 people using it each summer before its closure in February 2011. Repairs are currently underway and the pool will reopen on 12 January 2015, with the Welcome Back Waltham party following onSaturday 18 January.

Scarborough paddling poolThis beloved favourite, which has been a familiar sight on Sumners seaside landscape, is scheduled to have reopened by Christmas. The Sumner Hub community group is leading a fundraising programme to find the extra money necessary to add some finishing touches to the pool, including seating, a shade-sail and trees and plants. The community will host an opening event on Saturday 20 December.

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Three summer pools make a comeback

SINGAPORE: The National Taxi Association on Wednesday (Nov 26) responded to changes to the Taxi Availability (TA) standards, saying the Land Transport Authority (LTA) could have gone further in assisting taxi drivers facing challenges meeting the requirements.

The LTA on Wednesday announced it would apply the third-year TA standards from Jan 1, 2015, which meant the minimum percentage of taxis required on the roads will be increased to 85 per cent of each taxi operators fleet during the core peak periods of 7am to 11am and 5pm to 11pm.

Additionally, the minimum percentage of taxis plying at least 250km daily will be increased to 85 per cent on weekdays, from the current 80 per cent. However, this will be lowered to 75 per cent on weekends and on public holidays.

Responding to the changes, NTA outlined three areas the LTA should consider: Shortage of relief drivers; computation of taxi vehicles in TA; and the changing taxi industry landscape.

WANTED: RELIEF DRIVERS

For the issue of relief drivers, NTA said while the percentage of shift drivers has increased from 53 per cent in 2012 to 66 per cent as at September 2014, this still translates to about 10,000 taxi drivers who are one-man operators that drive long hours and may fall short of the TA requirements.

It said that these operators face difficulties in finding relief drivers due to a decline in the pool of Taxi Driver Vocational Licence (TDVL) holders, as well as competition from taxi operators looking for drivers to hire their taxis that have not been taken by other drivers. The number of TDVL holders dropped to 99,392 in August 2014, from a high of 100,382 at the beginning of the year.

Such developments ultimately impact the ability of operators to meet the TA requirements and the unintended outcome would be additional pressure on taxi drivers to meet the revised requirements, NTA stated.

As a possible solution, NTA reiterated its suggestion of encouraging new TDVL holders to join the industry as relief drivers first. With majority of taxi drivers already driving 12 hours a day, the key is to make every taxi work hard, not the drivers, it said.

It added more than 50 per cent of TDVL holders are currently inactive, and reaching out to them to rejoin the driver pool will go a long way in addressing taxi availability.

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LTA could do more to help taxi drivers: Taxi association

By Paul McBeth

Oct. 29 (BusinessDesk) - Chorus, the regulated telecommunications network operator, wants to add another independent director to its board to enhance its capability in what's become a vastly different landscape in just three years.

Shareholders today voted on whether to approve a lift in the pool for directors' fee to $1.1 million from $980,000, which was set in 2012 when Chorus was carved out of the then-dominant telecommunications company, Telecom Corp, which has since rebranded as Spark New Zealand.

Chair Sue Sheldon told shareholders the increase won't spill over into higher fees for the current directors, rather, it would allow the company to add another director with "additional skills and perspectives" in a new environment for the company.

The board faced an increased workload in the 2014 financial year, with 33 meetings compared to 14 the year before, and a normal schedule of eight.

In response to a question from a shareholder, Sheldon said the increase was based on the average fee for an ordinary director plus a committee role.

Speaking to BusinessDesk after the meeting, Sheldon said when the board was established it was thought Chorus would operate as a typical regulated utility, though that has changed with bedding in of the new regulatory landscape.

"That obviously looks different from what the position looked like in 2011, and we're working through that process," Sheldon said. "It's not just one particular thing we're looking for."

Chorus has been locked in a battle with the Commerce Commission over the past 18 months after the regulator imposed steeper cuts to the regulated price of services over the network operator's copper lines. The company has been fighting initial determination based on international benchmarks in the courts, while at the same time lobbying the regulator to take a softer approach in its more fulsome review.

Chief executive Mark Ratcliffe told shareholders the regulatory framework Chorus operates in needs updating to provide the sector with more stability and improve the fibre uptake. That includes bringing forward a review of the telecommunications framework from its scheduled 2016 start date, and earlier certainty for the post-2020 pricing regime to ensure investors can base their decisions on.

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Chorus plan to add director after lifting fee cap

Posted on Thursday, November 20, 2014 at 2:18 pm

One of several options presented by Siska Aurand Landscape Architects Inc. would demolish the existing pool and replace it with what is essentially a miniature waterpark at a cost of $1.3 million. (design by Siska Aurand Landscape Architects Inc.)

On a chilly Tuesday night, one of the first real harbingers of the winter season to come, Ashland officials had fun in the sun on their minds as they weighed the future of the Carter Park Pool.

In a work session held prior to the regular Ashland Town Council meeting Nov. 18, council members, town staff and members of the parks and recreation committee met with Doug Aurand, of Norfolk-based Siska Aurand Landscape Architects Inc., the same firm that designed the original town pool.

Options presented by Aurand ranged from a relatively bare-bones update and renovation of the existing facility, which would cost roughly $705,000, to a $1.3 million plan that would replace the current 20-year-old pool with what is essentially a miniature waterpark, equipped with slides, water features and an expansive beach area.

In either case, Aurand said a renovation or replacement of the existing facility would give the town at least another 20 years of use.

Dennis Rabon, parks and recreation coordinator, noted that needed repairs have driven up operating costs at the pool over the past several years and that the options presented by Aurand served as a starting point for discussions going forward as town officials try to determine the future of the facility.

Is the pool a service were going to continue to provide? Thats a reasonable question, town manager Charles Hartgrove added. If so, what type of investment do we want to look at making in the pool? Is it a short-term replacement where were going to have to come back and revisit this in the near future or are we looking more long-term, generational as the last pool has served us for the last couple decades?

Members of town council and the parks and recreation committee at least consented that a pool of some sort is in Ashlands future; however, talks stopped well short of determining the scope of the project.

[Looking at these options] I felt like I was planning a wedding before there was a proposal, said Councilman Steve Trivett.

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Ashlands knee-deep in options for Carter Park Pool

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