Crispin Hull

Two major industry bodies called yesterday (satjul25) for changes to the powers of the Trade Practices Commission.

They criticised the TPC’s “”extravagantly wide” powers to interrogate people under oath.

The criticisms come after the rejection by the Federal Court on Friday of an action bought by the TPC alleging petrol price fixing by the service-station industry.

The executive director of the Motor Trades Association of Australia, Michael Delaney, said, “”The TPC should be required to re-assess its objectives and its procedures in the investigation and prosecution of alleged restrictive trade practices.”
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One of Canberra’s premier cultural and tourist events, The Australian Theatre Festival, has been cancelled this year because the ACT Government and the Australia Council could not guarantee funding in time.

The chairman of the Canberra Theatre Trust, Jim Leedman, said he regretted the cancellation, but it was the responsible thing to do. The trust would concentrate on the 1993 festival.

The Minister for Arts, Bill Wood, said Robyn Archer has been appointed artistic director for the festival in 1993. Ms Archer, from Adelaide, is a noted singer, writer, actor and director. She starred in üLe Chat Noir at last year’s festival. The show was a sell-out and had to be extended.
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The date for public submissions on tenancy law has been extended to August 17.

The ACT Community Law Reform Committee said yesterday (TIME “MM dd, yyyy” July 15, 1992) that this was because of a huge attendance at recent public meetings. The committee is looking at ways to simplify the law so landlords and tenants knew their rights and duties on such things as bonds, eviction and sub-letting.
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All losses and outgoings to the extent to which they are incurred in gaining or producing the assessable income, or are necessarily incurred in carrying on a business for the purpose of gaining or producing such income, shall be allowable deductions except to the extent to which they are losses or outgoings of capital, or of a capital, private or domestic nature, or are incurred in relation to the gaining or production of exempt income.

Property owners having financial hardship over land tax could seek delayed payments, the Commissioner for ACT Revenue, Gordon Faichney, announced yesterday.

Mr Faichney said, “”Taxpayers wishing to discuss this further should contact the revenue Office on 2070126 or 2070107 before the due date to avoid automatic penalty charges and recovery action.

“”The penalty charges, calculated monthly at 20 per cent per annum would be charged on unpaid tax from August 16 and on the 16th of each month thereafter until the tax was paid.”
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ACT landlords are being advised to hold off paying their land tax, after the Leader of the Opposition, Trevor Kaine, called yesterday for quarterly payments of the tax.

Mr Kaine said some people would have to appeal to welfare agencies for food assistance until they recovered from the August one-hit payment of the tax. Most payments are as higher than $1000.

Mr Kaine said many people, mainly older people, had complained about hardship of paying the tax in one hit by August 15 on pain of a 20 per cent penalty. And it came when the first rates instalment was due.

“”The Government allows rates to be paid in instalments,” he said “”Why can’t the land tax not be payable in the same manner?”
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The Opposition with the support of independents is set to force changes to land tax in the ACT.

The Leader of the Opposition, Trevor Kaine, said yesterday (thuraug6) that he would move amendments when the Assembly sits on Tuesday to allow the tax to be paid quarterly. He would also move amendments to overcome some of the anomalies that have arisen in the past month.

Mr Kaine says it is unreasonable to expect people to pax the tax in a lump sum in advance at the same time the first rates instalment is due.

The anomalies include tax being levied on widows with life estates living in a house technically owned by the children or a trustee company under a will, on people with houses in a company or trust name, or on people whose spouse has been transferred for employment reasons.
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The ACT Legal Aid Office said yesterday that it would not have granted lawyer-of-choice legal aid to people charged with offences at the Iranian Embassy earlier this year without Commonwealth backing.

The grant of aid to eight of the 13 accused has come under attack by the Opposition and Sydney radio announced John Laws, among others.

It has led to a difference of opinion between the office and the Minister for Justice, Michael Tate, over the role of the Commonwealth in granting the aid.
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The differences in predictions coming from industry, the Opposition and the Government on the effect of the superannuation levy are unbelievably wide. They are so wide that the great British statesman’s warning about the moral status of statistics is worth bearing in mind.

The extremes are the Confederation of Australian Industries top limit of 60,000 jobs being lost and the prediction by the Treasurer, John Dawkins, that job losses will be minimal and might even create jobs.

The National Farmers’ Federation, citing the Murphy model, says there will not be much impact this financial year, but in the next two years the impact will be 30,000 jobs.
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The Kosciusko Chalet at Charlotte Pass with snow to the roof-line in 1946. It was a great skiing year, not only for the snow cover but for the greater opening up of the snowfields after the war. The picture is from Rick Walkom’s Skiing Off the Roof, The Kosciusko Chalet at Charlotte Pass and its place in the history of the Australian snowfields. 167pp. $39.95. Alberg Press. The book is laced with splendid historic photographs of snow rescues, an appendectomy operation at the Chalet, old skiers and their gear and transport and the fire at the Chalet in 1938. It includes photographs developed from the camera found on the body of Laurie Seaman, who with Evan Hayes became Australia’s first skiing deaths in 1928. The text is full of anecdote and research and is a must for anyone who loves the Snowy Mountains.