Lobby’s super idea to ease burden on business
3.2ha hospital site, was approved by Gold Coast City Council in March. The masterplanned community will be developed over the next six to eight years on the site bound by Queen St, Nerang St and Little High St in Southport.
Queen Street Village has already secured major retailers, including IGA, Dendy, Liquor Legends, ChemPro, Hanaro Mart and Guzman y Gomez. INFLATION has again undershot expectations and looks likely to keep the Reserve Bank sidelined on interest rates for some time yet.
The consumer price index rose 0.4 per cent in the three months to June, according to official figures released yesterday.
That was short of market expectations for a 0.5 per cent rise and in line with the first quarter figure of 0.4 per cent.
The annual headline rate was 2.1 per cent — below mar- ket expectations for a 2.3 per cent rise and at the bottom end of the RBA’s target range of 2 per cent to 3 per cent.
AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said a rise in the official cash rate from its record low of 1.5 per cent was unlikely before 2020, in stark contrast to the expected gradual rate hikes in the US.
Dr Oliver warned the RBA’s next move could even be a cut if conditions worsened.
“We remain of the view that the RBA won’t raise interest rates until 2020 at the earliest and, given the weakness in inflation, THE peak small business lobby has used its submission to the banking royal commission to renew its call for a restructure of small business superannuation.
Council of Small Business of Australia chief Peter Strong said small businesses, often superannuation poor themselves, were burdened by regulation to collect and administer superannuation payments for their staff, a role that should be part of the PAYE tax regime.
Mr Strong said in the submission that small business owners were often bullied and threatened by super funds.
“COSBOA has been concerned for many years with the nature of the collection process for superannuation and the behaviour of superannuation funds,” Mr Strong said in his submission. wages, and the Sydney and Melbourne housing markets, along with the uncertain outlook for consumer spending, the next move being a rate cut cannot be ruled out,” he said.
CommSec senior economist Ryan Felsman agreed the RBA would not move the cash rate “any time soon”.
The RBA expected underlying inflation to hold near 2 per cent for the next 18 months, and the central bank would revisit its forecast in its next quarterly statement on monetary policy on August 10, Mr
The financial services inquiry, overseen by Kenneth Hayne, QC, resumes in Melbourne on August 6 with superannuation on the agenda.
Mr Strong said an employer also was responsible for selecting a default super fund for their staff when this should be done by the employee.
“We believe the collection system is flawed and is open to corruption and abuse,” he said.
“This would create greater certainty for employees on where their contributions are located.”
Mr Strong said busy small businesses were not able to manage the superannuation payments on top of their myriad of other duties.
“Why would they reject a solution that saves them administrative costs, provides better certainty for workers and makes business easier?” he said. Felsman said.
JPMorgan economist Ben Jarman said the CPI numbers would affirm to the RBA that it had the flexibility to keep the cash rate on hold for a long time and promote gradual improvement in growth.
The biggest inflation rise in the quarter was in the health sector, where prices climbed 1.9 per cent due to rising costs for private health insurance, the Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed.
Transport prices rose 1.6 per cent on the back of higher fuel prices.