Australia

A unit of National Australia Bank Ltd. said Thursday it could face a tax bill of up to NZ$654 million plus possible penalties after the nation's High Court ruled against it in relation to a long-running tax dispute. Bank of New Zealand said it is likely to appeal the decision, which relates to amended tax assessments for six structured finance transactions with offshore parties between 1998 and 2005. The amount of tax in dispute totaled NZ$416 million. The bank could also be liable for interest of NZ$238 million as of June 30.

Acting Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard has condemned the Fair Pay Commission's minimum wage freeze as a “disappointing” decision that will cut real wages for the nation's lowest-paid workers, The Australian reported. The minimum wage remains $564.78 a week, despite unions pushing for a $21 rise. Business groups successfully argued for no rise for 1.3 million low-paid workers, warning it would cost jobs. Ms Gillard said although the Government believed minimum wages should be set by an independent umpire, this time the commission had failed to strike the right balance.

New Zealand-born workers in Australia are among the worst hit by job losses as the global financial crisis bites, new research shows. Research published in The Australian newspaper said the number of New Zealanders employed in Australia's workforce had dropped by 20,800 to 304,100 in the year to May. Full-time New Zealand-born workers across the Tasman dropped by 11,000 to 236,700, while part-time workers dropped by 9800 to 67,400. It increased the rate of unemployed New Zealanders in Australia to 7 percent, up 2.8 percent in the year to May.

Australian start-up Strategic Airlines has bought Australian charter carrier OzJet, which went into voluntary administration in May, Flightglobal reported.

Bank of Queensland is the subject of an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, The Australian reported. The regional bank that is based in Brisbane said it was made aware that it was under investigation yesterday. The news comes after the bank told the stock exchange yesterday there was no evidence it had acted dishonestly in relation to clients of collapsed investment group Storm Financial.

Bank of Queensland says there is no evidence of dishonest practices by the bank in connection with Storm Financial clients, the Brisbane Times reported. BOQ sought on Thursday to clarify its position given what it said was "significant misinformation'' in the media about its dealings with Storm Financial and Storm customer accounts. Based on "the bank's knowledge and enquiries to date'', it said, "there is no evidence of improper or dishonest practices or conduct by the bank in connection with Storm clients''.

Strains in pensions systems, in both private and public provision, threaten to turn the financial crisis of the past two years into a social crisis lasting for decades, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development warned on Tuesday. In its annual analysis of the health of pensions systems globally, the Paris-based organisation found private pension plans lost 23 per cent of their value last year, while higher unemployment “leaves little room for more generous public pensions”, the Financial Times reported.

A liquidation proceeding against Blue Chip’s sole remaining investment vehicle, Northern Crest, has failed, clearing the way for the investment company to migrate to Australia, The National Business Review reported. If the company moves to Australia there are concerns that investors of the failed Blue Chip schemes will not be able to pursue claims under New Zealand legislation. The Registrar of Companies had brought the liquidation proceeding against the ASX-listed but New Zealand-registered company on three grounds.

New figures from both sides of the Tasman confirm that New Zealand exporters will continue to face hard times in their biggest market as the global economic crisis drags Australia into recession, The New Zealand Herald reported. New Zealand's transtasman trade suffered a 20.7 per cent hit in April - led by a halving in the value of crude oil - and the release of Australia's latest national accounts data tomorrow is expected to report a further contraction in gross domestic product for the March quarter.

Greg Olliver has escaped bankruptcy after a judge signed off on a proposal that will give his creditors, owed more than $90 million, a guaranteed return of less than half a cent in the dollar, The National Business Review reported. Financier St Laurence, owed $6.5 million, had opposed the arrangement and protested over a deal in which the $7 million Olliver family mansion, against which it held security, ended up being on-sold to entities associated with Mr Olliver’s wife Sarah.