Treasurer Bends For Multinationals' Employees

The Australian push for imported corporated labour is picking up speed.

Released on the Treasurer's website yesterday

The Treasurer today announced improvements to the taxation arrangements for
temporary residents which will give Australia one of the most competitive expatriate
taxation regimes in the world.

A foreign source income tax exemption for temporary residents was introduced
into Parliament twice in 2002, but failed to pass the Senate because of Labor
Party opposition. The Government announced it would re-introduce the measure
in the 2005-06 Budget.

The Taxation Laws Amendment (2006 Measure No. 1) Bill 2006 (the Bill)
introduced today implements that announcement but goes further than the previously
blocked legislation which was to apply a tax exemption to a temporary resident
for a period of 4 years, only if the temporary resident had not been an Australian
resident within the previous 10 years.

The Government will now remove these time limits as they provide unnecessary
disincentives and distortions for individuals wishing to remain working in Australia.
The measure will now apply to holders of a temporary visa (excepting those who
are directly or indirectly treated as residents for social security purposes).

Holders of a temporary visa will not be taxed on foreign source income. They
will continue to be taxed on all Australian source income and salary and wages
generally, including income from employee shares or rights.

Further, capital gains taxation of temporary residents will be aligned with non-residents. The combination of these changes will also ensure that the capital
gains tax rules for departing residents do not apply to temporary residents.

The changes will significantly reduce administrative and compliance costs.
It will also further reduce the cost to Australian businesses of employing expatriates.

The Government is committed to assisting businesses to access the skilled labour
needed to compete internationally. These significant improvements have been
welcomed in consultation with business and taxpayer representatives.

at 17 Feb 2006 - 12:30am

"International Aspects" Of Australian Bribery Inquiries

As discussed earliear, US Wheat Associates were pondering the
use of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to examine the AWB in both
the America and Australia, as the group had companies in both
countries. This has left me with a mapof money flow whose geography
has long since vanished under arrows.

I'll take my favourtie company as an easy example.Until 2003 headquarters of divisions were scattered across the globe naval in the UK, infrastructure in Australia etc. These divisions were registered companies of the nations in which they resided. In late2004 the business was reorganiesed.

Let's say that the infrastructure division was drawing up plans
for rebuildiong oil wells, roadmaking etc. As the company knew that it
had the work before the invasion, wouldn't it be clever enough to start
work early. Ar keast have equipment ready and waiting where it was
needed?

Through its subsidiaries Ingersoll Rand and Dresser Pump, it appears that Saddam Hussein and Dick Cheney used the Oil-for-Food program to trade oilfield equipment. Under the RIO (Restore Iraqi Oil) contract issued by the Pentagon, Halliburton already had the reconstruction go-aheead before Australian SAS troops were violiationg George Bush's deadline. To paraphraseDonald Rumsfeld, these are "known knowns".

My question is this-
how much responsibility Halliburton Australia must assume for
"facilitation" paid by the company in Iraq to implement blueprints
created in Adelaide?

I wonder if this might be on of Commissioner Cole's 'internation aspects" ?

One more question- could parts of facilitation payments have been given
back by Saddam to their organisers as bonuses? What happenned to the
2004 claims by Iraq Governing Councillior Jalal Talabini at aUN news conference news conference that "We have a list of cash paid to journalists, personalities, groups and parties," ?

Ooops, another- has the same company now audfiing the AWB had any luck yet with the CPA? Accountancy firm KPMG was complaining two
years ago that the Bush Administration was hindering its investigation
of the implementation of OIl-For-Food money? After the courtroom
confession of the CPA infrastructure co-ordinator of receiving cash and sex in a specially prepared villa, there's yet another Pandora's Box to be opened.

When this is all over, we should be ensuring that contracts received by
the same multinationals involved in Iraq recinstruction to carry out
work in Australia are all "above board"

at 16 Feb 2006 - 2:26pm

Prime Minister Should Intervene On Halliburton Visa- Unions

Reprint of Australian Council of Trade Unions Media Release, February 14

The ACTU calls on the Prime Minister to
intervene in Australia's immigration program to guarantee that
temporary work visas are not being abused amid reports that employers
are rorting the system by importing low-paid foreign workers to fill
job vacancies that should be filled by Australians.

ACTU President Sharan Burrow said today:

"There is mounting evidence that the Federal Government's migrant
worker system is out of control - leading to both the abuse of foreign
workers and Australians being denied job opportunities.

There are stories of workers from Indonesia and the
Philippines being underpaid, overworked and abused while working in
Australia under these temporary work visas.

Immigration Minister Vanstone admitted yesterday that
her Department is currently investigating allegations that US Vice
President Dick Chaney's former company Halliburton imported Indonesian
workers to dig ditches for its gas extraction operations in the South
Australian desert.

Newspaper reports state the Indonesians worked 12 hour shifts for 80
days without a break and were paid little more than they would earn in
Indonesia while being housed in poor conditions at a Halliburton work
camp in the Cooper Basin late last year. (Adelaide Advertiser
13-14/2/2006)

The case of the Indonesian workers in the SA outback follows other
recent examples of abuses of the Government's migration program.

Last week it was reported in the Federal Parliament that
foreign workers were being treated like slaves in well-known Canberra
restaurants. The workers were recruited from the Philippines and 'sold'
to their employers for $6000 to $8000, it was alleged.

One of the workers said she was underpaid, worked
'dangerously excessive workloads' and her employer refused to give her
medical treatment when she suffered third-degree burns to her arm.
(Canberra Times 9/2/2006)

Also in South Australia, there is the case of 34
Croatian and Slovenian workers who have been issued with temporary
labour visas to build a paint shop at Holden's plant at Elizabeth. In a
local area that has unemployment of up to 19% in places, how could it
be that Holden needed to import these 35 workers?

These migrant worker abuses highlight the ugly side of the Howard
Government's deregulated job market. The Prime Minister needs to
intervene immediately to first make sure that employers look to fill
these jobs with Australians. He then needs to make sure any foreign
worker is paid decent wages and conditions.

What job security will anyone have under the Government's new IR
laws if people have to compete against cheap imported labour working in unacceptable conditions?" said Ms Burrow.

Jobs for Australian workers are threatened whenever employers fail
to properly test the local labour market and instead look to exploit
foreign workers. I thought we were facing a shortage of skilled workers
- not a shortage of ditch diggers and other unskilled workers," said Ms
Burrow.

at 16 Feb 2006

Immigration Minister Supports Halliburton "Australian Slave Trade" Denial

Immigration Minister supports Halliburton "Australian Slave Trade" Denial

Senator Vanstone will need to look after Halliburton. They're the
quickest way to generate a globally-competitive population increase.

I'm extrapolating from the story in tomorrow's Australian:

[extract]

IMMIGRATION Minister Amanda Vanstone has rejected claims
construction company Halliburton Australia exploited Indonesian workers
hired to work in the South Australian desert.

The Adelaide Advertiser newspaper reported that the company, a
subsidiary of US giant Halliburton, had paid the Indonesians as little
as $40 a day.

The newspaper said Australian co-workers had claimed the
Indonesians, who were digging ditches in the outback, were made to work
80 days straight and were given poor accommodation.

The Muslim men were also served meals laced with pork, it was claimed.

In a statement today Senator Vanstone said four
Indonesian workers employed at the Cooper Basin gas operation were
receiving appropriate payment for their work.

"I have been advised by my department, which has checked with the
sponsor - Halliburton Australia - that the men were in fact being paid
an appropriate salary," Senator Vanstone said.

"Reports that the overseas workers were only being paid $40 and $80 per day are grossly inaccurate.

"I'm told these figures are in fact day bonuses, which were being paid in addition to the men’s' salaries."

Is Vanstone authenticating the accuracy of her information, or will
she leave it alone so that she has a loophole at the inquiry? Or did
she just follow the official response from Halliburton Houston?

It looks to me as if somebody in DIMIA read the Halliburton statement and passed it on to Amanda as "Policy".

at 13 Feb 2006 - 10:47pm

Halliburton Imports Slave Labor To South Australia

Halliburton Australia. has a major part of South Australian business activities It's Adelaide office was fomerly the company's global headquarters for infrastruture.

Under the trading name of KBR it is employed by the State government and local councils. It has been involved in construction of the Port River Expressway and has proposed a development project for Lake Alexandrina.

Halliburton is also employed by the Department Of Foreign Affairs and Trade to carry out international aid contracts on Australia's behalf, and has many defence industry contracts.

In South Australia's outback, Halliburton has been flouting Australia's Industrial Relations laws by employing foreigners at wage levels inappropriate to Australian ethics.

By referring the Advertiser's questions to it's head office in Houston it has revealed where its South Australian activities are truly conducted from.

On evidence of such a flagrant violation of Australian trust, the ethics involved in all the company's interaction with all levels of government in South Australia must now be called into question. If companies such as Halliburton want to play in Australia, they must learn to play by Aussie rules.

Given the Australian Government's avoidance and denial of knowledge of Australian bribes paid to the Saddam government of Iraq, it is highly unlikely there will be an Australian probe into Halliburton's questionable activities.

As Halliburton Australia is a wholly owned US subsidiary its activities in Australia could be subjected to a probe by the US Department of Justice under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. US PLEASE ACT NOW !