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Posts tagged as “industry assistance”

Government Rejects SPC Ardmona’s Bid For $25 Million Rescue

The Federal government has rejected a bid by SPC Ardmona for a $25 million rescue package.

The decision was announced at a press conference this afternoon by Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane.

Abbott

SPC Ardmona is owned by Coca-Cola Amatil. It was seeking $25 million from the federal government and $25 million from the Victorian government. It was prepared to contribute $90 million to the rescue package.

Abbott said it was important that SPC Ardmona has the support of its parent company, one of the most profitable companies. “This is a business which well and truly has the resources to ensure SPC Ardmona is in a position to restructure,” Abbott said.

$6 Billion Corporate Welfare Costing Taxpayers More Than Unemployment and Sickness Benefits

A report by the Sydney Morning Herald today provides a fascinating insight into the amount of taxpayers money that goes to the corporate sector either directly or as tax breaks.

The paper says that “each year, Australian taxpayers hand over more than $6 billion to selected parts of the corporate sector in direct outlays and tax breaks, more than is spent on unemployment and sickness benefits ($5.8 billion).”

The paper reports that $60 billion has been handed out in the past decade, much of it to some of the world’s richest corporations, on an apparently ad hoc basis and “often with no strings attached by various Federal and State governments”.

The paper argues that the Howard Government’s rhetoric on mutual obligation where social welfare is concerned has not extended to corporate welfare. Furthermore, the paper says handouts to the business sector have had brought few benefits other than to shareholders of some companies.

AustralianPolitics.com
Malcolm Farnsworth
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