POLITICS

Benjamin Koh, SMH March 11, 2016 Ethics and insurance don’t go hand in hand The behaviour of Commonwealth Bank’s financial planning division was predicted several years prior in research by Dr June Smith from Victoria University. In the thesis on Professionalism and Ethics in Financial Planning, Dr Smith showed there are...

Jack Waterford, Canberra Times columnist March 11, 2016 The most poignant, believable and prophetic movement of Niki Savva's Shakespearean tragi-comedy of the downfall of Tony Abbott is when a close factional colleague is trying to convince his Grand Vizier that, for his sake, she has to go. The Vizier can't see it,...

In a speech to a Universities Australia dinner, Education Minister Simon Birmingham stressed that he would not rush into a new higher education policy. Education Minister Simon Birmingham has flagged that the government is still committed to reconsidering the balance between what students and government pay for higher education. In a...

My mom took erythropoietin—EPO. It helped her tired, anemic body pump out more red blood cells for years before it became the drug of choice for professional cyclists in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I mention this because somebody’s mom probably also takes meldonium, the same drug that...

By Christopher Flavelle On a recent snowy afternoon in Ottawa, Jean-Yves Duclos sat in his as-yet-undecorated office overlooking Canada's Parliament, reflecting on the limits of government. Until last fall, Duclos was an economics professor specializing in the use of public policy to reduce inequality. In November, he became...

'The conduct of this bank is anything but ethical.' Lawyer Michael Bates says the CommInsure claims are 'certainly the biggest thing I’ve heard as a litigation lawyer.' Commonwealth Bank's life insurance scandal is predicted to inflict further brand damage on the country's biggest bank after its previous problems with financial planning, and...

CommInsure, one Australia's biggest life insurers with about 4 million policy holders, has been caught out using unscrupulous practices buried in the fine print of their contracts to deny, delay or avoid paying claims. Meet some of the key players and victims of the scandal engulfing one of Australia's big...

Summary of Donations reported by Donors to All parties - 2013-14 Column1 Column2 Column3 Gainsdale Pty Ltd #Sustainable Population Party $68,150.00 26 Summers Pty Ltd #Sustainable Population Party $53,000.00 Australia Chinese Business Elite Awards Pty Ltd ALP $260,000.00 Austar Group Melbourne Pty Ltd ALP $45,000.00 Chevron Australia Pty Ltd ALP $36,300.00 Pacific Equity Partners Pty Limited ALP $30,500.00 Insurance Council of Australia Limited ALP $29,052.00 Novartis Pharmaceuticals Australia Pty Limited ALP $29,000.00 Medicines Australia Ltd ALP $28,800.00 KPMG Australia ALP $27,500.00 Hualin Investment...

Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has announced a shake-up of Australia’s media ownership laws. So, what rules are being scrapped? And how might their axing affect Australia’s media sector? The rules On the chopping block are the “75% reach” and “two out of three” rules. The 75% audience reach rule began life in...

Facebook could pay millions of pounds in UK tax after approving fundamental changes to its corporate structure in Europe. Starting in April, the world’s largest social network will change its policy so that revenue generated from its largest advertisers displaying content on Facebook will be routed through the UK rather...