Good morning, this is Graham Russell bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Monday 6 November. Top stories An investigation into how some of the world's biggest businesses and global figures in politics, entertainment and sport have sheltered their wealth in secretive tax havens launches today. The Paradise Papers – based on millions of pages of documents – expose the global environments in which tax abuses can thrive and the complex and seemingly artificial ways the wealthiest corporations can legally protect their wealth. The material for the Paradise Papers has come from two offshore service providers and the company registries of 19 tax havens and was obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists with partners including the Guardian. There is a video explainer here. Among the revelations: At the centre of the leak is Appleby, a law firm with outposts in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey. Appleby says it has investigated all the allegations, and found "there is no evidence of any wrongdoing, either on the part of ourselves or our clients", adding: "We are a law firm which advises clients on legitimate and lawful ways to conduct their business. We do not tolerate illegal behaviour." The Australian Taxation Office says it is ready to use information from the Paradise Papers to launch new investigations into global tax avoidance. The tax office has been working for several months with partner agencies across the world in anticipation of the new data release by the ICIJ, it said on Monday. "I am confident the ATO is in a position to respond decisively to this data release," said Mark Konza, the tax office's deputy commissioner, international. "We know and trust that most people do the right thing, and that many taxpayers identified as part of the leak will be meeting their Australian tax obligations. However, we investigate all leads and have the resources and expertise to take action against taxpayers or intermediaries found to be caught up in the illegal use of offshore structures or providers." Pauline Hanson gets on her "battler bus" today on a slightly belated start to her electoral mission to conquer Queensland. One Nation is hitting the road to make up for time as a result of Hanson being overseas when the election was called, and will start in Brisbane before heading north along the coast. The electorate offensive will reach Townsville by the end of the week, before going on to far north Queensland at the weekend. The latest Galaxy poll, published yesterday, showed 54% of respondents were worried the state would go backwards under a government controlled by Hanson's party, an increase of 5% in less than a year. While the poll confirmed Labor voters were the most worried, it also revealed 61% of LNP voters were concerned about a One Nation-dominated future. There has been a 99% rise in rates of gonorrhoea infection in Australia's cities but a 9% drop in rural areas over the past five years, according to a new report on the nation's sexual health. The annual surveillance report on HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections, which is released by the Kirby Institute in Sydney on Monday, shows there were 23,887 new diagnoses of gonorrhoea in 2016, with about three quarters of them in men. Men aged between 25 and 29 and women between 20 and 24 saw the largest increase in gonorrhoea infections. Labor is not letting go of the citizenship issue – it's calling for the Coalition to agree to universal disclosure in place of the audit others are demanding. Labor and the Greens plan on opening the week by prosecuting the government over its refusal to allow either a citizenship audit or disclosure plan despite lingering questions over MPs' eligibility. Alex Hawke and Josh Frydenberg were the latest Liberal MPs to be questioned about their citizenship status, something both strongly deny is in doubt. Late on Sunday Penny Wong called for Hawke and the Victorian Liberal Julia Banks –who denies claims she has Greek citizenship by descent – to go the high court. "Australians can no longer believe [Malcolm]Turnbull or his MPs when they say trust us," Wong said. Sport The goals are flying in from every angle and Pep Guardiola's Manchester City are on course to smash just about every scoring record in history. Their latest victim, Arsenal, suffered a 3-1 defeat that means they have lost four of their first six away games. Manchester United, City's closest rivals, lost 1-0 at Chelsea courtesy of a Álvaro Morata header and are now eight points behind. The success of Dimitri Petratos in this season of the A-League is a case study for the future success of the competition, writes Jonathan Howcroft. He argues that players including Petratos, Daniel De Silva and Kearyn Baccus indicate that the competition must provide opportunities for local talent with high ceilings – particularly after failed experiments overseas. This should be prioritised over team success. Thinking time Matthew Abbott has covered sad stories around the world, from the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh to the South Sudan civil war, yet his work last year at Manus Island profoundly affected him. Here he writes about how in covering previous situations, there always seemed to be some kind of hope or will to fight. But on Manus, all that is left is a sense of despair. The common feeling among the men he meets is a desire to die. | 
Posts
Photograph: A Davidson/SHM/Rex/Shutterstock 
No comments:
Post a Comment