AAP MARCH 17, 2016 British finance minister George Osborne has unveiled a new sugary drinks tax to fight childhood obesity, as he blamed a “dangerous cocktail” of risks from the global economy for derailing his fiscal plans. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility upgraded borrowing forecasts by a total of STG56 billion ($A106.35 billion) over the coming five years, forcing the chancellor to announce an additional STG3.5 billion in spending cuts to keep alive his hope of hitting his target of getting the nation’s books into surplus by 2019. Delivering one of his most difficult budgets yet, the chancellor on Wednesday was forced to admit that government debt will rise as a proportion of GDP this year – breaking a key rule he had set himself – and growth forecasts have been sharply revised down. The deficit – the amount the government spends above what it takes in – is…

Jared Owens MARCH 17, 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN Major supermarkets have been accused of aggressively discounting the price of milk to lure shoppers away from smaller businesses. Labor is laying the groundwork for an election contest over grocery prices, with opposition MPs seizing on Barnaby Joyce’s complaint that consumers should pay more for milk. Malcolm Turnbull yesterday triggered a rift with the nation’s peak business group by announcing the introduction of an “effects test” to competition law, allowing small operators to sue larger companies for behaviour that diminishes competition, even if their conduct was not intended to have that effect. Mr Joyce — who famously predicted a roast lamb would cost $100 under an emissions trading scheme — yesterday accused the major supermarkets of aggressively discounting the price of milk to lure shoppers away from smaller businesses. “I obviously believe that the proper price of milk is above a dollar. They…

ADAM CREIGHTON AND SAM BUCKINGHAM-JONES Spectator Have tap-and-go payments sounded the death knell for the ATM, a fixture of Australian shopping centres and sidewalks since the 1980s? The number and value of withdrawals have begun to fall for the first time. Proliferating options combined with rising fees — some ­private operators charge up to $5 per withdrawal — have created a perfect storm for cash and indepedendently owned ATMs. The share of payments made with cash slumped from 69 per cent in 2007 to 47 per cent in 2013 while the number of withdrawals per ATM per day has collapsed a third since 2009 to just over 60 last year. EFTPOS “cash out” transactions have been falling since 2014. “The period ahead may be challenging for the ATM industry,” the Reserve Bank says in a new study, suggesting the popularity of contactless payments for low-value transactions will “accelerate” the demise…

MARCH 17, 2016 News.com.au LIBRARY Sarah Joel (left) and Jessica O’Dowd drink coke at Tuggerah shops after their school banned soft drinks at school. Children. Kids. Teenagers. Vanessa Brown and Rebecca Sullivan news.com.au A TAX on sugary drinks, in its current form, won’t solve our expanding waistlines, say experts as Britain moves to introduce a tax from 2018. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver also called on Australia to “pull your finger out” and do the same. But nutritionist Dr Joanna McMillan, although on-board with bringing a sugar tax to Australia, says numerous other measures need to be put in place alongside a sugar tax for it to work. “Bringing in a sugar tax is important, because the data between soft drink consumption and obesity is undeniable. But this type of tax is not going to be the solution,” Dr McMillan told news.com.au. Some studies show sugar levies have worked in Mexico,…

Michelle Rowland March 15 2016 SMARTCOMPANY Small businesses play a unique role in the economy and have helped underpin Australia’s economy growth for the past 25 years. As Labor’s Shadow Minister for Small Business, I want to ensure a practical response to the challenges facing small businesses in Australia. Over the past year, Labor has provided bipartisan support for small business legislation coming out of the 2015-16 federal budget. To be frank, it was the only part worth supporting. This was the right thing to do. Yesterday, along with Chris Bowen and Andrew Leigh, I announced a response to the ongoing issues for small businesses when confronting the anti-competitive behaviour by larger firms. First, we will permit Federal Court judges to waive the liability of litigants in some private competition cases. This means small businesses and their representatives can tackle anti-competitive behaviour without fearing the cost burden of big business…