Category: Corporate control

Corporate control, Corporate Games, corporate impunity

Harvey Norman: longest running chairman Gerry Harvey doesn’t disappoint

Gerry Harvey

Harvey did respond to the next question regarding whether the company had returned the $22 million in JobKeeper payments it took in 2020. “Yes,” he said, however the last notice that the company gave to the ASX regarding JobKeeper repayments was in August last year.

The company revealed it repaid $6m in JobKeeper wage subsidies after recording profits in the 2020-21 financial year and has yet to make a subsequent announcement regarding the remaining $16 million. MWM has reached out to confirm.

Source: Harvey Norman: longest running chairman Gerry Harvey doesn’t disappoint

Corporate control, Corporate Government, Corporate Greed, corporate impunity

Punishment by partiality: Lendlease white-collars stick to the right side of the law no matter what

ATO – TAX

Cold comfort for the swimming teacher going to jail for attempting to claim $250k of false GST refunds, the doctor sentenced to seven months jail for non-lodgements, the bank manager sentenced to three years’ jail for attempting to defraud the Commonwealth of $390,000, and the other small (or no more than medium) players.Double standards are rife. When will the executives of a big corporate such as Lendlease be prosecuted?

Punishment by partiality: Lendlease white-collars stick to the right side of the law no matter what

Corporate control

New finding: in 49 Australian industries the major firms are owned by common investors

In more than a fifth of Australia’s industries, the two biggest firms control at least half the market. Think of telecommunications, supermarkets, department stores, packaging, airlines, hardware, service stations, cinema chains and commercial television. In industries like these there’s a temptation to share the spoils — not to compete too hard on price or service. How much stronger would that temptation be if both dominant firms in each industry were owned by the same shareholder or set of shareholders? Support non-profit journalism you can trust. Neither firm might want to put the other out of business. There’s evidence to suggest this has indeed been the case in the United States where increases in common ownership have been linked to higher airline fares, more expensive pharmaceuticals, and higher bank fees. It’s enough to make you wonder whether there’s common ownership in Australia.

Source: New finding: in 49 Australian industries the major firms are owned by common investors

Corporate control, Corporate Greed

Covid Vaccine Makers Promise Investors They’ll Hike Prices
Doctor returns a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine to a refrigerator unit in Central Falls, RI on March 1, 2021.

behind the approved coronavirus vaccines — Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and Pfizer — have quietly touted plans to raise prices on coronavirus vaccines in the near future and to capitalize on the virus’s lasting presence.

Covid Vaccine Makers Promise Investors They’ll Hike Prices
Corporate control

Can Amazon Be Stopped? | Washington Monthly
Jeff Bezos painting

About two and a half years ago, as media speculation about where Amazon would locate its second headquarters reached a fever pitch, The Onion, a satirical website, decided to make its own projection. “‘You Are All Inside Amazon’s Second Headquarters,’ Jeff Bezos Announces to Horrified Americans as Massive Dome Envelops Nation,” the site declared.

Can Amazon Be Stopped? | Washington Monthly
Corporate control, Corporate Government, Corporate Politics

State Capture: top corporations identified as members of both Liberal and Labor parties – Michael West
Political donations, Liberal Party, Labor Party, AEC

Companies which benefit enormously from government policy are also members of both the major political parties. A surprising data investigation by Stephanie Tran shows Woodside, Wesfarmers, PwC and ASX are Platinum members of the Liberal and Labor parties, and membership fees are identical. In the first part of our State Capture series we reveal Platinum, Gold and Silver members of both parties and what access they get.

State Capture: top corporations identified as members of both Liberal and Labor parties – Michael West
Corporate control, Corporate Greed

Corporations Like Amazon Hire Union-Busting Labor Spies All the Time

Amazon was recently busted hiring intelligence experts to spy on Amazon workers. The practice is unfortunately common — most major multinational corporations have surveillance divisions which overlap with government intelligence agencies, creating a single, powerful security apparatus at the disposal of both the federal government and private corporations to use against workers.

Corporations Like Amazon Hire Union-Busting Labor Spies All the Time
Corporate control, Uncategorized

As rivers and dams dry up, groundwater emerges as new battleground in fight for water – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

A man in a blue collared shirt and a cap sits in a buggy with grass in the background.

“To us, this inevitably means fruit and nut crops.”  1kg of almonds takes 860 liters of water to grow (ODT)

And big corporations are among those trying to cash in on it.

In farming country just north of Shepparton in northern Victoria, multi-million dollar agricultural investment corporation goFarm is buying up properties all over the district.

Documents obtained by the ABC from The Weekly Times show the company wants to control at least half of the Katunga Deep Lead Aquifer, an important groundwater resource for local farmers.

via As rivers and dams dry up, groundwater emerges as new battleground in fight for water – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Corporate control

Sharemarket Stock broker collapse traps $200m from thousands of investors

Halifax's clients invested in equities in Australia and other markets and a range of derivative products.

Stock broker collapse traps $200m from thousands of investors

The demise of Halifax Investment Services has led to the assets of  12,000 accounts being frozen as administrators figure out what went wrong.

“Halifax was the subject of an enforceable undertaking with ASIC in 2013 following regulatory action by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission over a slew of concerns about the operations of the business.”

It’s not the first time

When Corporations go to the wall it’s the the “free market” when the economy is rocked it’s the the “free market”. When the economy is on the rise it’s Liberal” good management,” When unemployment is rising it’s the “free market” When welfare is cut it’s Liberal “good management”. Someone seems not to have a clue when 12,000 investors are seperatedfrom their money. (ODT)

Corporate control

At the Heart of Global Woes, 157 of World’s 200 Richest Entities Are Now Corporations, Not Governments

From massive inequality to the climate crisis, these powerful corporations “are able to demand that governments do their bidding”

via At the Heart of Global Woes, 157 of World’s 200 Richest Entities Are Now Corporations, Not Governments

Corporate control, Government Control, Media Control, Uncategorized

‘Dark Money’: New Documentary Offers Up-Close and ‘Harrowing Portrait’ of How Secret Corporate Cash Is Destroying American Democracy

dark money

 

After Citizens United, says director Kimberly Reed, “you could just see political power slipping out of the hands of the average citizen and into the hands of a handful of super-rich people.”

via ‘Dark Money’: New Documentary Offers Up-Close and ‘Harrowing Portrait’ of How Secret Corporate Cash Is Destroying American Democracy

Corporate control, Corporate Government, Uncategorized

Company boards are stacked with friends of friends. So how can we expect change? – Analysis & Opinion – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Two men walking in suits

 

Social connections drive board appointments and more than two-thirds of directors in the 200 largest public companies are on the board of multiple companies. So whoever replaces ex-AMP chairwoman Catherine Brenner will likely be drawn from a small pool of people.

This violates discrimination legislation that states recruitment should be open and accessible, based on clear assessment of skills, training and relevant experience.

The use of closed networks in the recruitment and selection of board members also creates other problems related to “group think“. Group think creates a situation where board members are more concerned with being a liked and connected member of a particular social group.

As a result members will conform to the status quo, which guarantees them membership perks, such as highly paid directorship roles.

A direct outcome of the group think mentality are boards signing off on questionable business practices as we currently see in the banking sector. Coupled with a self-regulated system, this is a recipe for disaster.

Company boards are stacked with friends of friends. So how can we expect change? – Analysis & Opinion – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)