Browse content similar to 14/05/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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in Iraq. A group of lawyers presented what they call evidence of | :00:00. | 3:59:59 | |
serious crimes. Now it is time for Asia Business | :00:00. | :00:15. | |
Report. As Australia Day jest a brand`new budget, where tough | :00:16. | :00:21. | |
spending cuts and tax hikes are the order of the day, we get the | :00:22. | :00:24. | |
reactions from the man on the street. And, Sony get set to | :00:25. | :00:26. | |
announce its latest numbers, with warnings of a massive loss. Thank | :00:27. | :00:40. | |
you for joining us on Asia Business Report. I'm Rico Hizon. Australians | :00:41. | :00:43. | |
were warned it would be tough, and it was. The country's first Budget | :00:44. | :00:46. | |
under the Abbott government includes plans to nearly cut the deficit by | :00:47. | :00:49. | |
half, with reductions to welfare and higher taxes, and at the same time | :00:50. | :00:52. | |
the government is increasing spending on infrastructure. The aim | :00:53. | :00:55. | |
is to bring the deficit of nearly $50 billion down to about $30 | :00:56. | :00:58. | |
billion next year. To help with that goal, higher income earners will pay | :00:59. | :01:02. | |
a special tax for the next three years. The new levy also applies to | :01:03. | :01:04. | |
members of Parliament. Benefits for families have been reduced as well. | :01:05. | :01:08. | |
On the investment side, the government promised to spend $11 | :01:09. | :01:11. | |
billion over five years on infrastructure spending. Phil Mercer | :01:12. | :01:14. | |
in Sydney had a very early start this morning, he was out and about | :01:15. | :01:17. | |
getting people's reaction to the budget. | :01:18. | :01:21. | |
Pain with purpose, is how the government is describing its efforts | :01:22. | :01:27. | |
to balance Australia's books. There will be sweeping cuts to welfare, | :01:28. | :01:30. | |
tax cuts for higher income earners, and the retirement age will rise to | :01:31. | :01:35. | |
70 further down the track. Government spending will be slashed, | :01:36. | :01:38. | |
and thousands of public servants will lose their jobs. The aim is to | :01:39. | :01:43. | |
save $34 billion in the next four years. The morning after, | :01:44. | :01:48. | |
Australians are digesting their country's harshest Budget since the | :01:49. | :01:55. | |
late 1990s. Tax hikes are probably a reasonable thing, cuts to welfare | :01:56. | :02:02. | |
are bit questionable. If the previous government stuffed the | :02:03. | :02:05. | |
country up, we have to try to fix it. Everyone has to help out, pay to | :02:06. | :02:10. | |
go to the doctor, that is what we have to do. I think it is hard on | :02:11. | :02:17. | |
health and education, but things have got to be sorted out, so as | :02:18. | :02:21. | |
long as it is only short`term. The government says the budget will | :02:22. | :02:23. | |
strengthen the Australian economy for decades to come. Billions will | :02:24. | :02:30. | |
be spent on road, rail and port projects, to boost prosperity, as a | :02:31. | :02:33. | |
decade`long resources boom comes to an end. Critics have labelled the | :02:34. | :02:40. | |
Budget regressive and shortsighted. The opposition party has described | :02:41. | :02:50. | |
it as a string of broken promises. Ministers will be expecting a | :02:51. | :02:53. | |
backlash from voters, but the next federal election is two years away, | :02:54. | :02:56. | |
so the government will have time to sell the benefits of what it | :02:57. | :02:59. | |
describes as a long`term budget repair job. I spoke to a | :03:00. | :03:20. | |
representative from a finance company in Sydney. I asked him if | :03:21. | :03:23. | |
this was the budget we had to have? Absolutely. We have had years of | :03:24. | :03:29. | |
mismanagement from previous governments, and I think this is a | :03:30. | :03:32. | |
pill we have to swallow. Will these goals be achievable? I think this is | :03:33. | :03:41. | |
an interesting question. I think if the Australian economy continues in | :03:42. | :03:44. | |
this direction, it should do it. One of the fear is that we hold is what | :03:45. | :03:47. | |
happens to its major trading partner, China. Our expectations of | :03:48. | :03:53. | |
economic growth just happen to be linked to China, and if China | :03:54. | :03:59. | |
continues to slow down, so will the Australian economy. I think given | :04:00. | :04:03. | |
the budget, given where Australia stands at the moment, and the growth | :04:04. | :04:07. | |
in the Asia region, I think the goals will be achieved. If China | :04:08. | :04:12. | |
starts to slow down, more than what we expect, then it will be more of a | :04:13. | :04:18. | |
concern. So, the economy is tied to progress in the Chinese economy as | :04:19. | :04:23. | |
well. Taking a look on a local level, what will this budget level | :04:24. | :04:25. | |
mean for you and your fellow Australians? I think it really means | :04:26. | :04:30. | |
that we will be paying a little bit more. I know it is always hard to | :04:31. | :04:36. | |
follow, but when you look at all the increases in the tax hikes, when you | :04:37. | :04:41. | |
look at the increase in some of the subsidies, increase in some of the | :04:42. | :04:47. | |
payments on the Medicare side, it is a bit tough, particularly for low | :04:48. | :04:50. | |
income earners. At the end of the day, I think it is something that | :04:51. | :04:56. | |
they will have to take. We are also getting tax hikes for the higher | :04:57. | :05:01. | |
income as well, so it really is spread across the entire spectrum. | :05:02. | :05:07. | |
When you look at it, it is a tough Budget, but everyone has to pay a | :05:08. | :05:12. | |
little. In other business news, a top court in the European Union has | :05:13. | :05:16. | |
ruled that Google must amend some search results if it is asked to do | :05:17. | :05:22. | |
so by an individual. The landmark ruling found that a person has the | :05:23. | :05:27. | |
right to ask the search engine giant to remove information under | :05:28. | :05:29. | |
particular circumstances. That is, individuals have a right to be | :05:30. | :05:32. | |
forgotten. Google said the ruling was disappointing. India's stock | :05:33. | :05:37. | |
market, set to open in about an hour, headed to record highs on | :05:38. | :05:43. | |
Tuesday after breaking new records at the start of the week. The rupee | :05:44. | :05:46. | |
rallied to its strongest point in ten months. It follows the end of | :05:47. | :05:53. | |
five weeks of voting across India. Analysts say it is a sign investors | :05:54. | :05:58. | |
are confident that Narendra Modi's pro`business party, the BJP, will | :05:59. | :06:05. | |
win the election. Votes will be counted on the 16th of May. It is no | :06:06. | :06:11. | |
secret that the electronics business is a tough one, and no business has | :06:12. | :06:15. | |
been feeling the pain more than the Japanese giant, Sony. Just how big | :06:16. | :06:19. | |
the challenges the company is facing will become clearer today, when it | :06:20. | :06:22. | |
announces its latest report, with warnings of a massive loss. We | :06:23. | :06:28. | |
explain why Sony, once the undisputed market leader, has been | :06:29. | :06:30. | |
struggling. Sony was once the king of consumer | :06:31. | :06:33. | |
electronics, but it has fast been overtaken by competitors like Apple | :06:34. | :06:41. | |
and Samsung. It is expected to book annual losses of $1.3 billion. That | :06:42. | :06:44. | |
is despite undergoing restructuring of the firm, plans to cut 5000 jobs, | :06:45. | :06:48. | |
and the $1 billion sell`off of its headquarters in Manhattan. The big | :06:49. | :06:55. | |
drag on its bottom line has come from its TV and personal computer | :06:56. | :06:59. | |
divisions. It prompted Moody's to cut its credit rating to junk status | :07:00. | :07:03. | |
this year. Part of the losses have been put down to 1`off costs, linked | :07:04. | :07:06. | |
to its decision to exit the PC business and sell off its brand of | :07:07. | :07:12. | |
computers. There has been pressure to ditch its television division as | :07:13. | :07:15. | |
well, a fiercely competitive sector with slim margins, but so far the | :07:16. | :07:19. | |
firm is resisting the move, and is instead splitting the unit into a | :07:20. | :07:26. | |
wholly owned subsidiary. It could prove to be a costly decision for | :07:27. | :07:29. | |
the top executives, could be forced to forego their bonuses for yet | :07:30. | :07:37. | |
another year. Some may now be asking why Sony is so different to other | :07:38. | :07:39. | |
gadget makers like Panasonic and Sharp. Both of them have turned | :07:40. | :07:49. | |
their fortunes around, and are back in the black, after huge losses last | :07:50. | :07:56. | |
year. Earlier, I spoke to an expert, asking him what Sony should do with | :07:57. | :07:59. | |
its business. It is one of the toughest business sectors, they are | :08:00. | :08:02. | |
struggling to turn it around, moving it into a separate subsidiary. The | :08:03. | :08:10. | |
pace of innovation in that segment is not enough for Sony to be able to | :08:11. | :08:21. | |
differentiate and command a premium. It is a tough business, I don't see | :08:22. | :08:25. | |
them providing any answers yet as to how they can bring back | :08:26. | :08:28. | |
profitability. It is a tough business, as you say. Should they | :08:29. | :08:36. | |
just shut it down? We all have associated televisions with the Sony | :08:37. | :08:43. | |
brand. Diversification is what they need to do. As we see a variety of | :08:44. | :08:48. | |
different consumer devices having the screen, that is an opportunity | :08:49. | :08:52. | |
to bring growth. What Sony is doing, with its foray into healthcare, is | :08:53. | :08:56. | |
an interesting proposition. They could integrate consumer devices | :08:57. | :08:59. | |
into a new value proposition in hospitals, as well as consumers. | :09:00. | :09:06. | |
That is an interesting idea. They will need more of these ideas to | :09:07. | :09:11. | |
help drive growth and profitability. The PlayStation is doing very well, | :09:12. | :09:14. | |
the movie business is profitable. When do you think this healthcare | :09:15. | :09:22. | |
business will bring in revenues? To make the company again profitable? I | :09:23. | :09:28. | |
think they are making tough decisions in terms of selling the PC | :09:29. | :09:31. | |
business, and as a result they are left with only the television | :09:32. | :09:37. | |
business. The remaining parts of the business are growing, there is | :09:38. | :09:40. | |
profitability. The real value can come through Sony if it can | :09:41. | :09:43. | |
integrate the various pieces of its business, from the television to the | :09:44. | :09:49. | |
software to the music. And, have a greater impact on the consumer | :09:50. | :09:50. | |
lifestyle. Asian stocks are inching upwards | :09:51. | :09:57. | |
after another strong day. Asian stocks are inching upwards | :09:58. | :10:07. | |
after another South Korea and Hong Kong in positive territory. Japan | :10:08. | :10:13. | |
and Australia are territory. `` Australian and Japanese shares | :10:14. | :10:28. | |
are moving sideways. Thank you for investing your time with us. | :10:29. | :10:42. | |
Our top stories: An explosion at a coal mine in western Turkey has | :10:43. | :10:49. | |
killed at least 160 people. `` it has | :10:50. | :10:51. |