03/09/2014 Asia Business Report


03/09/2014

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forward with allegations of child sexual abuse in Rotherham, according

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to the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire. A report last week said

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1,400 children had been abused over a 16`year period.

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Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.

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Australia scraps the controversial and unpopular mining tax. What

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impact will this have on the government's finances? 100 days. We

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look at what India's Prime Minister has achieved since he took up the

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post. Thank you for joining us. Australia's mining sector has long

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pushed for the government to abandon the mining tax and now the Prime

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Minister has delivered. The 30% tax on mining profits from coal and iron

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ore was first introduced by the former government in 2012. The

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scrapping of the mining tax has been a long time coming. It was the

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promise by the Conservatives going into an election last September here

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in Australia and finally. The government has pushed this reform

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through the upper house of Parliament, the Senate. The

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government has had to negotiate with Clive Palmer's Palmer United Party

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in order to push through the repeal legislation. There is a price to be

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paid. Welfare payments and other changes to pensions are a concession

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that the government has had to make, which will result in a

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multibillion`dollar hole in government finances. A

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multibillion`dollar hole. What kind of impact will this have on the

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mining sector? The Conservative government has

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always argued the mining tax was never likely to raise anywhere near

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the sort of money that had been predicted. It was introduced in 2012

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by the previous administration, partly to fund welfare payments and

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also to spread the wealth of Australia's resources boom. The

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Conservatives said it simply wasn't working and also that it was having

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at negative impact on mining investment in this country. Critics,

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including the Greens in Australia, say that this is the greatest

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conflict of interest in modern Australian political history given

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that Clive Palmer, a Federal MP, is also a coal billionaire and they

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wonder just how it is that he has been able to vote down Australia's

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mining tax. It is not the first time Australia

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has repealed an unpopular tax. In July, it scrapped the carbon tax

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legislation. Yes, two unpopular taxes, according

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to the government, have been axed in the last few months. The carbon tax

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bit the dust and now we have seen the mining tax go the same way too.

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It hasn't been an easy journey for the Conservative government in the

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upper house of Parliament, the Senate, which is the house of

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review. That is because the Conservative administration does not

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have a majority. It is having to negotiate with the likes of the

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Palmer United Party to get these reforms through. Phil Mercer in

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Sydney. And the Australian economy has

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slowed compared to the previous year. Australian conglomerate

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Westfarmers is cutting a number of jobs, which it says is necessary for

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the building of more stores. It has announced a $1 billion investment to

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build 70 new supermarkets across the country by 2017. A group of workers

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tasked with decommissioning the crippled Fukushima nuclear power

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plant have fired `` filed a lawsuit against Tokyo Electric Power,

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claiming that TEPCO has failed to ensure workers are paid hazard

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allowances. In India, Narendra Modi swept into power earlier this year,

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promising better days ahead for the world's largest democracy. He

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campaigned to be a business friendly Prime Minister and an economic

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performer. `` reformer. How is he doing after his first 100 days in

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office? After official meetings with

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Narendra Modi this week, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced

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a plan for more Japanese investment in India as well as major

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infrastructure loans. After 100 days in office, Narendra Modi wants the

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world to know he is all business. He led his party to a decisive

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political victory earlier this year in part by promising to inject life

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into India's flagging economy. It is still early days of course, but has

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it made a difference so far? There was a turnaround that I think

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started at the time of the election. Part of that was that India was in a

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business cycle and that cycle was turning. Things were getting better.

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There is, in addition, a sort of upsurge of hope under the new

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government. Narendra Modi has launched a financial inclusion

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scheme to open bank accounts for millions of the poor. He has

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loosened caps on foreign investment in railway infrastructure and

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defence manufacturing. He is doing something about red tape. Still, not

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everyone got what they wanted. Some businesses were expecting a more

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aggressive privatisation agenda. He is pro`business but believes in a

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strong state as well. He is an Eastern reformer, not a Western

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reformer. He believes in a strong public sector. He would never

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privatise that way. However, some of the disappointments have been in his

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attitude towards trade. He single`handedly, this government,

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has torpedoed world trade negotiations, which took a lot of

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people by surprise. For the moment, India's economy seems to be

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improving. GDP growth has increased and the markets have improved

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significantly in three months. Economists and politicians will

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differ on whether or not his agenda may be different. Drowning under its

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crushing debt last year, the city of Detroit in the US declared itself

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insolvent, becoming the largest economic collapse in American

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history. This week, lawyers will argue about to reassemble its

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finances. The city will have to reduce its debt load of $12 billion

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to a more manageable $5 billion. And creditors will plead that they must

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be paid their dues but it will not be an easy task, with nearly half of

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Detroit residents living in poverty. This is a scene that is beginning to

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play out on many streets in Detroit. Workers are turning people 's water

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back on. This woman is 38 weeks pregnant. She and her five`year`old

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daughter spent days without water. I was devastated to not have the same

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access to water. It meant we had to limit Beijing, cooking and

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cleaning. It was nerve wracking. `` had to limit washing, cooking and

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cleaning. Her days without water are now over. But that is still not the

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case for many residents, who have to wait hours in line to pay bills so

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that their taps can be turned back on. Activists and community leaders

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are outraged but the water department is owed more than $80

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million. For a city that is trying to dig itself out from under

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crushing debt, it cannot afford that many unpaid bills. No one expects to

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be talking about the lack of water in a major American city, especially

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one that sits next to such a large source of fresh water. But such are

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the harsh times that have befallen Detroit, the once prosperous home to

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America's auto industry is now known to be the largest city to ever fire

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for `` file for bankruptcy. Abandoned homes litter many

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neighbourhoods. At its peak in the 1950s, 1.8 million people lived in

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Detroit. Roughly 700,000 remain. Of those, nearly half live in poverty

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and many struggle for water. Jobs are gone. We are making do their

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early. The government has cut pensions, paycheques and everything

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else. And now they cut the one thing that we really need to sustain life.

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This woman is giving away water from her home, so those without can get

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some for free. There is still a sense of community. Now, the city is

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waiting for the courts to do their part and approve a new financial

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plan so that Detroit can begin to rebuild. Australia's market figures

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are higher after a better than forecast GDP will stop Japan is at a

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higher than usual level. The Hang Seng index is

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territory by 276 points. Thank you for investing your time with us.

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The top stories this hour: Islamic

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