Banking royal commission to investigate small business lending

The treatment of small business by financial institutions will be investigated by the banking royal commission today, as fees, improper lending practices and asset fire sales come under scrutiny.

Nationals senator John Williams expects Commonwealth Bank subsidiary Bankwest to be focused upon in the hearings, as he said many farms and small businesses have their seized assets sold for far below their market value.

Calls to ban live sheep export gaining ground in parliament

Politicians are moving to ban live sheep exports, as Sussan Ley MP will today introduce a private member’s bill to end the practice entirely within five years.

Labor is expected to be in favour of a ban, as shadow agriculture minister Joel Fitzgibbon says he will recommend the party supports the bill.

However, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is supporting the recommendations set down by the McCarthy review, which does not advocate for ending sheep exports.

 

Council Bans anti-Adani stall at sustainability festival

Local community group 'Stop Adani Brisbane' has called on the council to lift their ban on the groups stall at a sustainability festival.

 

The ban of the green heart fan stall is in place because the group is a political organisation.

 

The group works to raise community awareness of the environmental and economic impacts of the Adani Carmichael coal mine.

 

The group has a change.org petition active which has attracted over 550 signatures.

Courtney Barnett: Tell Me How You Really Feel

- Tell Me How You Really Feel is the highly anticipated sophomore album by Australian-rock wunderkind, Courtney Barnett. It arrives after the cataclysmic impact of her debut album, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, Barnett became a global phenomenon and with just cause. Fomenting a strong reputation for her worldly lyrics and catchy rock-tunes, Barnett released one of the most celebrated debut albums in recent history, but the question is, how do you follow that up?

West Thebarton: Different Beings Being Different

- West Thebarton has created more buzz than a sawmill for their debut album Different Beings Being Different and it lives up to the hype. It’s not as if the band themselves have fabricated this hype but it is a reasonable consequence to expect when the singles have been so electric. West Thebarton have produced a solid album that’s loud, engaging, raw and will definitely itch that scratch that the singles have produced.

Parquet Courts: Wide Awake!

- Wide Awake! is the latest record from New York City based quartet Parquet Courts. Wide Awake! sees Parquet Courts no longer necessarily playing to their established strengths, as they ambitiously branch out into a distinct variety of different styles of popular music.