Australian Tax Analysis [8th Edition]

Now in its eighth edition, Australian Tax Analysis: Cases, Commentary, Commercial Applications and Questions has a proven track record as a high level work for students of taxation law written by a team of authors with many years of experience. Taking into account the fact that the volume of material needed to be processed by today’s taxation student can be overwhelming, the well-chosen extracts and thought-provoking commentary in Australian Tax Analysis, 8th edition, provide readers with the depth of knowledge, and reasoning and analytical skills that will be required of them as practitioners. As well as the carefully selected case extracts and the helpful commentary, each chapter is supplemented by engaging practice questions, involving problem-solving, commercial decision-making, legal analysis and quantitative application. All these elements combined make Australian Tax Analysis an invaluable aid to the understanding of a subject that can be both technical and complex.

Productivity, technical and efficiency change in Singapore’s services sector, 2005 to 2008

The current study was motivated by statements made by the Economic Strategies Committee that Singapore’s recent productivity levels in services were well below countries such as the US, Japan and Hong Kong. Massive employment of foreign workers was cited as the reason for poor productivity levels. To shed more light on Singapore’s falling productivity, a nonparametric Malmquist productivity index was employed which provides measures of productivity change, technical change and efficiency change. The findings reveal that growth in Total Factor Productivity (TFP) was attributed to technical change with no improvement in efficiency change. Such results suggest that gains from TFP were input-driven rather than from a ‘best-practice’ approach such as improvements in operations or better resource allocation.

e. Menura Supurba: Post human dreams of ersatz animals.

This paper discusses human and post-human relationships with nature and animals, using the work e. Menura Superba1 as a focal point. This interactive artwork takes the form of a Lyre bird in a cage, that mimics it’s audience in evocative ways. It is inspired by the historical practice of displaying taxidermy specimens and live species as trophies of travels to distant lands, and as symbols of wealth and status. In both form and intent the work hybridises elements from Enlightenment culture, with materials that conjure associations with dystopic post human futures (wire, post consumer electronic & other waste, as well working parts such as mobile phone screens, LED’s, camera, and cabling etc). Speculative science fiction, such as Phillip K Dick in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner), provides prescient stories about future (post) human worlds. This novel remains thought provoking as it describes a world that is all to rapidly approaching: where human activity has caused the destruction of most large animal species. In this fictional world, care for animals is not only a civic duty, it is one of the ways humans distinguish themselves from androids. As in Enlightenment times, ownership of animals (real, taxidermies, ersatz) is a form of commodity fetishism indicative of social status. Though whilst well heeled Victorians may have owned an elephant or have been proud of a trophy specimen, the wealthy in Dick’s future must be content with once common, even ersatz, animals such as sheep and owls, and would be repulsed to the core by the notion of killing an animal, even an ersatz animal, for sport. In becoming post human, humans have sought to separate themselves from the natural world, destroying much of it in the process. No technical prothesis will bring back to life the species we have rendered extinct. This (evolving) relationship between humanity and other species, therefore forms a central question in this work, providing a way of approaching the post human, and problematising anthropocentric perspectives. The world promised by post-human technology is indeed rich with possibility, but without corresponding steps to ensure the sustainability of technology (human society), this paper asks whether the richness of that experience will continue to be mirrored by the richness of the environments within which we exist?

UK pre-pack reforms : pause for thought in Australia?

On 31 March 2011 the UK Government announced new measures to regulate the use of pre-packaged sales in administration. The legislation is not expected until later in 2011, but the announcement heralds a shift in regulatory attitudes towards pre-packs in the UK which should give all local pre-pack advocates pause for thought when considering the merits of embracing the procedure in Australia. In the Jan-March 2011 edition of the Australian Insolvency Journal, an interesting article by Nicholas Crouch and Shabnam Amirbeaggi extolled the virtues of pre-packs and called for “legislative reform to embrace pre-packs” in Australia. By way of reply (and in a spirit of constructive debate) this article respectfully contends that while pre-packs certainly have their place in preserving business value in certain circumstances, Australia should be careful not to sleepwalk into adopting a procedure which legitimises phoenixing at the expense of creditor confidence and participation in our insolvency regime.

Communications materials on methods of development of revenue and cost estimates to non-technical audiences

This CDROM includes PDFs of presentations on the following topics: "TXDOT Revenue and Expenditure Trends;" "Examine Highway Fund Diversions, & Benchmark Texas Vehicle Registration Fees;" "Evaluation of the JACK Model;" "Future highway construction cost trends;" "Fuel Efficiency Trends and Revenue Impact"

Food for thought : designing for critical reflection on food practices

This workshop is a continuation and extension to the successful past workshops including [4, 5, 6]. The workshop addresses the opportunities and challenges for the design of digital interactive systems that engage individuals in critical reflection on their everyday food practices - including designing for engagement in more environmentally aware, socially inclusive, and healthier behaviour. These three themes represent the focus of much recent HCI work related to food. The workshop aims to further the conversation on these themes through understanding specifically how the process of critical reflection can be encouraged by interactive technology. While the focus will be on food as an application area, the intention is to also explore, more generally, how the process of critical reflection can be facilitated through interactive technology. The workshop provides a unique forum to discuss existing theoretical and pragmatic approaches, and to envision novel ways to design technology that encourages sustained critical reflection.

Factors affecting technical efficiency of rice farmers in village reservoir irrigation systems of Sri Lanka

Given the importance of water for rice production, this study examines the factors affecting the technical efficiency (TE) of irrigated rice farmers in village irrigation systems (VIS) in Sri Lanka. Primary data were collected from 460 rice farmers in the Kurunagala District, Sri Lanka, to estimate a stochastic translog production frontier for rice production. The mean TE of rice farming in village irrigation was found to be 0.72, although 63% of rice farmers exceeded this average. The most influential factors of TE are membership of Farmer Organisations (FOs) and the participatory rate in collective actions organised by FOs. The results suggest that enhancement of co-operative arrangements of farmers by strengthening the membership of FOs is considered important for increasing TE in rice farming in VIS.

Groundwater overuse and farm-level technical inefficiency : evidence from Sri Lanka

Extraction of groundwater for onion and other cash crop production has been increasing rapidly during the last two decades in the dry zone areas of Sri Lanka. As a result of overuse, the quantity of available groundwater is gradually declining, while water quality is deteriorating. The deteriorating water quality has a negative impact on agricultural production, especially for crops (such as onions) that are sensitive to increases in salinity levels. This issue is examined with respect to onion production in Sri Lanka. A stochastic frontier production function (SFPF) is used, in which technical efficiency and the determinants of inefficiencies are estimated simultaneously. The results show that farmers are overusing groundwater in their onion cultivation, which has resulted in decreasing yields. Factors contributing to inefficiency in production are also identified. The results have important policy implications.

Physiological, perceptual and technical responses to on-court tennis training on hard and clay courts

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of court surface (clay v hard-court) on technical, physiological and perceptual responses to on-court training. Four high-performance junior male players performed two identical training sessions on hard and clay courts, respectively. Sessions included both physical conditioning and technical elements as led by the coach. Each session was filmed for later notational analysis of stroke count and error rates. Further, players wore a global positioning satellite device to measure distance covered during each session; whilst heart rate, countermovement jump distance and capillary blood measures of metabolites were measured before, during and following each session. Additionally a respective coach and athlete rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured following each session. Total duration and distance covered during of each session were comparable (P>0.05; d<0.20). While forehand and backhands stroke volume did not differ between sessions (P>0.05; d<0.30); large effects for increased unforced and forced errors were present on the hard court (P>0.05; d>0.90). Furthermore, large effects for increased heart rate, blood lactate and RPE values were evident on clay compared to hard courts (P>0.05; d>0.90). Additionally, while player and coach RPE on hard courts were similar, there were large effects for coaches to underrate the RPE of players on clay courts (P>0.05; d>0.90). In conclusion, training on clay courts results in trends for increased heart rate, lactate and RPE values, suggesting sessions on clay tend towards higher physiological and perceptual loads than hard courts. Further, coaches appear effective at rating player RPE on hard courts, but may underrate the perceived exertion of sessions on clay courts.