Cascade Coal case tests use of ICAC documents

The first court case arising out of the long-running corruption inquiry in NSW will test whether, and how, documents used in that investigation can be used in court proceedings, according to the Australian Financial Review.

The Federal Court in Sydney heard yesterday that Sydney property developer Denis O’Neil and car dealer Neville Crichton had used documents tendered at the Independent Commission Against Corruption to prepare their claim against Cascade Coal, a company linked to the family of former NSW Labor minister Eddie Obeid.

The men are seeking to recover $13 million they invested in the company in 2010 and are also suing five of its current and former directors. If a person is forced to produce self-incriminating documents to the ICAC, they cannot be used against them in court.

Budget hole may reach $80B

The shortfall in forecast budget revenue will be $60 billion to $80 billion from now to 2016, forcing the Gillard government to dump spending pledges, including $1.8 billion in family assistance, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Next week’s federal budget will reveal that the total writedown in tax collections in the current financial year will amount to $17 billion, and rise to more than $20 billion in the next financial year.

It will include much weaker revenue from the minerals resource rent tax. Costings from the Parliamentary Budget Office show the MRRT will raise $800 million this financial year, not the forecast $2 billion.

Miners lash coming NT levy

Miners will be slugged with a new levy at a time when the sector faces growing pressure, under plans contained in the forthcoming Northern Territory budget that industry says it was given just days to consider, according to The Australian.

Industry representatives will today voice their anger over proposals they say were “sprung” on firms without proper consultation or analysis, prompting fears of a new Labor-style mining tax debacle by the conservative administration.