Journal articles on the topic 'Tax returns – Australia'

Tax legislation traditionally distinguishes between returns on investment paid on equity and debt instruments. In the main, returns on debt instruments (interest payments) are deductible for the paying company, while distributions on equity instruments (dividends) are not. This difference in taxation can be exploited using hybrid instruments and often leads to a debt bias in investment patterns. South Africa, Australia and Canada have specific rules designed to prevent the circumvention of tax liability when company distributions are made in respect of hybrid instruments. In principle, Australia and Canada apply a more robust approach to prevent tax avoidance and also tend to include a wider range of transactions, as well as an unlimited time period in their regulation of the taxation of distributions on hybrid instruments. In addition to the anti-avoidance function, a strong incentive is created for taxpayers in Australia and Canada to invest in equity instruments as opposed to debt. This article suggests that South Africa should align certain principles in its specific rules regulating hybrid instruments with those in Australia and Canada to ensure optimal functionality of the South African tax legislation. The strengthening of domestic tax law will protect the South African tax base against base erosion and profit shifting through the use of hybrid instruments.

Australia is poised to imminently become the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer. The prices realised for Australia’s natural gas, whether for export LNG or domestic consumption, dictate the level of revenues and, ultimately, the profitability and returns, of the gas producers. A rational producer will seek to maximise the price or return for the gas it supplies. A portion of a producer’s remuneration for its gas is then shared with the community via taxes and royalties. In Australia, these imposts are triggered at different taxing points, hence necessitating a determination of what the gas is worth at each point. Typically, for royalties, it is the wellhead value; for the petroleum resource rent tax, it is either the value at the domestic gas processing plant outlet or the value of feed gas just before liquefaction; and, for income tax, it is the proceeds or consideration for the gas when sold or exported. Wherever related party transactions occur, the price must be set at arm’s length and reflect market realism. Where gas must be valued at a point devoid of an actual sale, finding a suitable comparable price can be challenging. In such circumstances, pricing options include the cost-plus, the netback and the profit-split methods. Each has its own merits and limitations, and incorporates elements that are susceptible to disputation. Gas producers should consider engaging proactively with the revenue authorities to agree a gas pricing model upfront to mitigate latent tax liabilities if the pricing approach adopted is subsequently challenged.

While the topic of corporate tax avoidance has been experiencing ceaseless attention among researchers, its empirical aspect is still facing the challenge of constructing a single universally accepted measure of such practice. Due to the confidential nature of tax returns, most empirical studies have had to rely on financial statements information to developed proxy measures such as effective tax rates (ETRs) and book-tax differences (BTDs) (Hanlon & Heitzman, 2010). Nevertheless, these proxies possess their individual advantages as well as limitations. Such available choices may therefore cause confusions to the researchers in choosing the most suitable measure for their corporate tax avoidance studies. As the mainstream studies on corporate tax avoidance have focused mostly on developed economies like the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, there is a scarcity of such studies in developing countries (Salihu et al., 2015). The unique jurisdictional nature of tax laws and enforcement systems hinder the extant findings' applicability on less economically-developed countries, especially those highly dependent on their corporate income tax revenue which is especial true with regard to Malaysia (Mohanadas et al., 2020). Though not as abundant in numbers, extant published studies had found that Malaysian public listed companies were indeed being consistently tax-avoidant since the 1990s. Nevertheless, these studies had respectively employed only a single measure of corporate tax avoidance. Indeed, nearly all had used variations of ETR while only a few had applied BTD measures. Their mutually exclusive application of ETR and BTD measures could negatively impact their findings' ability to capture tax-deferring corporate strategies (Hanlon & Heitzman, 2010; Lennox et al., 2013). It thus worsened the risk of potential distortion in the results of tax avoidance level which would led to flawed conclusions being made. In view of the above, this study seeks to measure corporate tax avoidance level of Malaysian public listed companies for the years 2015 until 2019 using both ETR and BTD measures. Furthermore, this study aims to analyse how closely these two measure are related in their respective appraisals of the companies' tax avoidance level. Keywords: Corporate Tax Avoidance; GAAP ETR; Cash ETR; Total BTD; Permanent BTD.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the profile of the typical online fractional residential property investor in Australia. This study also seeks to understand the motives for engaging with and investing in alternative residential property investments. Design/methodology/approach This study employs a survey-based design via an online questionnaire to gather information on investor age, gender, type, education levels, time horizons and investment history and risk and return expectations. It also gathers information regarding investors’ financial literacy including tax implications of fractional property investment. Findings The findings of this study suggest amongst others, that fractional property investors tend to be younger, although the platform also attracts older investors including older females. The study also found that investors do not select alternative investment platforms in anticipation of super-normal investment returns. Return expectations are realistic and are based on a balance between capital growth and income. Practical implications This study indicates that alternative investment platforms lowers the barriers of entry into residential property for first time investors. It therefore creates opportunities to allow many first time individual investors to invest in property, often as an alternative to bank savings or investing in the stock market. Originality/value This study enhances our understanding of the influence of alternative investment platforms on investment decision-making. More specifically, it contrasts fractional property investment with more traditional investment opportunities to understand the motives of investors for diversifying into online investment vehicles.

Australia has welcomed new business investment of $200 billion for integrated gas projects. However lower than expected tax receipts have tempered the early optimism of project benefits. In particular, petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT) revenues since the 2002–03 financial year have fallen. These reduced revenues have raised concerns about the effectiveness of petroleum taxation in Australia and pressured the Australian Government to call for a review of the PRRT in late 2016. Examined are the modifications necessary to the petroleum fiscal regime to address one of the PRRT Review's aims of providing an equitable return to the Australian community. Findings from a case study of an operational gas project include the need for PRRT modifications, and the addition of royalties for particular integrated natural gas projects in Commonwealth waters. The article is significant for its unique overview of Australia's petroleum taxation since the fall in oil prices from mid-2014 and the rise of gas export projects. This interdisciplinary and empirical research forms an important contribution to the current Commonwealth PRRT Review through its recommendations for change to the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax Assessment Act 1987 (Cth). It calls for more uniform federal legislation for the taxation of petroleum resource projects.

The ability for Australia to attract and retain foreign capital is crucial to the continued expansion and long-term development and sustainability of Australia’s oil and gas industry. A well-known and accepted competitive advantage, which facilitates inbound investment into the Australian oil and gas industry, is the stability of Australia’s tax and regulatory system. Having said this, inbound investors are faced with numerous challenges in seeking to navigate and understand Australian tax issues associated with not only ensuring the successful completion of a transaction but to also manage their ongoing after-tax return on investment. These investors are exposed to Australia’s complex international tax landscape, given the level of cross-border investment, financing, profit repatriation, transfer pricing and exit/sell down issues. The key is for inbound investors to understand, monitor and pro-actively manage their international tax affairs as efficiently and effectively as possible. This extended abstract is targeted on assisting inbound investors to understand key considerations associated with investment ownership in the Australian oil and gas industry, and to assist those investors in making strategic investment decisions and to better understand tax risks and opportunities. The topics covered will include: Key tax drivers and considerations associated with executing transactions successfully. Structuring inbound oil and gas investments into Australia. Investment funding and profit repatriation strategies. Transfer pricing and related company transactions. Exit and sell down strategies.

Between February 1983 and May 1985, ~10 500 sharks of 23 species were fin-tagged off northern Australia. Tagging concentrated on the commercially important Carcharhinus tilstoni and C. sorrah. Most recaptures were made in 1984 and 1985, but returns continued until May 1997. In all, 579 tags (5.5%) were recovered. Tag shedding was estimated to be low (0.025 year –1 for C. tilstoni) and tagging mortality was significantly lower for sharks caught by hand-line than by gill-net. Australian gill-netters, Taiwanese gill-netters (fishing in the Australian Fishing Zone) and Australian prawn trawlers accounted for most of the returns. The maximum distance between the release and recapture positions was >1100 km, but most returns were made within 50 km of the tagging site. Nearly all the releases were in inshore waters fished by Australian vessels. Although many recaptures were made by the offshore Taiwanese fishery, the Taiwanese fishing effort was much higher than for the inshore Australian fishery, so that relative to fishing effort, relatively few sharks moved from inshore to offshore waters.

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the impact of the proposed carbon tax on the financial market return of Australian firms. It also considers the differential tax effect on individual firms with different carbon profiles, including factors such as emissions costs, carbon disclosure and climate-change policies. Design/methodology/approach – Utilising the event-study method, the authors examine the market reaction to seven key carbon legislative information events that occurred from February 2011 to November 2011. The sample includes 48 different firms whose emissions-related data are available from Carbon Disclosure Project reports; thus, 336 firm-event observations are used for the cross-sectional analysis. Findings – The paper documents evidence that the proposed tax has an overall negative impact on shareholder wealth as measured by abnormal returns. The negative impact varies across sectors, with the most significant effect found in the materials, industrial and financial sectors. It was also found that a firm’s direct carbon exposure (as measured by Scope 1 emissions) is significantly associated with abnormal returns, whereas the indirect exposure (as measured by Scope 2 emissions) is not, because Scope 2 emissions are not covered by the tax. In addition, the findings suggest that the information content of the events is more notable during the early stages of the development of the carbon tax. Research limitations/implications – The sample is restricted to the largest firms with relevant carbon profile information. Thus, caution should be exercised when generalising the inferences. Practical implications – The introduction of the carbon tax was largely unexpected and most firms were unprepared for it; thus, their carbon policy appears inadequate and does not impress investors. An understanding of how the carbon tax affects shareholder value and welfare will encourage management to take proactive actions to mitigate the compliance costs of carbon legislation. Originality/value – The enactment of the Australian carbon tax perhaps represents one of the biggest social and economic restructuring events in the country’s history. Our results offer initial insight into its impact and suggest that investors would penalise firms with heavy direct operational emissions. In addition, Australian corporate carbon policy seems inadequate, so does not reverse the negative effect of the tax on the value of a firm.

Australia's self sufficiency in oil will drop to below 50 per cent by the middle of the next decade unless major discoveries are made within the next few years. There is still a confusing series of permit regimes and fiscal frameworks applicable to exploration and development operations, and no indication of any upturn in offshore activity. If the decline in self sufficiency is to be halted, Industry needs to be assured that it will be allowed to operate under a simple unchanging set of rules such that it is guaranteed a fair return on its risk capital investment.There are many marginal oil discoveries which remain undeveloped for a variety of reasons, but the economics of their development must obviously be the one major limiting factor. A recoverable reserve of 15 million barrels of oil with peak production of about 8000 barrels of oil per day will in most instances provide a base development level with rate of return of 15 + per cent after tax. The new resource rent tax will have only a marginal impact on a development of this size, but the increasing impact of the resource rent tax as reserves and productivity increase above the base level will limit the rate of return on many marginal offshore discoveries to about 21 per cent.It is in marginal discoveries that there is a significant downside risk in development, and producers need to be assured of a reasonable risk loaded rate of return before committing to development. There are many ways of protecting operating companies from the relatively high risks of entering into a marginal offshore development. We have looked at only one of these and suggest that government might consider a lowering of the resource rent tax to 20 per cent for projects with reserves of less than 25 million barrels.

This study demonstrates the simultaneous use of acoustic and archival tags for obtaining data for near-shore species. Australian giant cuttlefish Sepia apama (off Whyalla, South Australia) and the tropical squid Sepioteuthis lessoniana (off Magnetic Island, Queensland, Australia) were tagged using a ‘hybrid’ tag consisting of a Vemco V8 acoustic tag potted with a Vemco minilog temperature–depth archival tag. Four of these animals were released and monitored inside radio-acoustic-positioning-telemetry (RAPT) buoy-system arrays that included bottom-mounted sensors that transmitted independent temperature records and a reference standard for sound conductivity and position. All were subsequently located out of RAPT range and two of the four archival tags were recovered. Tags were located using a boat-mounted hydrophone and VR60 receiver and recovery was aided by a diver operating a hand-held VUR96 receiver. This technology provides a cost-effective alternative to expensive satellite pop-up tags and is suitable for much smaller species that return to near-shore environments.

Australian legislation has recently undergone further developments which affect non- residents investing in Australian petroleum projects. The comments in this paper reflect our understanding of the law at November 1988.These legislative developments have occurred in foreign investment rules and primary tax areas such as the thin capitalisation and debt creation rules for nonresident investors, Australian capital gains tax including the new involuntary roll- over provisions, the Australian dividend imputation system, and secondary taxes such as state royalties and excises and petroleum resource rent tax.The purpose of this paper is to analyse some of the recent legislative developments from the viewpoint of a non- resident investing in Australian petroleum projects. Changes in most cases are incorporated in complex legislation, and full and proper consideration of the changes is warranted for taxpayers both to comply with the law and maximise shareholders' financial returns.

Exploring for, and discovering, new oil and gas resources is essential to an oil and gas company’s ability to replenish and enhance its reserves base. With rising future demand for clean, sustainable and affordable energy sources and the important role and contribution of the Australian petroleum industry in the evolving global energy mix, continual investment in exploration activity will be the key to unlocking the prospectivity of undeveloped acreage, particularly in frontier areas. However, exploration is inherently risky and costly. Companies constantly compete for scarce capital to provide the necessary funding to undertake exploration activities. Financial capacity underwrites the ability to bid for exploration acreage by offering commensurate work program commitments. For junior explorers in the early exploration stage, liquidity constraints can mean that the covenants, collateral security requirements and periodic servicing obligations associated with raising debt financing are prohibitive. Equity investors, on the other hand, typically demand a higher return on capital. A fresh policy approach to encouraging petroleum exploration in Australia should be considered by government to incentivise the providers of equity capital to risk money for exploration ventures. This paper considers three models that are used internationally: (1) flow-through shares, (2) worthless stock deductions and (3) notional interest deductions for equity financing. This paper provides a comparative in-principle analysis of each model and offers some suggestions on how these models may be adapted to an Australian context and embedded into the existing taxation system.

Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and bigeye tuna (T. obesus) were tagged and released in the north-western Coral Sea off northern Queensland in 1991 and 1992. Over the next five years, recaptures were reported by Australian longline vessels based in Cairns and fishing in the release area, and by industrial tuna fleets fishing in the adjacent western Pacific region, thus demonstrating clear links between the tuna stocks in these areas. Some southerly movements of yellowfin, in particular, further suggested links with stocks supporting the longline fishery in the south-eastern Australian Fishing Zone. Bigeye tuna tag returns and catch per unit effort by Cairns-based longliners showed a strong seasonal signal, peaking in mid year. Yellowfin tag-return data displayed a similar, but weaker, seasonal pattern. The data were analysed by use of tag-attrition models with seasonally variable catchability and with two assumptions regarding changes in targeting of the two species by longliners during the study. Under both assumptions, the local exploitation rates for yellowfin are low: about 0.07 in 1996. For bigeye, the local exploitation rate in 1996 may have been as high as 0.30, warranting a cautious approach to further fishery expansion in this area.

The petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT), a 40% profits-based upstream tax that applies to Australian oil and gas projects, has come under significant scrutiny as to its effectiveness in providing an appropriate return to the community for the exploitation of Australia’s petroleum resources. The April 2017 independent Callaghan review into the design and operation of the PRRT found that it remained the preferred way of achieving a fair return to the community from petroleum exploration and recovery, without discouraging investment into the sector. However, the Callaghan review recommended possible changes to the regime to improve its sustainability and compatibility with the current state of the industry, while ensuring fiscal stability for existing investments. In response to the findings and recommendations of the Callaghan review, Australian Treasury embarked on a consultation process to investigate potential reform options to the PRRT. Government has yet to announce its decision on the way forward. What the future holds for the PRRT and the consequential impact on existing and new or proposed projects remain to be seen pending the Government’s chosen policy direction. This paper covers the following: • a survey of the economic rent theory underpinning the framework of the PRRT regime, including its pros and cons compared with other forms of resource taxation • a review of key recent developments in the administration and interpretation of the PRRT law, and • how the PRRT regime is anticipated to change and the associated repercussions on the after-tax economics and practical compliance for existing and future projects.

Following the return of the Liberal National Country Party for its second term of office under the Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, the Federal Government established a committee headed by a business executive Mr John Ralph. This Committee produced an extensive report recommending substantial changes to the Australian tax legislation. Following consideration of the report by the Federal Government, substantial amendments were proposed in September and November 1999. Many of these proposals have now been legislated and several remain in the pipeline awaiting Parliament scrutiny.This paper covers the practical aspects of the changes to the tax legislation, along with examination of particular issues associated with new developments in matters such as gas banking. Particular focus has been made on the new Uniform Capital Allowances Provisions and the deductions which will be available to the industry against upstream project development expenditures.

Recreational anglers fishing for tailor (Pomatomus saltatrix) around Perth, Western Australia, have expressed concern over declining catches during the early 1990s. A total of 3949 undersize (below the legal minimum length of 250 mm), 1015 sub-adult and 143 adult tailor were tagged between November 1994 and August 1996 at 24 sites along 1200 km of Western Australian coastline. Undersize tailor were recaptured at lower rates than sub-adult tailor, and were, on average, at liberty for longer periods. Modelling indicates that fishers under-report undersize fish, probably because of the legal minimum length requirement, and that the natural loss rate is higher for undersize than sub-adult fish. The majority of recaptured undersize and sub-adult fish had moved <25 km, remaining in sheltered estuarine and marine areas. In contrast, recaptured undersize and sub-adult tailor that had become adults while tagged displayed behaviour consistent with a northward or offshore winter movement. Comparisons between tag returns and the annual commercial catch of tailor suggests that recreational fishers take the majority of the total catch of tailor in Western Australia. Growth estimates between 0.41 ± 0.19 and 0.44 ± 0.12 mm day −1 suggest that tailor reach legal size in 18–22 months.

The hawksbill turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata, is endangered and currently declining in many parts of its global distribution. Efforts to manage the species are hampered by the lack of knowledge of the appropriate geographic units of management and the relationship among breeding populations and feeding assemblages. The Australian populations are among the few remaining large assemblages in the world, but may be under threat from harvesting in neighbouring countries. We use patterns of mitochondrial DNA variation to determine the geographic scale of breeding populations and to compare the genetic composition of turtles in feeding populations to those nesting at nearby major rookeries. Four of the major Australian rookeries were sampled, two on the western coast and two in northeastern Australia, as were turtles at two foraging sites. Significant differences in the frequency of two divergent mitochondrial DNA types separated the turtles nesting at major rookeries sampled on the northeastern versus western coasts of Australia, demonstrating that these populations are not connected by significant amounts of gene flow and should be considered as separate entities for management. There was no significant difference between the turtles nesting at two western rookeries 100 km apart, nor between those using the two northeastern rookeries separated by 750 km. This indicates that the size of the interbreeding unit for the hawksbill turtle is likely to be a region consisting of a group of islands rather than an individual island. Feeding populations were screened with a gene amplification test that discriminates between the two major DNA types. In each case, there was a significant difference in allele frequency between feeding populations and the nearest major rookery. This, together with previous reports of long distance migrations from tag returns, suggests that individual foraging areas support hawksbill turtles from distant breeding populations.

This paper investigates the leverage effect and switching of market efficiency after the GST imposition on fee-based financial services in Bursa Malaysia and Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). The sample in this paper comprises of public listed companies for the period of one year before and after the GST imposition. GJR-GARCH is employed to evaluate the asymmetry response that is associated with the negative news shocks. To assess the effect of transactional efficiency on the informational efficiency and the structural change of time-varying volatility, SGARCH is adopted. This research reveals the presence of leverage effect in developing and developed market. The GST imposition on fee-based financial services significantly reduces the informational efficiency in Bursa Malaysia, but not in ASX. To boost the tax revenues generated from the financial sector, the policymakers in the developed markets (similar to ASX) should contemplate imposing GST on the fee-based financial services without affecting the stability of the stock market. The investors in thin markets (such as Bursa Malaysia) could forecast the stock returns of the thin market upon GST imposition on fee-based financial services.

In 1987 a total of 163 exploration wells were drilled in Australia's onshore basins. In 1993 the number was 47 and although the forecast for 1994 is slightly higher, activity levels over the next few years are expected to stay low. During the 1987—93 period over 60 per cent of all exploration wells were drilled in the Cooper/Eromanga and Bowen/Surat basins. Not a single exploration well was drilled in a number of basins during the period. There is a general perception amongst industry and investors that the majority of Australian's onshore basins are not prospective. A review of past exploration pro­grams in the frontier and emerging basins suggests that this perception is valid. As a result, the smaller companies, which are responsible for the majority of wells drilled in such basins, have found it diffi­cult to attract risk capital and, consequently, activ­ity levels have fallen to the current levels. Not withstanding the results of past exploration efforts, detailed financial analysis of the best oil plays in the Canning, Perth and Surat basins suggests that the potential returns from exploration and develop­ment activities are extremely attractive. Forecast internal rates of return exceed 50 per cent. Each play was subjected to sensitivity analysis to deter­mine the break-even point for exploration and de­velopment success rates, field sizes, well volumes, initial production rates, exploration and develop­ment capital costs, fixed and variable operating costs and corporate tax rates. The results suggest that the economics are considerably more robust than generally believed. The task confronting in­dustry is to convince the stock market that attrac­tive returns can be generated from at least three onshore basins so capital can be raised to exploit available opportunities.

A key component in the exchange relationship between government and business in modern liberal democracies is the level of public trust that each institution enjoys. However, trust does not affect both equally. A fall in trust for government is likely to diminish a government's policy discretion much more than an equivalent fall in trust for business will diminish a business actor's capacity to make profit or shape public policy. In addition, there are good reasons to believe that government will tend to find it more difficult than business to maintain trust from its stakeholders, or to recover it when lost. In this paper, I insert a role for public trust dynamics into Lindblom's theory of the structural power of business. I then return to the debate in this journal on business power and the 2010 Australian mining tax I show that the existing accounts omit the role of trust in the conflict and as a result “discover” much more incompetence from the Australian government than really existed.

AbstractObjectiveSeveral studies have suggested that dairy food may reduce the risk of obesity and metabolic abnormalities but few have been able to conclusively demonstrate that it reduces the risk of diabetes. The aim of the present analysis was to investigate if dairy food intake independently reduces the risk of diabetes.DesignThe Australian Diabetes Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab) is a national, population-based, prospective survey conducted over 5 years. Baseline measurements included a 121-item FFQ, anthropometrics and an oral glucose tolerance test.SettingForty-two randomly selected clusters across Australia.SubjectsAdults aged ≥25 years who participated in the baseline survey and returned to follow-up 5 years later.ResultsA total of 5582 participants with complete data were eligible for analysis, 209 of whom had incident diabetes. Compared with men in the first tertile of dairy food intake, men in the third tertile had a significantly reduced risk of developing diabetes after adjustment for age, sex, total energy intake, family history of diabetes, education, physical activity, smoking status, fasting serum TAG and HDL cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, waist circumference and hip circumference (OR = 0·53, 95 % CI 0·29, 0·96;P= 0·033). A similar non-significant association was observed in women.ConclusionsDietary patterns that incorporate high intakes of dairy food may reduce the risk of diabetes among men. Further investigation into the relationship between dairy food intake and diabetes needs to be undertaken to fully understand the potential mechanism of this observation.

Whole otoliths were used to age Scomberomorus commerson in tropical Australian waters. Age estimates were validated by marginal-increment analysis of the first three otolith annuli. Confirmation of age estimates was provided by otolith daily growth increments and tag returns of known age. Differential growth in length, weight and longevity was evident between the sexes. The oldest male was 10 years old (127 cm FL, 19.0 kg). The oldest female was 14 years old (155 cm FL, 35 kg). The von Bertalanffy growth parameters L∞ and K were 127.5 cm and 0.25 for males and 155.0 cm and 0.17 for females.

With uncertain energy markets in Asia, each energy exporting country needs to be aware of the competitiveness of its fiscal regime. Oil and gas companies are quick to find fault with fiscal regimes, while governments can be slow to react to industry demands.Companies are using increasingly sophisticated methods of project selection. Therefore, if governments wish to encourage exploration and development while ensuring a fair return to the nation, they must constantly analyse fiscal terms and their impact on cash flows for the most common forms of oil and gas projects in the country.This paper takes an objective look at the competitiveness of Australia's Petroleum Resource Rent Tax and royalty/excise fiscal regimes for oil, gas and LNG projects against fiscal regimes in Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. Worked examples have been calculated for each regime to compare Australia's system relative to the other major producing countries in the region.Australia's onshore and offshore regimes are shown to be very competitive with respect to net present value. In addition, Petroleum Resource Rent Tax is one of the more progressive regimes in the region. However, Production Sharing Contracts in Indonesia and Malaysia are seen to be potentially more flexible when considering the varying nature of oil and gas projects, and they can provide a greater degree of certainty as the negotiated terms remain fixed for the life of contracts.

Property tax which is considered a suitable local source of revenue is facing serious threats as a result of the present state of Nigeria community services. This study therefore assessed the condition of community services in Lagos metropolis with the view to determining taxpayers’ willingness to pay (WTP) residential property tax. Primary data was used for the study. The data were sourced through the use of questionnaire administered to the users of the residential properties that have been assessed for rating purposes in the study area. 4026, questionnaires were administered to Residential property owners. While 2181(54.17%), were returned and analysed. The community service condition index (CSI), an index number that indicates the current condition of the services measured in relation to its ideal ‘Perfect’ condition, adopted from Australian Association of Higher Education facilities officers (2010) was used to rate the community service condition in the study area. The result revealed that there is direct relationship between improvement in the condition of community services and taxpayers’ willingness to pay residential property tax. The study concludes that Lagos state government has the potential to generate the largest share of its revenue from property tax, if judiciously spend the revenue for the provision and upgrading of the existing community services in the study area. The study therefore recommends that Lagos state government should declare state of emergency in the provision of community services, this will improve rental value of residential properties in the area, thus increases taxpayers’ willingness to pay residential property tax.

Property tax which is considered a suitable local source of revenue is facing serious threats as a result of the present state of Nigeria community services. This study therefore assessed the condition of community services in Lagos metropolis with the view to determining taxpayers’ willingness to pay (WTP) residential property tax. Primary data was used for the study. The data were sourced through the use of questionnaire administered to the users of the residential properties that have been assessed for rating purposes in the study area. 4026, questionnaires were administered to Residential property owners. While 2181(54.17%), were returned and analysed. The community service condition index (CSI), an index number that indicates the current condition of the services measured in relation to its ideal ‘Perfect’ condition, adopted from Australian Association of Higher Education facilities officers (2010) was used to rate the community service condition in the study area. The result revealed that there is direct relationship between improvement in the condition of community services and taxpayers’ willingness to pay residential property tax. The study concludes that Lagos state government has the potential to generate the largest share of its revenue from property tax, if judiciously spend the revenue for the provision and upgrading of the existing community services in the study area. The study therefore recommends that Lagos state government should declare state of emergency in the provision of community services, this will improve rental value of residential properties in the area, thus increases taxpayers’ willingness to pay residential property tax.

Over 13000 western rock lobsters double-tagged in Western Australia with dorsal and ventral tags between 1992 and 1995 have been recaptured. Ventral tags suffered significantly less damage over time (P < 0.001) than did dorsal tags. Dorsal tag durability was significantly less (P <0.001) for lobsters in shallow (<37 m) than deep (>37 m) water. Furthermore, dorsal tags returned from the Abrolhos Islands showed substantially more mutilation and loss than did those from the coast (P < 0.001), and even within the coastal areas there were significant differences (P < 0.05) between management zones. Tag durability was less in areas of high lobster density than low, but was not influenced by the sex or size of the animals.

Many market commentators are forecasting increased corporate merger and acquisition activity in the Australian oil and gas sector. This activity presents industry participants with significant opportunities to increase shareholder value.An effectively designed acquisition approach (business process) assists in establishing strategic objectives to maximise value and returns to a company. Steps in a structured process include assessing the acquirer’s strengths and weaknesses, defining the strategy, identifying the range of possible targets and evaluating the preferred target prior to negotiating and completing the acquisition.Observed market evidence supports the theoretical notion that market participants determine the value of E&P companies with primary reference to the NAV (DCF) methodology. The benefits of this valuation methodology are that it attempts to rigorously capture the effect of large changes in production over time and the irregular nature of E&P companies’ capital expenditure programs.Effective due diligence supports the decision-making process by identifying the risk factors that can make or break a deal and assists to clarify the transaction whilst effective structuring of the acquisition will minimise value-loss through tax leakages etc.

Australia's oil industry has just emerged from the most difficult period in its short history, following the unprecedented collapse in world oil prices during the first half of 1986, and the continuing weakness during the rest of the year. As a result, the oil industry has undergone painful cost-cutting measures to survive the new environment. Thousands of jobs have been lost for good, exploration activity has been dramatically cut back to the levels of the late 1970s, and the industry now faces the bleak prospect that oil prices may not return to previous high levels until sometime in the 1990s, ironically at a time when Australian oil production is expected to begin a major decline.The Australian federal government has also felt the pain, through significantly reduced revenues from oil production and exports, although this has been anaesthetised to a large degree by a hike in petrol pump excise rates.Oil and petroleum product exports, which rose during the second half of 1985 to become Australia's number two export earner (behind coal) with sales valued at over $150 million a month, came to a dramatic halt during the first half of 1986 before resuming again at considerably lower levels during the second half, only after the government had lowered the top Bass Strait excise rate from 87 per cent to 80 per cent.Government revenue from Bass Strait excises, which reached a record $4.2 billion in 1984-85, fell slightly to $4 billion in fiscal 1985-86 and is forecast to tumble to $1.7 billion during 1986-87.The industry was granted a slight relief from the pressures of low oil prices during the second half of 1986 by the temporary scrapping of onshore levies and a reduction in the top Bass Strait levies. It was unclear, however, at the time of going to press just how long the government was prepared to continue with the tax holiday.The short to medium term outlook is far from healthy. The continuing world over-supply of oil is expected to last until at least the end of the decade, and perhaps into the 1990s. The OPEC nations continue to struggle with meeting the level of production ceilings which will ensure long term oil price stability. While signs are hopeful that OPEC may succeed in holding production at around 16-17 million barrels a day (mmbpd), continuing high output from the non-OPEC countries ensures the prospects for prices firming much above the US$15-18/barrel range for any length of time are not bright. The market supply/demand equation will ensure world prices remain precariously balanced for some time to come.

Quantitative measurement of N2 fixation has rarely been conducted in Australian dairy pastures. The available data indicate that annual N2 fixation rates in Australian dairy pastures are generally low, due to low pasture legume content. With typical legume contents of grazed pastures less than 30% of total pasture biomass production, annual N2 fixation in herbage is usually much less than 50 kg ha–1 year–1. Other factors which are likely to be able to contribute to increased N2 fixation input (rhizobia, mineral N management, soil acidity, soil water contents) will have little impact until such time as legume contents are increased. In contrast, for some hay systems, such as those using lucerne, N2 fixation input is shown to be high (200–300 kg ha–1 year–1). While pasture clover contents remain low there is little value in study or measurement of N2 fixation, nor in complex modelling, as N2 fixation will be of little quantitative importance. However, where legume contents, and thus potential N2 fixation are increased, there is scope for investigation into potential increases in N input from this source, which is invariably linked to fertiliser application, the management of grazing and the N returns in urine and dung. These are the major influences on sward N dynamics and legume N2 fixation. The inoculant rhizobia used for white clover in Australia (TA1) is likely to be suboptimal. Isolated in Tasmania in 1953 it has been shown to be inferior in N2 fixation compared with other strains on several occasions. Root pests and diseases are likely to be prevalent and impact directly on clover root growth and perhaps nodulation. Modelling is often used to describe the probable influence of management and/or climate on the operation of agricultural systems. Reliable modelling of N2 fixation requires capacity to integrate the effects of grazing and pasture composition on soil mineral N dynamics, the influence of this mineral N on nodulation and on suppression of N2 fixation, and environmental and management influences on soil rhizobial populations. Currently no models have demonstrated this capacity. At present, a suitably calibrated regression model is probably a good option for modelling N2 fixation in Australian dairy pastures. Environmental benefits ensuing from increasing N2 fixation and substituting this for fertiliser N are likely to be greater off-farm (reduced GHG emissions at site of fertiliser manufacture) than on, if current fertiliser management is optimal. Nevertheless substituting fixed N for fertiliser N would have modest environmental and feed efficiency benefits.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine recidivism costs and benefits for 1,030 community-based male offenders enrolled in a domestic abuse program (DAP) compared to an untreated control group (n=1,030) matched on risk factors. Design/methodology/approach The study time frame was October 1, 2007-June 30, 2010 with reconvictions measured to December 31, 2010. Follow up averaged 19 months. Controls received standard community supervision, but no domestic violence group interventions. Follow up measures included court costs for violent and non-violent reconvictions; re-incarcerations and community-based orders costs measured in days. Findings Adjusting for time at risk, DAP enrollees had 29 percent fewer reconvictions, 46 percent fewer violent reconvictions, 34 percent fewer custodial days, but 23 percent more days on community orders. Costs: DAP enrollment avoided $2.52 M in custodial costs, but higher community correction costs (+$773 K) and court costs (+$5.8 K), reducing the DAP’s criminal justice system cost savings to $1.754 M ($8.92 M for the DAP group compared to $10.67M for controls). Cost benefits: when the 64 DAP program costs were deducted ($602 K), the net benefit to the New South Wales criminal justice system was $1,141 M, or $1,108 per enrollee, providing a net benefit/cost ratio of 2.89. If the DAP was completed, the net benefit was $1,820 per offender. These results compares favorably to economic evaluations of other community-based interventions. Practical implications Group interventions for domestically violent (DV) offenders can provide good investment returns to tax payers and government by reducing demand on scarce criminal justice system resources. The study provides insights into justice costs for DV offenders; a methodological template to determine cost benefits for offender programs and a contribution to cost-effective evidence-based crime reduction interventions. Originality/value Using a rigorous methodology, official court, custodial and community correction services costing data, this is the first Australian cost benefit analysis of a domestic violence group intervention, and the first to justify program expenditure by demonstrating substantial savings to the criminal justice system.

The shift of public sector services to digital platforms has had ongoing impacts on individuals interactions with government entities and services. This research explores the effectiveness of encouraging users to adopt an eGovernment channel choice to lodge their annual income tax return in Australia. Through the application of a quasi-randomised control trial, two different user groups were tested in order to compare and contrasts the variable of an early message intervention and the potential impact on the lodgers shift to digital channels (i.e. eGovernment support encouraging historically non-digital lodgers group vs null support). This small study suggests that individuals are encouraged to use digital services when Government provides support, and that they are more likely to displays predictive behaviours of adoption to these digital channels. Furthermore, there are two main characteristics which predict the users choosing to shift (i.e. age and deductive benefits). Through the use of strategically placed encouragement and digital assistance, it makes an individual more likely to shift to digital channels. However, this research demonstrates predictive analytics has a stronger place in the long term adoption of eGovernment services.

Habitat type and sex are the principal determinants of the variable length-at-age of M. novemaculeata. Growth was studied in three main habitat types: lagoons, gorge streams, and freshwater estuarine habitats, and a total of 1071 adult bass and 644 young fish were examined. Observations were made on the growth of young wild bass, and their rapid growth after stocking in isolated lentic waters was measured. The three von Bertalanffy growth parameters were estimated for populations from the main habitat types. A growth curve generated from tag-return data provided comparable values. Variation in length was tested by three-way ANOVA using age, habitat type and sex as independent variables. Female bass grew faster than males towards a larger asymptotic size (L∞ = 396 mm). Lagoon populations grew the most rapidly, and those in freshwater tidal sites grew slowest. T'he proportion of variarion in bass length that was due to habitat type, sex, and age was 15, 10, and 56% respectively. Marked flexibility of the growth, diet and reproduction of M. novemaculeata is seen as an adaptive response to variable environmental conditions.

Taxes are the largest source of state revenue, which is IDR 1,786.4 trillion (82.5%) of the total state revenue of IDR 2,165.1 trillion which is used for public education, health, and infrastructure. However, state revenues experienced a deficit due to the unfulfilled realization of tax revenues. Tax is income for the state, but for companies, tax is a burden that must be paid which reduces the net profit generated. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of capital intensity, profitability, and financial distress on Tax Avoidance. This study uses secondary data collection techniques with observations through www.idx.co.id, non-probability sampling technique with purposive sampling method. and the analytical method used is multiple linear regression analysis method using SPSS 25.0 program. The results of this study indicate that capital intensity has sufficient evidence of a positive effect on Tax Avoidance. profitability does not have enough evidence of a positive effect on Tax Avoidance. and financial distress does not have enough evidence of a positive effect on Tax Avoidance. Keywords: Tax avoidance, Capital intensity. Profitability, Financial distress References: , W. Y. (2014). Pengaruh Profitabilitas, Leverage, Dan Corporate Governance Terhadap Tax Avoidance (Studi Empiris Pada Perusahaan Manufaktur yang Terdaftar di BEI tahun 2009-2012). Jurnal Akuntansi, 2(3). Altman I Edward. (1968). Financial Ratios, Discriminant Analysis And The Prediction Of Corporate Bankruptcy. The Journal Of Finance, XXIII(4), 589–609. Andriyanto, H. N. (2015). Pengaruh return on assets, leverage, corporate governance, dan sales growth terhadap tax efficience pada perusahaan manufaktur yang terdaftar di BEI Tahun 2009-2012. Anwar, Mokhamad. (2019), Dasar-Dasar Manajemen Keuangan Perusahaan, Jakarta: Prenada Media. Budianti, S., & Curry, K. (2018). Pengaruh profitabilitas, likuiditas, dan capital intensity terhadap penghindaran pajak (Tax Avoidance). In Prosiding Seminar Nasional Cendekiawan (pp. 1205-1209). Bursa Efek Indonesia, diakses pada 20 Desember 2020, https://www.idx.co.id Cahyadi Putra, I., & Merkusiwati, N. (2016). Pengaruh Komisaris Independen, Leverage, Size Dan Capital intensity Ratio Pada Tax Avoidance. E-Jurnal Akuntansi, 17(1), 690-714. Dewi, N. L. P. P., & Noviari, N. (2016). Pengaruh ukuran perusahaan, leverage, profitabilitas dan corporate social responsibility terhadap penghindaran pajak (Tax Avoidance). Sumber, 1(166), 20. Dwiyanti, I. A. I., & Jati, I. K. (2019). Pengaruh Profitabilitas, Capital intensity, dan Inventory Intensity pada Penghindaran Pajak. E-Jurnal Akuntansi, 27(3), 2293-2321. Dyreng, S. D., Hanlon, M., & Maydew, E. L. (2008). Long-run corporate Tax Avoidance. Accounting Review, 83(1), 61–82. Gamayuni, R.R., (2009). Berbagai Alternatif Model Prediksi Kebangkrutan. Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan, 14(1), pp.75-89. Ghozali, Imam. (2016), Aplikasi Analisis Multivariate Dengan Program IBM SPSS 23, Edisi 8, Semarang: Badan Penerbit Universitas Diponegoro. Hanlon, M., & Heitzman, S. (2010). A review of tax research. Journal of accounting and Economics, 50(2-3), 127-178. Hartoto, R. I. (2018). Pengaruh Financial distress, Corporate Governance dan Konservatisme Akuntansi terhadap Tax Avoidance (Studi Empiris pada Perusahaan Perbankan yang Listing di BEI tahun 2015-2017). Hidayat, A. T., & Fitria, E. F. (2018). Pengaruh Capital intensity, Inventory Intensity, Profitabilitas dan Leverage Terhadap Agresivitas Pajak. Eksis: Jurnal Riset Ekonomi dan Bisnis, 13(2), 157-168. Ikatan Akuntansi Indonesia. 2011. PSAK 16 (Revisi 2011) : Aset Tetap. Jakarta : IAI Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. H. (1976). Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of financial economics, 3(4), 305-360. Kasmir. (2016), Pengantar Manajemen Keuangan: Edisi Kedua, Jakarta:Prenada Media Group Kholmi, M. (2010). Akuntabilitas dalam perspektif teori agensi. Journal of Innovation in Business and Economics, 2(02). Kurniasih, T., & Sari, M. M. R. (2013). Pengaruh return on assets, leverage, corporate governance, ukuran perusahaan dan kompensasi rugi fiskal pada Tax Avoidance. Buletin Studi Ekonomi. Meilia, P., & Adnan, A. (2017). Pengaruh Financial distress, Karakteristik Eksekutif, Dan Kompensasi Eksekutif Terhadap Tax Avoidance Pada Perusahaan Jakarta Islamic Index. Jurnal Ilmiah Mahasiswa Ekonomi Akuntansi, 2(4), 84-92. Morris, R. D. (1987). Signalling, agency theory and accounting policy choice. Accounting and business Research, 18(69), 47-56. Nugroho, L., & Anisa, N. (2018). Pengaruh Manajemen Bank Induk, Kualitas Aset, dan Efisiensi terhadap Stabilitas Bank Syariah di Indonesia (Periode Tahun 2013-2017). Inovbiz: Jurnal Inovasi Bisnis, 6(2), 114- 122. Oktamawati, M. (2017). Pengaruh karakter eksekutif, komite audit, ukuran perusahaan, leverage, pertumbuhan penjualan, dan profitabilitas terhadap Tax Avoidance. Jurnal Akuntansi Bisnis, 15(1), 23-40. Putri, V. R., & Putra, B. I. (2017). Pengaruh Leverage, Profitability, Ukuran Perusahaan Dan Proporsi Kepemilikan Institusional Terhadap Tax Avoidance. Jurnal Manajemen Dayasaing, 19(1), 1-11. Rani, P. (2017). Pengaruh Ukuran Perusahaan, Financial distress, Komite Audit, Dan Komisaris Independen Terhadap Tax Avoidance (Studi Empiris pada Perusahaan Manufaktur yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia Tahun 2012-2016). Jurnal akuntansi dan keuangan, 6(2), 221-241. Ratnawati, Juli, & Retno Indah Hernawati. (2016), Dasar-Dasar Perpajakan, Yogyakarta: Deepublish Republik Indonesia. 2007. Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 28 Tahun 2007 Tentang Perubahan Atas Undang-Undang Nomor 6 Tahun 1983 Tentang Ketentuan Umum dan Tata Cara Perpajakan. Lembaran RI Tahun 2007, No. 28. Sekretariat Negara. Jakarta Republik Indonesia. 2008. Undang-Undang Indonesia Nomor 36 Tahun 2008 Tentang Perubahan Atas Undang- Undang Nomor 7 Tahun 1983 Tentang Pajak Penghasilan. Lembaran Negara Republik Indonesia, No. 133. Sekretariat Negara. Jakarta Republik Indonesia. 2009. Undang-Undang Indonesia Nomor 16 Tahun 2009 Tentang Penetapan Perpu 5-2008 Tentang Perubahan Keempat UU 6-1983 Tentang Ketentuan Umum Dan Tata Cara Perpajakan Menjadi UU. Lembaran Negara Republik Indonesia, No. 211. Sekretariat Negara. Jakarta Republik Indonesia. 2019. APBN 2019 https://www.kemenkeu.go.id/apbn2019 Richardson, G., Taylor, G., & Lanis, R. (2015). The impact of financial distress on corporate Tax Avoidance spanning the global financial crisis: Evidence from Australia. Economic Modelling, 44, 44-53. Rosa Dewinta, I., & Ery Setiawan, P. (2016). Pengaruh Ukuran Perusahaan, Umur Perusahaan, Profitabilitas, Leverage, Dan Pertumbuhan Penjualan Terhadap Tax Avoidance. E-Jurnal Akuntansi Universitas Udayana, 14(3), 1584–1615. Schindler, Pamela S. dan Donald R. Cooper. (2014), Business Research Methods, 12th Ed, Singapore: Mc Graw Hill Education.

Rebounding water use behaviour has been observed in communities that have experienced plentiful water supply following a very dry period. However, the drivers of such rebounds in water consumption are varied and not well understood. Knowledge of such drivers can greatly assist managers towards proactive demand management, modelling and timely promotion of water efficient behaviours. Total and end-use residential water consumption has been tracked in South East Queensland, Australia for a sample of up to 252 homes in post-drought conditions (dam supplies growing but water restrictions continued, changed water use behaviours still ‘fresh’), and during and post-flooding conditions (eased restrictions, 100% dam capacity). Data on end-use water consumption trends using nearly 3 years of residential water end-use data have revealed several interesting patterns of consumption such as a delayed return to pre-drought use, the influence of climate and end-use specific rebounds (e.g. indoor versus outdoor use). The end-use data have helped to identify the drivers of rebounding water consumption which appear to include environmental cues (rainfall, temperature), social cues (e.g. government encouraging consumers to turn on tap) and a gradual general reduction in conservative water use behaviours. The paper concludes with a discussion of how this knowledge can be used to inform long-term demand management policy, particularly in variable climates.

After nearly 450 years of colonial administration, Portugal returned the territory of Macao to the People's Republic of China in 1999. Following the handover, Macao's postcolonial government dismantled the forty-year-old local gambling monopoly and opened Macao to investment by gaming companies from North America, Australia, and Hong Kong. These companies are collectively spending $25 billion to tap the increasingly affluent and mobile market of tourists just across the border in mainland China. This investment has prompted remarkable economic development in the tiny city as well as a phantasmagoric transformation of the cityscape and a concomitant transmutation of Macao's social landscape. Understanding contemporary Macao requires attending to how the legacies of Portuguese colonialism and fascism and Chinese communism and market socialism merge in the spaces of the city today. Drawing inspiration from Walter Benjamin's dialectical analysis of the obsolete commodities of mass culture, this paper meditates through text and photographs on four copresent moments of Macao—socialist fossil, colonial ruin, capitalist dream, and Utopian wish. A form of physiognomic urban ‘dream analysis’ rescues these multiple contradictory meanings of Macau and investigates the city's crucial role in both China's economic reforms and its Utopian desires.

Release and recovery files from the world's five major constituent-based billfish (Istiophoridae) tagging programs were assembled into a single composite database. Data sources included the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) Cooperative Tagging Center (MIA) in the Atlantic Ocean, the NMFS's Cooperative Billfish Tagging Program (LJA) in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the Australian Cooperative Tagging Program in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the New Zealand Cooperative Game Fish Tagging Program in the Pacific Ocean, and The Billfish Foundation's (TBF) tagging program in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Results for the main target species, including black marlin (Makaira indica), blue marlin (Makaira nigricans), white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus), striped marlin (Tetrapturus audax) and sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) were compared and contrasted based on species, ocean body and tagging program. A total of over 317 000 billfish have been tagged and released, and 4122 have been recovered since 1954. Tag recovery percentages were generally higher for a recently developed double-barb nylon anchor tag compared with the typically used stainless steel dart tag. Greatest distances moved were largest for blue marlin and black marlin, followed by striped marlin, white marlin and sailfish. The TBF program had the highest tag recovery percentages for white marlin (2.4%) and blue marlin (1.7%), whereas the MIA program had the highest percentage recovery for sailfish (1.8%). The LJA program had the highest recovery percentages for black marlin (1.9%) and striped marlin (1.4%). The annual number of releases and recoveries for each target species tended to increase over the time series, particularly during the last decade. Cyclic annual movement patterns and/or seasonal site fidelity were evident for black marlin and white marlin. The data suggest that tag recovery percentages can be affected by tag type, reporting rate, localized fishing activities, outreach activities, and a variety of logistical issues indirectly related to size of ocean body. The efficiencies of the tagging programs are compared and recommendations are made to improve the programs. The composite tagging database provides the opportunity for a more comprehensive evaluation of the data and tagging programs than has previously been possible by examining the individual programs in isolation. The main advantage of constituent-based tagging programs is that large numbers of billfish can be tagged at a minimum cost. The main drawbacks are a lack of control over the tagging event and return of recovery data. Constituent-based tagging programs provide essential data on billfish movement and biology, and should be expanded and improved to meet the increasing need for this information.

Background:Inflammatory thoracic aortitis is a cause of aneurysm and is often diagnosed incidentally following aortic replacement surgery. It may be due to systemic diseases such as giant cell arteritis (GCA) and Takayasu arteritis (TAK) or a topographically isolated variant termed clinically isolated aortitis (CIA). While CIA is identified in 2-12% of thoracic aortic surgical pathology,1 its short-term post-operative outcome is unknown.Objectives:This study was undertaken to examine the short-term post-operative mortality and morbidity of patients with surgically resected thoracic aortitis compared to those with non-inflammatory thoracic aortic aneurysms and assess if outcomes varied based on post-operative corticosteroid therapy.Methods:The study was based at three tertiary referral hospitals in Sydney, Australia, for the years 2004-2018. Prospectively collected data was accessed from a national surgical registry for all patients who underwent thoracic aortic aneurysm replacement. Aortitis patients were identified from histopathology records.Inpatient medical records were reviewed to categorise aortitis cases as CIA, GCA, TAK or other aortitis and to audit the use of corticosteroids. Outcomes were compared between aortitis cases and the non-inflammatory cohort using logistic regressions, controlling for age, sex, year of procedure, and hospital.Results:41 aortitis cases were identified from the cohort of 1119 surgical patients (3.7%). 27 (66%) met criteria for CIA, 11 (27%) for GCA, 2 (5%) for TAK, and 1 (2%) for Other. 8 (20%) received corticosteroid therapy for aortitis.Compared with non-inflammatory patients, the aortitis cohort was predominantly female (54% vs 28%, p < 0.01), older (mean 70 vs 62 years, p < 0.01), and had higher rates of hypertension (83% vs 67%, p = 0.03) and pre-operative immunosuppression (10% vs 1%, p < 0.01).There was no difference (p > 0.05) between the aortitis and the non-aortitis groups for 30-day mortality (7% vs 7%), composite significant morbidity (15% vs 22%), composite infection (10% vs 6%), return to theatre for bleeding (7% vs 13%), stroke (5% vs 5%) or readmission (12% vs 10%). Similar results were also seen for CIA and the aortitis subgroup who did not receive corticoid steroid therapy when compared to the non-aortitis group (table 1).Table 1.30-day mortality and morbidityNon-aortitisAll aortitisAortitis, not treated for aortitisCIAn=1078n=41n=33n=27%n%n%n%nMortality770736241Stroke557526241Return to theatre bleed13137736241Composite morbidity22241156155113Composite infection66910493113Readmission10108125124113Note: Differences in outcomes between the aortitis groups and the no aortitis group were modelled using logistic regression, controlling for age, sex, year of procedure, and hospital. There were no statistically significant differences in outcomes (p > 0.05).CIA; clinically isolated aortitis. Composite morbidity; an outcome comprised of return to theatre for bleeding, stroke, new renal failure, acute myocardial infarction or aortic dissection. Composite infection; an outcome comprised of 30-day pneumonia, septicaemia, deep sternal wound infection or deep thoracotomy infection.Conclusion:The finding of thoracic aortitis following aortic replacement surgery does not affect short-term post-operative mortality or morbidity. Corticosteroid therapy in the immediate post-operative period did not impact upon short-term outcomes.References:[1]Quimson L, Mayer A, Capponi S, et al. Comparison of aortitis versus noninflammatory aortic aneurysms among patients who undergo open aortic aneurysm repair. Arthritis Rheum 2020;72:1154-59.Disclosure of Interests:None declared

Context An understanding of the genetic stock structure of wide-ranging marine species is necessary for sound conservation management. Eretmochelys imbricata is Critically Endangered globally, but is among the least studied marine turtles. Reduced population sizes, its long-distance migratory nature between feeding and nesting habitats and poor understanding of its stock structure, biology and anthropogenic impact(s) pose challenges to developing effective conservation strategies for regional conspecifics. Aims Quantification of the population connectivity between specific feeding areas and regional nesting populations is needed for threat assessment and development of mitigation actions. Methods Here, we sequenced the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of 91 immature and adult foraging E. imbricata individuals captured at the Howick Group of islands in the far-northern section of the Great Barrier Reef (nGBR), Queensland, Australia. We used a Bayesian mixed-stock analysis (MSA) approach to determine the contribution of nine regional genetically characterised breeding populations to this feeding aggregation. Key results The MSA estimated that a majority (83%; 95% CI = 70–92%) of feeding E. imbricata had originated from nesting beaches in the Bismarck–Solomon Sea region, whereas only 15% (95% CI = 6–25%) had originated from nGBR rookeries. International reproductive migrations were also corroborated by the return of 18 uniquely numbered titanium flipper tags that had been applied to E. imbricata found foraging in the Howick Group and had swum to rookeries within the Bismarck–Solomon Sea region. These 18 turtles represent 86% of all migration tag–recaptures from the Howick Group. Conclusions We postulate that recent increases in nesting populations within the Solomon Islands may be due to the high level of protection afforded to foraging turtles within the Great Barrier Reef. Implications An understanding of the connectivity between specific feeding areas and nesting populations is necessary to determine threats to animals over their entire life history and, therefore, allow the development of sound conservation management actions.

ABSTRAK Mengetahui pengaruh 3 komponen Intellectual Capital yang terdiri dari Value Added Capital Employed (VACA), Value Added Human Capital (VAHU), dan Structural Capital Value Added (STVA) dan mengetahui pengaruh Rate of Growth of Intellectual Capital (ROGIC)terhadap proporsi pembiayaan bagi hasil bank umum syariah di Indonesia periode 2015-2020 merupakan tujuan dari penelitian ini. Menggunakan regresi data panel serta data sekunder dengan mengumpulkan laporan tahunan bank umum syariah. Memanfaatkan Sampel 9 bank umum syariah yang terdaftar pada OJK dengan diseleksi menggunakan metode purposive sampling. Variabel Intellectual Capital diukur dengan metode Islamic Banking Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (IB-VAIC). Sedangkan untuk variabel proporsi pembiayaan bagi hasil menggunakan pengukuran profit sharing ratio. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Value Added Capital Employed (VACA), Value Added Human Capital (VAHU), dan Structural Capital Value Added (STVA) dan Rate of Growth of Intellectual Capital (ROGIC) berpengaruh signifikan terhadap proporsi pembiayaan bagi hasil. Secara parsial, Value Added Capital Employed (VACA) berpengaruh signifikan negatif terhadap proporsi pembiayaan bagi hasil. Value Added Human Capital (VAHU) dan Structural Capital Value Added (STVA) memiliki pengaruh signifikan dengan arah positif pada proporsi pembiayaan bagi hasil. Rate of Growth of Intellectual Capital (ROGIC) tidak memiliki pengaruh pada proporsi pembiayaan bagi hasil. Kata Kunci: Intellectual Capital, VACA, VAHU, STVA, ROGIC, Proporsi Pembiayaan Bagi Hasil, Bank Umum Syariah. ABSTRACT Find out the effect of 3 components of Intellectual Capital, consisting of Value Added Capital Employed (VACA), Value Added Human Capital (VAHU), and Structural Capital Value Added (STVA), and find out the effect of the Rate of Growth of Intellectual Capital (ROGIC) on profit-loss sharing financing proportion of Islamic Banks in Indonesia from 2015-2020 is the goal of this research. Using panel data regression and secondary data by collecting the annual reports of Islamic Commercial Banks. Utilizing a sample of 9 Islamic Commercial Banks registered in OJK and selected using a purposive sampling method. The Intellectual Capital was measured by the Islamic Banking Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (IB-VAIC) method. Profit loss sharing financing proportion is measured by the profit sharing ratio. The results of this research showed that Value Added Capital Employed (VACA), Value Added Human Capital (VAHU), Structural Capital Value Added (STVA), and Rate of Growth of Intellectual Capital (ROGIC) had a significant effect on profit-sharing financing proportion. Partially, Value Added Capital Employed (VACA) has a negative significant effect on profit-loss sharing financing proportion. Value Added Human Capital (VAHU) and Structural Capital Value Added (STVA) have a positive significant effect on profit-loss sharing financing proportion. The rate of Growth of Intellectual Capital (ROGIC) does not affect the profit-sharing financing proportion. Keywords: Intellectual Capital, VACA, VAHU, STVA, ROGIC, Profit Loss Sharing Financing Proportion, Islamic Banks. DAFTAR PUSTAKA Aryee, S., Walumbwa, F. O., Seidu, E. Y. M., & Otaye, L. E. (2016). Developing and leveraging human capital resource to promote service quality: Testing a theory of performance. Journal of Management, 42(2), 480–499. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206312471394 Ascarya. (2010). The lack of profit-and -loss sharing financing in Indonesia’s. Riebs, 1(1), 70–98. Ascarya, A., & Yumanita, D. (2007). Mencari solusi rendahnya pembiayaan bagi hasil di perbankan syariah Indonesia. Buletin Ekonomi Moneter dan Perbankan, 8(1), 7–43. https://doi.org/10.21098/bemp.v8i1.127 Bayraktaroglu, A. E., Calisir, F., & Baskak, M. (2019). Intellectual capital and firm performance: an extended VAIC model. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 20(3), 406–425. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-12-2017-0184 Bontis, N., William Chua Chong, K., & Richardson, S. (2000). Intellectual capital and business performance in Malaysian industries. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 1(1), 85–100. https://doi.org/10.1108/14691930010324188 Buallay, A., Cummings, R., & Hamdan, A. (2019). Intellectual capital efficiency and bank’s performance: A comparative study after the global financial crisis. 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Pengaruh intellectual capital, rate of growth of intellectual capital dan pengungkapannya terhadap kinerja keuangan perusahaan. INOBIS: Jurnal Inovasi Bisnis dan Manajemen Indonesia, 2(4), 486–504. https://doi.org/10.31842/jurnal-inobis.v2i4.107 Sary Sakinah, I., Sadalia, I., Syahputra Silalahi, A., & Author, C. (2020). The influence of intellectual capital and rate of growth of intellectual capital on financial performance in financial institution sub-sector companies on the Indonesia stock exchange. International Journal of Research and Review, 7(1), 474-479. Seleim, A., & Bontis, N. (2013). National intellectual capital and economic performance: Empirical evidence from developing countries. Knowledge and Process Management, 20(3), 131–140. https://doi.org/10.1002/kpm.1412 Setiawan, M. A. (2014). Pengaruh intellectual capital terhadap kinerja. Jurnal Riset Akuntansi dan Keuangan, 2(1), 251–260. Sirinuch Nimtrakoon. (2015). Intellectual capital, firms’ market The relationship between value and financial performance Empirical evidence from the ASEAN. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 16(3), 587–618. Soetrisno, A., & Lina. (2014). The influence of intellectual capital components towards the company. Jurnal Manajemen, 14(1), 125–140. https://doi.org/10.28932/jmm.v14i1.76 Tan, H. P., Plowman, D., & Hancock, P. (2007). Intellectual capital and financial returns of companies. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 8(1), 76–95. https://doi.org/10.1108/14691930710715079 Ting, I. W. K., & Lean, H. H. (2009). Intellectual capital performance of financial institutions in Malaysia. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 10(4), 588–599. https://doi.org/10.1108/14691930910996661 Tseng, C. Y., & Goo, Y. J. J. (2005). Intellectual capital and corporate value in an emerging economy: Empirical study of Taiwanese manufacturers. R and D Management, 35(2), 187–201. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9310.2005.00382.x Ulum, I. (2013). Model pengukuran kinerja intellectual capital dengan ib-vaic di perbankan syariah. Inferensi, 7(1), 185. https://doi.org/10.18326/infsl3.v7i1.185-206 Ulum, I., Ghozali, I., & Chariri, A. (2008). Intellectual capital dan kinerja keuangan perusahaan; Suatu analisis dengan pendekatan partial least squares. SNA XI, 19(19), 23–24.

The Australian government receives poor revenue returns from the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (‘PRRT’), a tax regime that applies to integrated offshore, gas projects. By contrast the Netherlands has captured significant tax revenues from gas. We ask whether Australian government PRRT revenue would increase from an alternative method of gas pricing (known as the gas transfer price) by modelling four large gas projects. The Dutch case explains their gas market evolution and how high revenues have been maintained. We find that Australia’s current PRRT regulated pricing method for integrated gas projects is problematic and change is needed. The Dutch case study contextualises the discussion of an alternative gas transfer pricing method for offshore gas projects in Australia. The energy justice framework is used for analysis. This article contributes to the current government review of the PRRT regulations on the gas transfer pricing method.

Australia is an interesting case study of biotechnology ecosystem development. Despite its distance from the US biotechnology superclusters, the country has had high expectations for its potential development into a biotechnology superpower. These expectations have not been met over the last two decades. Despite generous R&D tax incentives and a robust network of public research organizations (PROs), the local biotechnology industry has remained small and weak, without a single ‘big biotech’ emerging. Cluster analysis over 11 years of all private and public DBFs indicated that the PRO network output failed to translate to the development by the local biotech industry of drug candidates that could attract Big Pharma deals. Analysis of the investor returns over 15 years from all public drug development biotech firms (DDBs) showed that not a single firm produced attractive long-term investor returns and the sector overall generated negative returns for investors. Despite high promissory expectations, favorable government policies and an inflated view of the quality of the country’s science output, Australia has failed to create a sustainable biotechnology ecosystem. Some of the reasons are identified and suggestions are offered for changes in government policy that could improve value creation by the local biotech sector.

Glaeser and Gyourko’s method of measuring the gap between marginal and average land prices of housing lots has become a popular way of demonstrating the degree to which planning controls, or ‘regulatory taxes’, increase residential land prices. This has led policy-makers across the globe to focus on town planning as a critical determinant of rising home prices. We show, however, that Glaeser and Gyourko’s method shows no such thing. Instead, the price gap is a product of the location premium of land, diminishing returns to buyers of residential land size, and historical city development patterns. Numerous shortcomings are identified in their theoretical model, including that (a) they ignore that development happens over time; (b) their ‘regulatory tax’ is simply the location value of land; (c) they reason inconsistently about the source of land prices, arguing that land at the margins is scarce but locations for whole housing lots are not; and (d) there are no optimal lot sizes nor subdivision incentives in their model. Standard price-taking models of residential land markets that recognize that locations are scarce contain none of these limitations and provide a better interpretation of land price patterns. Empirically, we show that Glaeser and Gyourko’s method finds a high ‘regulatory tax’ even in the absence of regulatory constraints using both simulated suburb development scenarios and historical land sales data from colonial Australia and ancient Mesopotamia. In short, there is no information regarding the effect of planning controls on the supply of new dwellings in a comparison of marginal and average land prices, and this method should not be relied upon to inform planning and housing policy decisions.

In order to deter aggressive tax planning, the Australian government mandated public disclosure of three line items from large corporations' tax returns. However, there is no evidence that the mandated disclosure led public firms to pay more taxes (Hoopes, Robinson, and Slemrod 2018). Instead, I find that firms strategically offset expected reputational costs by voluntarily issuing supplemental information. Specifically, when managers expect new reputational costs from the mandated tax return disclosure (wherein the disclosure reveals an unexpectedly low tax liability) and low proprietary costs from a supplemental voluntary disclosure (wherein the firm discloses its nonaggressive tax planning), firms are likely to voluntarily disclose information that both preempts and supplements the government's mandatory disclosure. Thus, when mandatory disclosures are incomplete, firms will voluntarily issue additional information to remain in control of their disclosure environments.

PurposeTesting a total of five hypotheses, the paper contributes to overall comparison of the two regimes, as it scrutinises whether these improvements have helped regulate this sector. Although it appears that, for the first time, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) had a more timely effect than US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), multiple parameters must be taken into consideration. The banking system has additional rules that may affect financial statements, such as the Basel Accord which sets many policies closely related to the IFRS, such as deferred tax credits. In this way, this paper aim to enrich the results of these decisions, and illuminate aspects of amendments to IFRS and US GAAP in light of the crisis. Focussing on the financial sector, the author sought to critically evaluate their reactions, and to question some of their fundamental rules in practice. This is vital for accounting researchers and analysts, allowing for the first time to compare IFRS performance between Europe and the US, and make better investment evaluations.Design/methodology/approachThe study sought to detect whether IFRS and US GAAP protected firms from abnormal sales arising from the outbreak of the crisis, whether the reclassification option under IFRS was an answer to the crisis, and whether IFRS and US GAAP succeeded in regulating shadow banking through their amendments. Therefore, it processes five hypotheses. In order to detect the effects of the crisis on accounting regimes, the analysis focused only on companies from the financial sector composed of the banking industry, insurance companies and shadow banking. The author included firms from Australia, Germany, Greece, the UK and the US, and collected information on 679 financial institutions for the period 2009–2013. The author settled on these time frames because the author aimed to capture IFRS performance surrounding the crisis effects in 2008 and the amendments that followed. In this way, the author applied quantitative methods using only numerical data over a given period.FindingsThe results suggest that the reclassification option was successful, helping firms to perform better amid the crisis, indicating that the manipulation of the crisis was appropriate. It seems therefore that US GAAP should have activated this option for US firms. However, the US may not have hurried to act because its banking sector seemed to recover more quickly than in Australia and Europe. Either way, both regimes need to consider speculative market cases that might have appeared during the crisis, as the author have detected cases of abnormal returns. Finally, concerning regulation of the shadow banking sector, the results seem to be encouraging only with regard to the latest improvements and only for all countries examined.Originality/valueThe project contributes to debate on the reactions of both IFRS and US GAAP during and after the economic crisis. For this, it addresses several questions to investigate the performance of the financial sector under both regimes, identifying possible additional effects and considerations. More specifically, it answers if the fair value orientation actually contributes to the financial crisis through contagion effects, while it addresses additional questions. Have these two global accounting regimes succeeded in overcoming the consequences of the crisis? Have amendments and the introduction of new standards to IFRS and US GAAP achieved regulation of shadow banking? Which of the two has performed better? As aforementioned, the analysis focused only on companies from the financial sector composed of the banking industry, insurance companies and shadow banking firms from Australia, Germany, Greece, the UK and the US, for the period 2009–2013.

Small businesses often struggle to get funding due to the lack of collateral. Alternative funding, such as crowdfunding, became increasingly popular after the financial crisis in 2008. The objective of the study was to determine if funding, received by businesses from alternative sources of funding, is subject to income tax in South Africa. A legal doctrinal research approach was applied by reviewing available literature, tax legislation and relevant case law in South Africa, the United States of America, United Kingdom and Australia. It was determined that existing income tax provisions do not specifically refer to crowdfunding and principles laid down in decided tax case law need to be considered to determine if the amount received, is a gift made out of pure generosity. The amount is likely not to fall within the ambit of ‘gross income’ of the project owner if the donor expected nothing in return and the funding was not used by the project owner to supplement trading activities. With reward-based crowdfunding, the funding is highly likely to fall within the ambit of gross income since something is expected in return for the funding provided to the business. It is imperative that South Africa issues application guidance to reflect the intended meaning of the legislature regarding the tax treatment of funding received by project owners.Contribution: This article demonstrated that it is imperative that South Africa issues application guidance to reflect the intended meaning of the legislature regarding the tax treatment of funding received by project owners.

Compared to many nations in the global metropole, Australia experienced low per capita cases of the novel coronavirus during 2020. However, despite the nation’s geographical isolation, its dependence on international travel did result in a number of infections in early 2020, prompting federal and state governments to impose travel restrictions, social distancing orders, and eventually some state-wide lockdowns. The strategy to help affected businesses and workers was a combination of income support, tax relief and economic incentives to spur on spending as businesses were able to again operate—an approach that became known as “hibernation”. This article examines music workers’ expectations for their future, and the future of the music industries, post-“hibernation”. Through surveying and interviewing workers and business owners from across the Victorian music industries during a period of lockdown, it is explored how workers position themselves in relation to the idea that the sector could return to “normal” post-COVID, and these responses are situated within creative work research. Without common spaces of socialization and common economic objectives, workers within the hibernated music industries have demonstrated individualized approaches to their career planning, fragmented by the breakdown of daily rituals and routines. Some workers are orienting themselves to a future where the sector re-opens mostly unchanged, while others believe that the industry will be fundamentally different post-COVID. Workers’ activities in lockdown are shaped by these beliefs, with many exiting or preparing for an exit from music work, while those who anticipate staying undertake extensive labour to ensure the viability of their careers. The article concludes by considering what this might mean for the future of live music events in Victoria.

IntroductionThey shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.Recited at many Anzac and Remembrance Day services, ‘The Ode’, an excerpt from a poem by Laurence Binyon, speaks of a timelessness within the inexorable march of time. When we memorialise those for whom time no longer matters, time stands still. Whether those who died in service of their country have finally “beaten time” or been forced to acknowledge that “their time on earth was up”, depends on your preference for clichés. Time and death are natural bedfellows. War memorials, be they physical or digital, declare a commitment to “remember them”. This article will compare and contrast the purpose of, and community response to, virtual and physical war memorials. It will examine whether virtual war memorials are a sign of the times – a natural response to the internet era. If, as Marshall McLuhan says, the medium is the message, what experiences do we gain and lose through online war memorials?Physical War MemorialsDuring and immediately after the First World War, physical war memorials were built in almost every city, town and village of the Allied countries involved in the war. They served many purposes. One of the roles of physical war memorials was to keep the impact of war at the centre of a town’s consciousness. In a regional centre like Bathurst, in New South Wales, the town appears to be built around the memorial – the court, council chambers, library, churches and pubs gather around the war memorials.Similarly, in small towns such as Bega, Picton and Kiama, war memorial arches form a gateway to the town centre. It is an architectural signal that you are entering a community that has known pain, death and immense loss. Time has passed, but the names of the men and women who served remain etched in stone: “lest we forget”.The names are listed in a democratic fashion: usually in alphabetical order without their rank. However, including all those who offered their service to “God, King and Country” (not just those who died) also had a more sinister and divisive effect. It reminded communities of those “eligibles” in their midst whom some regarded as “shirkers”, even if they were conscientious objectors or needed to stay and continue vital industries, like farming (Inglis & Phillips 186).Ken Inglis (97) estimated that every second Australian family was in mourning after the Great War. Jay Winter (Sites 2) goes further arguing that “almost every family” in the British Commonwealth was grieving, either for a relative; or for a friend, work colleague, neighbour or lover. Nations were traumatised. Physical war memorials provided a focal point for that universal grief. They signalled, through their prominence in the landscape or dominance of a hilltop, that it was acceptable to grieve. Mourners were encouraged to gather around the memorial in a public place, particularly on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day each year. Grief was seen, observed, respected.Such was the industrial carnage of the Western Front, that about one third of Australia and New Zealand’s fatal casualties were not brought home. Families lost a family member, body and soul, in the Great War. For those people who subscribed to a Victorian view of death, who needed a body to grieve over, the war memorial took on the role of a gravesite and became a place where people would place a sprig of wattle, poke a poppy into the crevice beside a name, or simply touch the letters etched or embossed in the stone (Winter, Experience 206). As Ken Inglis states: “the statue on its pedestal does stand for each dead man whose body, identified or missing, intact or dispersed, had not been returned” to his home town (11).Physical war memorials were also a place where women could forge new identities over time. Women accepted, or claimed their status as war widows, grieving mothers or bereft fiancés, while at the same time coming to terms with their loss. As Joy Damousi writes: “mourning of wartime loss involved a process of sustaining both a continuity with, and a detachment from, a lost soldier” (1). Thus, physical war memorials were transitional, liminal spaces.Jay Winter (Sites 85) believes that physical war memorials were places to both honour and mourn the dead, wounded, missing and shell-shocked. These dual functions of both esteeming and grieving those who served was reinforced at ceremonies, such as Anzac or Remembrance Day.As Joy Damousi (156) and Ken Inglis (457, 463) point out, war memorials in Australia are rarely sites of protest, either for war widows or veterans campaigning for a better pension, or peace activists who opposed militarism. When they are used in this way, it makes headlines in the news (Legge). They are seldom used to highlight the tragedy, inhumanity or futility of war. The exception to this, were the protests against the Vietnam War.The physical war memorials which mushroomed in Australian country towns and cities after the First World War captured and claimed those cataclysmic four years for the families and communities who were devastated by the war. They provided a place to both honour and mourn those who served, not just once, but for as long as the memorial remained. They were also a place of pilgrimage, particularly for families who did not have a grave to visit and a focal point for the annual rituals of remembrance.However, over the past 100 years, some unmaintained physical war memorials are beginning to look like untended graves. They have become obstacles rather than sentinels in the landscape. Laurence Aberhart’s haunting photographs show that memorials in places like Dorrigo in rural New South Wales “go largely unnoticed year-round, encroached on by street signage and suburbia” (Lakin 49). Have physical war memorials largely fulfilled their purpose and are they becoming obsolete? Perhaps they have been supplanted by the gathering space of the 21st century: the Internet.Digital War MemorialsThe centenary of the Great War heralded a mushrooming of virtual war memorials. Online First World War memorials focus on collecting and amassing information that commemorates individuals. They are able to include far more information than will fit on a physical war memorial. They encourage users to search the digitised records that are available on the site and create profiles of people who served. While they deal in records from the past, they are very much about the present: the user experience and their connection to their ancestors who served.The Imperial War Museum’s website Lives of the First World War asks users to “help us build the permanent digital memorial to all who contributed during the First World War”. This request deserves scrutiny. Firstly, “permanent” – is this possible in the digital age? When the head of Google, Vint Cerf, disclosed in 2015 that software programming wizards were still grappling with how to create digital formats that can be accessed in 10, 100 or a 1000 years’ time; and recommended that we print out our precious digital data and store it in hard copy or risk losing it forever; then it appears that online permanency is a mirage.Secondly, “all who contributed” – the website administrators informed me that “all” currently includes people who served with Canada and Britain but the intention is to include other Commonwealth nations. It seems that the former British Empire “owns” the First World War – non-allied, non-Commonwealth nations that contributed to the First World War will not be included. One hundred years on, have we really made peace with Germany and Turkey? The armistice has not yet spread to the digital war memorial. The Lives of the First world War website missed an opportunity to be leaders in online trans-national memorialisation.Discovering Anzacs, a website built by the National Archives of Australia and Archives New Zealand, is a little more subdued and honest, as visitors are invited to “enhance a profile dedicated to the wartime journey of someone who served”.Physical and online war memorials can work in tandem. In 2015, the Supreme Court of Victoria created a website that provides background information on the military service of the 159 members of the legal profession who are named on their Memorial board. This is an excellent example of a digital medium expanding on and reinvigorating a physical memorial.It is noteworthy that all of these online memorial websites commemorate those who served in the First World War, and sometimes the Boer or South African War. There is no space for remembering those who served or died in more recent wars like Afghanistan or Iraq. James Brown and others discuss how the cult of Anzac is overshadowing the service and sacrifices of the men and women who have been to more recent wars. The proximity of their service mitigates against its recognition – it is too close for comfortable, detached remembrance.Complementary But Not ExclusiveA comparison of their functions indicates that online memorials which focus on the First World War complement, but will never replace the role of physical war memorials. As discussed, physical war memorials were sites for grieving, pilgrimage and collectively honouring the men and women who served and died. Online websites which allow users to upload scanned documents and photographs; transcribe diary entries or letters; post tribute poems, songs or video clips; and provide links to other relevant records online are neither places of pilgrimage nor sites for grieving. They are about remembrance, not memory (Scates, “Finding” 221).Ken Inglis describes physical war memorials as “bearers of collective memory” (7). In a sense, online war memorials are keepers of individual, user-enhanced archival records. It can be argued that online memorials to the First World War tap into the desire for hero-worship, the boom in family history research and what Scates calls the “cult of remembrance” (“Finding” 218). They provide a way for individuals, often two or three generations removed, to discover, understand and document the wartime experiences of individuals in their family. By allowing descendants to situate their family story within the larger, historically significant narrative of the First World War, online memorials encourage people to feel that the suffering and untimely death of their forbear wasn’t in vain – that it contributed to something worthwhile and worth remembering. At a collective level, this contributes to the ANZAC myth and former Australian Prime Minister John Howard’s attempt to use it as a foundational myth for Australia’s nationhood.Kylie Veale (9) argues that cyberspace has encouraged improvements on traditional memorial practices because online memorials can be created in a more timely fashion, they are more affordable and they are accessible and enable the sharing of grief and bereavement on a global scale. As evidence of this, an enterprising group in the USA has developed an android app which provides a template for creating an online memorial. They compete with Memorialsonline.com. Veale’s arguments remind us that the Internet is a hyper-democratic space where interactions and sites that are collaborative or contemplative exist alongside trolling and prejudice. Veale also contends that memorial websites facilitate digital immortality, which helps keep the memory of the deceased alive. However, given the impermanence of much of the content on the Internet, this final attribute is a bold claim.It is interesting to compare the way individual soldiers are remembered prior to and after the arrival of the Internet. Now that it is possible to create a tribute website, or Facebook page in memory of someone who served, do families do this instead of creating large physical scrapbooks or photo albums? Or do they do both? Garry Roberts created a ‘mourning diary’ as a record of his journey of agonising grief for his eldest son who died in 1918. His diary consists of 27 scrapbooks, weighing 10 kilograms in total. Pat Jalland (318) suggests this helped Roberts to create some sort of order out of his emotional turmoil. Similarly, building websites or digital tribute pages can help friends and relatives through the grieving process. They can also contribute the service person’s story to official websites such as those managed by the Australian Defence Forces. Do grieving family members look up a website or tribute page they’ve created in the same way that they might open up a scrapbook and remind themselves of their loved one? Kylie Veale’s research into online memorials created for anyone who has died, not necessarily those killed by war, suggests online memorials are used in this way (5).Do grieving relatives take comfort from the number of likes, tags or comments on a memorial or tribute website, in the same way that they might feel supported by the number of people who attend a memorial service or send a condolence card? Do they archive the comments? Garry Roberts kept copies of the letters of sympathy and condolence that he received from friends and relatives after his son’s tragic death and added them to his 27 scrapbooks.Both onsite and online memorials can suffer from lack of maintenance and relevance. Memorial websites can become moribund like untended headstones in a graveyard. Once they have passed their use as a focal point of grief, a place to post tributes; they can languish, un-updated and un-commented on.Memorials and PilgrimageOne thing that online memorials will never be, however, are sites of pilgrimage or ritual. One does not need to set out on a journey to visit an online memorial. It is as far away as your portable electronic device. Online memorials cannot provide the closure or sense of identity and community that comes from visiting a memorial or gravesite.This was evident in December 2014 when people felt the need to visit the Lindt Café in Sydney’s Martin Place after the terrorist siege and lay flowers and tributes. While there were also Facebook tribute pages set up for these victims of violence, mourners still felt the need to visit the sites. A permanent memorial to the victims of the siege has now opened in Martin Place.Do people gather around a memorial website for the annual rituals which take place on Anzac or Remembrance Day, or the anniversaries of significant battles? In 2013, the Australian War Memorial (AWM) saw a spike in people logging onto the Memorial’s Remembrance Day web page just prior to 11am. They left the site immediately after the minute’s silence. The AWM web team think they were looking for a live broadcast of the Remembrance Day service in Canberra. When that wasn’t available online, they chose to stay on the site until after the minute’s silence. Perhaps this helped them to focus on the reason for Remembrance Day. Perhaps, as Internet speeds get faster, it will be possible to conduct your own virtual ceremony in real time with friends and family in cyberspace.However, I cannot imagine a time when visiting dignitaries from other countries will post virtual wreaths to virtual war memorials. Ken Inglis argues that the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the AWM has become the ritual centre of the Australian nation, “receiving obligatory wreaths from every visiting head of state” (459).Physical and Online Memorials to the War in AfghanistanThere are only eight physical war memorials to the Afghanistan conflict in Australia, even though this is the longest war Australia has been involved in to date (2001-2015). Does the lack of physical memorials to the war in Afghanistan mean that our communities no longer need them, and that people are memorialising online instead?One grieving father in far north Queensland certainly felt that an online memorial would never suffice. Gordon Chuck’s son, Private Benjamin Chuck, was killed in a Black Hawk helicopter crash in Afghanistan in 2010 when he was only 27 years old. Spurred by his son’s premature death, Gordon Chuck rallied family, community and government support, in the tiny hinterland town of Yungaburra, west of Cairns in Queensland, to establish an Avenue of Honour. He knocked on the doors of local businesses, the Returned Servicemen’s League (RSL), the Australian Defence Forces and every level of government to raise $300,000. His intention was to create a timeless memorial of world standard and national significance. On 21 June 2013, the third anniversary of his son’s death, the Chief of the Defence Force and the Prime Minister formally opened the Avenue of Honour in front of “thousands” of people (Nancarrow).Diggers from Afghanistan who have visited the Yungaburra Avenue of Honour speak of the closure and sense of healing it gave them (Nancarrow). The Avenue, built on the shores of Lake Tinaroo, features parallel rows of Illawarra flame trees, whose red blossoms are in full bloom around Remembrance Day and symbolise the blood and fire of war and the cycle of life. It commemorates all the Australian soldiers who have died in the Afghanistan war.The Avenue of Honour, and the memorial in Martin Place clearly demonstrate that physical war memorials are not redundant. They are needed and cherished as sites of grief, hope and commemoration. The rituals conducted there gather gravitas from the solemnity that falls when a sea of people is silent and they provide healing through the comfort of reverent strangers.ConclusionEven though we live in an era when most of us are online every day of our lives, it is unlikely that virtual war memorials will ever supplant their physical forebears. 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