The V8s are coming to Abu Dhabi

Source: Car Middle East online 10 September 09

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Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management (ADMM) has announced an agreement with V8 Supercars Australia Pty Limited to host the season opening round of Australia’s V8 Supercars Championship at Abu Dhabi’s new Yas Marina Circuit on 18-20 February 2010. It’s part of a three-year deal which will see Abu Dhabi centre-stage for the first race of each season of Australia’s premier motor racing series.
Richard Cregan, CEO of Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management, the operators of Yas Marina Circuit, said that bringing Australia’s V8 Supercars to the Emirate was part of a comprehensive programme to offer the general public a broad range of the world’s top racing series.
‘Our mandate at ADMM is to develop Yas Marina Circuit into a regional and international centre of motorsport excellence.’
‘These are cars that we all see on the streets of Abu Dhabi, everyday. On the track, spectators and viewers will witness some of the most sensational wheel- towheel racing imaginable.’
‘Year round, Yas Marina Circuit will be the venue for many of the world’s top motor racing series as well as offering opportunities for the general public to experience the thrill of motorsport within a safe environment,’ he said.Tony Cochrane, V8 Supercars Australia Executive Chairman, said, ’By adding Abu Dhabi to the 2010 calendar, the agreement further promotes the United Arab Emirates as a fantastic motorsport destination.
In Yas Marina Circuit, the United Arab Emirates has one of the world’s top motor racing venues and we are certain that race car fans across the region will revel in the great show that the V8 Supercars will put on.’
The race in Abu Dhabi will be followed by the Desert 400 at Bahrain International Circuit on February 25-27.

BMW Z4 advert banned in Australia

From the Melbourne Herald Sun 29 June 09
The Thought Police in Australia have finally gone mad. A new television ad for the latest BMW Z4 shows the car with painted tyres being driven round a warehouse, the tyre tracks eventually forming a picture. The ad's been banned in Australia because, according to the Advertising Standards Board its "encouraging hoon driving". Yeah? And the V8 Supercars, F1, MotoGP, Motocross, Dukes of Hazzard *don't*?
Quotes from internet forums on this decision by the Advertising Standards Board have been overwhelmingly negative, including:
- "I guess watching Top Gear is going to influence me to part take in a beach assault with the Royal marines in a Ford Fiesta? "
- "Promoting hooning? I think not and I suppose watching Underbelly is going to influence me and my family to undertake underworld killings...."
- "I'm so sick of this cr*p. It doesn't even directly affect me, but to think that stupid whinging do-gooders have this much power infuriates me."
- "I'm not for one second condoning idiotic behaviour like burnouts. But the sort of morons who do that sort of thing are going to do it anyway, irrespective of a BMW advertising campaign."
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Luxury car manufacturer BMW has been left in a spin after its new "artistic" TV ad was banned for encouraging hoon driving.
Australia's advertising watchdog outlawed the ad for a BMW convertible because driving stunts shown in the clip would break Australian road rule laws.
The ad features the BMW Z4 coupe creating a giant artwork in a warehouse by driving with painted tyres, and includes the vehicle spinning its wheels and skidding.
Video: Watch the banned BMW promo
The clip, which has been used around the world, was made by artist Robin Rhode and famed film director Ridley Scott's son, Jake.
The ad sparked a backlash; one viewer told the Advertising Standards Bureau and Channel 9 the clip "would encourage car hoons to spin and burn their tyres."
The watchdog banned the ad on the basis it depicted illegal driving.
"The board noted that the advertisement does depict in a number of places the driver intentionally allowing the wheels of the car to lose traction and perform . . . a four-wheel drift," the bureau's judgment said.
BMW hit back, claiming it was art, not hooning.
"We believe the audience can distinguish between fantasy and reality," a statement from BMW to the board said.
BMW spokesman Toni Andreevski said the company accepted the decision but believed it could have successfully appealed.
"It is a bit of a case of a piece of art and the freedom of art being thwarted by Victoria's anti-hoon laws," he said.
"It is a shame that artistic expression would be caught by a quirk in the legislation. Safety is important to us, and we have agreed not to appeal."
Mr Andreevski said the company was disappointed it had been branded for hoon driving.

Panel warns against expat tax rule

From The Australian 23 June '09
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A crackdown on how expat Australians are taxed announced by Treasurer Wayne Swan on budget night on May 12 has run into choppy waters in a Senate committee, according to a report tabled yesterday.
The Senate Economics Legislation Committee noted that the abolition of Section 23AG of the Income Tax Act, which covers people working offshore for between 91 days and two years, was going to create a compliance burden that in some cases was going to be out of proportion to the amount of tax revenue gained.
The bipartisan committee recommended bringing back at least three exemptions to the new rule, which Mr Swan said would net an extra $675 million in tax over three years to 2013.
The tax move is aimed at some 11,000 expats who Treasury says are earning at least $85,000 a year and pay "little or no tax at all" in Australia, according to Treasury submissions to the committee. However, it became clear at a recent committee hearing in Canberra that any move to make Australians in that group pay tax in this jurisdiction will cause a lot of them to stay away for longer than two years -- and thus cease to be liable to pay any Australian tax.
The 23AG exemption was brought in in 1986, and allows expats a tax holiday as long as they are paying tax in another jurisdiction. Its abolition would reinstate the need to pay tax at home, although a FITO (foreign income tax offset) showing that tax was paid offshore would reduce liability.
The first move is for the ATO to give an exemption that will spare backpackers from the new rule, by exempting the first "X" thousand dollars of offshore income. It also suggested limiting the new rule to "large employers", without defining their scale, and devising ways to prevent expats from being hit by Pay As You Go tax withholding, and corporates from being hit by double taxation of fringe benefits.
An accompanying note from Coalition committee members Senator Alan Eggleston and Senator David Bushby called for a transition period before the proposal became law, describing the planned crackdown as "a rushed and poorly-thought-out measure on the part of the Rudd government with apparently little or no regard ... given to the difficulties that the proposed short lead-in time to implementation will cause for those directly affected."
Yasser El-Ansary, general counsel for the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, said his organisation was "disappointed that they haven't made a recommendation that transitional arrangements would be provided for". "Not having such an arrangement will result in a significant financial impost on employees and businesses," he said.
John Fauvet, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said the budget proposal had been put together with "indecent haste" with only six weeks being nominally allowed from the date of the announcement to implementation on July 1.

Qatar Airways to fly to Aus from 6th December '09

......................................................................................Photo from Boeing.com

From Gulf Times of Qatar 19 June 09

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Qatar Airways’ long-awaited entry into Australia will be realised with the launch of Melbourne flights on December 6.

“We will begin operating to Australia before Christmas and in time for the holiday rush”, airline Chief Executive Officer Akbar al-Baker said on the sidelines of Paris Air Show yesterday.

Qatar Airways will begin operating three weekly services using a brand new Boeing B777-200 Long Range aircraft to be delivered to the airline later this year.

The operations will quickly become daily early in 2010, following the delivery of a second long range Boeing – the airline’s fourth – from the aircraft manufacturer’s plant in Seattle, Washington.Al-Baker said he has been waiting patiently for Boeing to deliver aircraft that Qatar Airways has on order to begin operating the first of its two planned routes into Australia.

“I know the travelling public is eager for us to begin serving Australia and I have had many people ask me about our direct routes to Melbourne and Sydney. We are finalising some details with regulatory authorities in Australia, and once we have received the necessary aircraft from Boeing, we will be ready to operate.

Qatar Airways already has 4,000 frequent fliers in Australia who are part of its loyalty programme, though the local market remains largely untapped.

“The Australian economy is one of the few in the world that grew in the first quarter of 2009, so this shows that the market there is still very strong, and we believe there is demand,” al-Baker said.

The new operation will connect travellers from Australia to the United Kingdom and Europe with a one-stop service and a planned one hour connection time in Doha. From Doha, passengers can also link to numerous destinations across South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

Qatar Airways country manager (Australia) Brett Mcdougall said the Australian market is active and the travelling public represents a huge cosmopolitan blend with ties to countries around the world.

“The public is ready for a five-star airline of Qatar Airways’ stature to enter the Australian market. Up until now our customers have had to travel to Asia to join our services,” Mcdougall said.

The Boeing 777-200 Long Range aircraft operating on the route will offer a two-class configuration of 259 seats. In business class, there are 42 seats with passengers able to enjoy comfort and space offering a pitch of up to 78 inches with each seat converting into 180-degree fully flat beds. With a 2–2–2 seat configuration, business class passengers are assured of either a window or aisle seat and plenty of space.

In economy, seat space is above the industry average with a pitch of up to 34 inches offering significant leg room, while the 217 seats are in a 3-3-3 configuration.