WARREN AND TANIA TO APPEAR ON CHANNEL NINE’S NEW SHOW ‘RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS’ to air on July 12th, 2009

"And when I thought my life couldn’t get any better, while enjoying a barbecue on our back deck with Warren’s family and his mates to celebrate their achievement in winning the ‘Pride of Australia Award’ TM for Mateship, we were pleasantly surprised when a visit came from Channel 9’s Karl Stefanovic for a new show called ‘Random Acts of Kindness’.

I couldn’t believe this was all happening. We were all totally caught unaware as film crews came running down the side of our house and up onto our back deck saying, ‘Surprise’. Warren’s father and mate Tim were in on the act and the rest of us were dumb founded in shock. It was the sought of thing you see happen to others on television and you could never dream that you would be chosen out of everyone in Australia for this to happen to you.

Karl said that he had been watching our story closely and was so touched by Warren’s tenacity and strength of spirit, along with my love, devotion and commitment to him over the years in caring for him, that he wanted to give back something to our family and also to his mates for sticking by him."

To read more click here.

The State Government announced a NSW Housing Construction Acceleration Plan (HCAP) in the NSW Budget 2009-10.

In short, the HCAP means that transfer duty on certain contracts for sale or transfers of certain residential property in NSW will be cut by 50%.

The HCAP will apply to anyone other than persons eligible for a First Home Owner Grant or for NSW First Home Plus stamp duty benefits.

The HCAP will only be available:

to an agreement for sale or a transfer (with no prior contract) of a new home that is, a home that is complete and ready for occupation that has not previously been occupied or sold as a place of residence (and this can include a substantially renovated home);
executed on or after 1 July 2009 and before 1 January 2010;
where the dutiable value does not exceed $600,000;
where the whole of the land is sold or transferred or, if the land is a parcel of land on which two or more homes are built, or are being built, where the Chief Commissioner is satisfied the property is an exclusive occupancy;
where the home and the land on which the home is located are intended to be used only for residential purposes and purposes ancillary to use and occupation for residential purposes and not for commercial, industrial or professional purposes;
in the case of an off the plan purchase, the agreement must state that the sale or transfer must be completed before 30 June 2011 or, in any other case, the agreement must be completed before 30 June 2011. The Chief Commissioner has a discretion to extend this date where delay is beyond the control of the parties;
where none of the transferees is eligible for the First Home Owner Grant or for NSW First Home Plus stamp duty benefits; and
where application for the HCAP is made in approved form and is approved by the Chief Commissioner.
The HCAP can be claimed more than once provided the that all of the eligibility criteria are satisfied.

There is no limit on the age of a new home. So long as the home has not previously been occupied or sold as a place of residence it can be a “new home”.

If a contract for purchase of a new home has already been entered into before 1 July 2009, both the contract and the transfer (even if the transfer is made on or after 1 July 2009) will be ineligible for the HCAP and any replacement agreement for such an existing contract that is made on or after 1 July 2009 will also be ineligible.

Vacant land

To be eligible for the HCAP, the contract or transfer must be completed after the new home has been built. The purchase of a vacant block without a new home that is complete and ready for occupation at the time of the transfer of the land will be ineligible for the new HCAP. This means that the 100% rate of transfer duty will still apply to the transfer of vacant land in NSW.

In some circumstances, the transfer duty payable on the transfer of a vacant block could actually be less than the HCAP 50% rate of transfer duty payable on the transfer (or agreement to transfer) of the land plus new home. This means that calculations should be undertaken to determine if it might be preferable for a purchaser to purchase and take a transfer of vacant land and subsequently build a new home on it, rather than taking a transfer of the land plus a new home where the HCAP conditions are satisfied.

Example 1
Vacant land cost: $300,000
Transfer duty at 100%: $8,990

Land plus new building/residence cost: $500,000
Transfer duty at 50% = $17,990/2 = $8,995

Example 2
Vacant land cost: $300,000
Transfer duty at 100%: $8,990

Land plus new building/residence cost: $550,000
Transfer duty at 50% = $20,240/2 = $10,120
$1,130 more duty under HCAP
  
General

The Chief Commissioner may reassess the duty chargeable if the Chief Commissioner forms the opinion that the agreement or transfer is not eligible under the scheme, including in a case where approval was given in anticipation of compliance

Movember the month formerly known as November is a charity event held during November each year and the guys from MMJ have participated by growing a 'mo' in an effort to raise funds for a very worthy cause.

At the start of Movember the guys registered with a clean shaven face and since have been taming and grooming styles ranging from the 'Handle Bars' to the 'Regent'.

Daniel Hastings from our Wollongong Office was selected as ABC Radio Illawarra's Movember Man and has been providing regular updates on the life as a Movember participant. Including the wifes (low) opinion, his clients reaction and the maintenance required for a great mo!

Movember was founded in Australia and raises as much money and awareness about Depression and Prostate Cancer.

MMJ Seminar Gives a Glimpse into the Economy for 2007

The Chief Economist, Markets for the National Australian Bank, Rob Henderson, gave an interesting forecast on the outlook for the economy in 2007.

At our most recent seminar on Friday 23^rd February, Rob Henderson presented “2007 Economic Outlook” to approx 60 guests at the Wollongong Golf Club.  

Rob touched on the Global Economy, the Australian Economy and the Currency Outlook. He reported that housing demand is down after the recent rate hikes, however , expects a 2.5% national average house price rise over the coming year. nabCapital expect a gradual cooling in the world’s major economies.

Rob has been Chief Economist - Markets of nabCapital for two years. Rob has a Masters Degree in Economics from the Australian National University and 30 years experience working as an economist with the Australian Government and the private sector.  

He joined NAB from Dresdner Bank in 2001, where he was Director and Chief Economist.