IronClaymore posted:

Ooh, do I get to stay because of an early 1900s photograph showing my ancestor making eyes at a stolen girl and everything after that concerning my great-grandparents being suspiciously hushed up, or do I have to do a genetic test?

Hmm, in any case, fossil evidence clearly states that the Aboriginal people are also immigrants, they just illegally immigrated 40-50 thousand years ago. We should probably deport them back to Indonesia, where they came from.

quote:

The son of deputy tax commissioner Michael Cranston has been arrested for his alleged involvement in a $165-million fraud syndicate.

Key points:

Authorities conduced 27 raids across Sydney yesterday as part of the tax-fraud sting
Adam Cranston was arrested at his Bondi flat and charged with conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth
His father, Michael, is a senior employee with the ATO
The Australian Federal Police said Adam Cranston was among nine people arrested for alleged involvement in the large-scale fraud.

Adam Cranston was arrested at his flat in the affluent beach suburb of Bondi during raids yesterday and has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth.

The 30-year-old is believed to be one of the main conspirators in the group and is understood to run a financial services company.

He will face Central Local Court in Sydney later today.

There were almost 30 raids across the city yesterday.

The ABC understands Michael Cranston has been employed by the ATO for more than three decades and is involved in the organisation's private groups and high wealth segment.

There is no suggestion Michael Cranston was involved in, or had any knowledge of, the alleged crimes.

Part of his biography on his LinkedIn account reads: "My personal philosophy is that the tax system belongs to all Australians and we all need to work closely together to ensure that it is administered fairly, efficiently and causes the least pain for all that participate."

An ATO spokesperson said: "Due to privacy considerations the ATO is unable to comment on individual employees."

It is understood the amount of money allegedly stolen is the sum of many small frauds.

V for Vegas posted:

A nuclear bomb just went off in the tax world - Michael Cranston is the ATO's no. 1 attack dog on tax fraud. And his son has just been arrested on the largest tax fraud in Australian history.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-18/ato-deputy-commissioner-son-arrested-for-fraud/8536288

Recoome posted:

Also lmao I love how strikes are "illegal" and poo poo

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-18/sydney-bus-strike-to-cause-traffic-chaos/8536208

Recoome posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywMAAEIb5YE

Anidav posted:

Nothing surprises me anymore.

Starshark posted:

Old people.txt

https://twitter.com/larissawaters/status/864711112914161668

V for Vegas posted:

And the other shoe drops - Michael Cranston was involved.

V for Vegas posted:

SMH posted:

It's alleged Michael Cranston accessed restricted information on an ATO audit for his son, but police do not believe he knew about his son's alleged fraud syndicate.

ATO Second Commissioner Andrew Mills said two other ATO officers also were being investigated internally for potential code of conduct breaches. It's believed they tried to look up information on the ATO's audit at the behest of Michael Cranston.

On Wednesday, nine people were arrested during raids across Sydney and the Illawarra, the AFP said.

ABC posted:

The Queensland Government is offering Indian mining company Adani a "royalties holiday" worth hundreds of millions of dollars for its massive Carmichael coal mine in the state's north.

The ABC understands the proposed agreement would see Adani pay just $2 million a year in royalties once the $21 billion project starts operating.

The royalty rate will then increase after several years.

Sources have told the ABC that under the proposed agreement the state would lose out on a total of $320 million in royalties.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Treasurer Curtis Pitt have been leading negotiations with Adani over the proposed royalties holiday.

Ms Palaszczuk would not confirm or deny the royalty agreement, but emphasised the importance of the Carmichael mine for the state's economy.

"What we know about this project is that it is vital for regional jobs," she said.

It is understood Adani was seeking a total royalty holiday from the start of production that would have seen the company pay nothing, but this was rejected.

Senior Labor figures are concerned about the proposed deal, which could be signed as early as this week.

In the last election campaign, Queensland Labor promised no taxpayer funds would go towards the rail line linking the Carmichael mine to the port of Abbot Point.

Ms Palaszczuk, then the Opposition leader, slammed the Newman Government for offering Adani a subsidy, accusing the LNP of "throwing a bucket of taxpayers' cash" at the company.

The Carmichael project is expected to produce 25 million tonnes of coal a year in its first phase.

Analysis by the progressive think-tank The Australia Institute this month estimated that a royalty holiday for Adani could cost Queensland nearly $1.2 billion in revenue.

"This policy would effectively give Adani free coal for five years and discounted coal for another four," it said.

Anidav posted:

Actually they will get re elected. But not for any substantial reason.

Bogan King posted:

So not only are they going to offshore the profits so Australia won't see tax dollars from that Queensland is also giving them a break on anything else that could possibly generate revenue for the state / country. You may as well have Newman back you loving idiots - at least we could laugh at how ham fisted an idiot he was.

V for Vegas posted:

And the other shoe drops - Michael Cranston was involved.

Bogan King posted:

Labour market in April:
Trend unemployment steady, at 5.8%
Fall in full-time jobs (again): -11,600
Rise in part-time jobs (again): +49,000

Looking forward to the wages breakout this causes

The Register posted:

Payroll-for-contractors company named at centre of AU$165m tax scam scheme

When Australian payroll-for-contractors outfit Plutus Payroll stopped paying its customers, several pointed out that the company looked too good to be true – because it did not charge for its services. And now we know why: the biz has been named at the centre of an AU$165 million (US$122.5m, £94.5m) fraud against the Commonwealth of Australia.

As detailed by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), a syndicate ran Plutus and “... accepted money from legitimate clients to process payroll on their behalf. This money was transferred to seven sub-contracted companies known as Tier 2 companies, which then made payroll payments to individual workers of clients.”

The AFP points out that Plutus was a legitimate company, but asserts that “directors of these Tier 2 companies … are essentially a front – individuals recruited to appear to be running the companies, but the syndicate members retain effective control.”

The syndicate used that control to direct the Tier 2 companies to pay only some of the income tax they were required to pay on behalf of customers. The AFP says “The remaining money was allegedly siphoned off by the syndicate members and channelled through a complex series of companies and trusts for their own personal gain.”

And what gains they were: raids in Sydney yesterday seized 25 motor vehicles, a dozen motorcycles, 18 residential properties, over 100 bank accounts holding over $15m, $1m of cash from a safe deposit box, firearms, jewellery, vintage wines and even a pair of aircraft.

The AFP has provided The Register with the diagram below to illustrate how the scheme worked


Among those arrested in yesterday's raids was one Adam Cranston, son of Michael Cranston, a deputy commissioner of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Michael Cranston is one of four ATO employees who has been stood down pending an internal investigation into the office's role in the mess.

AFP investigators said Michael Cranston is not suspected of having been aware of the conspiracy or having assisted it in any way, but is alleged to have shown his son ATO records and thereby abused his role as a public official.

Andrew Mills, the ATO's second commissioner, said that the office was not compromised and that its systems detected unusual Plutus-related activity and investigated accordingly. The AFP and ATO collaborated on the matter, culminating in more than 200 AFP officers yesterday.

News that Plutus was allegedly involved in the scheme has dismayed those owed money by the company. In the closed social media forum in which affected contractors vent, several now doubt whether Plutus will be able to make superannuation payments. Others say the company has not made payments for leased cars.

The Register imagines they'll struggle to see the cash they're owed. Plutus' outsourced spokesperson tells us he no longer acts for the company and now feels empathy with contractors who have gone un-paid. Nor have other companies identified with the situation returned calls.

We will update the story as news comes to hand.

Doctor Spaceman posted:

AFP investigators said Michael Cranston is not suspected of having been aware of the conspiracy or having assisted it in any way, but is alleged to have shown his son ATO records and thereby abused his role as a public official.

ABC posted:

Housing affordability: Water is cheaper than land, so why don't we build on it?

As property and land prices soar, could oceans and lakes be a viable solution to the Australian housing affordability crisis?

It's an idea that appeals to Dutch architect Koen Olthuis, whose "aquatecture" firm Waterstudio adapts houseboats and oil rig technology for residential, commercial and public buildings on water.

He said building on water was not unlike building on land — except that the foundations were floating.

One major incentive is the cost. As Mr Olthuis explained, buying plots of water is a fraction of the price of land.

"We can buy water for the price of 10 to 15 per cent of land, so the total cost of development will be much lower, although the house itself will be a little bit expensive," he said.

He said he looked to water as a place to build as Holland continued to struggle with overcrowding.

"We're all looking for space especially in the main cities and we have all this water around us," he said.

"For the last few hundred years we've always seen water as an enemy, but now when cities are growing we also see it as a possibility."

Homes on canals and in the ocean

Given the constant threat of flooding in Holland, Mr Olthuis saw building on as a safer alternative to regular housing.

"On the water, these houses can just go up and down with the floods," he said.

And it's not just suitable for calm Dutch canals, Mr Olthuis insisted. He is currently developing floating islands in the Maldives in open ocean.

"The sea level is rising and they're are afraid of not having enough space in the next 50 years," he said.

"We're now testing there the first floating islands. These are platforms of almost 200 square metres, with buildings, trees and beaches."

Will Australians pick up on the trend?

Mark Raggatt, the director of ARM Architects in Melbourne, said there had been proposals for building on water in Australia, but mainly for swimming pools — not so much houses.

While cost was often prohibitive, Mr Raggatt said that might not always be the case.

"Things like this are always going to start at the expensive end of things and maybe begin as houses for the rich," he said.

"But as we know, as technology gets more ubiquitous it can become more affordable."

But Mr Raggatt believed there might be bigger ethical questions that would stop Australians from building on waterways.

"I think we are very precious about our coastline," he said. "Should we be colonising the last great wilderness?"

Following Asia's lead

While the Netherlands has just started to invest in aquatecture, building on water is nothing new, Mr Olthuis said.

"It all started in Asia a few thousand years ago," he said.

But he sees a wider acceptance of the practice as a way of making cities better.

"One hundred years ago when we got the elevator it was possible to get high-rise buildings and to have a vertical city," he said.

"Now we have water, and we can have a wet city."

V for Vegas posted:

There's more to it than this.

Doctor Spaceman posted:

It's all he's been charged with so far (I think?).

Starshark posted:

Old people.txt

https://twitter.com/larissawaters/status/864711112914161668

V for Vegas posted:

There's a conspiracy charge in the wings.

V for Vegas posted:

There's more to it than this.