FactCheck: Is BHP Billiton Australia’s largest taxpayer, averaging $8-10b in tax a year?

Finally—an independent analysis, setting the record straight on corporate taxes paid. Roman Lanis and Ross McClure (both of UTS and reviewed by Rick Krever from Monash University) write in The Conversation that the claims of BHP Billiton in respect of its taxes paid in Australia are somewhat true—it is Australia's largest taxpayer; it pays an average of around $6 billion annually in corporate tax, but it has exceeded $8 billion in 2012 and 2013 (and it pays$8-10 billion only if royalties and rent taxes are counted as taxation); its effective tax rate was 45% in 2009 but is more usually in the range of 25-35% (the statutory rate is 30%).

How will a 40% cut in Australian aid affect Indonesia?

Don K. Marut (Lecturer in International Relations at Bina Nusantara University) writes in The Conversation that a huge cut in Australian development assistance to Indonesia will not be a big issue for most ministries, since aid accounts for a small proportion of the budget and the funds are mostly only for expanding the reach of the government projects.

• Indonesia limits aid to be no more than 3% of the national annual budget. This is to ensure that Indonesia’s development does not depend on foreign aid and, most importantly, that the country’s development policies are not dictated by foreign donors. 
• Indeed, Australian aid cuts will affect two main actors: the companies (mainly from Australia) that implement the projects in Indonesia; and the consultants who have long been acting as “aid rent seekers” in Indonesia. Both actors in fact significantly reduce the flow of aid funds to the beneficiaries.