Governance news bites

Governance is often in the headlines, and the past few weeks have been no exception. Recent news related to governance includes:

A taxing time for charities

Against headlines of $2 billion in untaxed profits made by charities, the Minister of Finance has said the government is looking at tax changes and closing loopholes in the current regime. Minister Nicola Willis has said the changes will be announced in the 2025 Budget. Commentators suggested the focus was likely to be on those charities that were in competition with the private sector. Others commented on the potential for changes in tax arrangements to increase compliance costs for charities generally. This is part of the Inland Revenue’s Tax Policy and Social Policy Work Programme focused on the integrity of the tax system.

Trumped by overproduction in China

New reporting suggests a focus on tariffs is not confined to the incoming Trump administration in the United States. Production in China, which remains ahead of weak domestic demand, is prompting a trade policy response in developing country partners. Brazil, for example, has increased tariffs on steel and electric vehicles, among other products, while also courting investment from China in these sectors domestically. India has taken more informal trade restriction measures, including implementing a local content-driven subsidy programme in 2024. Some analysis suggests the combination of these reactions to China’s current overproduction, including developing country investment from China, will reshape world trade, with developing countries expanding their export to advanced economies over the next few years.

Australia: Officers responsible for unconscionable conduct

With appeals exhausted, the Australian Federal Courts have found two company officers, Ian Cook and Blake Wills (as well their companies), as being involved (called “knowingly concerned” in the Court judgments and settlement) in unconscionable conduct by Captain Cook College. The conduct involved signing up students for the college, supported by a Federal Government student fee loan scheme, without the previous enrolment safeguards being in place. The intent was to support the college’s agents to recruit more students who would previously have been found unsuitable or would have been unenrolled by the college for non-attendance. The proceedings were taken under the Australian Consumer Law, part of the Australian Federal Competition and Consumer Act 2010. This is the equivalent of New Zealand’s Fair Trading Act 1986, and has similar provisions.

Lower power, more storage and some other leaps forward

At Christmas time, particularly, and with our drive for higher productivity, you want to get more for less. In a new development, scientists may have discovered a technique for lowering the energy requirements for some data storage by up to one billion times. This accidental discovery could pave the way for low-power memory devices and electronics. It has the potential to address one of the biggest issues with quantum computing and AI – power consumption. In related news, Google Quantum AI announced a new quantum chip, 'Willow', which it says will pave the way to a useful, large-scale quantum computer. Watch this space!

Which countries are close to achieving gender parity on their boards?

Despite recent attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, a new report has revealed that most boards across the world have at least one female director.

A recent report says that Egon Zehnder's annual Global Board Diversity Tracker revealed that 96% of boards across the world have at least one female director, continuing the rising trend since 2012.

It also found that seven countries are already close to achieving gender parity on their boards, including:

New Zealand (46.7%)
France (45%)
Norway (44.4%)
Australia (42.4%)
United Kingdom (42%)
Spain (42%)
Italy (41.8%)