Schweppes withdraws greyhound sponsorship; Productivity Commission recommends childcare funding be extended to nannies: Midday Roundup

The greyhound racing industry has lost another major sponsor following revelations on ABC’s Four Corners program that trainers were using live rabbits, possums and piglets to train greyhounds.

Drinks maker Schweppes is the latest company to withdraw all sponsorship from the sport. 

Schweppes Australia said in a statement it was “shocked and appalled” at the revelations of live-baiting practices in the Australian greyhound racing industry.

“Schweppes Australia has taken the decision to withdraw from any sponsorship and branding arrangements related to the greyhound industry, and we are currently taking the necessary steps to do so as quickly as possible,” said the company.

Macro Meats Gourmet Game pulled its support from the greyhound racing industry earlier this week due to being “appalled” at the findings of the ABC investigation.

Productivity Commission recommends childcare funding be extended to nannies

Federal funding for childcare should be extended to a nanny subsidy and should prioritise low to mid-level income earners, according to the final Productivity Commission report on childcare released today. 

The recommendations are expected to provide a foundation for the Abbott government’s new childcare policies, after it dumped the paid parental leave earlier this month.

The report advocates one single, means-tested subsidy rate for parents, as opposed to the multiple childcare payments that currently exist, which would cover between 85% per cent of costs for families with incomes at or below $60,000 and 20% for families earning $250,000 or above.

It would provide up to 100 hours of care per fortnight for children 13 years and under who have parents that work or study at least 24 hours a fortnight.

“The challenge for business owners will be genuinely supporting the scheme from a practical employment and HR perspective and seeing this as an opportunity to generate business growth rather than simply an additional resource cost possibly earlier than originally scheduled or planned,” Adam Kreuzer, director of HR Consulting at Pitcher Partners said in a statement provided to SmartCompany.

Shares down on open

Aussie shares are marginally in the red today off the back of concerns regarding a resolution to the Greek debt talks in Europe.

Tristan K’Nell, head of trading at Quay Equities, said market turnover into lunch was “pretty good” at $1.502 billion despite many Asian markets closed again today for Chinese New Year. 

“We have actually seen strong turnover for the week which was surprising given the amount of company reporting the market has had to digest,” K’Nell said.

“This afternoon, I expect the marginal selling to continue with no real incentive to open new positions ahead of the weekend.”

The S&P/ASX 200 benchmark was down 20.1 points to 5884.1 points at 11.40am AEDT. On Thursday, the Dow Jones closed 44.08 points lower, down 0.24% to 17,985.77 points.