Turnbull says metadata won’t be used to prosecute pirates; ANZ announces record $7.1 billion profit: Midday Roundup

Federal Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has dismissed concerns police and spy agencies will use metadata to catch people who download TV shows and films illegally, according to Business Spectator.

Speaking on ABC Television, Turnbull said authorities have more important matters to consider.

“The Australian Federal Police and ASIO frankly are not interested in whether you are illegally downloading a copy of Game of Thrones,” he said.

“That’s a bad thing to do, but I can tell you our national security agencies have got other things on their mind.”

The comments come after the government introduced legislation for a mandatory data retention scheme into parliament yesterday, which would require telcos to store customer data for two years.

ANZ announces record $7.1 billion profit

ANZ has announced a record full-year cash profit of $7.11 billion, a 10% jump on last year.

“This is another good performance that demonstrates consistent execution of our super regional strategy which is positioning ANZ well in a more constrained operating environment,” chief executive Mike Smith says in a statement.

Smith says he expects similar conditions for the bank’s core Australian operations in 2015.

“We expect 2015 to present similar opportunities for ANZ, with a continuation of a stable and benign credit environment,” he says.

“In Australia and New Zealand the consumer sector remains relatively buoyant however we expect a gradual transition to business led growth as business confidence improves.”

Shares up on open

The S&P/ASX200 Benchmark was up 0.56% points to 5507.2 points at 11:25am AEST. Last night, the Dow Jones closed up 1.3%, rising 221.11 points to 17,195.42.