THE NEWS WRAP: Assistant Treasurer takes Google and Apple to task over tax havens

Google and Apple have been reportedly singled out by the Federal Assistant Treasurer for using tax havens such as Ireland in order to reduce their tax bills on revenue generated in Australia.

“If enormous multinational corporations aren’t paying their fair share of tax on economic activity in Australia, then that’s not fair game,” said David Bradbury, according to The Australian Financial Review.

The tech giants have come under scrutiny for using legal offshore holding companies to minimise the amount of tax they pay.

Australia at risk of missing out on ‘Asian Century’: ANZ chief

Australia is at risk of losing out on $3 trillion of economic opportunity by failing to make the most of the ‘Asian Century’, according to the boss of ANZ.

Mike Smith, the bank’s CEO, said that the Federal Government needed to act on high costs and labour laws in order to compete with the likes of Brazil and Canada in the future.

Woolies aims for $1 billion in online sales

In the wake of Click Frenzy, in which several large businesses appeared to become aware of something called the internet, Woolworths has unveiled it is aiming for $1 billion in online sales by 2014.

The grocery giant said that the “multi-option retailing” will see it aggressively pursue online sales for food and alcohol.

However, the $1 billion target still represents a modest proportion of Woolworths’ $55.5 billion turnover.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 48.38 points, or 0.38%, to 12,836.89. The Australian dollar was steady at US103.83 cents.