Australia

Coordinates: 27°S 133°E / 27°S 133°E / -27; 133

Australia (/ɒˈstreɪliə/, /ə-/, colloquially /-jə/), officially known as the Commonwealth of Australia, is an Oceanian country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.

For about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages grouped into roughly 250 language groups. After the European discovery of the continent by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies were established. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Since federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy comprising six states and several territories. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated in the eastern states and on the coast.

Royal Commission

A Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia. A Royal Commission is similar in function to a Commission of Enquiry (or Inquiry) found in other countries such as Ireland, South Africa, and Hong Kong. It has considerable powers, generally greater even than those of a judge but restricted to the terms of reference of the Commission. The Commission is created by the Head of State (the Sovereign, or his/her representative in the form of a Governor-General or Governor) on the advice of the Government and formally appointed by letters patent. In practice—unlike lesser forms of inquiry—once a Commission has started the government cannot stop it. Consequently, governments are usually very careful about framing the terms of reference and generally include in them a date by which the commission must finish.

Royal Commissions are called to look into matters of great importance and usually controversy. These can be matters such as government structure, the treatment of minorities, events of considerable public concern or economic questions. Many Royal Commissions last many years and, often, a different government is left to respond to the findings. In Australia—and particularly New South Wales—Royal Commissions have been investigations into police and government corruption and organised crime using the very broad coercive powers of the Royal Commissioner to defeat the protective systems that powerful, but corrupt, public officials had used to shield themselves from conventional investigation.

Studio 10

Studio 10 is an Australian morning talk show on Network Ten. The show is presented by Ita Buttrose, Joe Hildebrand, Sarah Harris, Jessica Rowe and Denise Drysdale. The show airs between 8:30 am and 11:00 am on weekdays and a highlights show airs between 8:30 am and 11:00 am on weekends.

History

On 9 June 2013, Network Ten announced a new mid-morning show to replace The Circle which it cancelled the year previously. Ita Buttrose was the first presenter of the program to be named, her appointment drew much media attention as she was 71 years of age at the time. It was later announced Joe Hildebrand, Sarah Harris and Jessica Rowe would also be presenters on the new program The program would be filmed from Ten's Sydney studios in front of a live studio audience. It was later announced it would premiere on 4 November 2013 as part of Ten's brand new morning lineup which also included the short lived breakfast program Wake Up

On 11 November 2013, Buttrose served as a guest on Tens then breakfast show, Wake Up. Network Ten had planned to transport her from Wake Up's Manly studio to Tens Pyrmont studios by water taxi across Sydney Harbour in time for Studio 10 and film her journey with an overhead helicopter. However, due to poor weather Buttrose's water taxi became stranded, meaning she missed most of Studio 10.

Banking in Australia

The banking sector in Australia consists of a number of banks licensed to carry on banking business under the Banking Act 1959, foreign banks licensed to operate through a branch in Australia, and Australian-incorporated foreign bank subsidiaries. The banking system is liquid, competitive and well developed. For the 10 years ended mid-2013, the Commonwealth Bank was ranked first in Bloomberg Riskless Return Ranking a risk-adjusted 18%. Westpac Bank was in fourth place with 11% and ANZ Bank was in seventh place with 8.7%.

History

The first bank to be established in Australia was the Bank of New South Wales, which was established in Sydney in 1817, with Edward Smith Hall as its cashier and secretary. During the 19th and early 20th century, the Bank of New South Wales opened branches throughout Australia and Oceania: at Moreton Bay (Brisbane) in 1850, then in Victoria (1851), New Zealand (1861), South Australia (1877), Western Australia (1883), Fiji (1901), Papua New Guinea (1910) and Tasmania (1910).

Commonwealth Bank

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Fiji, Asia, USA and the United Kingdom. Commonly referred to as the Commonwealth Bank (or CBA or Commbank), it provides a variety of financial services including retail, business and institutional banking, funds management, superannuation, insurance, investment and broking services. The Commonwealth Bank is the largest Australian listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange as of August 2015 with brands including Bankwest, Colonial First State Investments Limited, ASB Bank (New Zealand), Commonwealth Securities Limited (CommSec) and Commonwealth Insurance Limited (CommInsure). Commonwealth Bank is also the largest bank in the Southern Hemisphere.

Founded in 1911 by the Australian government, the Commonwealth Bank is one of the "big four" Australian banks, with National Australia Bank (NAB), ANZ and Westpac. The bank listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1991 and the government fully privatised it in 1996.