Victorian taxi review: Essential Services Commission recommends $10 peak hour booking fee and other top stories.

• Victorian taxi review: Essential Services Commission recommends $10 peak hour booking fee

  Victorian taxi review: Essential Services Commission recommends $10 peak hour booking fee Updated May 04, 2016 12:41:54 A review of the Victorian taxi industry has recommended a new $10 booking fee to improve incentives for drivers to operate during peak hours. Key points:Fare would be additional to current booking feeReport says consumers increasingly switching to competing servicesPeak period should come forward to 7:00pm on Friday and Saturday, report says The Esse..

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• “A tired old boring Liberal budget”: The Australian startup community reacts to the 2016 budget

  

  The Australian startup community has reacted with mixed opinions to the 2016 budget, with many lamenting the lack of any new innovation policies while also welcoming its focus on fintech and education. Tuesday night’s budget served mainly to reaffirm several elements of last year’s $1.1 billion innovation statement, with very few new policies or funding announcements. According to StartupAUS CEO Alex McCauley this meant the budget is a “missed opportunity” for startups and is ultimately “disapp..

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• New Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher to slice costs harder before more asset sales

  

  "There's no active asset sales process in play at this point in time," new Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher said after the oil and gas company's annual meeting in Adelaide. Photo: David Mariuz New Santos chief executive Kevin Gallagher says there will be a re-shaping of the company's oil and gas portfolio once a cost-cutting and stabilisation phase is finished but he is not selling any assets immediately.Mr Gallagher won't put a time frame on when the re-shaping mi..

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• Rate cut gives bank margins another squeeze

  

  Banks will find it even harder this time to ease the squeeze on margins following the rate cut. Photo: Paul Rovere Australia's big banks will take another hit to profits after passing on the full cut to the official cash rate, but most are expected to be able to maintain dividend payouts.The banks' net interest margins – the income they get from loans, less the cost of funding them – were already under pressure on a number of fronts, including ongoing heavy d..

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