Minerals Council boss Brendan Pearson lashes ‘responsible’ super funds

Minerals Council chief Brendan Pearson has accused superannuation funds that limit fossil fuel investments of being distracted from the job of maximising financial returns for members, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Speaking after AMP Capital revealed plans to reduce its investments in thermal coal and certain types of unconventional oil, Pearson attacked the performance of funds that were tailored to suit “responsible” investors.

“Clearly, the maximisation of returns is not a key objective of these investors, if AMP's existing responsible super fund products are any indication,” he said.

Services boom as mining cuts back

Australia’s sprawling services industry appears to be stirring from a multi-year investment strike, with figures showing the sector has ramped up spending plans just as mining companies pull back, according to the Australian Financial Review.

In official data that sent the dollar rising and spurred hopes for Australia’s nascent transition away from near total dependence on resources, forecasts for business investment for 2014-15 rose by the most in seven years.

BP seeks court reprieve from Gulf spill payments

BP has asked US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to allow the company to avoid making payments to businesses demanding compensation for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill while litigation continues, according to the Australian Financial Review.

The company acted after the New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals lifted an injunction that had prevented payments being made. Last week, the court decided not to revisit a decision rejecting BP's bid to block payments to businesses that could not trace their economic losses to the disaster.

Scalia, who has responsibility for emergency applications arising from the 5th Circuit, can either act on BP's request himself or refer the matter to the nine-member court as a whole.

There is no specific deadline by which the court must act.