MARK COLVIN: And David joins me now in the studio for today's business and finance.
Despite the worries about Europe's enormous debt burden, a research group says the price of oil is more of an immediate threat to world economic growth.
DAVID TAYLOR: That's right Mark. The Economist Intelligence Unit is a research arm of The Economist magazine and that unit says that an oil shock has over taken the euro crisis as the most serious threat to world economic growth and that an oil price spike of between 30 and 50 per cent could happen in a matter of weeks and since the euro debt crisis, as far as they are concerned, is being contained, there's still a risk that there is going to be an oil price spike and they put that risk down to geo-political tensions over Iran's nuclear program boiling over into some sort of military confrontation.
MARK COLVIN: And Qantas is getting agitated with Canberra. Is that Canberra the Federal Government or Canberra the city?
DAVID TAYLOR: (Laughs) The Federal Government. The Senate Committee report described a Qantas lockout and grounding last year as disastrous for Australia.
The Senate Committee says that federal authorities should have the final say on the grounding of any airline and the Senate Committee has recommended the Federal Government change current regulations to make sure1) that airlines submit a case to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (or CASA) and the Federal Transport Department before grounding any planes, and airlines are to be fined if revealed that any fleet grounding is not for legitimate safety reasons.
MARK COLVIN: Generally on the local market today?
DAVID TAYLOR: Mark, the market I guess for a change was as flat as a tack. It closed 4 points down to, that's the All Ordinaries, I should say there, down 4 points to 4,360. That barely even registered as a per cent. And it was held down by miners and banks.
MARK COLVIN: Gold and the dollar very quick?
DAVID TAYLOR: Gold $US 1,647 and the Australian dollar 104 US cents.
MARK COLVIN: David Taylor, thank you very much.
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