Author: roymorgansocial

GetUp! accused of strategy switch in support of Labor

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Original article by Brad Norington
The Australian – Page: 4 : 7-Jun-18

The role of activist group GetUp in Labor’s "Mediscare" campaign during the 2016 federal election is under scrutiny. Liberal MP Ben Morton has questioned why GetUp put healthcare funding at the top of its campaign agenda for the election. He notes that the issue of Medicare ranked eighth in GetUp’s membership survey in 2015, but it suddenly ranked as a high priority in the election year. Morton alleges that GetUp switched its campaign focus in order to complement Labor’s Medicare campaign.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, GETUP LIMITED, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION

Labor ridiculed for throwing gender bias into tax battle

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 7-Jun-18

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has revealed that the Parliamentary Budget Office has undertaken an analysis of the gender impact of the Federal Government’s income tax cuts package on behalf of the Opposition. Bowen says the modelling shows that men will benefit the most from the third phase of the tax cuts. Treasurer Scott Morrison has responded by arguing that the income tax system is gender-neutral, a view shared by business leader Tony Shepherd. Small Business Ombudsman Kate Carnell says it is inappropriate to address the gender pay gap via the tax system.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS AND FAMILY ENTERPRISE OMBUDSMAN, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, NRMA LIMITED

Exports revive wage hope

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 : 7-Jun-18

The latest GDP data shows that the Australian economy expanded by one per cent in the March quarter and 3.1 per cent year-on-year. The economy recorded nominal growth of 2.2 per cent for the quarter, while real net national disposable income per capita rose by 1.5 per cent. Despite the better-than-expected GDP data, the Reserve Bank is still widely tipped to leave the cash rate on hold until at least late 2019, although growth in wages may be a key factor in the timing of any change in monetary policy.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY

Burston to vote for full income tax cut package

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 7-Jun-18

The Federal Government still requires the support of eight out of the 10 crossbenchers to pass its income tax cuts package in the Senate. One Nation senator Brian Burston has indicated that he intends to support the entire tax package, despite party leader Pauline Hanson having committed to supporting only the first two stages of the tax package. Labor will also support the first two stages of the package, but Treasurer Scott Morrison has ruled out legislating the third stage separately.

CORPORATES
ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE

MPs warn Facebook over China

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Original article by Simon Benson, Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 7-Jun-18

Social media giant Facebook is under scrutiny over revelations that its users’ personal data was shared with Chinese technology company Huawei. Labor MP Anthony Byrne has described Facebook’s actions as "completely unacceptable". The deputy chairman of federal parliament’s joint committee on intelligence and security has also raised the possibility that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg could be asked to appear before the committee. Zuckerberg has previously appeared before US and European legislators in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data breach scandal.

CORPORATES
FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. JOINT PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA LLC, LENOVO GROUP LIMITED, OPPO ELECTRONICS CORPORATION, TCL CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE LIMITED, COMMUNIST PARTY (CHINA), AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, APPLE INCORPORATED

Prospa float postponed by ASIC probe

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 7-Jun-18

Fintech company Prospa Group was slated to make its sharemarket debut on 6 June, but the listing has been delayed for 48 hours. Prospa has advised that the Australian Securities & Investments Commission has raised concerns about some aspects of its business loans contracts. The average annual interest rate of Prospa’s loans is 41 per cent, which has been criticised by Council of Small Business of Australia CEO Peter Strong. Prospa anticipates a default ratio of about one in every 20 customers.

CORPORATES
PROSPA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PGL, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, FIELD RESEARCH PTY LTD, FINTECH AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN FINANCE INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS AND FAMILY ENTERPRISE OMBUDSMAN, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, AUSTRALIAN BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION

Lithium processing in WA grows to five plants

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 24 : 7-Jun-18

Neometals proposes to build a lithium hydroxide plant near Kalgoorlie, with an annual processing capacity of 10,000 tonnes. Should the project proceed, it will increase the potential lithium processing capacity in Western Australia to around 200,000 tonnes a year, given that four other plants have either been proposed or are under construction in the state. Neometals plans to source spodumene for the plant from the Mount Marion lithium mine. A final investment decision is expected in mid-2019.

CORPORATES
NEOMETALS LIMITED – ASX NMT, KIDMAN RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX KDR, SOCIEDAD QUIMICA Y MINERA SA, MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, TIANQI LITHIUM CORPORATION, ALBERMARLE CORPORATION, MORGAN STANLEY AND COMPANY INCORPORATED, GLOBAL ADVANCED METALS PTY LTD, RESOURCE CAPITAL FUNDS, SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, CITY OF KALGOORLIE-BOULDER

Formula behind CBA’s record $700m penalty revealed

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 7-Jun-18

Documents submitted to the Federal Court show that the Commonwealth Bank’s flawed rollout of its intelligent ATMs accounted for $A180m of the $A700m fine that it received for breaching anti-money-laundering and terrorism financing laws. The bank was also fined $A170m for failing to undertake sufficient due diligence on customers who were subsequently found to have been drug traffickers or terrorists. Other penalties included a $A125m fine for failing to provide Austrac with more than 55,000 threshold transaction reports in a timely manner.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, WESTERN AUSTRALIAN POLICE SERVICE, NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE FORCE

House price tumble steeper than tipped

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 2 : 7-Jun-18

The ANZ Bank’s latest housing market report notes that the national auction clearance rate averaged 58 per cent in May, compared with 66 per cent in February. ANZ warns that the downturn means house prices may not rebound as strongly as the bank had previously forecast. ANZ now expects the downturn in house prices to be larger than forecast, noting that the slowdown has gathered pace in recent months. Housing Industry ­Association data also highlights the decline in sales of new homes in 2018.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED

PM backs Joyce to recontest New England

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 6-Jun-18

National Party MP Barnaby Joyce intends to be a candidate for the seat of New England at the next federal election. Opinion within the party is divided regarding Joyce’s future, with some colleagues suggesting that he should consider quitting politics in the wake of his relationship with an ex-staffer. However, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and the Nationals’ deputy leader Bridget McKenzie say he should stay in politics. Former Nationals leader John Anderson says he will not seek pre-selection for New England.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET