O75 Public Administration

Melbourne to be Australia’s biggest city in next six years

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Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 2-Jan-20

Melbourne’s population is tipped to grow 28 per cent faster than Sydney’s over the next six years, according to McCrindle Research. Both cities are tipped to have a population of around six million in mid-2026, but Melbourne’s population will pass Sydney’s by the end of that year. Mark McCrindle of McCrindle Research says Melbourne’s rising population will help to boost its national political power, as well as helping it to attract more companies, along with sporting and cultural events.

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MCCRINDLE RESEARCH

Perhaps workers should share in the executive pay bonanza

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: Online : 30-Dec-19

Restoring income growth for the majority of Australians is one of the key political and economic challenges for 2020. Median disposable income in 2017 was less than it was in 2009, according to the Melbourne Institute’s Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. The HILDA figures for 2019 are not available as yet, but private sector wages have increased by around one per cent in real terms since late 2017. One way to increase higher disposable incomes could involve governments changing corporate rules so that companies pay higher wages and invest more, rather than buy back shares and pay executive bonuses. It could be made a requirement that big companies have a certain number of employee representatives on their boards. Interviewing for the HILDA survey is conducted by Roy Morgan.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Death toll from New Year’s fires up to eight, and rising

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Original article by Bo Seo, James Fernyhough, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 2-Jan-20

Seven people have died in the New South Wales bushfires since 31 December, while a man in Gippsland in Victoria has also been reported as having died in the fires there. The NSW Rural Fire Service has advised over 175 homes have burned down on the NSW south coast since 30 December, while over 150 fires continue to burn in NSW and Victoria. Total insured losses from the current bushfire season are approaching $300 million, while the Insurance Council of Australia has stated the NSW government’s ’emergency services levy’ is a deterrent to people and businesses taking out insurance. Western Australia had six fires burning at alert level on the afternoon of 1 January, South Australia was dealing with 52 incidents, while six fires were burning at ‘watch and act’ level in Tasmania.

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NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE

Bushfires: firefighters in scramble to control blazes before heat soars again

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Original article by Stephen Lunn, Kieran Gair, Lachlan Moffet Gray
The Australian – Page: Online : 2-Jan-20

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service has declared much of the NSW south coast a ‘Tourist Leave Zone’ on 4 January. The RFS says people staying there should leave by then, while anyone planning to visit the area should not come. RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons says fires in the area could be worse than those on 31 December, while NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says people living in the area should prepare for more fatalities. Temperatures in parts of southeast NSW and East Gippsland in Victoria are tipped to exceed 40C on 4 and 5 January, and Victorian Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp says 4 January is likely to be another high-risk day for Victoria

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NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE

Pumped hydro next on Morrison’s energy list

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Original article by Greg Brown, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 4 : 24-Dec-19

The federal government has given in-principle approval for the construction of two new gas-fired power plants under its Underwriting New Generation Investments. APA Group will build a 220MW gas plant in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong; the government will also underwrite a 132MW gas plant in the Queensland town of Gatton. The government is also expected to underwrite at least one of three proposed pumped-hydro projects in South Australia that were short-listed for the scheme.

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APA GROUP – ASX APA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Bushfire toll tops 1000 homes; PM rejects reckless response

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Original article by Bo Seo
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 24-Dec-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison toured bushfire-affected areas of New South Wales on 23 December, as the Rural Fire Service advised that 829 homes in the state have been destroyed and another 333 have been damaged since the current bushfire season began. The RFS has warned that more homes are likely to be lost. The RFS adds that some 3.41 million hectares across the state have been burnt so far in the bushfire season. At least 86 homes have also been lost in South Australia’s Adelaide Hills. Morrison contends that stricter carbon emissions reduction targets would not have prevented the bushfires.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Bashing business damages economy

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 13 : 23-Dec-19

Former Business Council of Australia president Graham Bradley says that "anti-business rhetoric" within government is having a negative impact on the economy and deterring capital investment. He has also criticised the federal government for aligning itself with small and medium business and denigrating big business. Meanwhile, Australian Investment Council CEO Yasser El-Ansary says weak consumer confidence is deterring companies from investing, adding that the BCA’s proposal to include a business investment allowance in the May 2020 Budget would only provide a short-term economic stimulus.

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BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN INVESTMENT COUNCIL

No justice for SMEs when the tax office smells blood

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Original article by Robert Gottliebsen
The Weekend Australian – Page: 31 : 21-Dec-19

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal’s landmark ruling in favour of the Australian Taxation Office against gold refiner EBS has significant implications for small and medium enterprises. The case – which centred on the tax treatment of bullion and scrap gold under the GST regime – had gone on for about six years, and the appeals process is likely to take another several years. The majority of SMEs simply cannot afford the cost of such lengthy legal proceedings. The small business appeals tribunal may provide some relief for SMEs, but government action is needed to make it easier for SMEs to conduct business in Australia.

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AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL, EBS

Fires to destroy 1000 homes

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Original article by Natasha Robinson, Adeshola Ore, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 23-Dec-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the federal government will develop a nat­ional plan to prevent a repeat of the devastating bushfire season of 2019. Some 789 homes have been lost in New South Wales so far in the bushfire season, with Premier Gladys Berejiklian stating that the town of Balmoral has been largely destroyed in one of the latest fires. A bushfire has also destroyed 72 homes at Cudlee Creek in South Australia’s Adelaide Hills, with a 69-year-old man dying in the blaze. More than 200 fires are still burning across Australia, and NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has warned that no significant rainfall has been forecast in the near-term.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE

Economy at risk of hit from flames

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 23-Dec-19

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says the bushfire crisis could result in negative GDP growth for the December quarter, following weak growth in the three months to September. Willox adds that sectors such as tourism and retail in particular are likely to be hard hit. National Australia Bank’s chief economist Alan Oster warns that the bushfires will further adversely affect consumer sentiment, although he says growth in the public sector is likely to prevent the economy from contracting in the December quarter. Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg stresses that it is too soon to estimate the economic impact of the bushfires.

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THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION