O75 Public Administration

Top unis face $1.2bn virus hit

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tim Dodd, Adam Creighton, Jill Rowbotham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 19-Feb-20

The value of Australia’s education exports to China topped $12bn in 2019; analysis by the Centre for Independent Studies suggests that this could fall by up to 40 per cent in 2020, even if the coronavirus outbreak has been contained by June. Meanwhile, 10 of Australia’s top universities – including the so-called Group of Eight – could lose up to $1.2bn worth of fees from Chinese students who have been affected by the federal government’s travel ban. It has prevented about 65,000 students from arriving in Australia for the start of the academic year.

CORPORATES
THE CENTRE FOR INDEPENDENT STUDIES LIMITED, THE GROUP OF EIGHT LIMITED

Drop car tax, Treasurer told

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Patrick Commins, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 19-Feb-20

Tim Wilson, Craig Kelly and Jason Falinski are among the Liberal MPs who argue that the federal government’s luxury car tax should be abolished, given that it was introduced to protect local car manufacturers. The tax on imported vehicles raised some $675m in 2018-19, and this is expected to rise to $750m by 2022-23. Motor Trades Association of Australia CEO Richard Dudley describes it as an "unconscionable tax" that should have been scrapped when local car manufacturing ceased in 2017.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, MOTOR TRADES ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence increases to 109.1

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 19-Feb-20

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 1.2% to 109.1 in the week ended 16 February, with the bushfires over and Australians going back to business. Consumer Confidence increased and more than reversed last week’s loss, continuing the recent sawtooth pattern. The gains have been a little more than the losses, so the index reached its 2020 high last week. Current finances gained 2%, while future finances were down 0.1%. Current economic conditions gained 6.5% compared to a fall of 4.1% in the previous week, while future economic conditions were flat. The ‘Time to buy a major household item’ subindex fell 0.9%, adding to the loss of 5% seen in the previous reading. The four-week moving average for inflation expectations fell by 0.1ppt to 4.0%, while the weekly reading remained stable.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Firms too slack on getting wages right

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 19-Feb-20

The federal government’s crackdown on wage theft could include ‘naming and shaming’ companies that underpay their staff and disqualifying executives from holding board seats. Attorney-General Christian Porter says companies that underpay their employees could face a range of penalties in addition to civil or criminal ones. He has dismissed suggestions that the growing issue of wage underpayments is due to the complexity of the modern awards system.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Coles managers go back to time sheets

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 19-Feb-20

The Fair Work Ombudsman will investigate Coles Group following revelations that salaried managers of its supermarkets and liquor stores had not received their correct overtime payments for six years. Coles will provide affected employees with $15m in backpay, as well as $5m in interests and costs. It will also require staff to clock on and off at the start and end of their shifts; Gerard Dwyer of the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees Association says this policy has not been strictly enforced in the past. The Australian Retail Association contends that the majority of underpayments are due to the complexity of industry awards.

CORPORATES
COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION

Qantas fends off unfair pay claims from aircraft engineers’ union

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 17-Feb-20

Qantas has won a lengthy legal dispute with the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers’ Association regarding how much it pays its engineers when they have additional training and qualifications. The Federal Court ruled it was Qantas to decide when and how it recognised extra certificates secured by its engineers, and it was not obliged to pay them more in such circumstances unless it met criteria under the relevant industrial agreement. It is the second time in two years that the Federal Court has dismissed a challenge by the ALAEA against Qantas on the issue of pay for extra training and qualifications.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIAN LICENSED AIRCRAFT ENGINEERS’ ASSOCIATION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Nat leader will stay for poll, says Joyce

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 4 : 17-Feb-20

National Party leader Michael McCormack has downplayed suggestions that he will step aside before the next federal election. McCormack says he has the full support of Prime Minister Scott Morrison and will lead the Nationals into the election. Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce also says McCormack will still be leader at the election, adding that he accepts the partyroom’s decision to reject his recent bid for a spill.

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

ClubsNSW whistleblower reveals the alarming scale of money laundering in pokies rooms at local clubs and pubs

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Steve Cannane, Kyle Taylor, Clare Blumer
abc.net au – Page: Online : 14-Feb-20

Independent federal MP Andrew Wilkie has claimed that up to 95 per cent of clubs in New South Wales are not complying with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance laws. He says this means they are operating illegally, and that he got this information from a ClubsNSW document that was provided to him by a whistleblower. Troy Stolz, a former ClubsNSW AML/CTF compliance auditor, claims that he was the source of the document. He says that money laundering through poker machines is rife in pubs and clubs across Australia. A ClubsNSW spokesperson has accused Wilkie of "anti-club hysteria".

CORPORATES
CLUBS NSW PTY LTD

Bali tourist tests positive to coronavirus as more than 14,000 new cases confirmed

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by
The New Daily – Page: Online : 14-Feb-20

The global death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 1,369; Japan has reported its first death from the respiratory illness, and more than 60,000 people worldwide have now been infected. An additional 14,840 cases of the virus have been reported in the Chinese province of Hubei, after health officials changed the methodology for diagnosing the illness. Meanwhile, a Chinese national who has returned to Shanghai after holidaying in Bali recently tested positive to the disease.

CORPORATES

Scorched land safe from fires for years

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Kieran Gair
The Australian – Page: 2 : 14-Feb-20

The CSIRO estimates that some 10 million hectares of land has been razed during the 2019-20 bushfire season. This exceeds the combined area burnt in the 2009 Black Saturday and 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires. Landscape ecologist Grant Williamson says the massive destruction of plant life in the bushfire zones means there will be no danger of fires in these areas for at least four years, as there is nothing left to burn. Meanwhile, the Rural Fire Service has confirmed that all bushfires in New South Wales have been contained.

CORPORATES
CSIRO, UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA, NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE