O75 Public Administration

London calling: Boris talks trade

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 16-Dec-19

The UK could potentially finalise a free-trade agreement with Australia within a year, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson signalled that it will be a priority for his newly re-elected government in the post-Brexit environment. Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott says the UK election result will provide businesses with greater certainty, while a free-trade deal will benefit all Australians. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says there are similarities between Johnson’s emphatic win and the Coalition’s election victory in May, as well as the election of US President Donald Trump in 2016.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GREAT BRITAIN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LABOUR PARTY (GREAT BRITAIN)

Foreword – ANZ Roy Morgan Financial Wellbeing Indicator

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Original article by
Bluenotes – Page: Online : 16-Dec-19

The ANZ Roy Morgan Financial Wellbeing Indicator is a statistically robust snapshot of the personal financial wellbeing of Australians, reported as a 12-month rolling average every quarter. The indicator is derived from data gathered through the weekly Roy Morgan Single Source survey, which canvasses approximately 50,000 Australians annually. ANZ partnered with Roy Morgan Research to develop the indicator based on previous research conducted by ANZ on personal financial wellbeing in 2017. The result is an ongoing time-series measure of how Australians are faring financially.

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

Surplus to survive $30bn blow

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 16-Dec-19

The federal government’s mid-year economic and fiscal outlook is forecast to confirm that the Budget will remain in surplus for the next four years. However, government revenue is expected to be up to $30bn lower than projected in the 2019 Budget, due to expectations that global and domestic economic growth will be lower than was forecast in April. Growth in wages is also expected to be lower than was forecast in the Budget. Meanwhile, the government is expected to maintain its forecast that the price of iron ore will average $US55 a tonne in 2019-20, even though it is significantly higher at present.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Call to end retrospective R&D audits for business

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 12-Dec-19

Small Business & Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell has recommended changes to the administration of R&D tax incentives following a review of the scheme. Amongst other things, she has proposed that the federal government cease requiring recipients to undergo retrospective audits, often some years after they received the tax incentive. Carnell notes that the Australian Taxation Office has frequently required small businesses to repay the full amount of the tax incentive after an audit, including harsh financial penalties.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS AND FAMILY ENTERPRISE OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, AIRTASKER PTY LTD

No senior minister but mega department will work

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Original article by Olivia Caisley
The Australian – Page: 4 : 12-Dec-19

The Department of Agriculture, Water & the Environment will be formally established on 1 February, as part of the federal government’s plans to streamline the bureaucracy. The existing ministers for each portfolio – Bridget McKenzie, Sussan Ley and David Littleproud – will remain in these roles, and McKenzie has confirmed that the new department will not have a senior minister. She is confident that the three ministers will work well together and that the new department will deliver "real outcomes" for regional communities.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Federal budget could be set for $30b boost: CBA

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 12-Dec-19

The Commonwealth Bank has upgraded its federal Budget surplus forecasts. Chief economist Michael Blythe says the surplus for fiscal 2020 is now likely to be $17.1bn rather than $7.1bn, while the surplus for the following year is set to be $19.1bn rather than $11bn. Blythe adds that factors such as strong jobs growth and the low inflation rate will boost the Budget bottom line by about $30bn over the next four years. He notes that government revenue will also be bolstered by a much higher iron ore rice than was forecast in the April 2019 Budget.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS

Carbon accounting trick a no-go for ALP

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 4 : 12-Dec-19

Energy Minister Angus Taylor says the federal government will only use Kyoto carry-over credits to the extent necessary to meet its 2030 carbon emissions reduction targets under the Paris climate agreement. Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has reiterated that Labor will not use the carry-over credits if it wins the next federal election. Meanwhile, a report produced by Climate Analytics on behalf of the Australia Institute has questioned the legality of using carry-over credits.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CLIMATE ANALYTICS, THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED

Time for Adani to deliver on jobs

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 4 : 12-Dec-19

Labor leader Anthony Albanese says Adani’s Carmichael coal mine has been approved, so the company should begin creating the jobs that it has promised. Adani in turn argues that it already employees hundreds of people. Albanese has also used his tour of regional Queensland to call for labour-hire workers in the mining sector to receive the same pay as direct employees, contending that some are paid up to 40 per cent less. He has also criticised the federal government for its lack of action regarding the low wages of labour-hire workers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, MITSUBISHI CORPORATION

ATO labels 102 companies as systemic non-payers of tax

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 12-Dec-19

Data from the Australian Taxation Offices shows that the combined tax take from the nation’s 2,200 largest corporate taxpayers was $52.3bn in 2017-18. The data shows that 710 companies did not pay any tax during the financial year, while deputy commissioner Rebecca Saint says 102 companies across all sectors of the economy are "systemic non-payers". She notes that tax receipts from oil and gas companies will increase in coming years, after many booked losses during the construction phase of their projects.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence up to 109.0 (corrected)

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Dec-19

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 0.8% to 109.0 in the week ended 8 December – a second straight increase during the early weeks of December. In the run-up to Christmas the good news for retailers is that the ‘time to buy a household item’ index gained 1.9%, building on the previous week’s gain of 5.3% following the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. In addition consumers became more confident about their current personal financial situation with a 1% increase from a week ago, although there was a 3.9% drop in regards to future financial conditions over the next 12 months. Consumers have also become more confident about the performance of the Australian economy going forward with an increase of 3.9% for current economic conditions and an increase of 2.7% for future economic conditions, although both indicators remain below long-term averages. The four-week moving average of inflation expectations was down 0.1ppt to 3.9%, as the weekly reading softened to 3.9%.

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