O75 Public Administration

Canavan seeks US funds to help develop rare earths resources

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 10-Oct-19

Resources Minister Matt Canavan has held talks with US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross regarding co-operation in the development of critical minerals projects, including rare earths. Amongst other things, the federal government is looking at options such as providing funding for early-stage projects via Export Finance Australia and the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility. China is the world’s major producer of rare earths, accounting for about 80 per cent of global supply.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF COMMERCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, LYNAS CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX LYC, ARAFURA RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX ARU, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY. UNITED STATES STUDIES CENTRE

Tax cuts key to driving revival: US

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 10-Oct-19

US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross will meet with Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Canberra on 10 October. Ross says the federal government should look at corporate tax reform in order to increase the nation’s global competitiveness and attract more direct foreign investment. Ross has also cautioned against focusing too much on Australia’s trade relationship with China at the expense of its investment relationship with the US. He has also warned that Australia’s aluminium exports to the US are under scrutiny following a recent trebling of export volumes after the Trump administration agreed to a tariff exemption.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. DEPT OF COMMERCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Costs blow strikes Fair Work funders

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 9-Oct-19

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox has welcomed the Federal Court’s ruling that litigation funder August Ventures should provide security for employers’ costs in a class action over alleged breaches of workplace laws. Willox hopes the ruling will make Fair Work class actions less attractive to litigation funders, while he has called for such businesses to be subject to greater regulation. There are currently 11 class actions before the Federal Court involving ­alleged breaches of the Fair Work Act.

CORPORATES
FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUGUST VENTURES, ADERO LAW, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, WORKPAC PTY LTD

Morrison: ANZUS Libs’ greatest move

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Original article by Troy Bramston
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 9-Oct-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has attributed the Liberal Party’s electoral success and longevity in government to the fact that it is a ‘common sense’ and ‘pragmatic’ party that has broad appeal. Morrison has identified the ANZUS Treaty, which was signed in 1951, as the Liberal Party’s most important achievement in government. Morrison adds that he has always wanted to serve his country, but never had any ambitions of becoming Liberal leader or prime minister.

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

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence reverses to 112.3

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Oct-19

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence fell 2.1% to 112.3 in the week ended 6 October, after gaining 4.2% in the previous reading. Households’ views towards current financial conditions fell 4.7%, while views towards future financial conditions lost 5.0%. Consumers’ views toward current economic conditions fell 1.7% and views towards future economic conditions fell 1.1%. The ‘time to buy a major household item’ continued to recover after falling to a 10-year low in recent weeks, although it remains below its long-term average. Inflation expectations rose 0.1 ppt to 4.1%.

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

Research on how cells adapt to oxygen earns trio Nobel Prize for medicine

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Original article by
The New Daily – Page: Online : 8-Oct-19

Scientists William Kaelin, Gregg Semenza and Peter Ratcliffe have been awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work in determining how cells adapt to oxygen levels. In awarding the prize to Kaelin, Semenza and Ratcliffe, the Nobel Assembly at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute noted that oxygen sensing is central to a large number of diseases. Their work is tipped to help find new methods for combating diseases such as cancer and anaemia.

CORPORATES
KAROLINSKA INSTITUTE

We’ve ourselves to blame for paying banks too much

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 12 : 8-Oct-19

Australia’s banks have attracted widespread criticism for reducing their mortgate rates by about half of the 0.25 per cent official interest rate cut on 1 October. However, banks are entitled to pass on as much or as little of the cash rate cut as they like, and customers can easily switch to another lender if they are dissatisfied. Consumers effectively pay a loyalty tax for remaining with their existing lender; this may be more appropriately called a stupidity tax, as it raises some $6.3bn each year for mortgage lenders. While banks are the biggest beneficiary of the stupidity tax, it is paid across the economy.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Coalition faces Senate battle to pass big reforms

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 2 : 8-Oct-19

The federal government has identified a number of legislative priorities when Parliament resumes on 14 October. However, analysis suggests that the Coalition may lack the numbers to pass up to seven bills in the Senate, including the Ensuring Integrity Bill and a religious discrimination bill. The proposed first-home loan deposit scheme is the only government initiative that appears to have sufficient support in both houses at present, after Labor agreed to back the bill.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Australia: rich, but getting dumber

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Original article by Aaron Patrick
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 8-Oct-19

The Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for International Development has developed an Atlas of Economic Complexity, with Australia being ranked as having one of the least complex economies. The Atlas measures the diversity and sophistication of national exports, with almost all of Australia’s exports not requiring a degree to make. The Center for International Development contends that for countries to get richer that they need to develop more sophisticated products, but Australia has been very tardy when it comes to innovation.

CORPORATES
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL. CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Denialists are to blame for high power bills: Turnbull

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Original article by Troy Bramston
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 8-Oct-19

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says the federal government’s lack of a ‘­coherent’ national energy policy has resulted in higher electricity prices in Australia and higher greenhouse gas emissions. He has also accused the Liberal Party of having been influenced by a group that is "denialist and reactionary" on the issue of climate change. Turnbull contends that Robert Menzies regarded the Liberal Party as being ‘genuinely progressive’ rather than a ‘conventional conservative party’. He argues that the term ‘conservative’ has lost its true meaning.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA