O75 Public Administration

RBA boss blasts CEO salaries after Qantas boss Alan Joyce’s wage revealed

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Original article by James Hall
News.com.au – Page: Online : 26-Sep-19

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe has criticised the large salaries of the nation’s top business executives at a time of low wages growth. Lowe argues that CEOs should not be rewarded with performance-based incentives merely for doing their job, while he says ordinary Australians should receive a wage increase of at least three per cent. His comments follow revelations that Qantas CEO Alan Joyce received total remuneration of almost $24m in fiscal 2018. Lowe himself receives a base salary of $903,000.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

Brickworks backs union clampdown

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 26-Sep-19

Brickworks executive Wladyslaw Kluktewicz has expressed support for the federal government’s Ensuring Integrity Bill. He has told a Senate inquiry that the proposed legislation is necessary to address the issue of "rogue" union officials who visit non-unionised workplaces and attempt to hold meetings with workers. Michael Wright, the Electrical Trades Union’s national assistant secretary, also appeared before the inquiry.

CORPORATES
BRICKWORKS LIMITED – ASX BKW, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Pollution at top of PM’s ocean plan

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Original article by Dennis Shanahan, Graham Lloyd
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 26-Sep-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has told the United Nations’ General Assembly that problems such as plastics pollution and illegal fishing are a more "immediate threat" to the world’s oceans than climate change. Morrison argued that industry must take a leadership role in developing commercially sustainable ways of ensuring that plastics are recycled. His address to the UN has coincided with the release of a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on global warming’s impact on sea levels.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED NATIONS. GENERAL ASSEMBLY, INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, WORLD WIDE FUND FOR NATURE AUSTRALIA, PRATT INDUSTRIES (USA) INCORPORATED, MINDEROO FOUNDATION

Forrest’s $300m war on plastic

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 26-Sep-19

Australian iron ore magnate Andrew Forrest has revealed a proposal to reduce global plastic waste by imposing a levy on plastics manufacturers. Forrest says the levy would initially raise about $US20bn a year, which could potentially increase to $US100bn, and the proceeds would be used to encourage the plastics industry to collect waste products and convert them back into polymer resin for reuse. Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation will invest some $US300m ($442m) in the initiative. Forrest says plastics are the biggest threat to the world’s oceans.

CORPORATES
MINDEROO FOUNDATION, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, UNITED NATIONS. GENERAL ASSEMBLY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, ELLEN MacARTHUR FOUNDATION, UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Government’s anti-union bill retrospective

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 25-Sep-19

ACTU president Michele O’Neil has told a Senate inquiry that some provisions of the federal government’s Ensuring Integrity Bill are retrospective. She says the requirement that a court must be satisfied that the deregistration of a union or the disqualification of an official is unjust would allow the court to take into account industrial breaches that occurred before the legislation took effect. This would have implications for the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union, which has a long history of breaching workplace laws.

CORPORATES
ACTU, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Low rates to push older people into casual work

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Original article by Robert Gottliebsen
The Australian – Page: 25 : 25-Sep-19

Record low interest rates are having a direct impact on the Australian labour market, by forcing older people to delay retirement and remain in full-time work for longer than they had intended. This is in turn reducing the employment opportunities for younger Australians, forcing many of them to take up casual roles or jobs in the ‘gig’ economy. Economist Callam Pickering notes that the proportion of younger workers who are underemployed has increased from about 11 per cent in 2008 to nearly 18 per cent. The trend for older people to continue working full-time is also dampening wages growth, as their priority is continuity of income rather than pay rises.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

RBA chief ready to cut rates again

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 25-Sep-19

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe has signalled that the central bank is prepared to further reduce the cash rate if necessary. He has cited factors such as the downward trend in global interest rates and a ‘surprise’ slowdown in the domestic economy, which grew by just 1.4 per cent in the year to June. Lowe’s speech in regional New South Wales has heightened speculation that the RBA will reduce the cash rate to a new low of 0.75 per cent in October. George Tharenou of UBS expects the cash rate to fall to just 0.25 per cent by May.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, ARMIDALE BUSINESS CHAMBER, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Major household item buying index slumps

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Original article by Michael Mehr
News.com.au – Page: Online : 25-Sep-19

The latest ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence data shows that the number of consumers who think now is a good time to buy a major household item has fallen to its lowest level since 2009. ANZ economist Felicity Emmett says this is disappointing given the federal government’s income tax cuts. ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index data is closely monitored by the Reserve Bank, which is widely tipped to reduce the cash rate again in October.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence consolidates to 110.1

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-Sep-19

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 0.7% to 110.1 in the week ended 22 September, after losing 3.5% in the previous reading. Households’ views towards current financial conditions rose 1.9% and remain above the long-run average, while views towards future financial conditions gained 1.6%. Consumers’ views toward current economic conditions rose 3.6%, and views towards future economic conditions gained 1.0%; both subindices remain well below their long-run averages. The ‘time to buy a major household item’ index dropped 3.8% and is now at its lowest level in 10 years, and the four-week moving average for inflation expectations was stable at 4.1%.

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

PM push to wind back China’s trade benefits

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Sep-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called for an overhaul of the global trading system in response to the economic rise of China. He said China should now be recognised as a newly-developed economy and it should no longer be entitled to concessions under World Trade Organization rules for developing nations. Speaking in Chicago during his official visit to the US, Morrison stressed that global trade rules are outdated and are no longer "fit for purpose", particularly with regard to digital trade. He also emphasised the importance of Australia’s alliance with the US, and said Australia will never take it for granted.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION, CHICAGO INSTITUTE FOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, UNITED NATIONS. GENERAL ASSEMBLY