O75 Public Administration

Baby Boomers put squeeze on the young

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 19-Aug-19

The Grattan Institute contends that people aged 40 contribute twice as much in tax to support older Australians than Baby Boomers did at the same age, after adjusting for inflation. The percentage of households over the age of 65 that pay tax has fallen from 27 per cent in the mid-1990s to 17 per cent, while the Grattan Institute notes that the wealth of households under the age of 35 has barely changed since 2004. It puts forward a number of suggestions to address this intergenerational divide, including taxing superannuation earnings in retirement at 15 per cent and lifting the pension age.

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GRATTAN INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

China threat: bolster Top End

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 19-Aug-19

A report to be released by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute on 19 August suggests that there is a growing gap between Australia’s strategic policy and its military assets in the northern part of the nation. The report’s release, which calls for a boost to defence capacity in that part of the country, will coincide with the release of a separate report from the United States Studies Centre that will argue that the US no longer "enjoys military primacy in the Indo-Pacific". The release of the two reports comes as China seeks to expand its defence and strategic presence in the region.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE LIMITED, UNITED STATES STUDIES CENTRE

Inflation Expectations jump to 4.1% in July after RBA rate cuts

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

Australians aged +14 expect inflation of 4.1% per year over the next two years, according to the Roy Morgan Inflation Expectations Index for July 2019. This is up 0.3% on June, but down 0.2% on July 2018. Inflation Expectations increased in July following back-to-back interest rate cuts in June and July. Amongst the generations, Inflation Expectations have fallen most significantly for Baby Boomers and Millennials. Analysis by voting intentions shows that Inflation Expectations increased for supporters of all three leading parties. However, Inflation Expectations for electors as a whole are now below those of the general population, at 3.9%. July Inflation Expectations are based on personally interviewing a nationwide representative sample of 5,031 Australians aged 14+ face-to -face in their own homes.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Tourism industry now employs one in 13 working Australians

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Original article by Mark Ludlow, Luke Housego
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 16-Aug-19

China remains the biggest market for the Australian tourism industry, according to a new Austrade report, with 1.432 million visitors in the year to June. Tourism jobs have risen by 34 per cent in the last 10 years, and the sector now employs almost one million people. Tourist spending has increased for nine years in a row to reach $143 billion a year, a rise of $50 billion over the past decade. Around 47 per cent of tourism jobs are part-time, due to its seasonal nature.

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AUSTRADE

CFMEU seeks to lock in pay rises forever

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 16-Aug-19

New South Wales employers say the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union draft pattern agreement for that state is the most restrictive they have seen. The agreement essentially calls for pay increases of five per cent a year for as long as the agreement is not terminated or replaced, while it also calls for a ban on large concrete pours after 11am. It also calls for increases to various allowances and casual loadings, for a rostered day off every second week, and for employer contributions to various union-linked entities. The Australian Building and Construction Commission states the draft agreement breaches the federal government’s building code.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Full-time earnings return to solid growth

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 16-Aug-19

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on 15 August that full-time employees are earning an average of $1634.80 a week for ordinary time work. This represents an increase of 3.1 per cent for the year to May, and compares to an increase of 2.7 per cent for the previous year. Professor Mark Wooden from Melbourne University noted that with the CPI at 1.5 per cent, weekly earnings are well above inflation. By way of contrast to the average earnings data, the wage price index (WPI) has remained at 2.3 per cent for the first half of 2019.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

Stop arguing: Industrial Relations tsar’s call to bosses, unions

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 16-Aug-19

Fair Work Commission president Iain Ross says he agrees with Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott that improving living standards relies on boosting productivity. However, he has queried her claim that the Fair Work Act’s ‘better off overall test’ (BOOT) is a "productivity killer", with the BCA recently saying it wants it replaced with a different test . Ross says doing away with the BOOT could lift profits and reduce wages, but may not necessarily lift productivity. He noted the BCA proposal had received a "predictable response" from Labor and the ACTU that it was Work Choices Mark II.

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AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Morrison under fire over climate pact

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 16-Aug-19

Australia is continuing with its efforts to make changes to the Pacific Island Forum’s final communique. It is seeking to have the phrase ‘climate change crisis’ replaced with ‘climate change reality’, while it does not want the statement to call for a moratorium on new coal mines and to endorse the phasing out of coal-fired power, something that Pacific Island nations were seeking. The Forum has seen a degree of tension between Australia and New Zealand, with NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern joining with Pacific Island nations in calling on Australia to do more to tackle climate change. However, NZ Foreign Minister Winston Peters has queried why Pacific Island nations were not pressuring China on the issue, given its contribution to climate change is far greater.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Bargaining at risk: ex-Fair Work deputy

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 15-Aug-19

Former Fair Work Commission senior deputy president Peter Richard has echoed calls from business that there needs to be a simpler test used to approve enterprise bargaining agreements. The Business Council of Australia stated recently that the existing better-off overall test (BOOT) was a "productivity killer", and Richards says the primary cause of the failing enterprise bargaining system is the BOOT. He says that collective agreements have ironically become "bundles of individual contracts".

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AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Hot air: NZ sets carbon test for PM

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Original article by Ben Packham, Graham Lloyd
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Aug-19

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on 14 August that her government was seeking to limit global warming to 1.5 Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. She was speaking on her arrival in Tuvalu for the Pacific Islands Forum, with small nations in the Pacific wanting the New Zealand target to be included as a goal in the forum leaders’ declaration. New Zealand’s target is 0.5 Celsius less than that advocated by Australia. Ardern says every nation needs to do its bit in combatting global warming, although New Zealand has pledged $300 million less than Australia in terms of direct climate assistance to Pacific nations in the 10 years to 2025.

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