O75 Public Administration

Qantas boss warns climate hysteria threatens air travel

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 1 : 8-Aug-19

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce addressed the annual Centre for Aviation summit on 7 August, stressing that imposing levies on airlines and travellers is not the solution to climate change. The French government recently announced a new tax on airfares, and the Netherlands is considering a similar levy. Joyce argued that the global airline industry is aware of its environmental impact and is taking action to reduce its carbon footprint. He also stressed the economic importance of international air travel in terms of trade and job creation.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, CENTRE FOR AVIATION, AUSTRALIA. BUREAU OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT AND REGIONAL ECONOMICS

Treasurer in bid to allay surplus fears

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 8-Aug-19

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has downplayed concerns about the US-China trade war, stressing that it will not affect the federal government’s timetable for returning the Budget to surplus. Frydenberg has acknowledged that financial market volatility following China’s move to devalue the yuan was a concern, but he has cautioned against an overreaction. Labor has urged the government to bring forward income tax cuts and infrastructure spending in order to stimulate the economy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Skills crisis at critical level: CEOs

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Original article by Ewin Hannan, Sascha O’Sullivan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 8-Aug-19

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox has urged the federal government to take action to address the nation’s skilled labour shortage. Willox says the situation is particularly urgent given the number of major infrastructure projects that will be undertaken in coming years. He has written to Prime Minister Scott Morrison arguing the need for a national approach to the issue, noting that the number of people undertaking apprenticeship and traineeship programs fell to 259,385 in 2018, compared with 446,000 in 2012.

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS

RBA’s Lowe faces grilling over cheap money

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 8-Aug-19

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe will appear before a parliamentary committee on 9 August. His testimony is likely to attract increased scrutiny after the central bank’s New Zealand counterpart reduced official interest rates by 50 basis points. The House of Representatives’ economics committee is chaired by Liberal MP Tim Wilson. He says the RBA’s dual rate cuts in June and July and how it expects to eventually begin tightening monetary policy when household debt is rising are among the issues that will come under scrutiny.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, RESERVE BANK OF NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Kiwi cut raises the prospect of negative interest rates

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 4 : 8-Aug-19

The Australian dollar reached a 10-year low of $US0.6680 in local trading on 7 August, after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand reduced official interest rates by 50 basis points to 1 per cent. Central bank governor Adrian Orr has not ruled out the prospect of negative interest rates or measures such as quantitative easing. The RBNZ’s move is likely to strengthen the case for further monetary policy easing in Australia before the end of 2019.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF NEW ZEALAND, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, BLOOMBERG LP, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Unfair dismissal: retreat over pay

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 7-Aug-19

Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell says the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code is "ambiguous and open to interpretation". She adds that small businesses would be in a better position to comply with the code if ambiguous language were removed. Carnell has also argued the case for the Fair Work Commission to establish a small business division, although she now favours reviewing the maximum compensation for unfair dismissal after a revised code has been operating for at least 12 months.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS AND FAMILY ENTERPRISE OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, SKILLS, SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS

Costello’s warning to retirees

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Original article by Greg Brown, Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 7-Aug-19

Future Fund chairman Peter Costello has urged the US and China to "sensibly negotiate" a resolution to their ongoing trade dispute in the wake of a global financial rout. The Australian sharemarket has shed $86bn in the last two trading sessions, following China’s move to devalue its currency; Costello has warned that Australians’ savings and the federal Budget will be impacted if the trade dispute is not resolved. However, he says it is important to not "overhype" the recent market slump.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, CITIGROUP INCORPORATED, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

RBA lowers GDP, inflation forecasts

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 7-Aug-19

The Reserve Bank of Australia has downgraded its GDP growth forecast for 2019 from 2.75 per cent to 2.5 per cent, after leaving the cash rate unchanged on 6 August. Central bank governor Philip Lowe again indicated that official interest rates will remain low for some time, and that any change in monetary policy will depend on the outlook for the unemployment rate and inflation. The inflation rate was 1.6 per cent in the year to June, and the RBA now does not expect it to reach the bottom end of its 2-3 per cent target range until 2021.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED

Super, massive trade surplus holds up economy

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 7-Aug-19

Westpac’s chief economist Bill Evans says Australia could be set to post its first current account surplus since 1975, following the release of the latest balance of trade data. The nation’s trade surplus rose to a record $8.04bn in June and totalled $19.7bn for the June quarter, which is $5.2bn higher than the March quarter. The result was driven by strong growth in iron ore export volumes and the price of the steel input during the period. Australia’s overall export volumes increased by 1.4 per cent in June, while there was a 3.6 per cent decline in imports.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence slips to 115.8

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Aug-19

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence fell 2.3% to 115.8 in the week ended 4 August, after two straight weekly gains. Households’ views towards current financial conditions fell 4.3% and views towards future financial conditions were down 1.9%; however, both components are comfortably above their long-run average. Consumers’ views toward current economic conditions fell 6.1%, more than reversing the prior week’s big jump, but views toward future economic conditions gained 3.8%. The ‘time to buy a major household item’ index fell 2.6%, and the four-week moving average for inflation expectations was down 0.1ppt to 4.0%.

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