O75 Public Administration

Donald Trump grants his second state dinner at White House to Scott Morrison

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Original article by
abc.net au – Page: Online : 24-Jul-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will attend a state dinner at the White House on 20 September, as part of an official visit to the US. It will the second state dinner that President Donald Trump has hosted, and the first to be attended by an Australian prime minister since John Howard in 2006. The White House has released a statement saying that the visit will celebrate the "close friendship and shared history" of the two nations.

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

Ambition fulfilled for Boris Johnson. But what next for Britain?

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Original article by Heather Stewart, Jessica Elgot
The Guardian – Page: Online : 24-Jul-19

Britain’s incoming prime minister Boris Johnson says he is committed to the Brexit deadline of 31 October. Johnson will succeed Theresa May after defeating Jeremy Hunt in the Conservative Party’s leadership ballot. Johnson gained 92,153 votes, well clear of Hunt with 46,656 votes. Some MPs have indicated that Johnson has said that he will not call an election before the Brexit deadline, although it is believed that he has not ruled out dissolving parliament before the next general election in 2022.

CORPORATES
GREAT BRITAIN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, CONSERVATIVE PARTY (GREAT BRITAIN)

RBA to look past weak GDP in June quarter

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 23-Jul-19

Economists expect that annualised GDP growth will be less than that recorded in the March quarter when figures for the June quarter are released. IFM Investors’ chief economist Alex Joiner says the expected weak result could explain why the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to cut interest rates in June and July. The RBA and the federal government are expected to look at other economic data in preference to the June GDP figures when deciding whether further monetary or fiscal stimulus is needed.

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IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Super is about unions rather than our retirement

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 12 : 23-Jul-19

Australia’s superannuation system is now valued at $2.8 trillion, but parliament has yet to agree on what it is for. The current federal government tried a few years ago to enact a bill that would define the purpose of superannuation, but it was never passed. The main aim of superannuation should be to help people to provide for themselves in retirement, but cynics would suggest that the ‘real’ beneficiaries include fund managers, superannuation and financial planning associations, the union movement and the Labor party. It is little wonder that all these groups want the superannuation guarantee to be increased to 12 per cent, as has been legislated, although some government MPs are now against this idea.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Showdown brewing over union ban laws

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 23-Jul-19

ACTU president Michele O’Neill has expressed concern that a key provision of the federal government’s Ensuring Integrity Bill could be misused. It allows any party with a vested interest to apply to the Federal Court to have a union official disqualified. O’Neill warns that this provision could be exploited in order to remove union officials for relatively minor breaches. Attorney-General Christian Porter has downplayed such concerns, arguing that the bill is consistent with Australia’s international obligations.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION, MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

PM to Senate: no deals on drought aid

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 22-Jul-19

The federal government will table its bill for a future drought fund in the Senate on 22 July; it was passed by the House of Representatives in 2018 but was not put to a vote in the Senate. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the bill will not be changed in any form to satisfy the demands of Labor or crossbenchers; he adds that drought funding should be a "no-brainer" and not something on which deals need to be done. Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese claims that the government’s proposed legislation would see money taken from the Building Australia Fund.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Tax office targets lawyers’ privileges

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 7 : 22-Jul-19

The Australian Taxation Office is hoping a new industry code of conduct that is being developed with the Law Council of Australia and other professional bodies will lead to improved auditing of multinationals. The ATO is finding it difficult to conduct such audits because lawyers are making blanket claims that documents being sought are subject to legal privilege. ATO second commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn says law firms have no interest in seeing privilege claims that turn out to be false, as this could put the concept of privilege at risk.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, COMMOTION SYSTEMS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

ABCC pursues workers on strike over union flags

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 22-Jul-19

The Australian Building & Construction Commission is prosecuting 66 members of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union for engaging in unlawful industrial action. It is alleged that they failed to return to work after a meeting with CFMMEU delegates at a construction site in Brisbane. Amongst other things, the meeting is said to have discussed the issue of union flags being removed from union sites. The CFMMEU and its officials are not subject to the legal action. The workers each face a fine of up to $42,000.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, ACTU

Lib MPs in bid to ditch super boost

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 22-Jul-19

The federal government is facing growing pressure from within its ranks to reconsider an increase in the superannuation guarantee from 9.5 per cent to 12 per cent by mid-2025. Andrew Hastie is among seven backbenchers who oppose the increase; he says it would be preferable for people to use this income to pay off their mortgage now rather than have to wait until they retire. Senator Amanda Stoker in turn says wage increases should be a higher priority at present than changes to the superannuation guarantee.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

No surplus sacrifice for dole boost

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 22-Jul-19

The federal government is resisting pressure from welfare groups and unions to increase the Newstart allowance by $75 a week. The Treasury estimates that this would cost $12.5bn over four years and $39bn over a decade, and it would slash the projected Budget surplus for 2019-20. Labor has also called for Newstart to be increased, although it has not nominated a figure. Employment Minister Michaelia Cash says the government’s priority is getting people off welfare and into the workforce, and notes that Labor has opposed or criticised all of the Coalition’s employment programs.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, NATIONAL SENIORS AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD