O75 Public Administration

Minister cans visit after waste rebuff

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Original article by Amanda Hodge
The Australian – Page: 8 : 20-Jun-19

The future of Lynas Corporation’s rare earths processing plant in Malaysia remains uncertain after the nation’s Environment Minister Yeo Bee cancelled a trip to Australia. Yeo was scheduled to meet federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley on 19 June and Western Australian Mines Minister Bill Johnston on 20 June. Yeo advised that her visit would not proceed after Johnston indicated that the talks would be a waste of time as WA will not allow Lynas’s low-level radioactive waste to be imported from Malaysia. Ley is also of the view that disposal of the waste material is Malaysia’s responsibility.

CORPORATES
LYNAS CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX LYC, MALAYSIA. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF MINES, INDUSTRY REGULATION AND SAFETY

Tax cuts necessary if Shorten won: PBO

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 20-Jun-19

The Parliamentary Budget Office’s review of federal election commitments shows that Labor’s policies would have cost about $17.3bn. In contrast, the Coalition’s election promises would have cost just $100m, as most of its spending commitments were outlined in the Budget prior to the election. The review also suggests that a Labor government would have had to cut income taxes by about $210bn over the next decade to avoid breaching its target of maintaining a tax-to-GDP ratio of 24.3 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, CENTRE ALLIANCE, MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

National bosses side with Setka, snub ACTU

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 20-Jun-19

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union has backed embattled Victorian state secretary John Setka. The union has released a joint statement by its construction division’s national secretary Dave Noonan and president Jade Ingham, in which they state that Setka has the full support of the CFMMEU’s construction and general division. They also stated that Setka had not denigrated anti-domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty during a meeting of the union’s national executive. The ACTU maintains that Setka must resign.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

States urged to sell $220b in public assets rather than increase debt

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 20-Jun-19

The net debt of Australia’s state governments is set to rise sharply in coming years to finance infrastructure projects, but analysis shows that they have almost $220bn worth of assets that could be privatised. This includes $67.4bn worth of public assets in Queensland and $59.bn in New South Wales. IFM Investors CEO Brett Himbury says the nation’s superannuation funds would be keen to invest in state government assets. The NSW government may be open to further asset sales, but Queensland and Western Australia have ruled out this option.

CORPORATES
IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD, INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERSHIPS AUSTRALIA, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSGRID PTY LTD, ENDEAVOUR ENERGY LIMITED

Four face charges on MH17 downing

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Original article by Jacquelin Magnay
The Australian – Page: 5 : 20-Jun-19

The MH17 Joint Investigation Team has announced that four members of Russia’s military have been formally charged with the murders of the 289 passengers and crew of the downed airliner. The charges will be heard by the Criminal Court of Schipol in the Netherlands, although Russia is unlikely to allow the four men to be extradited. None of the accused was directly responsible for firing the missile that downed the Malaysia Airlines plane in July 2014, but Dutch chief prosecutor Fred Westerbeke says that under his nation’s criminal law, people who played an organising role can also be held liable.

CORPORATES
MALAYSIAN AIRLINE SYSTEMS

ATO plugs up cash-in-hand payments leak

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 19-Jun-19

The Australian Taxation Office has signalled that it will crack down on companies that make cash-in-hand payments to their employees. Assistant commissioner Peter Holt says that from 1 July, payments to workers will only be tax deductible if they comply with pay-as-you-go withholding and reporting requirements. The crackdown is in response to recommendations made by the federal government’s Black Economy Taskforce, which has estimated that the cash economy is worth up to $50bn a year.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

States climb $180bn debt mountain

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 19-Jun-19

The combined net debt of Australia’s state and territory governments is set to exceed $184bn over the next four years, compared with just $81bn in 2018-19. Increased investment in infrastructure will be a key contributor to the debt blowout, and Robert Carling of the Centre for Independent Studies stresses the need for such projects to be subject to a cost-benefit analysis. He adds that New South Wales and Victoria could potentially be at risk of losing their AAA credit ratings if their net debt continues to rise, although he says this is unlikely in the near-term.

CORPORATES
THE CENTRE FOR INDEPENDENT STUDIES LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, NEW SOUTH WALES. THE TREASURY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE

Defector Bernardi may turn Lib again

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Original article by Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 2 : 19-Jun-19

Senate crossbencher Cory Bernardi has signalled that he may consider rejoining the Liberal Party. Bernardi says he has not held any such talks with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, but he would be open to doing so. He adds that his main priority in the new parliament will be to support the Coalition’s legislative agenda. Eric Abetz and Dean Smith are among the Liberal senators who say Bernardi would be welcomed back into the Liberal fold. He resigned to form the Australian Conservatives party during the tenure of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATIVES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, CENTRE ALLIANCE, ONE NATION PARTY

Labor flags opposing legislated tax cuts

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 19-Jun-19

Tom Kennedy of JP Morgan estimates that the third stage of the federal government’s income tax cuts package would boost GDP by about 0.6 per cent from 2024. The stage three tax cuts are worth about $137bn in total, including $42bn worth of tax relief that has already been legislated. However, there is believed to be growing support within Labor to oppose the unlegislated component of the stage three tax cuts and to repeal the legislated component – which is slated to take effect in 2024-25 – if it wins the next election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence slips to 114.2

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

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence fell 0.3% to 114.2 in the week ended 16 June. Households’ views towards current financial conditions rose 3.9%, while views towards future financial conditions were up 0.2%. The rise has bought both indices back above their long-term averages. However, consumers’ views toward current economic conditions fell 2.3% and views toward future economic conditions were down 1.9%. The ‘time to buy a household item’ index fell 1.2%.

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