O75 Public Administration

PM’s final pitch: it’s not time

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 16-May-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will address the National Press Club on 16 May; Labor’s tax policies and their impact on house values, renters and retirees will be a key focus of his speech. He has described the election as a "choice about aspiration", or higher taxes and increased government spending under Labor. Opposition leader Bill Shorten in turn says the election is a choice between "real change" or more of the "cuts and chaos" that have characterised the Coalition’s years in office.

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

FWC queries unions’ living wage

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 16-May-19

The Fair Work Commission heard the final day of evidence in its review of the minimum wage on 15 May. The ACTU wants the minimum wage to be increased to 60 per cent of median earnings over two years, in order to lift all workers out of poverty. FWC President Iain Ross warned that doing so could result in pay increases for all workers on the minimum wage, rather than just those living below the poverty line. He also said the tax and transfer system could be a more efficient way to address the issue of poverty than an increase in the minimum wage. The FWC’s decision on the minimum wage is expected to be announced by the end of May.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Coalition’s legacy of record low growth takes hit

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Roddan, Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 16-May-19

Official data shows that wages grew by 0.5 per cent in the March quarter and 2.3 per cent in the year to March. George Tharenou of UBS says the rate of growth in wages is not sufficient to put upward pressure on inflation. Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics says wages growth should have been higher given that the unemployment rate fell to an eight-year low in the quarter and the under-utilisation rate has fallen one per cent over the last year. ACTU secretary Sally McManus says Australia has recorded its lowest rate of wages growth since World War II under the Coalition.

CORPORATES
UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Shorten reaches out to miners

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey, Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 16-May-19

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has indicated that Labor may be open to industrial relations reforms that would allow greenfields enterprise agreements to be struck for the life of a resources project rather than having to be renegotiated every 3-4 years. He argues that this would provide greater certainty for workers, unions, employers and global investors. Shorten also intends to hold a national economic summit in early June if Labor wins the federal election; the agenda will include industrial relations, wages, productivity and the economy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL

Secret plans for anti-graft body

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Chris Merritt
The Australian – Page: 8 : 15-May-19

Former Victorian Court of Appeal judge Stephen Charles says Labor has a detailed plan for its proposed federal anti-corruption commission. Charles says he is a member of a group of retired judges who drafted the plan, which has been accepted by Labor’s legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus. A spokeswoman for Dreyfus has rejected suggestions that Labor has a "secret plan". Labor has previously stated that it has only developed a series of ‘design principles’ for the anti-corruption watchdog, and it will consult with legal experts if it wins the election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, COURT OF APPEAL (VICTORIA), THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED, NEW SOUTH WALES. INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Coalition rejects interest rate risk on loan plan

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 15-May-19

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has downplayed concerns that the Coalition’s First Home Loan Deposit Scheme could prompt banks to impose higher interest rates on participants in the scheme. He is confident that banks will want to be involved in the scheme and will not charge higher interest rates, arguing that banks’ exposure will still be restricted to a maximum loan to value ratio of 80 per cent. The New Zealand government introduced a similar scheme in 2003.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, KEYSTART HOME LOANS, NEW ZEALAND. MINISTRY OF HOUSING, HOUSING NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION

Employers fear payroll nightmare

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 15-May-19

The Fair Work Commission is expected to make a ruling on the minimum wage before the end of May. However, employers’ groups have warned of the potential payroll complications if Labor wins the federal election and pushes ahead with plans to make a new wage submission immediately upon taking office. Any increase in the minimum wage will take effect from 1 July, and Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO James Pearson has expressed concern that employers will not have enough time to apply the new pay rates if Labor seeks to make a new submission to the FWC.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, ACTU

Wage theft: Labor takes on employers

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-May-19

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will use a speech in Perth on 15 May to announce that Labor will establish a small claims tribunal for people with unpaid wages if it wins the federal election. The tribunal, which will hear claims of up to $100,000, will be able to make and enforce orders to pay wages and to mediate claims. The tribunal will operate alongside the existing Fair Work Commission. Shorten will also use the speech to criticise the Coalition’s preferences deal with Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED AUSTRALIA PARTY, ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

The Greens are hoping for a big election. But who are they?

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-May-19

Australians head to an important Federal Election this week, with the latest Roy Morgan Polls showing the ALP 51% with a narrow lead over the L-NP 49% on a two-party preferred basis. Support for the Greens was at 11% in the Roy Morgan Poll conducted on May 4/5. The close results from the latest Roy Morgan Polls mean there is a very good chance Australia could once again elect a hung Parliament. The Greens achieved a record high vote of 13.1% in the Senate and 11.8% in the House of Representatives at the 2010 Federal Election. Has the composition of Greens support changed since 2010? Greens supporters are concentrated in the highest socio-economic quintiles with 31% of Greens supporters in the highest socio-economic AB quintile in 2018, unchanged from 2010, and 24% of Greens supporters in the C quintile, also unchanged. Although Greens supporter distribution by socio-economic quintile is largely unchanged from 2010 there are underlying changes in the composition of Greens support. Women now comprise 59% of Greens supporters, up from 54% in 2010, while men now comprise only 41% of Greens supporters, down from 46% at the start of the decade. Meanwhile, an increasing proportion of Greens supporters today are in the younger age groups.

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

ANZ-Roy-Morgan Consumer Confidence drops after RBA leaves interest rates unchanged

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-May-19

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence fell 2.1% to 114.8 in the week ended 12 May, closing below its four-week moving average but remaining above the long-term average. Households’ views towards current financial conditions rose 2%, while views towards future financial conditions rose 1.4%. However, consumers’ views toward current economic conditions fell a massive 8.1%, continuing their recent volatile pattern, and future economic conditions fell 3.3%. The ‘time to buy a household item’ index fell 2.5%.

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