O75 Public Administration

White Collar wipeout

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Original article by Robert Gottliebsen
The Australian – Page: 27 : 17-Apr-19

Media reports have suggested that the Commonwealth Bank and ANZ are looking to retrench up to 25 per cent of their staff. Rival banks will also need to reduce wage costs in order to remain competitive. Meanwhile, new technologies such as artificial intelligence and block chain will result in much bigger job cuts over the next decade, and in a wide range of sectors. The public service offers the greatest potential for major staff cuts, but unions will resist any such move. With fewer job opportunities in the future, more Australians will need to start their own business; in this context, the federal government’s move to establish a small business tax tribunal that is independent of the Australian Taxation Office is to be welcomed.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ACTU

Labor flags R&D reprieve on clawbacks

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Original article by Paul Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 & 20 : 16-Apr-19

Shadow innovation minister Kim Carr says Labor will look at how to lift expenditure on research and development to three per cent of GDP by 2030 if it wins the federal election. He notes that R&D expenditure is currently at 1.8 per cent of GDP, compared with 2.1 per cent in 2013. Carr says Labor will seek to have start-ups exempted from the R&D tax incentive clawbacks that impacted the technology sector in late 2018, while he claims that over 1,000 scientists have lost their jobs under the current government.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, DULUXGROUP LIMITED – ASX DLX, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Why Morrison needs to turn up the fear factor on Labor

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Original article by Robert Gottliebsen
The Australian – Page: 29 : 16-Apr-19

The Coalition’s best chance of winning the federal election may to be to launch a fear campaign against key Labor policies, such as its franking credit reforms and changes to the negative gearing regime. The latter policy will almost certainly result in lower house values over time; the Coalition should pitch its fear campaign at home buyers who are in or are close to being in negative equity, as well as small business owners who use their homes as capital. However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison is unlikely to seek to cash in on the fear factor until it is far too late.

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

Cartels cave as ACCC hits three a year

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Original article by Ben Butler
The Australian – Page: 17 & 28 : 16-Apr-19

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims says it plans to run three cartel prosecutions a year for the foreseeable future. He says a memorandum of understanding with the FBI to share information with the ACCC will help it to prosecute criminal cartel behaviour. The ACCC currently has five criminal cartel cases before the courts, covering industries such as banking and construction. Forming a cartel in Australia has only been illegal since 2009, although it has been illegal in the US since 1890.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, AMCOR LIMITED – ASX AMC, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, NYK LINE (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, VISY INDUSTRIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, KAWASAKI KISEN KAISHA LIMITED

Labor taxes could hinder economy

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 16-Apr-19

The consensus among economists would seem to be that the Coalition’s tax policies will be better for the economy over the medium- to long-term than those of Labor. However, Labor’s short-term tax cuts for low-income earners could provide a stimulus for the economy at a time when it appears to be slowing. AMP’s chief economist Shane Oliver says the impact of Labor’s tax policies will depend on what it does with the extra revenue that it raises.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Free blood tests: Labor raises health pressure

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 : 16-Apr-19

Healthcare is set to continue to dominate the federal election campaign, with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to announce an expansion of Labor’s cancer care package on 16 April. Shorten will commit to providing free blood tests for cancer patients and older Australians, at a cost of $200m. This is in addition to Labor’s previously-announced $2.3bn cancer treatment plan. Meanwhile, Labor has rejected suggestions of a $5.8bn funding shortfall for its cancer policy, stating that the Health Department has advised that it has not costed the policy.

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

Tax cut plan needs $40b off spending

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Original article by John Kehoe, Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 16-Apr-19

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann is confident that the Coalition can reduce government spending to about 23.6 per cent of GDP over the next decade, as outlined in the April 2019 Budget. Danielle Wood of the Grattan Institute warns that this would require spending to be cut by $40bn a year in order to finance tax cuts and retain a surplus. Meanwhile, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has described the second and third stages of the government’s tax cuts package as "utterly unsustainable, unaffordable and irresponsible". Labor supports the first stage of the tax cuts, and Bowen says further cuts will be considered in the context of each Budget.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Turnbull’s plan to destroy News Corp influence

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Original article by Aaron Patrick
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 15-Apr-19

Alex Turnbull is helping independent candidates in a number of seats at the federal election, but he says that Zali Steggall is not one of them. The former Olympian is running against ex-prime minister Tony Abbott in the seat of Warringah. Turnbull, who is a private investor based in Singapore and the son of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, says he wants to get more centrist MPs into parliament, as well as reducing the influence of the Murdoch family on Australian politics.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, GETUP LIMITED, BRONTE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION

CFMEU’s election windfall

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Weekend Australian – Page: 18 & 19 : 15-Apr-19

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union has been fined some $7.9m in total since 2016, due to legal action instigated by the Australian Building & Construction Commission. The CFMMEU will benefit significantly if Labor wins the federal election and pushes ahead with plans to scrap the ABCC. The militant union and its officials would face much lower financial penalties for breaches of the Fair Work Act, while Labor would also abolish the national construction code. Meanwhile, employers’ groups are not unduly concerned about a potential conflict of interest for shadow workplace relations minister Brendan O’Connor, whose brother is the national president of the CFMMEU.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

Phelps should quit after alleged breach

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Original article by Ean Higgins
The Australian – Page: 7 : 15-Apr-19

It has been revealed that independent federal MP Kerryn Phelps is treating patients one day a week as a GP. Phelps has previously claimed that she has legal advice that her actions do not place her in breach of section 44 of the Constitution, which states that persons who receive money from the Commonwealth under a financial arrangement with it are ineligible to sit in parliament. Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce says Phelps should not seek re-election if she is not willing to release that legal advice.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA