O75 Public Administration

Tax gamble hits most workers

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Original article by Paul Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Apr-19

The Coalition has released data which suggests that low- and middle-income earners will be better off under the government’s tax policy than that of Labor. The tables indicate that people with annual income of $80,000 in 2024-25 will be $875 a year better off under the government rather than Labor; this rises to $2,125 a yearly for those who earn $100,000 and $5,705 a year for those whose income is $140,000. The figures are based on expectations that all three stages of the government’s tax cuts will be passed, reducing the marginal tax rate for the average worker to 30 per cent. Labor opposes the second and third stages of the tax cuts.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Shorten digs in over franking

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

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says that providing cash refunds for excess franking credits currently costs $6bn a year, and this is projected to rise to $8bn in coming years. Shorten has described the franking credits system as a "gift" for people who have paid no income tax, and the money should instead be used to fund services such as healthcare. Meanwhile, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen will use a speech on 15 April to argue that the Coalition’s proposed income tax rate of 30 per cent for most workers is unfair and regressive, and that the third stage of its tax cuts package could see the Budget return to deficit in 2024-25.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE, CENTRE ALLIANCE

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange faces US extradition after arrest in London

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Original article by
The New Daily – Page: Online : 12-Apr-19

The US is expected to seek to extradite Julian Assange on conspiracy charges after the Ecuadorian embassy in London revoked his political asylum. The WikiLeaks founder was immediately arrested at the embassy and appeared in court on a charge of breaching bail. Assange was found guilty of the charge, and he is now slated to face a US extradition hearing on 2 May. Assange could be jailed for up to five years in the US if he is convicted of conspiring to break into a Department of Defense computer.

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WIKILEAKS, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF DEFENSE

Tax attack kicks off campaign

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 12-Apr-19

The federal government has released Treasury modelling which suggests that tax revenue would rise by $387bn over the next decade if Labor wins the election on 18 May. Treasury estimates that Labor’s plans to scrap the second and third stages of the government’s income tax cuts package would increase the tax take by $230bn, which is consistent with Labor’s own estimate of $226bn. The modelling also shows that Australia’s tax-to-GDP ratio would rise to a record 25.9 per cent over the next decade if Labor wins the election.

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

A fair go and economy hums

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Original article by John Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 5 : 12-Apr-19

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten used the first day of the election campaign to emphasise that Labor will address issues such as low wages growth and concerns about the rising cost of living. He stressed that Labor will ensure a "fair go" for everyday Australians, as he sought to appeal to working-class and middle-class voters. Shorten also highlighted the lack of stable leadership within the Coalition since it gained office in 2013, which has resulted in three changes of prime minister.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Workers join the barricades for ALP

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 12-Apr-19

ACTU secretary Sally McManus has described the federal election as an opportunity to "restore fairness" for working people, arguing that the Coalition’s legacies include record low wages growth, record levels of inequality and lack of job security. The ACTU intends to campaign in 28 seats during the election, while unions will target 17 seats in a national door-knocking campaign on the weekend of 13-14 April. Meanwhile, political activist GetUp will target 30 seats during the election, including those held by Peter Dutton, Greg Hunt and Tony Abbott.

CORPORATES
ACTU, GETUP LIMITED, VICTORIAN TRADES HALL COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION

Morrison plays trumps to open

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 4 : 12-Apr-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison emphasised the federal government’s economic credentials on the first day of the election campaign. He noted that 1.2 million jobs have been created since the Coalition was elected in 2013, while the Budget is set to return to surplus in 2019-20. Morrison also stressed that a strong economy rather than higher taxes will deliver essential services such as health and education. Morrison did not mention climate change in his first press conference, but he later stated that Australia will meet its carbon emission reduction targets.

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

Federal Election 2019: ALP (52.5%) starts ahead of L-NP (47.5%) but wrong to say Labor has election won – Michele Levine, CEO Roy Morgan

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Apr-19

Yesterday Prime Minister Scott Morrison called the Federal Election for May 18, and the last weekend’s Roy Morgan ‘face-to-face’ poll showed the ALP (52.5%) cf. L-NP (47.5%) with a winning lead as official campaigning begins. However, the example of the 1993 Liberal ‘unloseable’ Federal election showed that one mis-step can swing the result of the election, when Opposition Leader John Hewson ‘stumbled’ over the impact of the GST on birthday cakes and subsequently lost the election. Prime Minister Morrison’s appeal to ‘trust’ in his re-election campaign is ‘gutsy’, but the real key is for leaders not to allow ‘distrust’ to attach to their campaigns and leadership. It is ‘distrust’ that really drives many electors’ voting decisions. Of more concern for electors are the areas where they ‘distrust’ a party or leader. What are electors worried about? The ALP has significant ‘distrust’ issues with their relationship with the unions and the ALP’s many potential changes to the tax system. For the L-NP the uncertainties about the change of leadership of the L-NP are still generating ‘distrust’, and the ‘shenanigans’ that big business – including financial institutions – have been engaging in are seen as a bigger problem driving ‘distrust’ in the L-NP than Labor. View the full 9-minute video with Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine explaining the key drivers for next month’s Federal Election at this link.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Full disclosure of the ownership structures of market research and polling companies is of vital importance to stakeholders including the Australian public – Gary Morgan & Michele Levine, Directors of Roy Morgan Research Ltd, publisher of ABIX

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Apr-19

The example provided above of a political polling company being commissioned by one of Australia’s largest media companies to conduct polling for the recent NSW State Election and producing polling results that turned out to be significantly different to the final result of the NSW Election shows how important it is that companies commissioning important polling like this are easily able to find out who the beneficial owners of Public Opinion Pollsters and Market Research companies are. An ABC investigation has now revealed that the polling company uComms is co-owned by two prominent unions the ACTU and CFMMEU who obviously have a vested interest in the results of Federal and State Elections in Australia. Roy Morgan’s December 2018 cross-platform audience figures show that the Sydney Morning Herald (the paper which commissioned the uComm polling) is Australia’s most widely read newspaper with a total cross-platform audience of the SMH at over 4.1 million Australians – more than 1 million ahead of any other newspaper in Australia. This case is a perfect example on the eve of a Federal Election expected to be called this weekend for why it is so important for the Australian public – as well as Australia’s leading media companies such as Sydney Morning Herald now owned by Nine Entertainment Company – to have full knowledge of who the owners of Australia’s Public Opinion Pollsters and Market Research companies are. At the bottom of today’s ABIX-Roy Morgan Daily email we have provided a comprehensive list of the owners of Australia’s Public Opinion Pollsters and Market Research companies also available at link.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, UCOMM, ACTU, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Investigation shows political polling company used by Nine Entertainment newspapers The Age and SMH is co-owned by ACTU & CFMMEU unions

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Original article by Pat McGrath, Jeremy Story Carter, Sarah Curnow
abc.net au – Page: Online : 11-Apr-19

An investigation by the ABC has revealed that the uComms political polling company is co-owned by the ACTU (via ACTU secretary Sally McManus), the CFMMEU (via CFMMEU national secretary Michael O’Connor) and James Stewart, a former executive of ‘robo-polling’ pollster ReachTEL. The three each hold a third of UPoint’s 150 shares (50 shares each) which is listed as the sole shareholder of UComms via a paid ASIC search. In addition, the ABC reporters initially found uComm’s business address listed as the same office building in Melbourne as the ACTU, although this has since changed. The Sydney Morning Herald commissioned polling by uComms in the recent NSW Election and ran the results on the front-page of the ‘The Sun-Herald’ in mid-March headlined ‘Labor leads poll in race to wire’ showing the ALP 51% cf. L-NP 49% on a two-party preferred basis. The Gladys Berejiklian-led L-NP Government was returned to power at the NSW Election winning a majority of 48 out of the 93 seats. When contacted by the ABC reporters group executive director of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, James Chessell, said the paper didn’t know the ownership structure of uComms although Chessell said they would no longer commission polls from uComms going forward.

CORPORATES
UCOMMS, ACTU, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, REACHTEL PTY LTD