O75 Public Administration

Surplus powered by iron ore and coal

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 19-Mar-19

Ernst & Young expects the federal Budget’s bottom line to be $9.2bn better off over the next two years than Treasury had forecast in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook. The firm’s modelling of the Budget outcome is based on factors such as the price of iron ore and coal. Iron ore has averaged $US72 per tonne so far in 2018-19, compared with the MYEFO forecast of $U55/tonne. The price of metallurgical coal is also trading well above the MYEFO forecast so far in the current financial year.

CORPORATES
ERNST AND YOUNG, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE

Tribalism dividing Australia: Morrison

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Original article by Ben Packham, John Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 6 : 19-Mar-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called for a more inclusive Australia, as well as attacking the dangers of tribalism. Speaking just days after the Christchurch mosque killings, Morrison said people on both sides of politics are seeking to distort public debate in order to divide Australians in the aftermath of the attacks. He said Australians should be allowed to express concerns about population growth without being labelled racist or anti-migrant, while opposition leader Bill Shorten said politicians should try to avoid point-scoring in the wake of the attacks.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA-ISRAEL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Netflix surges beyond 11 million users in Australia

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

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey shows that nearly 14 million Australians aged 14+ now have access to some form of Pay TV/Subscription TV, up 11.8% on a year ago. Netflix has continued to lead the growth of Subscription Video on Demand services, with over 11.2 million Australians having a Netflix subscription in their household in the three months to February 2019, up by 25.2% on a year ago. Meanwhile, Stan is now accessible by over 2.6 million Australians, up 45.2% on a year ago. YouTube Premium (formerly YouTube Red) now has over 1.2 million users, up 31.9% on a year ago, and Fetch now has nearly 760,000 users, up by 9% on a year ago. However, the largest increase was for Amazon Prime Video, which more than doubled its user base over the last year, to over 570,000.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, YOUTUBE PREMIUM, FETCHTV PTY LTD, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO

Labor tax breaks not enough

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 18-Mar-19

Canadian economist Jack Mintz has produced a report on behalf of the Minerals Council of Australia. He concludes that reducing the company tax rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent would do more to ensure that the nation remains internationally competitive than Labor’s proposal to provide businesses with a 20 per cent tax write-off for capital expenditure exceeding $20,000. The report also argues that the manufacturing sector would gain more benefit from Labor’s policy than industries such as mining.

CORPORATES
MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Risky bet tax cuts tip for budget

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 18-Mar-19

A report from Deloitte Access Economics suggests that there is scope for the federal government to include tax cuts of up to $12bn a year in the April 2019 Budget. The government has previously committed to $144bn worth of personal income tax cuts over six years, and Chris Richardson of Deloitte Access Economics says one option would be to bring forward these tax cuts by three years. Shane Oliver of AMP Capital Investors agrees that the Budget could feature tax cuts, saying it would be unlikely to affect the timing of a return to a surplus.

CORPORATES
DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Jacinda Ardern demands answers, vows gun reform

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Original article by Nick O’Malley, Jacob Saulwick, David Crowe
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 18-Mar-19

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says that Brenton Tarrant should have been known to authorities. Tarrant has been charged with one count of murder following his attack on two Christchurch mosques that left 50 people dead and 56 in hospital. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it is his understanding that Tarrant was not on anyone’s radar, while it appears that Tarrant may have become radicalised as a result of exposure to internet white-supremacist groups. Ardern says she will reform New Zealand’s gun laws in the wake of the shootings.

CORPORATES
NEW ZEALAND. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Spy boss joins terror fight

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Original article by Paul Maley, Deborah Cornwall, Ean Higgins
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 18-Mar-19

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation will step up its monitoring of local right-wing extremists in the wake of the attack on two mosques in Christchurch. Federal cabinet’s ­National Security Committee will be briefed by ASIO’s director-general Duncan Lewis and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin on 18 March. Meanwhile, New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush says the alleged perpetrator Brenton Tarrant seems to have been acting alone, and three other people who were arrested following the attacks are not believed to have been involved.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL SECURITY COMMITTEE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, NEW ZEALAND. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Greens’ $20m man now says no more tax breaks

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Original article by Chip Le Grand, Christine Lacy
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Mar-19

Prominent barrister and Greens candidate Julian Burnside has declined to disclose whether he used negative gearing to build a property portfolio that is estimated to be worth about $20m. The Greens want to abolish negative gearing on all future residential property purchases, while its policy would restrict existing investors to negatively gearing just one property. Burnside says it is not fair that the system benefits wealthy people such as himself at the expense of first-home buyers. The Greens policies will not affect his investment portfolio.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MELBOURNE SAVAGE CLUB, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, PATRICK STEVEDORES HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Kelty warns ALP on wages

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Original article by Troy Bramston, Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 15-Mar-19

Labor will use its submission to the Fair Work Commission’s review of the minimum wage to push for an above-inflation increase in 2019. Meanwhile, former ACTU secretary Bill Kelty says any increase in the minimum wage must reflect the economy’s capacity to absorb it. He adds that a rise in the minimum wage must be linked to productivity gains. Kelty also supports Labor’s proposal for a living wage, stating that it would benefit the economy and make enterprise bargaining more effective.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, NATIONAL RETAIL ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Emissions target will cut wages, ACTU told

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 4 : 15-Mar-19

Unions have criticised Energy Minister Angus Taylor after he warned them of the potential impact of Labor’s greenhouse gas policy on wages. Taylor has written to unions claiming that wages could be reduced by $9,000 under Labor’s proposed 45 per cent emissions reduction target. The Electrical Trades Union has accused Taylor of "rank political opportunism" in targeting its members shortly before a federal election. Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says taxpayers’ funds should not be used to build new coal-fired power stations. He says this would result in less funding for infrastructure such as roads.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, GETUP LIMITED, BAECONOMICS PTY LTD, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA