O75 Public Administration

Shorten hit on fat cat employers

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Original article by Ben Packham, Greg Brown, Jessica Cortis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 13-Mar-19

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says Labor could legislative to mandate that the Fair Work Commission must take into account the needs of low-income workers when setting the minimum wage. He argues that the methodology for determining the minimum wage has not changed since the 1980s. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox rejects suggestions that the FWC does not give sufficient weight to the needs of low-paid workers, noting that the last two increases in the minimum wage were well above the inflation rate and average wage movements.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Lowest paid being in richest 20pc of households blunts wage-lift case

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 13-Mar-19

Analysis of data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey shows that 13.8 per cent of the nation’s lowest-paid workers are living in the wealthiest 20 per cent of households. In contrast, 13.6 per cent of people on the lowest incomes are living in the poorest 20 per cent of households. The director of the HILDA Survey, Professor Mark Wooden, notes that many people on low incomes are secondary earners working in small business or the self-employed, particularly in wealthier households. He has also questioned the merits of a ‘living wage’, as advocated by Labor leader Bill Shorten.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence tumbles to 109.5

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 13-Mar-19

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence fell 4.6% to 109.5 in the week ended 10 March. All the sub-indices were in the negative, with three components falling more than 5%. The decline has also resulted in the headline index and each sub-index closing below their long-run averages. Households’ views towards current financial conditions fell 2.9% and views toward future financial conditions fell 5.4%. Consumers’ views toward current economic conditions fell 7.9% and views toward future economic conditions declined by 5.4%. The ‘time to buy a household item’ index fell by 1.7%, after a decline of 2.1% in the previous reading.

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

Rate cuts, not supply, the key to house prices

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 12-Mar-19

Reserve Bank of Australia analysts Trent Saunders and Peter Tulip have concluded that monetary policy has the biggest impact on house prices and the level of construction activity. They argue that historically low interest rates have been the major driver of rising house prices in recent years, while factors such as construction costs and population growth have had a smaller impact. In contrast, RBA governor Philip Lowe recently suggested that housing supply has been the major influence on prices.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Labor fully committed to Hayne

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 12-Mar-19

Shadow financial services minister Clare O’Neil will use a Committee for Sydney speech on 12 March to reveal that Labor will reject only one recommendation in the Hayne royal commission’s final report if it wins the upcoming federal election. Labor has joined the Coalition in opposing the proposal to shift the cost of mortgage brokers’ fees from lenders to borrowers. Labor has previously only expressed in-principle support for many of Kenneth Hayne’s recommendations.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, COMMITTEE FOR SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Coal war: Joyce sparks showdown with Libs

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 12-Mar-19

National Party leader Michael McCormack has downplayed concerns about a potential leadership challenge amid growing tensions within the Coalition regarding energy policy. Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce has raised the prospect of ending the alliance with the Liberal Party after Prime Minister Scott Morrison ruled out federal government funding for new coal-fired power stations in Queensland. McCormack has rejected suggestions of a "coal war" within the Coalition.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE

Meghan Markle’s hope for her unborn child on International Women’s Day

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Original article by Pallavi Singhal
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 9-Mar-19

Meghan Markle has told an International Women’s Day panel at Kings College in London that she hopes her first child will be a feminist. The Duchess of Sussex is due to give birth in April. Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard was one of the other panel members, with Gillard saying her work with the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at Kings College is all about determining how to do away with the barriers that prevent women becoming leaders across all societies. Markle said many of the world’s problems can be solved by giving girls access to education.

CORPORATES
GLOBAL INSTITUTE FOR WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP

Celia Hammond wins Liberal preselection for Curtin

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Original article by Andrew Burrell
The Australian – Page: Online : 11-Mar-19

Former vice-chancellor of the University of Notre Dame Celia Hammond has been selected by the Liberal Party as its new candidate for the seat of Curtin. The seat is currently held by former foreign minister Julie Bishop, who is not standing again at the upcoming federal election. Foreign policy analyst Erin Watson-Lyn, who was being backed by moderate allies of Bishop, secured only one vote in the preselection. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has tweeted his congratulations to Hammond, who joined the Liberal Party in December.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME, LIBERAL PARTY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Industrial umpire fair game for Labor wage push

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: Online : 11-Mar-19

Opposition finance spokesman Jim Chalmers says Labor would "encourage" the Fair Work Commission to deliver a living wage for workers if it wins the next election. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann claims that Labor is guilty of falsehoods when it contends pushing up wages through the FWC would not lead to higher unemployment. The FWC is required by law to take into account various criteria when making its yearly minimum wage decisions; Labor has refused to state whether it would enact legislation to change this criteria, fearing an outcry from business.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, MINERAL COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Morrison government backs down on banning Milo Yiannopoulos in face of backlash

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Original article by Bevan Shields
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 9-Mar-19

Immigration Minister David Coleman will grant controversial right-wing speaker Milo Yiannopoulos a visa to undertake an Australian tour. This follows a backlash against a Home Affairs letter that outlined a number of reasons why Yiannopoulos would fail the character test that the federal government has previously used to ban a number of people from entering Australia. Sky News host Andrew Bolt has described the attempt to ban Yiannopoulos from entering Australia as "pathetic", while Labor immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann says Yiannopoulos "has no place in Australia".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY