O75 Public Administration

Inequality flatlines in Australia

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 8 : 1-Mar-19

The OECD contends that there has been no increase in inequality in Australia in the last 15 years, which is at odds with Labor’s claim that inequality is rising. The OECD states that the income of the poorest 20 per cent of the population has risen the most since 2001, while middle-income earners have seen the lowest increase in income. It suggests that this is because workers in this income bracket are most vulnerable to automation. The OECD’s study was based on the Melbourne Institute’s Household Income and Labor Dynamics (HILDA) survey, with the OECD stating that income inequality in Australia is above the OECD average.

CORPORATES
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH

Call for rethink on work sex claims

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 28-Feb-19

The ACTU and the Australian Council of Social Service are among the groups that have urged changes to the Fair Work Act to allow complaints about sexual harassment in the workplace to be heard by the Fair Work Commission. The joint submission to the national inquiry into workplace sexual harassment contends that the current system is flawed and can result in complainants being victimised again when their case heard in court.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE, FEDERATION OF COMMUNITY LEGAL CENTRES

PM’s energy free-for-all bid criticised

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 28-Feb-19

The federal government has announced $3.5bn worth of funding for initiatives in the energy sector in recent days. Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on 27 February that the government will underwrite three Tasmanian pumped hydro projects in 2021 if feasibility studies conclude that they are economically viable. However, several energy industry executives have criticised the government, accusing it of political ‘pork barrelling’ ahead of the election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, SNOWY HYDRO LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Shipping victims win huge payouts

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 28-Feb-19

Teekay Shipping has confirmed that it has retrenched the last crewmembers of two bulk carriers that had been chartered to ship iron ore from BHP’s mines in the Pilbara to BlueScope’s Port Kembla steelworks. Teekay is believed to have paid 51 workers more than $9m in redundancy payments on 7 February, with each worker receiving an average of $176,000. The ships were the last two iron ore vessels operating in Australian waters that were manned by local crews. Labor has flagged plans to re-regulate the shipping industry to protect local jobs.

CORPORATES
TEEKAY SHIPPING CORPORATION, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF MARINE AND POWER ENGINEERS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

BCA has had a gutful of politics

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Feb-19

Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott has urged both sides of federal politics to cease their attacks on the business sector and focus on policies to stimulate the economy and wages. She is particularly critical of the government’s proposal to force energy companies to divest assets if they fail to reduce electricity prices, arguing that it will deter investment in Australia and will doing little to provide price relief. Westacott has also criticised Labor’s proposed banking industry reforms in response to the Hayne royal commission.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Housing slide threatens surplus hopes

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 28-Feb-19

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that construction activity fell by a higher-than-expected 3.1 per cent nationwide in the December quarter, with housing construction falling by 3.6 per cent. The decline in construction work is likely to weigh on GDP growth for the quarter, which may in turn affect economic forecasts in the federal government’s April 2019 Budget. Growth forecasts had already been scaled back in the mid-year Budget update.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Santos CEO comes out firing on Narrabri

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 27-Feb-19

New South Wales Opposition Leader Michael Daley says Labor will block Santos’s proposed Narrabri coal seam gas project if it wins the state election on 23 March. He has warned that the $3bn project presents an "unacceptable risk" to water resources, farming and indigenous communities. Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher has stressed that protecting the environment and water resources is a priority for the oil and gas group. He adds that failure to develop the state’s gas resources will result in higher gas and electricity prices, as well as the loss of manufacturing jobs and investment in the state.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

PM pumps hydro before coal power

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey, Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 27-Feb-19

Power industry executives have questioned the merits of the Snowy Hydro expansion program, arguing that it may deter alternative investment in new power generation capacity before Snowy 2.0 is completed. Some have also suggested that a nuclear power station or up to six coal-fired power stations could have been built for the same cost as the Snowy upgrade, which is slated to be between $3.8bn and $4.5bn in total. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated that the federal government may underwrite a pumped hydro project in Tasmania.

CORPORATES
SNOWY HYDRO LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, SUNSET POWER INTERNATIONAL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, TRANSGRID, AUSNET SERVICES LIMITED – ASX AST, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence down to 114.1

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 27-Feb-19

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence fell 1.0% to 114.1 in the week ended 24 February, retracing the previous week’s gain, although it remains above the long-run average by some margin. Households’ views towards current financial conditions fell 0.9%, while views toward future financial conditions declined 5.3%. However, this only took the latter down to around the long-run average. Consumers’ views toward current economic conditions fell 1.6%, but future economic conditions gained 0.5%. The ‘time to buy a household item’ index moved higher for the second week, gaining 2.9%.

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

Cardinal George Pell found guilty of sex assaults on choirboys

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Lucie Morris-Marr
The New Daily – Page: Online : 27-Feb-19

Lawyers representing Cardinal George Pell say he will appeal against his conviction on child sexual assault charges. A jury found Pell guilty of five charges of sexually abusing two choirboys at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne in 1996 and 1997. The verdict was handed down on 11 December, but a suppression order prevented the media from reporting on the case until 26 February, when separate charges of sexual abuse were dropped. It has also been revealed that Pell’s conviction in December was preceded by a previous trial in September, but the jury was dismissed after failing to reach a unanimous verdict.

CORPORATES
CATHOLIC CHURCH, COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA