O75 Public Administration

Iron and coal to deliver surprise budget bonanza

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 6 : 12-Feb-19

Federal government revenue will be boosted by the recent rally in the prices of Australia’s key export commodities. The mid-year budget update had forecast that the iron ore price would average $US55 per tonne in the first half of 2019, but it is widely tipped to reach $US100/tonne in coming days. The price of coking coal also remains well above the budget update’s forecast. Chris Richardson of Deloitte Access Economics expects the government to use the revenue gains to provide cash hand-outs in the April 2019 Budget.

CORPORATES
DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Shorten in backdown on borders

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

Labor’s caucus has approved key amendments to legislation initiated by independent MP Kerryn Phelps regarding the medical transfer of asylum-seekers from offshore processing centres to Australia. The amendments seek to give more ministerial control over doctor-directed transfers. However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ruled out any prospect of the Coalition supporting the amended legislation, claiming that it will compromise the ability of the government to control who comes to Australia. Greens MP Adam Bandt claims that Labor is again "caving in" on the issue of refugees.

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

Compromise to end conflicted remuneration

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 11-Feb-19

The final report of the banking royal commission recommended an end to the grandfathering of conflicted remuneration payments as soon as reasonably practical. Labor wants to see an immediate end to such payments, while the federal government has called for them to end in January 2021. Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick has put forward a compromise plan that would see conflicted remuneration payments end on 1 July 2020. Labor expected to support his proposal in the Senate on 12 February.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

NAB in turmoil as duo exit

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis, Ben Butler
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 8-Feb-19

Phil Chronican will become acting CEO of National Australia Bank after Andrew Thorburn advised that he will step down on 28 February. Chairman Ken Henry will also step down when a permanent CEO is appointed. Thorburn and Henry in particular had attracted criticism in the financial services royal commission’s final report over their reluctance to accept responsibility for the misconduct that was exposed by the inquiry. Some fund managers expect NAB to choose an external candidate to replace Thorburn, although Mike Baird and Anthony Healy are said to be among the internal contenders.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, COMMONWEALTH AGRICULTURAL BUREAU INTERNATIONAL, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SUPERANNUATION INVESTORS INCORPORATED, THE HUMAN GROUP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Phelps bill a security risk: ASIO

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 7-Feb-19

The federal government has received advice from intelligence agencies that a bill to allow asylum seekers to be transferred to Australia for medical treatment would undermine its border protection policy. The classified briefing warns that the offshore processing of asylum-seekers would be in doubt if the bill proposed by independent MP Kerryn Phelps is passed. Labor and the Greens intend to support the bill, while Bob Katter is the only independent MP to have declared his intention to vote against it.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, AUSTRALIAN BORDER FORCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Energy chief lashes dangerous bill

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 7-Feb-19

A Senate committee has been told that a bill to force the divestment of energy assets would create greater uncertainty in the electricity sector. EnergyAustralia MD Catherine Tanna has told the committee that the bill was poorly drafted and there had been insufficient consultation. Frontier Economics has warned of the proposed divestment powers’ impact on investment in the electricity sector. However, others have argued that the reforms are necessary to curb the market power of large vertically integrated electricity suppliers.

CORPORATES
ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FRONTIER ECONOMICS PTY LTD, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR, SIMEC ENERGY

Incomes lagging rise in cost of living

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 4 : 7-Feb-19

The Australian National University’s Centre for Social Research & Methods estimates that household income has increased by 8.5 per cent over the last three years. However, the increase in the cost of living over this period means that real income per person has fallen by 2.9 per cent. The analysis also shows that so-called bracket creep saw personal income tax payments rise by 20 per cent to $57.4bn over the three years to 2018, while total disposable income increased by just 7.1 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY. CENTRE FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH AND METHODS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Morrison faces recall push over proposals

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 7-Feb-19

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says the federal government must begin implementing the recommendations of the financial services royal commission’s final report prior to the upcoming election. Labor will seek the support of lower house crossbenchers for a motion to recall parliament for an additional two weeks in March, with a view to legislating some of commissioner Kenneth Hayne’s recommendations. Shorten says that unless action is seen to be taken quickly, the general public will believe that the misconduct exposed by the inquiry will be allowed to continue.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Housing bust, lower wages hit retail sales

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 2 : 6-Feb-19

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that retail sales fell by 0.4 per cent in December, while sales grew by just 0.1 per cent in the December quarter. The figures also show that Western Australia is the only state that did not experience a decline in retail sales during December. Gareth Aird of the Commonwealth Bank says consumer spending is being affected by the downturn in the housing market. He notes that this is particular evident in New South Wales, where house prices have fallen the most and retail sales were down 1.1 per cent in the December quarter.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Prosecutors told to push the envelope

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Original article by James Frost, Liz Main
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 6-Feb-19

The fees-for-no-service scandal has cost Australia’s four major banks and wealth manager AMP more than $2bn to date. They may also face prosecution under section 1041G of the Corporations Act, after the final report of the financial services royal commission recommended that ASIC should expand its existing probe into potential breaches of this section to include more companies. This is in addition to a recommendation by commissioner Kenneth Hayne that 24 cases of misconduct should be referred for potential civil or criminal action.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, IOOF HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX IFL, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GROUP LIMITED