O75 Public Administration

Labor says PM squibbed on Hayne

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

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has called for federal parliament to sit for an additional two weeks in March to allow some of the financial services royal commission’s recommendations to be enacted before the election. Meanwhile, Labor claims that the government has not fully committed to implementing 14 of the 76 recommendations outlined in the inquiry’s final report. Both Prime Minister Scott Morrison and predecessor Malcolm Turnbull have conceded that the inquiry should have begun much earlier.

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, AUSTRALIAN CONSUMERS’ ASSOCIATION

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence up to 118.1

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Feb-19

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 1.4% to 118.1 in the week ended 3 February, moving higher for the second week in a row. The gain has brought the index close to its highest level since early December. Households’ views towards current financial conditions rose 3.2%, and views towards future financial conditions gained 1.3%. Consumers’ views toward current and future economic conditions gained 0.9% and 1.4% respectively. The ‘time to buy a household item’ sub-index fell 0.3%, to its lowest level since October.

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

E-health record in need of overhaul

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Original article by Supratim Adhikari
The Australian – Page: 23 : 5-Feb-19

Head and neck surgeon Elizabeth Sigston does not believe that there should be any sharing of people’s medical records. Sigston says the $2 billion My Health Record system remains riddled with complexity, and she is very concerned about the proposed Data Sharing and Release Act, warning that it has the potential to override the Privacy Act. She says the risks associated with sharing data is most acute when it comes to genomic data, which the MHR is able to store. John Sutton of Armstrong Legal says there is no need for MHR data to be shared with third parties.

CORPORATES
ARMSTRONG LEGAL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH

Franking plan violates fair go tax principles: retirees

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Original article by Tim Boyd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 5-Feb-19

Retiree Bernard Shea has told a parliamentary committee that Labor’s proposal to abolish cash refunds for excess dividend imputation credits is in violation of "the pillars and basic principles of taxation". The inquiry was being held at the Merimbula RSL on the New South Wales south coast, with most submissions coming from retirees who are against the changes. Retiree Jon Gaul claimed that he would lose $6,000 a year if Labor’s policy is enacted, while Shea said the policy discriminates against self-managed superannuation funds.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS LIMITED

Criminal cases will take a decade to resolve

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Original article by Ben Butler
The Australian – Page: 5 : 5-Feb-19

The banking royal commission’s final report has recommended criminal charges against two unnamed financial institutions over the fee-for-no-service scandal. Commissioner Kenneth Hayne has also indicated that the Australian Securities & Investments Commission is considering charges against a third, while 15 financial institutions have been referred to ASIC and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority for further investigation. Professor Dimity Kingsford Smith from the University of New South Wales says it may take up to 10 years for all of the proposed criminal proceedings to be completed.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, IOOF HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX IFL, ALLIANZ AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TAL HOLDINGS, YOUI PTY LTD

Parties gear up for bank-bashing poll

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Original article by Ben Packham, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 6 : 5-Feb-19

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has indicated that the federal government will "act on" all 76 recommendations of the financial services royal commission’s final report. However, the limited number of scheduled parliamentary sittings prior to the election means the government will not have much scope to pursue legislative reforms in its current term in office. Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen says Labor will embrace all of commissioner Kenneth Hayne’s recommendation, and he has invited the Coalition to open a dialogue with Labor about reforms that can be implemented before the election.

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

Strike laws like apartheid: union boss

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 4-Feb-19

ACTU secretary Sally McManus claims that Australia has the most restrictive strike laws among developed nations. In a 100-page essay published by Melbourne University Press, she also likens Australia’s strike laws to the apartheid system in South Africa, the British Raj and racial segregation in the US. McManus also defends her 2017 comments in which she said it is acceptable to break unjust laws, while she criticises the trade union royal commission, privatisation and executive bonuses.

CORPORATES
ACTU, MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY PRESS, UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE AND DENTISTRY OF NEW JERSEY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Labor mulls NBN write-down trigger

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Original article by John Kehoe, Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 4-Feb-19

The Opposition’s communications spokeswoman Michelle Rowland says Labor has no plans at this stage to sell the NBN should it win the upcoming federal election. However, she says Labor has not ruled out a write-down of the NBN’s value. Such a strategy would reduce the NBN’s financial targets, which would allow it to reduce broadband wholesale charges to telcos such as Telstra and Optus, which in turn would potentially lead to lower prices for consumers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NBN CO LIMITED, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, STANDARD AND POOR’S (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, GILBERT AND TOBIN LAWYERS, TELSYTE PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

No mercy for unethical banks

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

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Labor leader Bill Shorten have both made an in-principle commitment to implement all of the financial services royal commission’s recommendations. However, Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg say that any regulatory changes arising from the inquiry’s recommendations need to be balanced to prevent a further tightening of access to credit. Federal Parliament’s limited number of sitting days before the election means that both major parties will take their responses to the inquiry to the electorate. The inquiry’s final report will be publicly released after financial markets close on 4 February.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS

Record employment in January driven by increasing full-time jobs

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Feb-19

A Roy Morgan survey shows that a record 12,397,000 Australians were employed in January 2019, up 161,000 over the past year. The increase in employment was driven by a solid increase in full-time employment of 212,000 (to 8,257,000); part-time employment was down 51,000 (to 4,140,000). The figures also show that 1,253,000 Australians (9.2% of the workforce) were unemployed in January (up 34,000 on a year ago), and the unemployment rate increased by 0.1%. In addition, 1,300,000 Australians (9.5% of the workforce) were under-employed, working part-time and looking for more work, a decrease of 71,000 in a year (down 0.7%). In total 2,553,000 Australians (18.7% of the workforce) were either unemployed or under-employed in January, a decrease of 37,000 in a year (down 0.6%). Roy Morgan’s real unemployment figure of 9.2% for January is significantly higher than the current ABS estimate for December 2018 of 5.0%. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says that despite steady economic growth over the past few years, analysing the employment trends shows that over 2 million Australians have been unemployed or underemployed for over seven years.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS