O75 Public Administration

Dutton, Abbott top GetUp hit list

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Original article by Luke Griffiths
The Australian – Page: 4 : 17-Jan-19

GetUp has carried out an online poll in which respondents were asked to nominate three federal MPs who should be ousted from parliament at the next election due to their views on issues such as climate change and immigration. Peter Dutton attracted 22,028 votes, ahead of former prime minister Tony Abbott and George Christensen. Paul Oosting, the national director of GetUp, say the results of the poll will influence the activist group’s campaign strategy.

CORPORATES
GETUP LIMITED, EUROPEAN CLIMATE FOUNDATION

Shorten rounds on super fund duds

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Original article by Joanna Mather, John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 17-Jan-19

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has expressed some support for the Productivity Commission’s proposal to cull underperforming superannuation funds. He says super funds whose returns rank in the bottom quartile deserve to be culled, regardless of whether they are industry or retail funds. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has not ruled out making the Future Fund a default super fund, but he stresses that doing so is not on the government’s policy agenda at present.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY

FIRB gets tougher on China firms

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Original article by Angus Grigg
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 17-Jan-19

The Foreign Investment Review Board is now said to be subjecting most takeover bids by Chinese companies to scrutiny to ensure that they are in the national interest. Regulation of such takeovers was relaxed under the Australia-China free-trade agreement, with deals that are below a certain threshold being exempt from FIRB approval. However, sources have indicated that the policy shift has been prompted by the introduction of China’s National Intelligence Law, which has increased the central government’s influence over private companies.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF DEFENSE, HEALIUS LIMITED – ASX HLS, JANGHO GROUP, AUSGRID PTY LTD, STATE GRID CORPORATION OF CHINA, APA GROUP – ASX APA, CHEUNG KONG INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE LIMITED, FEDERATION OF GERMAN INDUSTRIES

Britain in worst crisis since WWII

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Original article by Jacquelin Magnay
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 17-Jan-19

British Prime Minister Theresa May is likely to face further no-confidence motions in parliament following the resounding defeat of her Brexit withdrawal bill. Some 118 Conservative Party MPs are among the 432 who voted against the bill, which was defeated by the highest margin of votes in the House of Commons’ history. Britain’s former education minister Justine Greening is among those who believe that a second Brexit referendum may be needed.

CORPORATES
GREAT BRITAIN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, CONSERVATIVE PARTY (GREAT BRITAIN), LABOUR PARTY (GREAT BRITAIN)

Kelty urges Shorten to stand up to dud funds

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Original article by Eryk Bagshaw
The Age – Page: 3 : 16-Jan-19

Former ACTU secretary Bill Kelty says Opposition leader Bill Shorten must be prepared to take action against underperforming industry superannuation funds if Labor wins the federal election. Kelty has also criticised the Productivity Commission’s proposal for a list of the 10 best-performing super funds, arguing that the focus should be on targeting the 10 biggest underperformers and removing them from the industry. Industry Super Australia chairman Greg Combet also supports a crackdown on chronic underperformers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, MERCER INVESTMENTS PTY LTD, MOTOR TRADES ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA SUPERANNUATION FUND PTY LTD, SUPERRATINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY

Labor backs FWC boss over new members

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 16-Jan-19

Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO James Pearson says the Fair Work Commission’s new deputy presidents should be given the same duties as their colleagues, including deciding cases. FWC president Iain Ross recently advised that the five Coalition appointees will initially only handle relatively minor matters such as conciliation work. Shadow employment minister Brendan O’Connor has supported Ross’s stance, but a spokesman for Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O’Dwyer says all FWC members should be involved in duties such as conciliation work.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS

Dividends paid early to beat ALP

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 16-Jan-19

Jason Steed of Morgan Stanley expects some listed companies to announce share buybacks and special dividends prior to the federal election, in order to avoid Labor’s proposed changes to the franking credits system. Mirrabooka Investments has already advised that its special dividend will be paid immediately rather than on 1 July, with CEO Mark Freeman attributing the move to uncertainty regarding Labor’s policy. Liberal MP Tim Wilson notes that many companies have told a parliamentary committee that they have changed their investment strategy in anticipation of Labor’s policy.

CORPORATES
MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MIRRABOOKA INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX MIR, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW

Punishing company tax regime on par with Third World

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Original article by David Uren, Chris Griffith
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 16-Jan-19

A new report from the OECD shows that France is the only developed nation with a higher company tax rate than Australia at present. However, the French government intends to reduce its corporate tax rate to 28 per cent, while the Coalition’s tax reform policy has been stalled in the Senate. The OECD report also notes that Costa Rica and Chile are the only countries in the world that have a higher tax rate on new business investment than Australia.

CORPORATES
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CURIOUS THINGS, MURU MUSIC

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rebounds to 116.8

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 16-Jan-19

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 1.4% to 116.8 in the week ended 13 January. Households’ views towards current financial conditions rose 2.8%, rebounding after three consecutive falls; future financial conditions registered a fifth consecutive increase, rising 2.0%. Consumers’ views toward current and future economic conditions fell 0.6% and 2.3% respectively. The ‘time to buy a household item’ sub-index rose 3.9%.

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

ALP’s tax plan hurts workers, says Frydenberg

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 4 : 15-Jan-19

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that low- and middle-income earners would bear the brunt of Labor’s proposed capital gains tax reforms. According to the ABS, some 194,000 middle-income earners had a capital gain in 2016, compared with just 70,635 people whose taxable income exceeded $180,000. The figures also show that middle-income earners made an average capital gains of $9,176, while the average capital gain for people on high incomes was $164,710.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY