O75 Public Administration

Labor trade-off over pattern bargaining

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 11-Dec-18

Industrial relations is likely to be a key issue on the agenda at Labor’s upcoming national conference. Labor sources have indicated that the party is set to reinstate pattern bargaining as part of its industrial relations platform. However, Labor is expected to restrict pattern bargaining to workers in sectors that have low wages, such as childcare and cleaning. The ACTU is leading a union push for pattern bargaining to be allowed across all industries. Labor’s policies on free trade and asylum seekers are also expected to attract debate at the national conference.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA)

Tax cash flow instead of profit, say economists

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 10-Dec-18

Leading economists Ross Garnaut and Craig Emerson have proposed a major overhaul of the corporate tax system. They have proposed taxing a company’s cash flow rather than its profits, arguing amongst other things that this would result in increased tax revenue at a lower rate and result in a more level playing field between small companies and multinationals. They add that it would also result in increased investment and reduce the incidence of tax avoidance via profit-shifting.

CORPORATES
APPLE INCORPORATED, CHEVRON CORPORATION, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE, VICTORIA UNIVERSITY, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Threat to good times, says OECD

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 10-Dec-18

A new report from the OECD concludes that Australia’s housing market is likely to experience a soft landing. However, the OECD notes that the nation’s 27-year record of economic growth would be at risk if there is a hard landing in the property market. The international agency expects Australia to record economic growth of 3.1 per cent in 2018 and 2.9 per cent in 2019, although these forecasts were made prior to the release of the latest national accounts data.

CORPORATES
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Shorten allows encryption laws to pass

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Original article by Primrose Riordan, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 6 : 7-Dec-18

The federal government’s encryption laws were passed by the Senate on 6 December, after Labor withdrew proposed amendments to the bill. The legislation will provide security agencies with improved access to encrypted data messages, thereby boosting their attempts to combat terrorism attacks while making it easier to pursue organised crime gangs and paedophiles. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Labor hopes to get the government to agree to adopt its proposed amendments in the 2019 parliamentary year.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION

New industrial relations laws to simplify bargaining

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 7-Dec-18

Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O’Dwyer says amendments to the Fair Work Act will enable new enterprise bargaining agreements to take effect sooner. The Four Yearly Review and Other Measures Bill will allow the Fair Work Commission to ignore minor technical errors when approving EBAs. Unions had previously seized on such errors to block EBAs that they opposed. The FWC will also no longer be required to review modern awards every four years, a move that had the support of both unions and employers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, RETAIL AND FAST FOOD WORKERS UNION INCORPORATED, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

PM’s big stick to be stuck in Senate

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Original article by Greg Bright
The Australian – Page: 6 : 7-Dec-18

The Senate’s standing committee on economics will examine the federal government’s bill to force electricity retailers to divest assets after Labor referred it to the upper house. The lower house debated the bill on 6 December, before parliament rose for the year, but further debate will not be possible until early April as the committee is not slated to report on the bill until 18 March. Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has accused the government of trying to push the bill through the lower house with no scrutiny and minimal debate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS

Unemployment in November is 9.5% and under-employment is 7.7%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Dec-18

A Roy Morgan survey shows that 12,294,000 Australians were employed in November 2018, up 408,000 over the past year. The increase in employment was evenly shared, with part-time employment rising by 217,000 to 4,184,000 and full-time employment rising by 191,000 to 8,110,000. The figures also show that 1,291,000 Australians (9.5% of the workforce) were unemployed in November, virtually unchanged on a year ago but with the unemployment rate down by 0.3% due to growth in the workforce. In addition, 1,042,000 Australians (7.7% of the workforce) were under-employed, working part-time and looking for more work, a decrease of 64,000 in a year (down 0.7%). This is the lowest level of under-employment since September 2016. In total 2,333,000 Australians (17.2% of the workforce) were either unemployed or under-employed in November, a decrease of 61,000 in a year (down 1%). Roy Morgan’s real unemployment figure of 9.5% for November remains substantially higher than the current ABS estimate for October of 5.0%. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the strong growth in employment appears to be directly related to the growth in the overall Australian workforce, with the level of unemployment virtually unchanged from a year ago.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Defeated Lib urged to take Kroger role

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 8 : 6-Dec-18

Robert Clark and Marcia Coleman are tipped to be contenders to succeed Michael Kroger as president of the Liberal Party of Victoria. There is also support within the party for John Pesutto to nominate for the presidency, after he lost the seat of Hawthorn at the state election. The former shadow attorney-general has indicated that he may also be open to taking up a seat in the upper house. Meanwhile, Michael O’Brien is widely expected to be elected as Liberal leader at a partyroom meeting on 6 December.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF VICTORIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Full cost to party laid bare as counting ends

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 8 : 6-Dec-18

The Liberal and National parties will have just 28 seats in Victoria’s lower house in the state’s new parliament, compared with 37 prior to the election. Labor will have 56 seats in the Legislative Assembly after gaining 10 seats in the election rout, while the Greens will have three seats. Meanwhile, Labor is expected to have 18 seats in the upper house, with the Liberal Party set to have nine and crossbenchers to have up to 10 seats.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF VICTORIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, JUSTICE PARTY, REASON PARTY, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, SUSTAINABLE AUSTRALIA PARTY, ANIMAL JUSTICE PARTY, AUSSIE BATTLER PARTY

One-year delay likely for negative gearing changes

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 6-Dec-18

It is unlikely that Labor would be able to legislate its proposed negative gearing reforms in time for the start of the 2019-20 financial year if it wins the next federal election. The poll is tipped to be held on 11 or 18 May 2019, which would give a Labor government just six weeks to enact its reforms for them to take effect on 1 July. This means the reforms would most likely take effect in July 2020, although a Labor source has raised the possibility that the legislation could be backdated if it is passed after 1 July.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CENTRE ALLIANCE, ONE NATION PARTY