O75 Public Administration

ALP states to support Shorten if NEG revived

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 5 : 19-Sep-18

Queensland’s Energy Minister Anthony Lynham and Victorian counterpart Lily D’Ambrosio have indicated that they would back the national energy guarantee if Labor wins the next federal election. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten recently signalled that a Labor government would be open to adopting some aspects of the Coalition’s NEG. Lynham has also criticised the federal government’s lack of action regarding energy policy following its decision to abandon the NEG under new Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF ENERGY AND WATER SUPPLY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT, LAND, WATER AND PLANNING, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS

Technology’s part in the puzzle of why wages won’t rise

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Sep-18

The Reserve Bank still anticipates a gradual increase in wages growth, according to the minutes of its monthly board meeting. Meanwhile, independent economist Geoff Weir has suggested that the rate at which companies adopt new technologies is contributing to the low growth in wages. The central bank will publish a paper by Weir in which he notes that companies which act more quickly to embrace new technologies tend to enjoy higher productivity and profits, with some of these gains being passed on to employees via wage rises.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Union laws facing Senate stumbling block

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Sep-18

The crossbenchers may determine the fate of the federal government’s Ensuring Integrity Bill, which will be put to the Senate on 19 September. Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick says the party may support the bill, although this would be conditional on certain amendments. Other independent senators are also still considering their stance on the bill, although Tim Storer has ruled out supporting it. He is particularly concerned about the provisions that allow union officials to be disqualified for misconduct, noting that the sanctions are tougher than those for company directors under the Corporations Act.

CORPORATES
CENTRE ALLIANCE, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATIVES, UNITED AUSTRALIA PARTY, ONE NATION PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

RBA warns over trade war fallout

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Original article by David Uren, Cameron Stewart, Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 19-Sep-18

President Donald Trump has vowed to escalate the trade war with China, after announcing that the US will impose a tariff of 10 per cent on $US200bn worth of Chinese goods from 24 September. This will rise to 25 per cent on 1 January. The minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest board meeting show that the central bank is concerned about the potential impact of the trade war on the Australian economy. Modelling by KPMG indicates that the Trump administration’s new round of tariff hikes would cut Australia’s GDP by about 0.3 per cent by the early 2020s.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CHINA. MINISTRY OF COMMERCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY. UNITED STATES STUDIES CENTRE

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence bounces to 118.0

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 19-Sep-18

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 1.5% to 118.0 in the week ended 16 September, more than reversing the prior week’s 1.3% fall. Households’ views towards current financial conditions improved 3.7%, partially reversing the 4.8% fall in the previous week. Sentiment towards future financial conditions fell 0.4% following three straight weekly rises. Households were a touch less optimistic about current economic conditions (down 1.2%), although sentiment towards future conditions improved by 3.3%. The "time to buy a household item" subindex reversed its 2.3% decline in the previous week to remain unchanged over a two-week period.

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

Legal test looms over Qantas’ bonus bribes

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Original article by Patrick Hatch
The Age – Page: 21 : 18-Sep-18

The Fair Work Commission may be asked to rule on the validity of its cash performance bonus scheme. The airline’s employees will be eligible for a cash bonus of $2,000 provided they sign a new enterprise bargaining agreement. Unions have expressed concern about a provision of the scheme which excludes all employees in a work group from receiving the bonus if one or more of them engages in conduct that causes harm to the airline. Unions believe that this may breach workplace laws, as the "harm" caused could potentially be interpreted to include protected industrial action.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

Dole rise costly, good for economy

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 2 : 18-Sep-18

Chris Richardson of Deloitte Access Economics notes that Australia has one of the highest minimum wage rates in the world, yet its unemployment benefits are among the lowest. Modelling undertaken by Deloitte on behalf of the Australian Council of Social Service has concluded that increasing the Newstart payment by $75 per week would boost the economy by around $A4bn overall, despite an initial cost to the Budget of $3.3bn a year. The Newstart payment has not changed in two decades when accounting for inflation.

CORPORATES
DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE

Wage rises outpacing living costs

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 18-Sep-18

Labour market economist Mark Wooden says that Australia has recorded 31 per cent growth in wages over the last decade, while inflation has increased by just 22 per cent over this period. The director of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics Australia survey notes that the cost of living has not increased significantly in the last year, with big rises in the cost of petrol and electricity being offset by lower prices for some consumer goods. Professor Wooden adds that the HILDA data shows that income inequality has eased slightly in recent years. The HILDA survey is conducted by the University of Melbourne with interviewing conducted by Roy Morgan.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Independent’s shot at Turnbull’s old seat a gift that will keep on giving for Labor

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Original article by Deborah Cornwall
The Australian – Page: 4 & 5 : 17-Sep-18

Former Australian Medical Association president Kerryn Phelps intends to finance her by-election campaign in the federal seat of Wentworth solely via crowdfunding and volunteers. Phelps says the major political parties’ lack of action on issues such as health care and climate change prompted her to contest the seat as an independent candidate. A senior Labor source has conceded that the party has little chance of winning Malcolm Turnbull’s former seat, but notes that Phelps’ decision to run will force the Liberal Party to commit financial resources to the by-election campaign.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Previously NEGative, Shorten attacked for reviving dead policy

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 4 : 17-Sep-18

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has criticised Opposition Leader Bill Shorten for signalling that Labor could potentially implement a policy that is similar to the national ­energy guarantee if it wins the next federal election. Frydenberg says Shorten is merely playing politics with regard to energy policy and is not concerned about reducing electricity prices. The NEG included a carbon emissions reduction target of just 26 per cent, compared with Labor’s proposed target of 45 per cent. Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman says the Labor target is "ridiculous" and would destroy the economy.

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