O75 Public Administration

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence up to 121.5

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

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 1.2% to 121.5 in the week ended 15 July, following four straight weekly declines. Consumers’ views towards current financial conditions rose 1.5%, partially recovering from the 2.7% decline in the previous week. Sentiment around future financial conditions rose 0.5% on the back of a 1.5% rise in the previous week. Households’ assessment of current economic conditions was broadly flat (0.2%), following a solid 2.7% rise previously. Consumers’ views towards future economic conditions improved 1.2%. Both subindices sit above their long-term averages. The "time to buy a household item" subindex bounced 2.4%.

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

Shorten’s fair-pay pledge to workers

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 17-Jul-18

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will use an ACTU Congress speech on 17 July to press his industrial relations credentials. He will commit to legislating to ensure that labour-hire firms face prosecution for underpaying their staff. Shorten will argue that such workers should receive the same wages and conditions as directly-employed colleagues who are covered by an enterprise agreement. The Australian Industry Group says Shorten’s proposal would reduce workplace flexibility and make local businesses less competitive.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN

Keep coal burning for long term

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 17-Jul-18

The Australian Energy Market Operator has urged against the premature closure of coal-fired power stations, saying they should remain operating for as long as possible before being replaced by renewable energy sources. AEMO stated that this will ensure stability in the national energy market, as well as providing energy at low cost. AEMO notes that 30 per cent of the NEM’s current coal resources are due to reach the end of their technical life within the next two decades. The federal government will try to convince the states and territories to adopt its National Energy Guarantee at a meeting of the Council of Australian Governments’ energy council in August.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Shorten’s secret vow on health cap

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 16-Jul-18

Labor has previously announced plans to impose a two per cent cap on health insurance premium increases. However, Opposition leader Bill Shorten is understood to have told the Members Health Fund Alliance – which represents 23 small funds that cover 1.7 million Australians – that its members would not be affected by the proposed cap. Labor sources have indicated that the cap is aimed more at larger health insurance providers, and that imposing it on smaller providers would lead to more consolidation in the sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MEMBERS HEALTH FUNDS ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, PRIVATE HEALTHCARE AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Tough vetting cuts migrants

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 13-Jul-18

Australia’s permanent migrant intake fell by over 21,000 to just 162,417 in 2017-18, according to the Department of Home Affairs. The decline has been attributed to more stringent vetting measures imposed by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, with the annual migrant intake falling to its lowest since 2007-08. Dutton says he wants Australia’s migrant intake to focus on quality and integrity, rather than on what he calls Labor’s "slavish drive for quantity".

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

Trump warning shocks NATO

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Original article by Jacquelin Magnay
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 13-Jul-18

Members of NATO have agreed to increase their defence spending to two per cent of GDP more quickly than the current target of 2024 after US President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw from the alliance unless they did so. Trump has also signalled that he will push for NATO member countries to eventually increase their defence expenditure to four per cent of GDP. Trump has stressed that the US remains committed to NATO, and he has suggested that he probably would not need approval from Congress to withdraw the US from the alliance.

CORPORATES
NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANISATION, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE

Extensive raids reveal wage theft

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Original article by Anna Patty
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 11 : 12-Jul-18

An investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman has found a high incidence of wage exploitation in the Illawarra region of New South Wales. The FWO raided businesses across the region in the wake of revelations by "The Sydney Morning Herald" that workers – including university students – were being underpaid. The FWO probe also found that many businesses have failed to comply with record-keeping requirements.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG

Brace for serious trade consequences

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal, Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 17 & 27 : 12-Jul-18

Grant Wardell-Johnson of KPMG says the latest move by the US to increase tariffs on Chinese imports has much greater implications for the Australian economy than the first round of tariffs. The Trump administration has signalled that it intends to subject some $US200bn worth of Chinese imports to a tariff of 10 per cent; Wardell-Jones says this would mean that tariffs would apply to nearly 50 per cent of US goods imported from China. Joseph Capurso of the Commonwealth Bank says the Australian economy would be unlikely to be hard hit by an expanded US-China trade war, arguing that relatively little of what Australia exports to China subsequently makes its way to the US market.

CORPORATES
KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, CITIGROUP INCORPORATED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CHINA. MINISTRY OF COMMERCE, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Tax over-claimers gouge $8.7bn

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 2 : 12-Jul-18

The Australian Taxation Office will seek to recover more than $A1bn worth of tax liabilities over the next four years, according to second commissioner Neil Olesen. Analysis shows that the Federal Government lost $8.7bn in tax revenue in 2014-15 as a result of individuals failing to comply with their tax obligations. In contrast, it is estimated that forgone tax revenue from companies was just $2.5bn.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, THE TAX INSTITUTE, CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

Coal stays in energy fix

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Original article by Andrew Tillett, Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 12-Jul-18

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has made 56 recommendations in the final report of its investigation into retail energy pricing. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has indicated that the Federal Government may support the ACCC’s recommendation that the cost of new dispatchable electricity generation be subsidised by taxpayers. This could potentially include coal-fired power stations. Other recommendations include replacing electricity retailer’s standing offers with default offers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ENERGY SECURITY BOARD, QUEENSLAND MEDIA CLUB, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT, LAND, WATER AND PLANNING