O75 Public Administration

Distrust driving rise in minor party vote

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Original article by Laura Tingle
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 13-Mar-18

The proportion of votes received by minor political parties in Australia has continued to increase in recent years, according to a study by the Grattan Institute. The study contends that if the major parties want to reverse this trend they need to come up with policies that help to restore voters’ trust in government, rather than resort to populist policies. The Grattan Institute notes that while an increase in support for minor parties overseas has tended to coincide with economic problems, this has not been the case in Australia.

CORPORATES
GRATTAN INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY, NICK XENOPHON TEAM

BCA seeks end to states’ green energy targets

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 13-Mar-18

The Business Council of Australia has called on business to get behind the Federal Government’s proposed National Energy Guarantee. It has also urged state and territory governments to abandon their renewable energy targets, claiming that they will undermine the NEG and increase energy prices. The BCA notes that the NEG must be sufficiently flexible to allow energy retailers to be in compliance with carbon emission requirements. Smaller retailers are worried that the NEG will increase power prices, and that it will help larger retailers to further increase their market dominance.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. ENERGY SECURITY BOARD

Labor to cut dividends cash refund

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 13-Mar-18

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will unwind changes to the dividend imputation system that were introduced by the Coalition in 2000 if Labor wins the next federal election. The move would affect around 1.2 million taxpayers and about 200,000 members of self-managed superannuation funds, who would no longer be entitled to receive a cash refund for excess dividend imputation credits. Shorten has emphasised that nobody will pay more tax as a result of the changes, while Australians will still be able to reduce their tax via dividend imputation. The policy is forecast to boost government revenue by $A59bn over the next decade.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE

Unions in push for $50-a-week minimum pay rise

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 13-Mar-18

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says the ACTU’s proposal for a 7.2 per cent increase in the minimum wage would result in fewer job opportunities for the unemployed and underemployed, while people on low incomes would have less job security. He has urged the Fair Work Commission to limit the 2018 increase in the minimum wage to 1.8 per cent, which equates to $A12.50 a week. The Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry in turn supports a 1.9 per cent increase, or $A13.20 a week. The FWC approved a 3.3 per cent rise in the minimum wage in 2017.

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

Union blitz on work laws

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Original article by Ben Schneiders
The Sunday Age – Page: 4 : 11-Mar-18

The ACTU will launch an eight-week advertising campaign on 11 March, aimed at getting Australia’s workplace laws changed through the election of a federal Labor government. The ACTU’s advertisements hit out at big business, and depict workers complaining about lack of work security and struggling to pay their bills. Employer groups contend that current workplace laws give too much power to unions as it is. The ACTU’s campaign is its biggest since its anti-Work Choices campaign against the Howard government between 2005 and 2007, on which it spent $A14.4 million.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Donald Trump takes to Twitter to confirm Aussie tariff exemption

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Original article by Karen Sweeney
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 12-Mar-18

The US and Australia are looking at ways to exempt Australia from proposed tariffs on steel and aluminium. President Donald Trump has used Twitter to confirm he and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull are in discussions along these lines. The US is planning to impose 25 per cent tariffs on steel and 10 per cent tariffs on aluminium. Innes Willox, the CEO of the Australian Industry Group, while welcoming the possibility of exemptions, noted they would only apply to shipments from Australia, and not from shipments from Australian firms in other markets. See below for Trump’s tweet.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Business Confidence in 2018 driven by larger businesses

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Mar-18

In Australia, Business Confidence declined 3.5pts (-5.2%) to 120.0 in February 2018, according to the latest Roy Morgan Business Single Source survey. However, despite the month-on-month fall, Business Confidence has begun 2018 with the best two-month performance since 2014 – driven largely by businesses with an annual turnover of $5 million or more. A clear majority of businesses, 56.1% (up 0.8ppts), say now is a ‘good time to invest’ in growing the business, while February Roy Morgan Business Confidence remains just above the weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence, which is at 119.0 on March 3/4, 2018.

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

Australians back at work in February, full-time employment hits record

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Mar-18

A Roy Morgan survey shows 1.31 million Australians were unemployed in February (9.7% of the workforce); an increase of 57,000 (up 0.3%) on a year ago. In addition 1.21 million Australians (10.2% of the workforce) are now under-employed, working part-time and looking for more work, a rise of 73,000 in a year (up 0.4%). The same survey also showed that 12,228,000 Australians were employed in February – an increase of 133,000 over the past year equal to an average of just over 10,000 jobs added per month. The increase in employment year on year was driven entirely by an increase in full-time employment which rose 249,000 to a record high 8,153,000 while part-time employment fell 116,000 to 4,075,000. Roy Morgan real unemployment figures of 9.7% for February are substantially higher than the current ABS estimate for January 2018 of 5.5%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Turnbull’s NEG may be dire for energy market

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Original article by Mark Ludlow, Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 9-Mar-18

The CEOs of 10 small electricity retailers have warned that the Federal Government’s proposed National Energy Guarantee could result in higher electricity prices. They have cautioned the Energy Security Board against making significant changes to the energy system, noting that an additional 3,800 megawatts of low-emissions electricity will become available in the next several years and a further 40,000 megawatts has been proposed. ERM Power’s founder Trevor St Baker also warns that the NEG could increase the market power of the three largest electricity retailers, which also generate electricity.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ENERGY SECURITY BOARD, ERM POWER LIMITED – ASX EPW, 1ST ENERGY, COVAU, LOCALITY PLANNING ENERGY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LPE, ENERGY LOCALS, CLICK ENERGY, WINCONNECT, NEXT BUSINESS ENERGY, GLOBIRD, BLUENERGY GROUP LIMITED, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, CLIMATE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, GRATTAN INSTITUTE

Trade balance back in the black

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 6 : 9-Mar-18

Australia posted a trade surplus of $A1.1bn in January 2018, following a deficit in December. The trade figures were bolstered by growing demand in Asia for the nation’s resources commodities, and Asia’s share of Australia’s overall exports has risen from 61 per cent to 75 per cent over the last decade. In contrast, the US now accounts for less than four per cent of Australia’s exports. Meanwhile, China recorded a trade surplus of $US34bn in January, while the US posted a deficit of $US57bn.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED