O75 Public Administration

Backdown on radical wage plan

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 20-Feb-18

A future Labor government may require the Fair Work Commission to give greater consideration to the needs of people on low wages when deciding on increases in the minimum wage. At present the FWC is also required to take into account a range of economic factors, and Stephen Smith of the Australian Industry Group says the potential change outlined by the Opposition’s workplace relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor could result in many people on low wages losing their jobs. Labor had previously proposed setting the minimum wage at a proportion of the median wage.

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

Plans to cut company tax responsible – Morrison

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 19-Feb-18

Treasurer Scott Morrison has downplayed concerns expressed by Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe about the potential impact of the Federal Government’s proposed company tax cuts. Morrison has stressed that Budget projections have already taken into account the long-term effect of the tax cuts, adding that the Government will not implement any policies that could threaten its timetable for returning the Budget to surplus. The Government also wants to include personal income tax cuts in the May 2018 Budget, again without risking the target date for a surplus.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY, BIRINYI ASSOCIATES, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX

Reducing taxation and improving health benefits are major issues

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

A special Roy Morgan SMS survey, which was carried out from 9-12 February, shows that 22% of Australian electors mentioned Taxation issues, including lower taxes and tax reform, as the leading issue the Federal Government could address that would most benefit electors and their families. This is unchanged since the last time this question was asked in May 2010. A further 17% of electors mention Health issues, including private health insurance and Medicare/bulk billing (down 1% from May 2010), and an unchanged 13% mention Social welfare and the aged. Two issues now mentioned by 12% of electors are Quality of government/politicians and Reducing utilities/electricity/gas prices. Analysis of issues by voting intention shows that L-NP supporters (33%) are far more likely to mention Taxation-related issues than ALP supporters (24%). In contrast, ALP supporters (11%) are more concerned with general health issues than L-NP supporters (5%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Shorten’s policies shrink small businesses

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Original article by Craig Laundry
The Daily Telegraph – Page: 64 : 16-Feb-18

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has outlined plans to tie the minimum wage to 60 per cent of the median wage. As well as potentially putting up to one million small companies out of business, his plan is one similar to that rejected by the Fair Work Commission in 2017, with the FWC being an independent body that Shorten himself helped to set up. Australia already has the second-highest minimum wage in the OECD, with 3.3 per cent increase in 2017 being the largest since 2011. Australian small businesses provide 4.7 million jobs, and account for $A378 billion in outputs; Shorten’s plan would spell disaster for the sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE

Low oil stocks a danger to security

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 16-Feb-18

Australia’s emergency oil supply fell to its lowest level in ­almost 20 years during 2017, according to the International Energy Agency. Andrew Hastie, the head of the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security, says the issue of low emergency oil supplies presents a threat to national security. All IEA members are required to maintain the equivalent of 90 days of net imports as emergency stocks, but the IEA noted that Australia failed to have end-of-month levels at this threshold in all but one month over the five years to the end of 2017.

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIA. JOINT PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY

ABS data shows full-time employment down 50,000 in a month as part-time jobs surge – a real problem!

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 16-Feb-18

Full-time employment fell nearly 50,000 in January according to the ABS employment figures released yesterday and confirm the longer-term trend revealed by the Roy Morgan January employment figures released a week ago. Increases in part-time employment which could mean working anywhere between 1-30 hours per week are driving employment growth at the expense of full-time jobs. As Roy Morgan first revealed last week: "The increase in employment over the past year was driven entirely by an increase in part-time employment which rose 156,000 to 4,191,000 while full-time employment fell 40,000 to 8,045,000".

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Joyce humiliated as PM imposes sex ban

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Geoff Chambers, Dennis Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 16-Feb-18

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has responded to the growing crisis over Barnaby Joyce’s extra-marital affair by announcing that it is not acceptable for a government minister to have sexual relations with a staffer. The ban was imposed after the issue was discussed by the Coalition’s leadership group. Turnbull has also urged Joyce to consider his position, but some Nationals MPs say the party’s leadership issue is solely a matter for the Nationals. Joyce will take personal leave during Turnbull’s upcoming visit to the US, and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann will be acting prime minister in his absence.

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

Melbourne byelection for lord mayor announced after Doyle resignation

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Original article by Rachel Eddie
The New Daily – Page: Online : 14-Feb-18

Victoria’s Acting Local Government Minister Martin Pakula has confirmed that a postal vote to elect Melbourne’s new Lord Mayor will be held on 12 May. The by-election follows the resignation of former lord mayor Robert Doyle over sexual harassment allegations. Possible contenders for Lord Mayor include Property Council head Sally Capp, Phil Cleary and acting Lord Mayor Arron Wood. Pollster Gary Morgan will be a candidate. Morgan says he ran against Doyle three times, and had argued on each occasion that Doyle was not a "fit and proper" person to be Melbourne’s Lord Mayor. Morgan was the only candidate to put Doyle last for preferences.

CORPORATES
MELBOURNE CITY COUNCIL, ROY MORGAN LIMITED, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF VICTORIA

Union fined $1m over Boral boycott

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 15-Feb-18

The Federal Court has ordered the militant Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union to pay fines totalling $A1m for breaching the secondary boycott provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act. The union had banned Victorian building sites from using concrete supplied by Boral in the wake of a 2012 industrial dispute between the CFMEU and Grocon. Justice John Middleton found that the union engaged in a secondary boycott at two building sites, although the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission had contended that 12 sites had been affected.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, ALSAFE PREMIX CONCRETE PTY LTD, GROCON PTY LTD, COURT OF APPEAL (VICTORIA), HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Turns out Abbott was right about new jobs

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 15-Feb-18

The general consensus of economists is that the latest labour force data will show that about 15,000 jobs were created in January 2018. This would lift the number of jobs created since the September 2013 federal election to more than 971,000. Prior to the election, then Opposition leader Tony Abbott had committed to increasing the labour force by one million during the Coalition’s first five years in office. The Government is on track to deliver on this pre-election promise well within the five-year time-frame, after the economy added 400,000 jobs in 2017.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, BLOOMBERG LP