O75 Public Administration

Consultancy spend alarms union, MPs

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Original article by Edmund Tadros, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 22-Jan-18

MPs are concerned about the level of money that federal government departments are spending on consultants and contractors. Almost 5,000 consultants are employed across government agencies, and the Community & Public Sector Union estimates that $A380 million could be saved each year by replacing them with permanent public servants. Accenture and the four major accounting firms are estimated to have made more than $A3 billion over a five-year period from federal government contracts.

CORPORATES
COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, ACCENTURE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, ERNST AND YOUNG, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE, AUSTRALIA. JOINT COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL DISABILITY INSURANCE AGENCY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, JOBS, TRANSPORT AND RESOURCES

Top 10pc gain 80pc of CGT benefits

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 22-Jan-18

The percentage of the yearly benefits of the capital gains tax discount that goes to the highest income earners has increased from 70 per cent to 80 per cent over the last 10 years or so, according to the Australian Taxation Office. Danielle Wood from the Grattan Institute says this suggests that the 50 per cent discount on capital gains needs to be modified. The presence of the discount, when combined with negative gearing, is seen by experts as making the leverage of real estate a particularly attractive proposition for investors.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN HOUSING AND URBAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Private firms too tough on sickies

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 22-Jan-18

Federal public servants each took an average of 11.4 days of sick leave in the year to June 2017, compared with 11.5 in the previous year. In contrast, employees in the private sector take an average of 9.5 days of unscheduled leave each year. Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd says some private sector companies foster a culture in which employees are reluctant to take sick leave even if they are genuinely ill, adding that he does not want to see this in the public service. Business leader Tony Shepherd rejects Lloyd’s claims, and attributes the higher levels of unscheduled leave in the public service to poor culture and management.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, DIRECT HEALTH SOLUTIONS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL COMMISSION OF AUDIT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA, ABORIGINAL HOSTELS LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PESTICIDES AND VETERINARY MEDICINES AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. FISHERIES MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Cut tax to create jobs: CEOs

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Original article by Joanna Mather, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 22-Jan-18

Walmart is among the US companies that are increasing their wage rates in response to the Trump administration’s tax reforms. Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison says Australian now needs to "catch" up to the US with regard to tax reform, noting that Labor’s opposition to the Government’s company tax package means the nation has missed the opportunity to take the lead on tax reform. Meanwhile, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce and MYOB CEO Tim Reed are among the business leaders who have emphasised the economic benefits of reducing the corporate tax rate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, WAL-MART STORES INCORPORATED, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, MYOB GROUP LIMITED – ASX MYO, XERO LIMITED – ASX XRO, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, APPLE INCORPORATED, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

State builds chaos

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Original article by James Dowling
Herald Sun – Page: 25 : 19-Jan-18

The Victorian division of the CFMEU and its officials were fined a total of $A1.12m by the Federal Court in 2017, while the state accounted for 36 per cent of court-imposed penalties across the nation. Meanwhile, the Australian Building & Construction Commission commenced 38 separate investigation into alleged breaches of workplace laws in the state’s construction industry during the year. This included 16 cases of alleged coercion of building firms and five breaches of laws regarding unions’ right of entry.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Dastyari poised for union PR job

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Original article by Andrew Clennell, Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 2 : 19-Jan-18

Australian Labor Party senator Sam Dastyari has advised that he will formally resign from the upper house in late January, more than a month after announcing his resignation. There is speculation that Dastyari is holding talks about taking up a role at Essential Media Communications, which undertakes public relations campaigns on behalf of many unions in New South Wales. Meanwhile, Labor Leader Bill Shorten has praised the performance of Kristina Keneally – Dastyari’s likely replacement in the Senate – in the recent Bennelong by-election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ESSENTIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS PTY LTD, UNIONS NSW, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, COMMUNIST PARTY (CHINA)

ABS to slash 150 staff by middle of next year

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Original article by Doug Dingwall
The Canberra Times – Page: 9 : 19-Jan-18

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will respond to budget cuts by further reducing its workforce over the next several years. The ABS employs about 2,800 people in total, and it intends to shed 150 jobs by mid-2019. The ABS previously cut 100 jobs in 2017 and 120 in 2016. However, the ABS has advised a Senate committee that the latest job cuts will be focused on office-based employees, and its 400-strong team of field workers who undertake interviews with householders will not be affected.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Victoria lags amid jobs boom

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Original article by Eryk Bagshaw
The Age – Page: 1 : 19-Jan-18

Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that 393,000 jobs were created during 2017, including 35,000 in December. The economy has recorded 15 successive months of jobs growth, and 2017 was the first calendar year in which the number of jobs increased each month since the ABS began releasing monthly data in 1978. The labour force participation rate rose to 65.7 per cent in December, but the unemployment rate increased from 5.4 per cent to 5.5 per cent. Victoria’s unemployment rate rose to 6.1 per cent, and just 87,000 jobs were created in the state during 2017, compared with 140,000 in New South Wales.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, VICTORIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, NEW SOUTH WALES. THE TREASURY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

PM deepens Japan defence ties

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Original article by Primrose Riordan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 19-Jan-18

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull met with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on 18 January, with trade and defence at the top of the agenda. They have announced plans to hold a joint military exercise for the two nations’ air forces in Japan later in 2018. They also agreed to a range of other measures aimed at strengthening defence relations, while their respective trade ministers will establish a ministerial economic dialogue. Meanwhile, Turnbull said signs of improved relations between South Korea and North Korea will not necessarily lead to denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, JAPAN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE, JAPAN. AIR SELF-DEFENCE FORCE, TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF STATE

Senate rivals clear path for Keneally’s prize

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Original article by Andrew Clennell, Brad Norington
The Australian – Page: 2 : 18-Jan-18

The Transport Workers’ Union’s national secretary Tony Sheldon and United Voice’s Tara Moriarty have chosen not to seek nomination to replace Labor’s Sam Dastyari in the Senate. Former New South Wales premier Kristina Keneally now seems certain to replace Dastyari. She gained 45.12 per cent of the two-party-preferred vote in the Bennelong by-election in late 2017. Meanwhile, there is speculation that Labor will offer Sheldon a Senate seat at the next federal election, and Moriarty is tipped to contest the next state election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, UNITED VOICE, HEALTH SERVICES UNION OF AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA