O75 Public Administration

Unions might take to Streets – and find a dead end

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Original article by Niki Savva
The Australian – Page: 14 : 26-Oct-17

Production of Streets ice creams in Australia may be at risk if Unilever fails in its bid to have an enterprise agreement terminated. It has told the Fair Work Commission that the Streets factory in the Sydney suburb of Minto has significantly higher operating costs than most of its plants worldwide. Minto employees are also paid 25 per cent more than the average wage in Australia. ACTU secretary Sally McManus has proposed a boycott of Streets products, but Unilever Australia CEO Clive Stiff has warned that it could prompt Unilever to cease local manufacturing. He adds that Peters would almost certainly do so as well.

CORPORATES
UNILEVER AUSTRALIA LIMITED, UNILEVER PLC, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, GM HOLDEN LIMITED, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

AWU refusal ‘triggered raids’

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Original article by Brad Norington, Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 26-Oct-17

A senior adviser to Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has resigned after admitting that he leaked details of a police raid on Australian Workers’ Union offices to the media. The Opposition has called for Cash to resign after she had told a Senate estimates committee that her office was not responsible for the leak. Meanwhile, Registered Organisations Commissioner Mark Bielecki has told the committee that the police raids were prompted by concerns that AWU document could be destroyed. He also said an ROC investigation into the AWU may not have been needed if the union had complied with a request to provide the documents in August.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, GETUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION

‘Citizenship seven’ have Friday on their minds

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 7 : 25-Oct-17

The High Court’s ruling on the eligibility of seven MPs and senators to be in federal parliament will be handed down on 27 October. A by-election in Barnaby Joyce’s seat of New England is slated for 2 December if the court rules that his dual citizenship at the time of the 2016 election disqualifies him from being in parliament. George Williams, the dean of law at the University of New South Wales, expects the court to disqualify at least some of the parliamentarians.

CORPORATES
HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

PC report urges fed-state tax revamp

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 25-Oct-17

The Productivity Commission has released a report which notes that the federal government is responsible for raising 80 per cent of all tax revenue. The report, which is titled "Shifting the Dial", advocates giving the states greater power to raise revenue for the provision of government services instead of being so reliant on the federal government for funding. The report will be on the agenda when Treasurer Scott Morrison meets with his state and territory counterparts on 27 October.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Australia ‘must commit to one emission target’

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Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 4 : 25-Oct-17

The Australian Greens have welcomed the release of a Productivity Commission report which advocates the adoption of a carbon price. The commission has also recommended the introduction of a national renewable energy target rather than having separate state-based schemes. It argues that a national approach would make it easier for Australia to meet its emission reduction target under the Paris agreement and do more to encourage investment in new power generation.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Raids over Shorten donations

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Original article by Brad Norington, Ewin Hannan, Simone Fox Koob
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 25-Oct-17

Australian Workers’ Union offices in Sydney and Melbourne have been the subject of simultaneous police raids. Australian Federal Police officers executed warrants issued to the Registered Organisations Commission as part of its investigation into donations the union made when Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was the head of the AWU. Police are believed to have seized documents relating to the 2006 and 2008 financial years, including the minutes of AWU meetings. The raids are said to have been prompted by concerns that the documents could be destroyed. The AWU intends to challenge the validity of the warrants in court.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, GETUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, ARNOLD BLOCH LEIBLER, ACTU

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence up 0.8% to 113.3

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-Oct-17

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 0.8% to 113.3 in the week ended 22 October 2017. This takes the index back above its long-term average. The gain was driven by improvements in expectations for the near- and long-term economic outlook. The outlook on economic conditions over the coming year improved by 4.3% to 103.5, the highest since July, and above the long-term average for the first time in two months. Expectations about economic conditions in the next five years rose 3.5%. Meanwhile, consumers’ views about current financial conditions fell for a second consecutive week, bringing the index value close to the long-term average. The outlook for future financial conditions fell by 0.9% after two consecutive positive readings in the prior weeks.

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

Rudd tells Shorten: expel CFMEU militants

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Original article by Troy Bramston
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 24-Oct-17

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd says the Australian Labor Party should sever its ties with the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union due to its failure to comply with industrial laws. Rudd argues that Labor must reduce the influence of unions within the party as it is hindering the development of policies aimed at economic reform. The CFMEU has been fined millions of dollars in the last several years, including a recent fine of $A2.4m for unlawful industrial action at the Barangaroo project in Sydney. Rudd’s memoir will be published on 24 October.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BUILDERS’ LABOURERS’ FEDERATION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION

ALP’s $200 power bill shock

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Oct-17

Labor has stated that it will seek to have 50 per cent of electricity produced from renewable sources by 2030. It will also seek to reduce carbon emissions by 45 per cent. However, modelling by the Climate Change Authority has concluded that achieving its 50 per cent target would increase the average household’s power bill by $A200 a year, as well as requiring 17,000 megawatts of coal-fired power generation to be taken out of the National Electricity Market. Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has claimed Labor is trying to conceal the cost of its energy policy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. CLIMATE CHANGE AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Frustrated judges put fine pedal to the metal for militant union

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 24-Oct-17

Industrial relations barrister Stuart Wood notes that judges have become much more willing to impose maximum penalties on the CFMEU for breaching workplace laws in recent years. He adds that only five years ago the $A2.4m fine imposed on the union by Justice Geoffrey Flick in September would have been much lower. The Federal Circuit Court’s Judge Salvatore Vasta also recently imposed the maximum penalty of $A306,000 for breaching workplace laws but said the fine would have been much higher if he had the scope to do so.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, K&L GATES LLP