O75 Public Administration

SMSF costs to blow out as $1.6m cap bites

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 17-Oct-17

Accountants involved in providing services to self-managed superannuation funds have called on the federal government to take a more lenient approach to new transfer balance rules. The government has imposed a $A1.6 million cap on tax-free balances, but it is requiring all SMSFs to report on their account activity, regardless of the size of their balance. The average SMSF balance for someone who is 60 and close to retirement is just $A285,000; accountants suggest only those SMSFs with a balance of more than $A1 million should have to report account activity under the new laws.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS LIMITED

Privacy safeguards paramount in shift towards digital IDs, vows Taylor

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 17-Oct-17

The federal government is in the process of setting up a system whereby people can apply for a "digital identity" in order to access government services online. Assistant Digital Transformation Minister Angus Taylor will on 17 October release details of how people can apply for a digital ID under its "GovPass" program. He will stress that privacy safeguards have been built into the program, and that getting a digital ID is purely voluntary.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. CENTRELINK, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. MEDICARE AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

Unions must take the blame for our car crash

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Original article by Robert Gottliebsen
The Australian – Page: 23 : 17-Oct-17

The attitude of car workers and their unions during the period from 2012 to 2014 was the main reason why Ford, Toyota and Holden ceased building cars in Australia. Car workers enjoyed generous pay conditions, while antiquated enterprise agreements allowed unions, rather than management, to control operation of the factory floor. Holden made it clear in 2013 that it would close down its operations if workers would not agree to labour agreements that were more in line with modern work practices, but this was ignored. The sustainability of the Holden and Toyota operations was not helped by new free trade agreements.

CORPORATES
FORD MOTOR COMPANY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION AUSTRALIA LIMITED, GM HOLDEN LIMITED, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, ARRIUM LIMITED – ASX ARI, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Rained-off but staff get overtime

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 7 : 17-Oct-17

The full bench of the Fair Work Commission has dismissed an appeal against an earlier ruling concerning workers on the $A50 billion Ichthys LNG project. The Commission had then ruled that workers were entitled to remain on site during bad weather and still be allowed to receive overtime pay as part of their normal pay cycle. Kentz and UGL Operations & Maintenance had appealed the initial ruling.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, KENTZ (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, UGL LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION

CET might not reduce power bills, says Sims

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 17-Oct-17

The Australian Competition & Commission has released the interim report of its inquiry into electricity prices. The report concludes that electricity network costs were the main cause of a sharp rise in electricity prices over the last decade. Meanwhile, ACCC chairman Rod Sims says that although a Clean Energy Target could potentially contribute to downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices, this might be offset by the impact of renewable energy target subsidies on electricity prices for consumers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, JACOBS GROUP (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SCIENTIST, FRONTIER ECONOMICS PTY LTD

Energy plan keeps coal in the mix

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 17-Oct-17

The Federal Government’s energy policy, which has been endorsed by the cabinet, will not include a Clean Energy Target or any other subsidies. The policy will be put to the Coalition’s party room on 17 October, and will require energy retailers to comply with new guidelines regarding reliability of electricity supply and emissions reduction. However, they will be able to determine the proportion of each type of energy they supply in order to fulfil these requirements. The Government argues that its energy plan will result in lower electricity prices than under the CET that was proposed by the Finkel review.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ENERGY SECURITY BOARD, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SCIENTIST, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

IMF jitters over ‘high’ Australian debt

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 6 : 16-Oct-17

Household debt in Australia now exceeds GDP by 23 per cent, prompting the International Monetary Fund to express concern about the nation’s vulnerability to "risk premium shocks". The combined debt of governments, business and households in Australia is now 147 per cent higher than GDP, compared with just 87 per cent a decade ago. The IMF’s data also shows that the combined debt of Group of 20 nations has risen by $US60trn to $US135trn since the global financial crisis.

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20)

Senator baulks at Turnbull union bill

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 16-Oct-17

The future of the Federal Government’s Ensuring Integrity Bill is in doubt after Senator Nick Xenophon warned that union officials could be subjected to higher standards than company directors. The Opposition has expressed similar concerns regarding the bill, which would increase the government’s powers to deregister unions, block union mergers and disqualify union officials. The bill has also been criticised by ACTU secretary Sally McManus, who says it would result in lower growth in wages. Parliament will debate the bill in coming days.

CORPORATES
NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Australians don’t want the Adani mine

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 16-Oct-17

A special Roy Morgan Snap SMS Survey taken on 6-8 October has found that 53.5% of Australians do not think the Adani mine should go ahead. Only 16% that say the Queensland mine should go ahead while a further 30.5% either have not heard of the Adani mine or did not indicate a preference for whether it should go ahead or not. Analyses by voting intention shows that supporters of all the major parties are against the Adani coal mine going ahead, while analyses by gender shows that 51.5% of women and 56% of men are against the mine going ahead. Analysis by State shows that far more Australians in each State are against the Adani coal mine going ahead than those in favour, including 50% per cent of respondents in Queensland.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, ADANI MINING PTY LTD

Australians are voting in favour of same sex marriage

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 16-Oct-17

A special Roy Morgan Snap SMS Survey taken on 6-8 October shows that 61.5% of Australians are voting "Yes" in favour of same-sex marriage in the postal plebiscite. Some 17.5% are voting "No", while a further 21% did not answer the question or have no intention of voting. Although these results are slightly inconclusive on the exact margin of the final result, they do provide a degree of certainty that the plebiscite will be carried nationwide. Analysis of supporters of various political parties shows that 92% of Greens supporters and 77% of ALP supporters are voting "Yes", compared with just 40.5% of Liberal supporters and 33% of Nationals supporters. Support for the change is also consistent across the country, with clear majorities in all six States opting to vote "Yes". The State with the largest support for the change is Victoria, in which 69.5% of respondents are voting "Yes", ahead of Western Australia and Tasmania (63.5%).

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