O75 Public Administration

Visa plan a golden invitation for crime

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Original article by Stephen Rice
The Australian – Page: 6 : 4-Feb-25

Sir Bill Browder has attacked plans by Opposition leader Peter Dutton to consider reinstating the significant investor visa if the Coalition wins the federal election. Dubbed the ‘golden ticket’ visa, they were given to people who committed to invest $5 million if they were granted entry to Australia, but they were scrapped by the federal government last year after it was revealed they were being used by foreign criminals and corrupt regime officials to secure Australian citizenship. Sir Bill was the main force behind the creation of the Magnitsky laws, which sanction human rights abusers and corrupt officials; he claims that bringing back the significant investor visa would amount to "reopening the door to organised crime".

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Dark money totalling $67.2m flowed to Labor, Coalition and Greens in 2023-24

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Original article by Dan Jervis-Bardy, Sarah Basford Canales
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 4-Feb-25

Data from the Australian Electoral Commission shows that Labor, the Coalition and the Greens declared a total of $156m in political donations for the last financial year. Labor and its state branches received $67.5m worth of political donations in 2023-24; the Coalition received $72.2m and the Greens received $17.1m. However, the four major political parties did not declare the source of a combined $67.2m worth of donations. These financial contributions were below the disclosure threshold of $16,300 which the federal government wants to reduce this to just $1,000. Rob Keldoulis was the biggest individual political donor in 2023-24, contributing $1.1m to the Climate 200 organisation personally and via his private investment company.

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AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, CLIMATE 200 PTY LTD

Axe the red tape: Big business presses for Trump-like attack on regulation

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Original article by Shane Wright
The Age – Page: Online : 4-Feb-25

The Business Council of Australia has urged the federal government and the opposition to adopt a Donald Trump-like attack on red tape, contending living standards will fall if business regulation is not reduced. The BCA’s biggest wish is for the creation of a minister for deregulation, while the BCA would like to see the Productivity Commission come up with an annual list of regulations that could be eliminated. Along with reduced regulation, the BCA would also like to see the company tax rate cut to 25 per cent, the adoption of investment allowances for all businesses and a possible increase to the GST.

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BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Roy Morgan Poll: ALP and Coalition are now level on two-party preferred terms

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Feb-25

If a Federal Election were held now the result would be a hung parliament and ‘too close to call’, with the ALP on 50% (up 2%) and Coalition on 50% (down 2%) on a two-party preferred basis. The ALP or Coalition would require the support of minor parties and independents to form a minority government, the latest Roy Morgan survey finds. Primary support for the Coalition dropped 2% to 38.5%, the ALP increased 0.5% to 30%, the Greens were unchanged at a 12-month low of 11.5%, One Nation dropped 0.5% to 5.5%, Other Parties were up 0.5% to 4% and Independents increased 1.5% to 10.5%.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

ACTU calls for a ban on employee lockouts

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 7 : 30-Jan-25

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox has urged the federal government to reject the ACTU’s push for legislative changes to ban employers from locking out their workers. ACTU secretary Sally McManus contends that reforms are needed to prevent employers from ‘abusing their power’. Her comments were made after visiting the Opal paper mill in Victoria, where its entire workforce has now been locked out for 13 days in retaliation for industrial action by a small number of staff. Willox has described the ACTU’s stance as an ‘extreme’ attack on the collective bargaining rights of employers.

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OPAL, ACTU, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Inflation fall fuels election fight

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Original article by Greg Brown, David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 30-Jan-25

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says a ‘soft landing’ for the Australian economy is becoming "more and more likely" following the release of CPI data for the December quarter. The headline inflation rate fell 0.4 per cent to 2.4 per cent in the year to December; the Reserve Bank’s preferred measure of underlying inflation eased to 3.2 per cent, below the central bank’s own expectations of 3.4 per cent. Three of Australia’s four major banks now expect an official interest cut in February. However, Warren Hogan from Judo Bank says the economic case for a rate cut is very weak; he notes amongst other things that core inflation remain above the RBA’s target range of 2-3 per cent, while the cost-of-living crisis is still a major issue for many Australians.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, JUDO BANK PTY LTD

Plibersek praised nature positive deal with Pocock and Greens as critical before PM scrapped it, documents reveal

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Original article by Dan Jervis-Bardy
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 30-Jan-25

A draft Senate program shows that a bill to establish a federal environmental protection agency is listed for debate next Thursday. Documents released via freedom of information laws confirm that Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek reached a written agreement with the Greens and independent senator David Pocock to amend the EPA legislation in late November. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese intervened to put the deal on hold less than 24 hours later. The proposed EPA is part of the federal government’s so-called ‘nature positive’ environmental reforms. Shadow environment minister Jonno Duniam has called for the proposed laws to be scrapped, and says Plibersek and Albanese must state their real intentions regarding the legislation.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

PM, the dodgy foreign student college, the degustation dinner – and Dan Andrews

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Original article by Damon Johnston
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 30-Jan-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is under scrutiny following revelations that he attended a private dinner with members of the Indian-Australian business community at a Toorak mansion in November. They included the Barkly International College’s founder Rupinder Brar, who is seeking to overturn the Australian Skills Quality Authority’s decision to deregister the Melbourne-based private vocational education provider. Barkly is primarily focused on Indian students, and some of the guests at the dinner have indicated that visas are among the issues that were discussed. The guest listed included former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BARKLY INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE

ACCI warns of need for cap on spending

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Original article by Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 6 : 30-Jan-25

The Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry will call for federal government spending to be capped at 25 per cent of GDP. The ACCI’s pre-election Agenda for Business policy blueprint will also advocate tax reform, the abolition of stamp duty and changing the definition of a small business to 25 employees or less, compared with the current threshold of 15 employees. CEO Andrew McKellar will use a speech on Thursday to argue that rising government spending is pushing up interest rates and adversely affecting productivity. Data released in late 2024 shows that government spending has risen to a record high of almost 28 per cent of GDP.

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AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence virtually unchanged at 86.0 for Australia Day long weekend

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Jan-25

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 86.0 in the week to 26 January. Consumer Confidence is now 3.5 points above the same week a year ago (82.5), and 3.1 points above the 2024 weekly average of 82.9. A look at Consumer Confidence by State shows increases in the two largest States of New South Wales and Victoria, but declines elsewhere in Queensland, Western Australia, and South Australia. Now 20% of Australians (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 48% (unchanged) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 34% (unchanged) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 29% (down 2ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’. Now 10% (up 1ppt) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 27% (unchanged) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 25% (unchanged) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 47% (up 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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