O75 Public Administration

Citizenship turmoil to last months

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 5 : 25-Aug-17

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus says cabinet ministers Barnaby Joyce and Fiona Nash should step aside until the High Court rules on their eligibility to be in Parliament. The hearing is not scheduled to begin until 10 October, and Dreyfus argues that any ministerial decisions they make in the interim could be subject to a legal challenge if the court disqualifies them due to dual citizenship. Constitutional lawyers Anne Twomey and George Williams say the court may not necessarily rule in the Government’s favour in the cases of Joyce, Nash and Matt Canavan.

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HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, COURT OF DISPUTED RETURNS, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, NORTHERN AUSTRALIA INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, GREAT BRITAIN. HOME OFFICE

Wage growth is economy’s Achilles heel, warns Moody’s

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 24-Aug-17

Ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service has maintained its stable outlook for Australia’s triple-A credit rating. However, Moody’s says factors such as low growth in wages and rising household debt – which now comprises 123.1 per cent of GDP – represent key risks to the economy. Meanwhile, Moody’s has forecast that state and federal government debt will increase to 42 per cent of GDP in 2017-18, while the firm has questioned whether the Federal Government will be able to limit growth in expenditure over the Budget forward estimates period.

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MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED

Rich pay deal on way to approval

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 24-Aug-17

The Australian Building & Construction Commission’s preliminary assessment of Probuild’s new enterprise agreement has concluded that it complies with the building code. Employment Minister Michaelia Cash and Master Builders Australia have criticised the pay deal, which includes significantly higher penalty rates. Probuild’s in-principle agreement with the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union will be submitted for approval by the Fair Work Commission. Cash notes that over 860 enterprise agreements now comply with the building code.

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AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, PROBUILD PTY LTD, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, DE MARTIN AND GASPARINI PTY LTD

Tax war moves to smaller companies

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Original article by Nick Tabakoff
The Australian – Page: 4 : 24-Aug-17

The Australian Government will require up to 6,000 listed and private companies to disclose any "contestable" tax treatments in their financial accounts from fiscal 2019. The new disclosure rules, which were released by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, have prompted criticism from tax experts. Paul Drum of CPA Australia says it is the Government’s latest crackdown in a "tax war" on the business sector, adding that the new rules will apply to both small and large companies

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AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, CPA AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD, BDO CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS AND ADVISERS

ATO hails tech giants’ $7b sales surge

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 23-Aug-17

Executives from technology companies such as Apple and Google appeared before an inquiry into corporate tax avoidance on 22 August. Apple Australia MD Tony King told the Senate committee that the company has not been penalised following the completion of a five-year audit by the Australian Taxation Office, while IBM, Facebook and Google advised that they are still being audited. Meanwhile, Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan hailed the success of the ATO’s crackdown on tax avoidance by multinationals, noting that it issued $A4bn worth of tax assessments in 2016-17.

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APPLE PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, IBM AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, MICROSOFT AUSTRALIA

Union pay rises exploit PM’s code

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 23-Aug-17

Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn says pay rates in a proposed new enterprise bargaining agreement in the building industry are "unsustainable" and will increase the cost of federally-funded construction projects. The Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union’s in-principle agreement includes a pay rise of five per cent and higher penalty rates, with penalty rates of up to 300 per cent for working during Christmas and Easter. The new pay deal is aimed at compensating CFMEU members for the removal of union-friendly ­conditions from EBAs in order to comply with the Federal Government’s building code.

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CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, PROBUILD PTY LTD, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, DE MARTIN AND GASPARINI PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence down for third straight week to 109.2 (down 2.5pts)

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Aug-17

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence fell 2.2% to 109.2 in the week ended 20 August 2017, down from a high of 118.4 only three weeks earlier. The fall in sentiment was broad-based, with four out of five sub-indices posting declines. Households’ views towards current financial conditions slipped 2.1%, following a 2.0% fall previously. Views towards future financial conditions fell a solid 5.3%, more than reversing the prior week’s 1.9% rise. Consumers’ views towards current economic conditions fell 1.5%, the third straight weekly fall. Sentiment around future economic conditions fell a sharp 6.8% last week. While views towards economic conditions have been quite volatile recently, the index is now close to its lowest on record.

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

Tax blitz hits top 1000 firms

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Original article by Nick Tabakoff
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 22-Aug-17

The Australian Taxation Office wants all companies with turnover of more than $A250 million to disclose their "reportable tax positions", starting from the 2017-18 financial year. The move has been questioned by BDO senior tax partner Tony Sloan, who says it represents a significant reversal of the ATO’s self-assessment regime. He says the ATO appears to be of the view that its reportable tax position policy worked well with Australia’s biggest companies, and so it has decided to lower the reporting threshold.

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AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, BDO AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Jacinda Ardern’s ascension to leadership revitalises Labour, up 2% to 32.5%; Turei scandal costs Greens support, down 4.5% to 9%

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 21-Aug-17

A New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll on voting intention has found that support for the incumbent National Party has fallen by 0.5% to 42.5% in mid-August 2017. Support for the Labour Party has risen 2% to 32.5%, while support for a potential Labour/Greens alliance has fallen 2.5% to 41.5%. The Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating has fallen 0.5pts to 139pts. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says new Labour Leader Jacinda Ardern stands a very real chance of toppling incumbent Prime Minister Bill English, but it will likely be with the support of Winston Peters and his New Zealand First party, whose recent increases in support make it ever more likely that Peters will get to decide who emerges as PM after next month’s election.

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MORGAN POLL, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NATIONAL PARTY OF NEW ZEALAND, LABOUR PARTY (NEW ZEALAND), GREEN PARTY OF AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND, CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF NEW ZEALAND, THE MAORI PARTY, UNITED FUTURE PARTY (NEW ZEALAND), NEW ZEALAND FIRST PARTY, ACT NEW ZEALAND, INTERNET PARTY, MANA PARTY

Shorten no to British citizenship proof calls

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Samantha Hutchinson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 21-Aug-17

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says dual citizenship is not an issue for any Australian Labor Party MPs, adding that they should not have to provide documented evidence that they are solely Australian citizens. Shorten himself was a British citizen by descent, but he stresses that he relinquished his British citizenship a year before being elected to Parliament in 2007. However, he has declined to supply proof of this. Meanwhile, the Government claims that several Labor MPs could be dual citizens.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA