O75 Public Administration

IR reform can help fix the low wage-growth problem

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Original article by Graeme Watson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 39 : 2-Aug-17

The Australian Government is expected to use the next session of parliament to somewhat belatedly issue its response to the Productivity Commission’s 2015 report on the industrial relations regime. A major overhaul of the IR system is needed in order to address issues such as low wages growth and the nation’s high level of youth unemployment. Reforms that foster a less adversarial IR system and encourage greater employee engagement will help lift productivity, innovation and wages.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD

Typical family earns less than 2009 income

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Original article by Peter Martin
The Age – Page: 10 : 2-Aug-17

Analysis of data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey shows that median real household disposable income was $A76,225 in 2015, compared with $A77,411 prior to the onset of the global financial crisis. The data also shows that the typical household income in Melbourne has increased by $A9,785 since the annual HILDA survey began in 2001, while typical household income in Sydney has risen by just $A5,182 over the last 15 years.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF SOCIAL SERVICES

Tax leak as tradies borrow Bunnings ABN

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Original article by Nick Tabakoff, Amos Aikman
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 2-Aug-17

Paul Drum of CPA Australia has called for major changes to the Australian Business Number system, arguing that it is being widely rorted. He says businesses are abusing the tax system by creating multiple ABNs or using incorrect ones. The chairman of the Federal Government’s black economy taskforce, Michael Andrew, adds that 3.5 million ABNs have been issued to companies or individuals that have not lodged a single tax statement or tax return. The push for reform comes amid revelations that many tradespeople are exploiting the tax system by issuing invoices that quote the ABN of hardware giant Bunnings.

CORPORATES
CPA AUSTRALIA, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED

Labor’s trust policy misses the rich

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 2-Aug-17

Tax experts have questioned the likely effectiveness of the Federal Opposition’s proposed tax crackdown on family discretionary trusts in targeting wealthy Australians. Chapman Eastway CEO Sean Cortis says taxing family trusts at the same rate as companies would primarily affect people with investable assets of less than $A5m, rather than the "mega rich". The reforms are aimed at curbing the practice of income-splitting, but tax experts say wealthy families are more likely to "warehouse" money in a company within a family trust.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CHAPMAN EASTWAY, BDO AUSTRALIA LIMITED, GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY. GRIFFITH BUSINESS SCHOOL

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence surges to a 22 week high

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Aug-17

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 2.9% to 118.4 in the week ended 30 July 2017, and now sits at its highest point since late February. Despite the jump in the headline index, the details were more mixed, with views towards economic conditions rising sharply but confidence in financial conditions easing a touch. Households’ views around current and future financial conditions slipped 1.2% and 0.9% respectively. Both sub-indices remain above or close to their long-term averages. Consumers’ views towards current economic conditions shot up 12.3%, bringing the sub-index to its highest point since September 2013. Views around future economic conditions rose 8.2%, following a 2.7% increase in the previous week.

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

Shorten ‘lie’ on growth exposed

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

Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott has criticised Opposition Leader Bill Shorten for claiming that reducing the company tax rate will adversely affect economic growth. She notes that Shorten has previously argued that a lower company tax rate would boost productivity and investment, resulting in higher economic growth and wages. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has criticised Shorten’s proposal to tax the distributions of discretionary trusts, which are used by some small and family businesses.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

Rising job insecurity myth busted

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 31-Jul-17

Analysis of labour market data survey suggests that despite unions’ claims to the contrary, job security in Australia seems to be improving. The analysis by the University of Melbourne’s Jeff Borland shows that the proportion of women in particular who have had the same job for more than 10 years has increased since 1982. Meanwhile, the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey data shows that the proportion of workers who are employed via labour hire firms fell from 3.1 per cent to 2.2 per cent between 2001 and 2015.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Terror cell ‘planned gas attack’

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Original article by Paul Maley
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 31-Jul-17

Security has been boosted at Australian airports following the arrest of four men in Sydney on 30 July 2017. The four men, who are believed to be related, are suspected of plotting to bring down an aircraft by setting off a device that would have filled the plane with poisonous gas. It is understood that the arrests followed the receipt of information from a foreign intelligence service, and that the suspects were being assisted by Islamic State terrorists in Syria.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE

MP fiasco extends to bloodlines

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 28-Jul-17

The issue of federal politicians with dual citizenship continues to attract scrutiny, with 21 lower house MPs having confirmed that a parent or grandparent was born overseas. There would be major implications for the Government if any Coalition MPs were found to have foreign citizenship by descent, given its one-seat majority in the lower house. Meanwhile, One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts has confirmed that he was a British dual national when elected to Parliament in July 2016. He had taken action to renounce his British citizenship, but official documentation was not completed until December.

CORPORATES
ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND. DEPT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Taxing trusts as companies not a bad idea, lawyers say

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 28-Jul-17

Opposition leader Bill Shorten has indicated that he will scrutinise the tax treatment of family trusts if Labor wins the next federal election. Currently, trust themselves are not taxed, with the income they distribute being taxed at a beneficiary level. However, it is possible that Labor may decide to start taxing trusts as companies, a move once considered by the Howard government. Michael Parker of Hall & Wilcox says such an idea has merit, provided that trusts are still able to access franking credits and the capital gains tax discount.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, HALL AND WILCOX, RSM GROUP, BDO GROUP PTY LTD