O75 Public Administration

Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan Research comments on the fall in Business Confidence in December

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Original article by Michele Levine, Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Jan-17

Business Confidence fell slightly in December after three straight months of increases – down 2.6pts (-2.2%) to 114.1. The fall in Business Confidence came after Donald Trump secured an unexpected victory in the US Presidential Election in November while in early December the ABS announced Australia’s GDP had decreased 0.5% in the September quarter – the first contraction in Australian GDP for over five years. Both Australia and the US face a continuing problem of high real unemployment and under-employment: In the US (over 20% according to President-elect Trump); and in Australia the latest Roy Morgan November employment estimates show Australian real unemployment of 1.199 million (9.2%) and under-employment of 1.1 million (8.4%). These figures show that the Reserve Bank of Australia should still be cutting Australian interest rates in 2017 (now at 1.50%) rather than thinking about raising them.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Pension cuts biting marginal Lib seats

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 4 : 6-Jan-17

The Federal Government’s changes to the Age Pension assets test may prompt angry pensioners to vent their anger at seats held by the Liberal Party of Australia. Seats that may be vulnerable include Kevin Andrews’s seat of Menzies (Victoria), Jason Falinski’s seat of Mackellar (NSW), Scott Morrison’s seat of Cook (NSW), Paul Fletcher’s seat of Bradfield (NSW), Tim Wilson’s seat of Goldstein (Victoria), and Greg Hunt’s seat of Flinders (Victoria).

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

MP rorts inquiry heads to High Court

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Original article by
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 6-Jan-17

The Victorian Government does not want the misuse of allowances during the 2014 Victorian election campaign to be investigated by the office of Ombudsman. In November 2015, the Legislative Council requested the office to investigate the matter. Asked whether the office have sufficient powers to do so, the Supreme Court answered in the affirmative. An appeal of the Government was dismissed in December 2016. Attorney-General Martin Pakula stated on 5 January 2017 that the matter of the Ombudsman’s prerogatives will now be taken to the High Court.

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VICTORIA. OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, VICTORIA. OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN

‘Our source is not the Russians’: Julian Assange in rare interview

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Original article by Luke Henriques Gomes
The New Daily – Page: online : 4-Jan-17

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange insists that his organisation did not receive hacked Hillary Clinton campaign emails from Russia. More than 19,000 emails were released during the US presidential election. The affair could be a factor in Donald Trump’s victory. Assange declined to reveal whether the source was based in the US.

CORPORATES
WIKILEAKS, FOX NEWS, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE

Indonesia stops military co-operation

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Original article by Primrose Riordan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 5-Jan-17

Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne has issued a statement about Indonesia’s decision to suspend military co-operation with Australia. According to Payne, suspension applies only to certain areas of defence cooperation between the two countries but Indonesian armed forces spokesman Major General Wuryanto said all forms of cooperation had been suspended. Wuryanto stated technical reasons were behind the suspension.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE, LOWY INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL POLICY

All options open in PRRT review

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Original article by Joanna Mather, Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 5-Jan-17

The review of the petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT), led by former Treasury official Michael Callaghan, will be dispassionate, analytical and objective. Callaghan stressed these qualities of the review in an interview given on 4 January 2017. Treasurer Scott Morrison announced the review in November 2016. Its objective is to find out why PRRT receipts declined from a peak of $A2.5 billion in 2000 to about $A900 million a year.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED, INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT WORKERS’ FEDERATION

Morrison needs to go micro if he wants big results

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Original article by Stephen Anthony
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 39 : 3-Jan-17

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison needs to focus on stimulating growth in Australia’s productivity which can be achieved by more rigorous commitment to budget repair and taxation reform. Government spending must be curtailed and more attention must be paid to waste reduction. It would be desirable to establish an independent parliamentary infrastructure office whose role would be to coordinate infrastructure projects. More competition is needed in sectors which still use restrictive business and labour practices.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

There’s little future in not debating funds use

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Original article by Judith Sloan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 23-Dec-16

The Mid-year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO), issued on 20 December 2016, contains information that Future Fund’s net earnings will be included in MYEFO’s projections. Therefore, the projected surplus for 2020-21 of $A1 billion will be achieved by the inclusion of the planned withdrawals from the Future Fund in the national accounts. The matter deserves to be publically discussed.

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AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY

Charges over union-Mirvac ‘secret deals’

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Original article by Sarah Elks
The Australian – Page: 3 : 23-Dec-16

Former union official Dave Hanna and Mirvac former managers Adam Moore and Mathew McAllum have been arrested and charged with offences relating to work done on Hanna’s home for no payment. Queensland Police allege the arrangement involved more than $A400,000 in free work done at the property. The accused are due to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on 25 January 2017.

CORPORATES
MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE, BRISBANE MAGISTRATES’ COURT, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Future Fund accounting switch saves AAA rating

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 4 : 23-Dec-16

From 2020-21, profits generated by the Future Fund will be included in Australia’s budgets. Thus, a small surplus in that year will be achieved only because of a change in the fund’s accounting methodology. The Future Fund’s projected earnings of $A3.9 billion for 2019-20 are forecast to ensure a budget surplus of about $A1.1 billion in 2020-21.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD