O75 Public Administration

Labor to back Coalition super changes

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 7-Nov-16

Sources within the Australian Labor Party have indicated that it is likely to support most of the Federal Government’s proposed superannuation reforms. The Government has made a number of compromises in order to gain support for its reforms; amongst other things, it agreed to abandon a push to introduce a $A500,000 lifetime cap on non-concessional contributions. Meanwhile, the Senate’s legislative agenda for the week beginning 7 November includes the bill to hold a plebiscite on same-sex marriage.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

Shorten’s power policy switches

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 7-Nov-16

Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg says the Australian Labor Party has changed its stance on energy policy more than 10 times over the last decade. He has criticised the Opposition for adopting a policy of sourcing 50 per cent of Australia’s energy supply from renewable sources by 2030 when it had provided owners of coal-fired power stations with millions of dollars worth of taxpayers’ funds when it was in government. Labor had also given some $A268m worth of free carbon permits to the owners of the Hazelwood power station in Victoria.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ENGIE SA, FRONTIER ECONOMICS PTY LTD, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

I won’t vote on any bills, vows Culleton

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 4 : 7-Nov-16

One Nation senator Rod Culleton has indicated that he will abstain from voting in the Senate while the constitutional validity of his election in July remains uncertain. The High Court may be asked to determine whether Culleton was entitled to be elected, as he had been convicted of a criminal offence at the time of the 2016 federal election. Meanwhile, there has been speculation of a rift between Culleton and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.

CORPORATES
ONE NATION PARTY, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Leanne Donaldson quits as Agriculture Minister over driving offence

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Original article by Sarah Vogler, Sarah Elks
The Australian – Page: 9 : 4-Nov-16

Queensland Agriculture Minister Leanne Donaldson has quit following revelations that she had driven an unregistered vehicle. She also failed to pay council rates on her home for more than three years. Her debt of $A8,000 was paid by the Australian Labor Party. Donaldson resigned after a meeting with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Deputy Premier Jackie Trad on 3 November 2016.

CORPORATES
QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES AND FISHERIES, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

PC head hits out at slow pace of workplace reform

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 4-Nov-16

The Federal Government has been urged to pursue industrial relations reform more vigorously. Productivity Commission chairman Peter Harris stresses the need for "continuous reform." He favours the creation of an independent agency whose role would be to determine the minimum wage and award standards. Harris will share his views on this topic with those attending a labour law conference in Melbourne on 4 November 2016.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Clinton campaign boss paid by Adani-fight foundation

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Original article by Dennis Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 8 : 3-Nov-16

Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign chairman John Podesta was paid $US7,000 a month by the Sandler Foundation, starting from February 2016. Documents released by WikiLeaks show that Podesta received the payments for his advice on Adani’s coal project in Queensland. The leaked information validates the Australian Government’s claims that foreign-funded groups were involved in the protest against the Adani project.

CORPORATES
ADANI MINING PTY LTD, GREENPEACE, SANDLER FOUNDATION, WIKILEAKS, GETUP LIMITED, LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND

Global energy expert flags nation’s grid, gas supply as keys to review

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 3-Nov-16

The International Energy Agency has agreed to provide its opinion on Australia’s power generation policy to the Finkel review of energy security. Fatih Birol, the head of the agency, said many countries have problems with intermittent supply of power from renewable sources but none of them experienced an event on the scale of the state-wide blackout which occurred in South Australia in September 2016.

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS

Reform plans in peril as second senator in strife

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 3-Nov-16

The Australian Government has become even more reliant on the support of Senate crossbenchers to pass its industrial relations bills. It will need eight crossbenchers to vote for the bills, with One Nation’s Rod Culleton advising that he will not vote in the upper house until uncertainty regarding the validity of his election is resolved. The issue will be referred to the High Court, which will also be asked to determine whether the election of Family First’s Bob Day was constitutionally valid. Day has resigned from the Senate, but the High Court’s ruling could determine with the party retains his seat.

CORPORATES
FAMILY FIRM INSTITUTE, ONE NATION PARTY, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, NICK XENOPHON TEAM

Coal, iron ore budget windfall

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 19 & 32 : 3-Nov-16

The rally in the price of iron ore, coking coal and thermal coal is expected to boost the 2016-17 revenue of the Federal Government and mining states. It is estimated that tax revenue and mining royalties could be around $A12bn higher than the Federal Government and its counterparts in Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland had forecast. However, this will depend on whether the prices of Australia’s key export commodities remain at around current levels. Macquarie Group expects coal prices to eventually fall, but stresses that the timing of this will depend on Chinese Government policy.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, GLENCORE PLC

Senate chaos as Day challenged

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 2-Nov-16

The High Court will be asked to rule on the validity of Family First senator Bob Day’s re-election, due to concerns about the receipt of rent payments from the Federal Government for his electoral office. Day has a pecuniary interest in the property in question, and the court may order a recount if his re-election is deemed to have been unconstitutional. This could affect the Coalition’s prospects of passing its industrial relations reforms in the Senate, as Day has generally sided with the Government. Meanwhile, Day has resigned from the Senate with immediate effect, after a deal to bail out his home building firm collapsed.

CORPORATES
FAMILY FIRST PARTY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, COURT OF DISPUTED RETURNS, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT PARTY