O75 Public Administration

Land tax plan to reboot market

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Original article by David Crowe, Mark Coultan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 26-Oct-16

New South Wales Finance Minister Dominic Perrottet has suggested that housing affordability could be improved if states replaced stamp duties with a land tax regime. He argues that phasing out stamp duty would encourage more people to sell their homes, particularly so-called empty nesters. It is estimated that stamp duty revenue in NSW will top $A8.7bn in 2016. However, the land tax proposal has been rejected by several other state treasurers. The issue of housing affordability is also on the Federal Government’s agenda.

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF FINANCE, SERVICES AND INNOVATION, NEW SOUTH WALES. THE TREASURY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, QUEENSLAND. TREASURY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, THE CENTRE FOR INDEPENDENT STUDIES LIMITED

Hanson to back building watchdog

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Original article by Ean Higgins
The Australian – Page: 4 : 25-Oct-16

One Nation’s caucus will decide whether to support legislation to reinstate the Australian Building & Construction Commission on 7 November 2016. Party leader Pauline Hanson has given indications that One Nation is likely to back the legislation, which has already been passed by the lower house. Hanson says many business owners have expressed concern about the bullying tactics used by unions. Hanson also supports allowing the Adler shotgun to be legally imported.

CORPORATES
ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Turnbull moves to shut court doors on anti-coal activists

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Original article by Dennis Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 25-Oct-16

The Australian Government has flagged action to crack down on environmental activists’ use of the court system to block resources projects. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has raised the possibility of reviving legislation aimed at curbing vexatious litigation by environmental groups. The mooted crackdown follows warnings from India’s Power Minister Piyush Goyal that opposition to Adani’s Carmichael coal mine could affect his nation’s future investment in Australia. The campaign against Carmichael has received funding from at least one US organisation that has links to John Podesta, who is heading the presidential election campaign of Hillary Clinton.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, INDIA. MINISTRY OF POWER, DEMOCRATIC PARTY (UNITED STATES), GREENPEACE, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, SUNRISE PROJECT, SANDLER FOUNDATION

Morrison targets cost of housing

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Original article by Laura Tingle
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Oct-16

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison notes that the proportion of Australians who own their home has fallen from 71 per cent to 67 per cent over the last two decades. However, he will argue in a speech on 24 October 2016 that housing supply is the main factor that is affecting housing affordability. He will also say that a range of other factors rather than the impact of property investors is affecting housing affordability. Morrison will also flag a push for greater co-operation with state governments to make more land available for residential development.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, COUNCIL ON FEDERAL FINANCIAL REGULATION, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Coal activists risk driving India away

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Original article by Dennis Shanahan, Michael McKenna
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Oct-16

India’s Power Minister Piyush Goyal has warned that the long-running opposition to Adani’s proposed Carmichael coal mine in Queensland could affect his nation’s future investment in Australia. Goyal added that Indian could source coal from countries such as South Africa and Indonesia if investing in Australian projects becomes too difficult. Recent media reports revealed that a leading Australian anti-coal group, the Sunrise Project, has been funded by US-based foundations. Documents released by Wikileaks also show that at least one of these foundations has links to John Podesta, who is heading the presidential election campaign of Hillary Clinton.

CORPORATES
INDIA. MINISTRY OF POWER, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, SUNRISE PROJECT, DEMOCRATIC PARTY (UNITED STATES), WIKILEAKS, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Super funds $16b swoop on Ausgrid

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith, Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald, Geoff Winestock, Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 12 : 21-Oct-16

The New South Wales Government’s deal to sell a 50.4 per cent stake in Ausgrid to AustralianSuper and IFM Investors without undertaking a competitive auction process may come under scrutiny. Some observers believe that the Government could have gained a better price for the electric power distributor if other interested parties had been allowed to bid. The Government opted to accept the unsolicited $A16.189bn offer from the two superannuation groups. The fact that they are both Australian companies was seen to be attractive, as the deal did not need to be approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board.

CORPORATES
AUSGRID PTY LTD, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD, NEW SOUTH WALES. THE TREASURY, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, STATE GRID CORPORATION OF CHINA, CHEUNG KONG INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS LIMITED, QIC LIMITED, HASTINGS FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED, TRANSGRID, ENDEAVOUR ENERGY LIMITED, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

Markets expect cool response to downgrade

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 6 : 21-Oct-16

Borrowing costs for Australian banks and the state and federal governments have not increased as a result of S&P Global Ratings’ downgrading of the nation’s credit rating outlook to negative earlier in 2016. The loss of Australia’s "AAA" credit rating would also be unlikely to have an impact on borrowing costs, according to some financial market watchers. Treasurer Scott Morrison maintains that the Federal Government’s budget repair strategy is crucial to retaining the coveted triple-A credit rating. Australia also has a triple-A rating from Moody’s Investor Services and Fitch Ratings.

CORPORATES
S&P GLOBAL RATINGS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, FITCH RATINGS LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Lawsuit looms over wind shutdown

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Original article by Rebecca Puddy, Annabel Hepworth
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 20-Oct-16

Litigation funder IMF Bentham will consider a class action on behalf of businesses that were affected by the state-wide power outage which occurred in South Australia on 28 September 2016. The Australian Energy Market Operator issued an update to its preliminary report on 19 October. AEMO identified six disturbances in the network which caused voltage problems at nine wind farms. Companies are assessing the impact of the blackout on their operations.

CORPORATES
IMF BENTHAM LIMITED – ASX IMF, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, OZ MINERALS LIMITED – ASX OZL, CLEAN ENERGY COUNCIL LIMITED, PACIFIC HYDRO LIMITED, SA POWER NETWORKS, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, NYRSTAR AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD, MANUFACTURING AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NEOEN AUSTRALIA

Census meltdown to cost $30m

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 2 : 20-Oct-16

The shutdown of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ census website on 9 August 2016 will cost up to $A30 million. Chief statistician David Kalisch has told the Senate estimates committee that $A20m has already been spent. He expects the ABS to spend another $A10m. IBM stated in a submission to the committee that the website was ready to be reactivated within three hours but the actions of other organisations extended the delay to 40 hours.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIAN SIGNALS DIRECTORATE, IBM AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NEXTGEN PTY LTD

Turnbull lifts sights on gun imports

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 4 : 20-Oct-16

The Coalition is divided on the issue of the relaxation of gun laws. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has accused the Australia Labor Party of "demonising" gun owners. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has warned against changes in regulations which would allow the importation of seven-shot Adler gun into Australia, as suggested by Liberal Democratic Party senator David Leyonhjelm.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, GUN CONTROL AUSTRALIA