O75 Public Administration

ASIC slaps ex-Deutsche trader with lifetime ban for $50m fraud

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Original article by Sally Rose
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 30-Sep-16

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has imposed a lifetime ban on providing financial services on former Deutsche Bank trader Andrew Donaldson. ASIC found that Donaldson made "false entries" in order to cover his losses in 2013 and 2014. He was at that time employed as a foreign exchange options and futures trader at the bank.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, ABBEY LIFE, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF JUSTICE

SA crisis: PM demands cut to renewable targets

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Original article by Primrose Riordan, Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 : 30-Sep-16

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has used the blackout in South Australia (SA) to stress the need for a new national renewables target. He said on 29 September 2016 that the Labor state governments of SA, Queensland and Victoria adopted targets that are "extremely unrealistic". Queensland has a renewable target of 50 per cent, while the current level of renewables is only about 4.5 per cent. Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said the matter will be discussed at an upcoming meeting of state energy ministers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS

‘Loaded’ hourly rates could replace penalties

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Original article by James Thomson, David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 30-Sep-16

Australia’s penalty rates system needs to be modernised. In its current form, it is incompatible with a 24-hour retail world. Fair Work Commission president Iain Ross suggested at "The Australian Financial Review"’s retail summit on 29 September 2016 that weekend penalty rates should be abolished in exchange for a higher hourly rate for workers employed at retail and fast-food outlets. Ross gave an example of the Hospitality Industry Award as a model that could be used in the retail sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, ACTU, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION

Finals fever part 2: Storm and Sharks fans compared

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: online : 29-Sep-16

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that Melbourne Storm and Cronulla Sharks have very different-sized fan bases. As of June 2016, Melbourne Storm was the second-most popular team in the National Rugby League (after the Brisbane Broncos), with 836,000 supporters – no less than 15.1% of total NRL fans. In contrast, the Sharks’ 202,000 supporters account for 3.7% of the League’s total fans. While it is relatively small, the Sharks fan base is noteworthy for being composed of more women than men. Almost 65% of Sharks supporters are female. On the other hand, nearly 61% of Storm fans are men.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, MELBOURNE STORM RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB LIMITED, CRONULLA SHARKS, BRISBANE BRONCOS RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB LIMITED

Extra tax perks to boost R&D

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Original article by Michael Bailey, Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 29-Sep-16

The Federal Government wants to encourage large companies to be more technologically innovative. The existing research and development scheme was reviewed by Innovation Australia chairman Bill Ferris, chief scientist Alan Finkel and Treasury Secretary John Fraser, who recommended doubling the value of tax breaks for large companies to a maximum of $A17 million a year. They also proposed an annual cap of $A2 million on cash claims by smaller companies.

CORPORATES
INNOVATION AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SCIENTIST, DULUXGROUP LIMITED – ASX DLX, CSIRO

Morrison says lower backpacker tax is competitive

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Original article by Laura Tingle
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 29-Sep-16

Treasurer Scott Morrison has rejected criticism of the tax treatment of non-resident income. Faced with opposition from tourism operators and farmers to the original proposal of a 32.5 per cent backpackers tax rate, the Government has reduced it to 19 per cent. However, at the same time it has proposed raising the passenger departure tax by $A5. Morrison said the new tax will not make Australia less attractive to backpackers than New Zealand, the UK and Canada.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Finals fever: Bulldogs and Swans fans compared

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Sep-16

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that AFL grand finalist the Western Bulldogs has the league’s most gender-balanced fan base: 49.9 per cent are men and 50.1 per cent are women. In contrast, 58.4 per cent of Sydney Swans supporters are men and 41.6 per cent are women. The survey, which was carried out in the year to June 2016, also shows that Swans supporters have a mean age of 47 years, compared with 44 years for Western Bulldogs fans. Meanwhile, a slightly higher proportion of Bulldogs supporters are aged 65 and older (19.2 per cent vs 18.4 per cent). Overall, the Swans boast 1.1 million supporters (14.5 per cent of the country’s AFL supporters), while the Western Bulldogs have 249,000 supporters (3.3 per cent of all AFL fans).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, WESTERN BULLDOGS FOOTBALL CLUB, SYDNEY SWANS FOOTBALL CLUB

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence jumps 4.4% (5.1pts) to 120.6

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Sep-16

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose by 4.4 per cent to 120.6 in the week ended 25 September 2016, more than offsetting the previous week’s decline. The improvement in confidence was broadly based. Consumers’ views towards their current and future finances rose by 5.4 per cent and 4.0 per cent respectively. Households’ views of the 12-month economic outlook rose by 6.0 per cent, while views of the five-year economic outlook improved by 3.6 per cent.

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

National Party support is at lowest level since before election; now behind potential Labour/ Greens Alliance

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 28-Sep-16

A New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll on voting intention has found that support for the ruling National Party has fallen by 4.5 per cent to 41.5 per cent in September 2016, which is its lowest level since September 2013. The poll also shows that support for a potential Labour/Greens alliance has risen by 5.5 per cent to 45.5 per cent, while the NZ Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating has fallen by 10.5 points to 117 points. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says that if the poll result were repeated at the 2017 election, NZ First leader Winston Peters would be in a position to determine the nation’s next government and prime minister, despite a slight fall in support for the party in the latest poll.

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

Tourism slams departure tax slug

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Original article by Laura Tingle
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Sep-16

Treasurer Scott Morrison says reducing the proposed backpacker tax from 32.25 per cent to 19 per cent will enhance Australia’s ability to compete with other countries that are popular with people on working holidays. The Federal Government will also reduce the application fee for working holiday visas in a bid to arrest a decline in such visas in recent years. The Tourism & Transport Forum has welcomed the move to reduce the backpacker tax, but it has criticised a proposed $A5 increase in the departure tax on outbound travellers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, TTF AUSTRALIA LIMITED TOURISM AND TRANSPORT FORUM, TOURISM AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA