O75 Public Administration

Copper stopper, two million more get fibre under Labor’s NBN plan

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 13-Jun-16

The Federal Opposition will announce details of its broadband policy on 13 June 2016. An additional two million homes and businesses will be connected to the national broadband network via fibre-to-the-home, rather than fire-to-the-node, if the Australian Labor Party wins the federal election. Labor will also seek to determine whether homes that have been connected via fire-to-the-node can be upgraded to fibre-to-the-home. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says Australia needs a high-quality NBN in order to compete with Asia.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE

Captain’s call ‘a bid to sink Greens’

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Original article by Sid Maher, Sarah Martin
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 13-Jun-16

The Federal Government will direct preferences to the Australian Labor Party, rather than smaller parties such as the Greens and the Nick Xenophon Team. Labor in turn has indicated that it will not direct preferences to Xenophon’s party in South Australian seats. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has defended the Coalition’s decision to direct preferences to its arch rival, arguing that it is in the national interest to avoid another minority government in which the Greens and minority parties have significant influence.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Reform FWC for actual fairness

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Original article by Steve Knott
The Australian – Page: 12 : 10-Jun-16

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s abrupt change in stance regarding the Fair Work Commission’s review of weekend penalty rates was not unexpected. FWC president Iain Ross – a former ACTU official – was appointed by Shorten in 2012, when he was the nation’s industrial relations minister. Indeed, 18 of the 27 appointments to the "independent" FWC made by the Australian Labor Party between 2007 and 2013 were affiliated with Labor or were previously in the union movement. Meanwhile, a survey has found that 87 per cent of employers in the resources sector support a review of the FWC.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED)

Overseas companies ‘can game the system’

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 6 : 10-Jun-16

The Australian Labor Party’s proposal to increase the threshold for offshore investment in agricultural land has been criticised by Treasurer Scott Morrison. Labor would require purchases of farmland valued at $A50m or more to be approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board, but Morrison contends that offshore buyers would seek to avoid this by acquiring land for $A49m. Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce has also criticised Labor’s proposal to lift the threshold for foreign investment in the agribusiness sector to $A1bn.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

High company tax rate halted Sydney shift for Catcha Group

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 10-Jun-16

Catcha Group founder Patrick Grove has indicated that the corporate tax rate was a key factor in his decision not to relocate some of his Malaysia-based business empire’s operations to Australia. He adds that the corporate tax rate meant Australia was ruled out when he was considering shifting Catcha’s headquarters to a global city several years ago. The Federal Government intends to reduce the tax rate for all companies to 25 per cent over the next decade.

CORPORATES
CATCHA GROUP, IFLIX LIMITED, IPROPERTY GROUP LIMITED, ICAR ASIA LIMITED – ASX ICQ, ENSOGO LIMITED – ASX E88, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ANDERSEN, TECHNOLOGY ONE LIMITED – ASX TNE, ONESHIFT PTY LTD, POWEREDLOCAL

Labor retreats on cuts

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1& 6 : 10-Jun-16

The Federal Opposition will unveil a number of savings measures on 10 June 2016 that it will implement if it wins the federal election. It will also no longer oppose some of the spending cuts that were announced in the Australian Government’s May 2014 Budget, which have been stalled in the Senate. These measures are expected to include the Government’s proposed changes to welfare payments such as the Family Tax Benefit and a reduction in R&D tax concessions. The Opposition aims to eliminate the budget deficit within five years.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Labor admits bigger deficits prompting AAA warnings

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 9-Jun-16

The Federal Opposition has conceded that the budget deficit will increase over the next four years under its 10-year economic plan. However, it expects to eliminate the deficit in 2020-21, and argues that its policies will have a much greater net benefit to the budget bottom line over a decade than the Australian Government’s plans to reduce the company tax rate. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has warned that the Opposition’s higher deficit over the next four years could jeopardise Australia’s triple-A credit rating.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Business rebuts tax-cut attacks

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 9-Jun-16

The heads of four Australian employers’ and industry groups have criticised opponents of the Federal Government’s proposal to progressively reduce the company tax rate over 10 years. They note that GDP will be boosted by one per cent on an ongoing basis as a result of the tax cuts, and argue that there is no justification for taxing businesses at a different rate depending on their size. The business leaders also warn that opposition to the tax cuts reflects broader anti-business sentiment.

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, EVOLUTION MINING LIMITED – ASX EVN, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED

PM picks Facebook to run final encounter

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Original article by Jared Owens
The Australian – Page: 7 : 8-Jun-16

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has confirmed that he will participate in an online debate rather than the "people’s forum" in Brisbane that will be broadcast on Sky News on 8 June 2016. The online debate will be streamed live on Facebook and jointly moderated by the social media group and news.com.au. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will attend the people’s forum.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, SKY NEWS, BRISBANE BRONCOS LEAGUES CLUB LIMITED

Tax cut gain ‘twice cost to the budget’

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 8-Jun-16

Research by Chris Murphy of Independent Economics has concluded that the Australian Government’s proposal to progressively reduce the company tax rate will have significant economic benefits. Murphy has estimated that the "consumer benefit" from the tax cuts will be around $A2.39 for every $A1.00 in forgone revenue. Murphy has also rejected suggestions that the tax cuts will boost the after-tax profits of offshore investors.

CORPORATES
INDEPENDENT ECONOMICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA (INCORPORATED)