O75 Public Administration

Coalition gives up on surplus

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 16-Dec-15

The Australian Government’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook forecasts that the 2015-16 Budget deficit will blow out to $A37.4bn, compared with expectations of $A35.1bn in May. The deficit will also be higher than expected in the following three fiscal years, while GDP growth forecasts have been reduced for both 2015 and 2016. Meanwhile, the worsening Budget deficit may prompt ratings agencies to review Australia’s triple-A credit rating, although Stephen Walters of JP Morgan says this is unlikely in the near-term.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

RBA’s Stevens sees hope in jobs growth

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 16-Dec-15

The Reserve Bank of Australia reduced its economic growth forecast in November 2015, but governor Glenn Stevens does not believe another downgrade is needed in the near-term. Stevens has also given indications that further interest rate cuts may not be necessary in the current monetary policy cycle, noting that the unemployment rate is well below the central bank’s expectations earlier in 2015. He adds that the downturn in commodity prices may put further downward pressure on the Australian dollar.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD

Turnbull dodges bullet, Nationals left red-faced

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 15-Dec-15

Liberal Party of Australia backbencher Ian Macfarlane has signalled that he may quit Parliament after his attempt to defect to the National Party was thwarted. The Liberal National Party of Queensland’s state executive voted 14-12 to prevent him from resigning from the federal Liberal Party to join the National Party. Macfarlane was dropped from the frontbench when Malcolm Turnbull replaced Tony Abbott as Prime Minister.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Pressure on fossil fuels

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Original article by James Chessell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 14-Dec-15

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says the Australian Government will make changes to its Direct Action policy, after delegates at the United Nations climate summit in Paris secured an agreement to reduce carbon emissions. However, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has urged the Government to abandon the Direct Action policy. The agreement has set a goal of ensuring that growth in global warming remains significantly below two degrees Celsius.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, UNITED NATIONS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, GOLDMAN SACHS AND PARTNERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CLIMATE INSTITUTE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, OXFORD UNIVERSITY, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, INDIA. PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE

Budget deficit blown to $38b

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 14-Dec-15

The Australian Government’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook will include a significant reduction in Budget forecasts for the price of iron ore in 2015-16. The downturn in the price of the steel input will contribute to the deficit blowing out to around $A38bn. Meanwhile, government spending will rise to 26.2 per cent of GDP in 2015-16, compared with expectations of just 25.9 per cent in the May 2015 Budget. The Government is also tipped to significantly reduce its projections for longer-term economic growth.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Quantum computing could be worth billions to Australia

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Original article by Tim Dodd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 11-Dec-15

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull wants technology to play a bigger role in the Australian economy. He told a Knowledge Society lunch in Sydney on 10 December 2015 that innovative computing technology is particularly important. The Government has provided $A26 million for research on silicon-based quantum computing at the University of New South Wales. Telstra and the Commonwealth Bank gave $A10 million each in additional funding for the project.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Income tax for states in GST plan

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 11-Dec-15

Australia’s federal, state and territory treasurers will continue to conduct negotiations over the division of tax revenue from the GST. They agreed at a meeting on 10 December 2015 to consider a proposal by South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill. He suggested in November that extra revenue from a rise in the GST could be used to fund tax cuts. The states would also receive 17.5 per cent of income tax revenue, with no restrictions on how they would spend it.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Surprise job boom rules out rate cut

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 11-Dec-15

Official data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the economy added 71,400 jobs in November 2015, while a total of 301,700 jobs have been created since the start of the year. The national unemployment rate has fallen to 5.8 per cent, while the unemployment rate in New South Wales has fallen to 5.2 per cent. Some 127,000 jobs have been created nationwide in the last two months, which may prompt the Reserve Bank to leave the cash rate on hold in February 2016.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Iron ore price plunge to blow $15bn hole in budget

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 2 : 10-Dec-15

The Australian Government’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook will need to contend with the sharp decline in the iron ore price since the May 2015 Budget. Revenue projections in the Budget were based on an average iron ore price of $US48 per tonne, but the price of the steel input has since fallen below $US40/tonne. The downturn in the iron ore price could reduce the Budget bottom line by around $A15bn over the next four years.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Business pushes PM on IR, tax

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Original article by Ben Potter, Ewin Hannan, Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 11 : 9-Dec-15

Business Council of Australia president Catherine Livingstone has used the Workplace and Productivity Summit to call on the Federal Government to pursue changes to the industrial relations and tax regimes. However, economist Ross Garnaut told the summit – which has been organised by "The Australian Financial Review" – that there is no need for tax cuts in sectors that face limited competition. GE Australia CEO Geoff Culbert and ACTU secretary Dave Oliver were among the other speakers during the first day of the summit.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, GE AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RESOURCES INSTITUTE, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, AIRTASKER PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ