O75 Public Administration

Don’t trust the jobs data, says ex-chief statistician

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Oct-15

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) veteran Bill McLennan has questioned the validity of the agency’s current methodology for compiling the monthly labour market survey. The ABS changed its methodology in 2014, but McLennan says the labour market data has little value because the old and new systems should have operated in tandem for a while to confirm the accuracy of the new system. The ABS’s David Kalisch is confident that there are no problems with the jobs data produced by the agency.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

1000 crimes on building sites

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Original article by Elizabeth Colman
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 15-Oct-15

Fair Work Building & Construction’s 2015 annual report highlights the Australian construction industry’s lack of compliance with industrial relations laws. The report shows that Construction, Forestry, Mining & ­Energy Union officials were responsible for most of the 948 breaches of workplace laws that were investigated by the Fair Work Building ­Industry Inspectorate in 2014-15. The complaints investigated by the agency included coercion, unlawful industrial action, and breach of laws governing freedom of association and right of entry.

CORPORATES
FAIR WORK BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE FAIR WORK BUILDING INDUSTRY INSPECTORATE, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

PM deflects barbs over tax haven

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 15-Oct-15

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been accused by the Australian Labor Party of having investments in companies registered in the Cayman Islands. Labor senator Sam Dastyari said on 14 October 2015 that it is inappropriate for Turnbull to have investments in a tax haven. In response to Dastyari’s accusations, Turnbull said his investments were made in accordance with the ministerial code of conduct.

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

Gender pay gap only 5pc for comparable work roles

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Original article by Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 14-Oct-15

Hay Group’s analysis of salary data suggests that female workers are generally paid just paid five per cent less than male colleagues in similar roles. This compares with the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s estimate that the gender pay gap is around 25 per cent on average, although its data is based on the salaries of people in executive roles rather than those in comparable roles. Trevor Warden of Hay Group says having more women in senior positions will help address the pay gap.

CORPORATES
HAY GROUP, AUSTRALIA. WORKPLACE GENDER EQUALITY AGENCY

Resources companies welcome industrial relations law changes

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 14-Oct-15

The Senate has passed amendments to the Fair Work Act which enable the Fair Work Commission to make a ruling when enterprise bargaining negotiations on new projects have been stalled for six months. The Australian Mines & Metals Association and the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association say the reforms should boost investment.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, FAMILY FIRST PARTY AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Labor to pass China FTA despite unions

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 14-Oct-15

The Australian Government is expected to agree to some minor changes to the free trade agreement with China that have been endorsed by the Opposition’s caucus. The three amendments to the Migration Act relate to foreign workers who are hired on 457 visas. The trade deal is now expected to be passed by Parliament within weeks, allowing it to come into effect by the end of 2015. However, ACTU president Ged Kearney says the protection of Australian jobs is still a concern.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION

Denials wear thin as evidence mounts

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Original article by Ben Schneiders
The Age – Page: 5 : 14-Oct-15

Melbourne’s EastLink tollroad project was finished well ahead of schedule, but evidence presented to the trade union royal commission demonstrates that industrial peace came at a cost. Julian Rzesniowiecki was a senior executive at Thiess John Holland, who kept records showing that the Australian Workers’ Union had proposed that Thiess pay $A300,000 for one union organiser to be on site. The proposal was put forward by current Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in his capacity as head of the AWU. He had initially proposed that Thiess pay for four AWU members to be on site for the life of the project.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, THIESS JOHN HOLLAND, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Labor wins free trade concessions

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 13-Oct-15

The Australian Labor Party will release its proposed legislative changes to protect Australian jobs on 12 October 2015. The Federal Government is reportedly willing to agree to amend the Migration Act in order to ensure the passage of the China-Australia free trade agreement through Parliament. The matter was discussed by Trade Minister Andrew Robb and his Opposition counterpart, Penny Wong.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

Termination changes for 7-Elevens worry franchisees

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Original article by Adele Ferguson, Sarah Danckert
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 13-Oct-15

Australian Greens MP Adam Bandt wants an amendment to the Fair Work Act in the wake of the wage exploitation scandal at 7-Eleven. His private members’ bill would make a franchisor liable if a franchisee fails to pay staff the correct wages. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven franchisees in Melbourne are concerned that they will not gain much from a proposed change in the way profits are split with head office. They also fear that new termination clauses could be exploited by head office.

CORPORATES
7-ELEVEN STORES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Abbott ahead of PM in social media engagement at least

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 13-Oct-15

Figures from BrandData show that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is less popular on social media than his predecessor, Tony Abbott. Turnbull also trails behind ex-prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard in terms of engagement on Twitter. He boasts 456,000 followers on Twitter, while Rudd has 1.6 million. However, Turnbull is ranked in first place on YouTube.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BRAND DATA PTY LTD, TWITTER INCORPORATED, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED