O75 Public Administration

7-Eleven operators to face court amid wage scandal

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Original article by Adele Ferguson, Sarah Danckert
The Age – Page: 3 : 12-Oct-15

The Fair Work Ombudsman will prosecute Yiran Gu and Haiyao Xu over allegations that they underpaid staff at a 7-Eleven store in the Melbourne suburb of Parkville. They potentially face fines of up to $10,200 for every breach of workplace laws, while their private company could be fined up to $A51,000 for each offence. The Parkville store and 19 other 7-Eleven outlets were raided by the FWO in September 2014. Gu and Xu are also accused of falsifying payroll records.

CORPORATES
7-ELEVEN STORES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, HIYI PTY LTD

PM explores radical road, rail funding

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 12-Oct-15

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has signalled that the Australian Government is open to "innovative" options for funding infrastructure projects. These are believed to include capitalising on rising property values by channelling a proportion of revenue from land taxes into securities that would be sold to investors. The Australian Labor Party recently revealed plans to establish a $A10bn fund to finance infrastructure projects.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, INFRASTRUCTURE AUSTRALIA, CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Ex-AWB head Flugge finally before court

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 12-Oct-15

The Supreme Court of Victoria will begin hearing the case against former AWB chairman Trevor Flugge on 12 October 2015. The civil charges of breaching his duties as a director relate to the payment of $US225m in kickbacks to the regime of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein between 1999 and 2004. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission launched civil proceedings against Flugge and other AWB executives after abandoning criminal action.

CORPORATES
AWB LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. INQUIRY INTO CERTAIN AUSTRALIAN COMPANIES IN RELATION TO THE UN OIL-FOR-FOOD PROGRAMME, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Extending GST to education is fair, says PwC

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 9-Oct-15

Economic modelling by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows that the Australian Government could raise an additional $A3bn a year by 2019-20 by broadening the goods and services tax to include education. The firm’s modelling also shows that the annual education expenses of people on low salaries would rise by $A19 a year, while those with high incomes would pay an additional $A221 a year.

CORPORATES
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, THE TAX INSTITUTE

Penalty rates a relic of class war

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Original article by David Leyonhjelm
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 38 : 9-Oct-15

If the Australian Government is serious about job creation, it should remove penalty rates. A bill introduced by Senator David Leyonhjelm, of the Liberal Democratic Party, would remove obstacles to job creation in the restaurant, retail and tourism industries. The bill removes penalty rates for working on Saturday and Sunday. However, penalty rates would apply after the first 10 hours of work on any day.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Loughnane’s exit the end for power trio

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Original article by James Massola
The Age – Page: 8 : 9-Oct-15

Brian Loughnane stepped down as federal director of the Liberal Party of Australia on 8 October 2015, after 12 years in the role. Loughnane, former prime minister Tony Abbott and the latter’s ex-chief of staff Peta Credlin – who is married to Loughnane – became a powerful team in Canberra. Under their stewardship, the Liberals came close to ousting the Australian Labor Party government in 2010, before taking office in 2013. However, conflict of interest allegations plagued Loughnane and Credlin as the Liberal Party floundered under Abbott’s leadership.

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

Let companies and workers set their own penalties

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Original article by Michael Angwin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 63 : 8-Oct-15

The Productivity Commission has proposed reducing penalty rates in some industries for working on Sundays. However, penalty rates should not apply across-the-board in all industries. They could instead be applied on an enterprise basis, whereby penalty rates are only paid to employees as compensation for working what are deemed to be "unsocial hours". While there is some risk of employers abusing an enterprise-based system by reducing staff wages, most can be expected to treat employees fairly.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, VUE DE MONDE

GST less regressive than critics say

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 8-Oct-15

A Productivity Commission report concludes that households on low incomes pay about seven per cent of their earnings in the form of GST. This compares with around five per cent of the earnings of people on incomes exceeding $A150,000. The study refutes claims that increasing the GST would place the greatest burden on low-income households. The Productivity Commission stresses that further research on the issue is needed.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Turnbull hints at penalty rate cuts, compo

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 7-Oct-15

The Australian Government has indicated that the penalty rates regime may come under scrutiny as part of broader economic reforms. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull notes that the nation now has a seven-day economy, which will require greater workplace flexibility in the future. However, he has conceded that measures must be implemented to ensure that workers are not disadvantaged by any change to weekend penalty rates.

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

IMF finds our growth near target

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 7-Oct-15

The International Monetary Fund’s revised economic growth rate for Australia in 2015 is 2.4 per cent, which is slightly lower than its previous forecast in April. However, its forecast for global economic growth has been cut by 0.4 per cent to 3.1 per cent. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook has also maintained its economic growth forecasts for China in 2015 and 2016.

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY