O75 Public Administration

Coalition’s budget gain disappears

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

Support for the federal Australian Labor Party on a two-party preferred basis has risen to 53 per cent in June 2015, according to a Fairfax/Ipsos poll. Labor’s primary vote has increased by two per cent to 37 per cent, while the Coalition’s primary vote is down three per cent at 40 per cent. Meanwhile, the approval rating of Prime Minister Tony Abbott is down two per cent at 40 per cent, while the rating of Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is steady at 41 per cent.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, IPSOS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Pressure to relax tax hit on foreigners

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 12-Jun-15

Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea and the Philippines have agreed to participate in the Asia Region Funds Passport initiative. Australia’s Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg hopes to convince Japan to sign up as well. However, Australia may come under pressure to reduce the withholding tax rate on the income of foreign investors, amid concerns that it is a deterrent for offshore investors. The Financial Services Council advocates reducing the tax from 15 per cent to five per cent for investments made via the Funds Passport.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL, ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION, MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP INCORPORATED, JAPAN. FINANCIAL SERVICES AGENCY, NIKKO ASSET MANAGEMENT GROUP, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS

Business in victory over forced leave

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 12-Jun-15

Australia’s Fair Work Commission has ruled that employers are entitled to require an employee covered by an industrial award to take annual leave if they have at least seven weeks of unused leave. Meanwhile, workers who have at least four weeks of accrued leave will be entitled to cash out two weeks’ leave. The Commission noted that cash-out provisions are included in many enterprises agreements. The ruling has been welcomed by employers’ groups, but the ACTU says it will disadvantage many people on low wages.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Work till 70? A fifth of us won’t be well enough

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Original article by Sally Rose
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 11-Jun-15

The Australian Government has advocated requiring people to remain in the workforce beyond the traditional retirement age. However, a report by AMP and the National Centre for Social & Economic Modelling concludes that this may not be an option for some Australians. It shows that 25 per cent of men and 20 per cent of women who are currently in their forties expect their health to be "fair" or "poor" by 2035.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA. NATIONAL CENTRE FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC MODELLING, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Living in a $5m house, Hockey’s ‘affordable’ claim jars

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Su-Lin Tan, Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 10-Jun-15

Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey has been criticised for saying that people who want to buy their first home should start by getting a highly-paid job. He has also dismissed claims that residential property in Sydney has become unaffordable, arguing that if this were true people would not be buying homes. Australian Council of Social Service CEO Cassandra Goldie and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten are among those who have criticised Hockey.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Spouses and doctors lose tax break

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 9-Jun-15

The Australian Government has secured the Opposition’s support to scrap the Dependent Spouse Tax Offset, a 2014 Budget measure that were blocked by the Senate. Abolishing the offset is expected to generate cost savings of around $A300m over four years. The Opposition is also expected to support the Government’s proposed changes to the fringe benefits tax concessions regime for meals and entertainment expenses.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, ABC RADIO, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE

NSW’s $13b power sale gets green light

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Original article by Will Glasgow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 4-Jun-15

The New South Wales Government will shortly begin the sale process for the electricity network, with the enabling legislation set to be passed by Parliament in early June 2015. The Government has secured the support of the Christian Democratic Party after agreeing to guarantee some 6,670 jobs for the next five years. However, Mark Lennon of Unions NSW says the Government should have included staff transfer payments in the privatisation bill.

CORPORATES
CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY (FRED NILE GROUP), NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR, TRANSGRID, NETWORKS NSW PTY LTD, AUSGRID PTY LTD, ENDEAVOUR ENERGY LIMITED, UNIONS NSW, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Income hit to living standards

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

New figures show that Australia’s real GDP grew by a higher-than-expected 0.9 per cent in the March 2015 quarter, and by 2.3 per cent year-on-year. However, real GDP growth has remained below the long-run average for the last 11 quarters, while average income has fallen in each of the last four quarters. Treasurer Joe Hockey says the GDP data highlights the continued strength of the domestic economy, but economist Dr Andrew Charlton is concerned about the outlook for the economy and the nation’s living standards.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, ALPHABETA, THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Equities titans say ‘leave dividend imputation alone’

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Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 20 : 3-Jun-15

Balanced Equity Management fund manager Andrew Sisson has urged the Australian Government to retain dividend imputation. He warning that scrapping the regime will result in lower dividend payouts and prompt more companies to shift their tax liabilities offshore. Veteran fund manager Peter Morgan also favours retaining the current system, as do Djerriwarrh Investments and Westpac. Perpetual did not make a submission on the Government’s tax white paper.

CORPORATES
BALANCED EQUITY MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, DJERRIWARRH INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX DJW, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BT FINANCIAL GROUP PTY LTD, PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT, 452 CAPITAL PTY LTD, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, BOND CORPORATION HOLDINGS LIMITED

PM’s inaction makes super ‘vulnerable’

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Original article by Sally Patten, Sally Rose
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 3-Jun-15

Financial system inquiry chairman David Murray says changes to Australia’s superannuation regime will be necessary in the future. The Federal Government has indicated that super reform is not on its agenda, but Murray says that failure to pursue reforms will ultimately undermine confidence in the super system. The Australian Council of Social Service is among the organisations that have called for a review of the entire retirement incomes system.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, COMMITTEE FOR SUSTAINABLE RETIREMENT INCOMES, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA