O75 Public Administration

Fairfax’s 15.7pc tax rate draws Senate spotlight

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 5-Feb-15

Claims by the Tax Justice Network that major Australian corporations are using strategies such as profit shifting to minimise their tax burden have sparked a Senate Economics Committee investigation. In a submission prepared by senior research fellow Sinclair Davidson of the right-wing ­Institute of Public Affairs, newspaper publisher Fairfax Media is accused of enjoying an effective tax rate of a mere 15.78% rather than the statutory 30% in 2013-14. Fairfax had in 2014 published articles on alleged tax avoidance by rival News Corp Australia

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TAX JUSTICE NETWORK, INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, RMIT UNIVERSITY, ROYAL MELBOURNE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Premier eyes new remit for CCC

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Original article by Daniel Emerson
The West Australian – Page: 11 : 5-Feb-15

Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett has flagged a review of the state’s Corruption & Crime Commission (CCC), conceding that its performance has been below expectations. Barnett has indicated that his preference is for the CCC to focus on investigating organised crime rather than police corruption. Plans to shift its focus to organised crime had been abandoned in September 2012

CORPORATES
WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. CORRUPTION AND CRIME COMMISSION, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Sinodinos deserts PM, points to spill ‘next week’

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Joanna Heath
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 5-Feb-15

Treasurer Joe Hockey has refuted speculation that Prime Minister Tony Abbott will shortly face a leadership spill. His has come under further scrutiny after Senator Arthur Sinodinos told Sky News that his continued support for Abbott is "not unconditional". He also said that if Abbott is ousted his successor will need to adopt a "strategic" change in direction for the government. Several backbench MPs have openly criticised Abbott in recent weeks

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, SKY NEWS, AUSTRALIAN NEWS CHANNEL PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. MEDICARE AUSTRALIA, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, LIBERAL PARTY OF VICTORIA

News Corp’s $417m tax bill confounds critics

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 22 : 4-Feb-15

Australia’s Senate Economics Committee is looking into claims by unions and other organisations that major corporations engage in profit shifting to minimise their tax burden. In its submission to the inquiry, News Corp Australia says its payments of income and withholding tax between 2009-10 and 2013-14 totalled $A417.3m. The media group also notes that its combined goods and services, fringe benefits and payroll taxes for those years were worth a further $A900m

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, TAX JUSTICE NETWORK, UNITED VOICE, HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS PTY LTD

Untreated trauma costs $9.1b a year: report

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Original article by Rachel Browne
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 5 : 4-Feb-15

A new study by Pegasus Economics states that the annual loss to the Australian economy stemming from unresolved childhood trauma after sexual abuse is $A9.1bn. The four issues of alcohol abuse, mental illness, obesity, and suicide or attempted suicide were looked at in the research, commissioned by the Adults Surviving Child Abuse lobby group for its 2015 Budget submission to the Federal Government. Meanwhile the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse estimates the cost over a decade of a redress scheme for victims at $A4.3bn

CORPORATES
ADULTS SURVIVING CHILD ABUSE, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSES TO CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE, PEGASUS ECONOMICS

China poised to boost investment in Australia

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Original article by Scott Murdoch, Annabel Hepworth, Wang Yuanyuan
The Australian – Page: 19 : 3-Feb-15

China’s State Council has ruled that the nation will use its $US3trn ($A3.9trn) worth of foreign currency reserves to make investments overseas. The targets will include major infrastructure projects, and Australia is set to be among the nations benefiting from the inflow of funds. The groundwork was laid by the Australian Government’s recent signing of a new free trade agreement with China. However some uncertainty remains on the issue of Chinese state-owned enterprises needing approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board for large asset purchases

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, CHINA. STATE COUNCIL, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CORRS CHAMBERS WESTGARTH, INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERSHIPS AUSTRALIA, QINGHUA UNIVERSITY

CCC pays out for harassment

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Original article by Gary Adshead
The West Australian – Page: 9 : 2-Feb-15

Western Australia’s Corruption & Crime Commission (CCC) is believed to have settled claims by several employees that colleagues had subjected them to harassment and intimidation. Shadow attorney-general John Quigley has called for the State Government to hold a public inquiry into the CCC. There have previously been allegations that some CCC staff engaged in fraudulent activity, and two employees have been charged with criminal offences

CORPORATES
WESTERN AUSTRALIA. CORRUPTION AND CRIME COMMISSION, LIBERAL PARTY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Only the Morgan Poll predicted the Queensland Election as ‘too close to call’ as Labor looks set to return to office in Queensland after only one term out

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Original article by Gary Morgan, Michele Levine, Julian McCrann
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 1-Feb-15

The final SMS Queensland State Morgan Poll conducted in mid-January 2015 showed the Liberal-National Party (50.5 per cent) with a slight two-party preferred advantage over the Australian Labor Party (49.5 per cent). This was the closest result of all major polls conducted for the state election. The Galaxy, Newspoll and ReachTEL polls conducted in the last week all predicted a clear LNP majority of 52 per cent per cent, compared with 48 per cent for the ALP. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says the SMS State Morgan Polls correctly predicted the close election results in Victoria in 2014 and Queensland in 2015

CORPORATES
MORGAN POLL, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, GALAXY RESEARCH PTY LTD, REACHTEL PTY LTD, NEWSPOLL, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, MILLWARD BROWN AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, KATTER’S AUSTRALIAN PARTY, PALMER UNITED PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Bulk-billing link to short visit in doubt

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Original article by Kate Hagan
The Age – Page: 8 : 2-Feb-15

A new study on bulk billing under the Medicare system is being published in the "Medical Journal of Australia", by a team at the University of Technology, Sydney. The findings show that the use of bulk billing by general practitioners is not likely to trigger any increase in the number of very short consultations. The spectre of so-called six-minute medicine had been raised by the Federal Government in its push for a co-payment by patients or a rebate cut for visits that last no longer than 10 minutes

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. MEDICARE AUSTRALIA, UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY

Tax breaks on family home hit $46b

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Original article by Fleur Anderson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 2-Feb-15

The Department of Treasury forecasts that continuing to exclude family homes from the capital gains tax regime will cost the Australian Government some $A46bn in revenue in 2014-15. In contrast, superannuation tax breaks cost nearly $A30bn in lost revenue each year. Robert Jeremenko of the Tax Institute says all aspects of the tax regime should be included in the Government’s upcoming tax white paper

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, THE TAX INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE