O75 Public Administration

Weapons drawn in IR battle

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 4 : 23-Jan-15

An issues paper has been made public by the Productivity Commission, for its investigation of Australia’s industrial relations system. While the focus on reform of the Fair Work Act is being applauded by the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Industry Group, the Council of Small Business of Australia and the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Indus­try, the ACTU union umbrella group sees it as dominated by the "obsession" of the Federal Government with penalty rates and individual workplace agreements. Enterprise bargaining and the minimum wage are also on the agenda

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FRIENDS

Health cover costs could rise by 7pc

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Original article by Jessica Gardner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 22-Jan-15

Australian Health Minister Sussan Ley is expected to approve health insurance premium increases as high as seven per cent from 1 April 2015. Health insurance firms argue that rises of up to triple the rate of inflation are justified because of increased use of services, rising care costs and costs associated with technological progress

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, NIB HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NHF, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, WESTFUND HEALTH INSURANCE, CONSUMER HEALTH FORUM, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

Atlas boss backs royalty easing

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 19 : 21-Jan-15

Atlas Iron has advised that it lost around $US3 for each tonne of iron ore that it shipped in the December 2014 quarter, due to the sharp decline in the price of the steel input. MD Ken Brinsden has welcomed the Western Australian Government’s temporary measure of a 50 per cent rebate on iron ore royalties for smaller producers. He adds that the royalty relief should boost Atlas’s quarterly cash flow by about $A8m in 2015

CORPORATES
ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Cat out of bag on Labor taxes: PM

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 2 : 21-Jan-15

Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO Kate Carnell has proposed countering "bracket creep" by linking changes to income tax brackets to the inflation rate. This has also been suggested by Robert Carling of the Centre for Independent Studies. Meanwhile, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has not ruled out tax increases to reduce the Budget deficit if the Australian Labor Party wins the next federal election. His comments have been criticised by Prime Minister Tony Abbott

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE CENTRE FOR INDEPENDENT STUDIES LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

TPG must pay for the right to compete

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Original article by Joanna Heath, David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 21-Jan-15

Australian Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull says rivals to the national broadband network will have to help fund the building of the infrastructure in remote areas via a levy. The charge is intended to prevent private telcos from undercutting operator NBN Co in lucrative urban markets. Turnbull says the project has proceeded well in the last year but remains risky. Meanwhile he should soon have a response to the regulatory reform requested by Australia Post in order to provide two types of letter delivery service

CORPORATES
TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, AUSTRALIA POST, NBN CO LIMITED

ATO urged to stop valuations

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Original article by Nassim Khadem
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 20-Jan-15

A review of the Australian Taxation Office’s administration of valuation matters was issued by Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on 19 January 2015. The review, by Inspector-General of Taxation Ali Noroozi, proposed that valuation only be required "where it has the highest net benefit". Noroozi states that the valuation process has been innately subjective. One of the review’s nine recommendations is that businesses smaller than a certain size be exempt from undertaking valuations

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, BDO AUSTRALIA LIMITED, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CORPORATE TAX ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF TAXATION

Labor to restore free whooping cough vaccine

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Original article by Josh Gordon
The Age – Page: 8 : 19-Jan-15

The newly elected Victorian Government will honour an election promise and revive a free whooping cough vaccination program cancelled in 2012. Premier Daniel Andrews notes that there has been a rise in the number of reported cases from 2,926 in 2013 to 4,615 in 2014. Pregnant women can access the vaccine from the third trimester, and it will also be given to infants less than half a year old. The cost of $A8.4m until 2018 will be compensated for by the Australian Labor Party’s abolition of the Building Code and of the Construction Code Compliance Unit

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET,{SPAC}VICTORIA. DEPT OF HEALTH,{SPAC}VICTORIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE. CONSTRUCTION CODE COMPLIANCE UNIT,{SPAC}AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Commonwealth legal services spending rises

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Original article by Nicola Berkovic
The Australian – Page: 23 : 16-Jan-15

New figures show that the Australian Government’s expenditure on legal services increased by around $A6m in 2013-14, to $A688.6m. There was a $A10m blowout in the cost of the Government’s in-house legal teams during the financial year, although there was a slight decline in the amount paid to private law firms. Clayton Utz accounted for about 11 per cent of the government legal work that was outsourced to private firms

CORPORATES
CLAYTON UTZ, ASHURST AUSTRALIA, DLA PIPER, MINTER ELLISON, SPARKE HELMORE, NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT AUSTRALIA, CORRS CHAMBERS WESTGARTH, MADDOCKS LAWYERS, KING AND WOOD MALLESONS, AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT SOLICITOR, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Chance of rate cuts recede

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Original article by Vesna Poljak, Joanna Heath
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 16-Jan-15

New figures show that 37,400 jobs were created in Australia during December 2014, with the unemployment rate easing to 6.1 per cent. The general consensus of economists was that about 5,000 jobs had been created. The labour market figures may weaken the case for further easing of monetary policy, with Michael Blythe of the Commonwealth Bank forecasting that the cash rate will remain unchanged in 2015. However, the ANZ Bank expects two rate cuts in the next year

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, WORLD BANK, LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, WATPAC LIMITED – ASX WTP, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

No proposals to change lockout laws, Baird says

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Original article by Nicole Hasham
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 3 : 16-Jan-15

New South Wales Deputy Premier Troy Grant recently signalled an early review, and possible reform, of liquor laws introduced in February 2014. They mean operators of licensed venues in the Sydney CBD and Kings Cross area must "lock out" patrons after 1.30am, and cease selling alcohol at 3am. Pubs and clubs had applauded any move to have the regulations scaled back, but this was opposed by police and by doctors’ lobby groups. Premier Mike Baird has now ruled out amending the current system

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE ASSOCIATION, FOUNDATION FOR ALCOHOL RESEARCH AND EDUCATION LIMITED, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF TOURISM, SPORT AND RECREATION