O75 Public Administration

Gay MP stands up for marriage equality

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Original article by Nicole Hasham
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 9 : 21-Nov-14

Liberal Party of New South Wales MP Don Harwin spoke in favour of marriage equality for gay people in 2010, during debate on the Relationships Register Bill. Harwin, who is the president of the state’s upper house, disclosed his homosexuality in Parliament on 20 November 2014. He later said that he had urged the legalisation of gay marriage in a submission to a Senate inquiry, arguing banning gay couples from marrying is discrimination

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Obeid to be charged with corruption

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Original article by Geoff Winestock
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 21-Nov-14

The New South Wales (NSW) Director of Public Prosecutions has brought charges against ex-minister and Australian Labor Party identity Eddie Obeid, as recommended by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). It found he had exerted undue influence on party colleagues Eric Roozendaal, Carl Scully and Joe Tripodi as well as the Maritime Authority of NSW’s Stephen Dunn, to secure licenses for restaurants at Circular Quay in Sydney. ICAC has also gained corruption charges against ex-Labor minister Ian Macdonald, though not Obeid, in the case involving the granting of coal mining permits

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION, NEW SOUTH WALES. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, NSW MARITIME, CIRCULAR QUAY RESTAURANTS PTY LTD, DOYLES CREEK MINING PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LOCAL COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, COURT OF APPEAL (NEW SOUTH WALES)

Drought relief flow to Victoria’s farmers

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Original article by Darren Gray
The Age – Page: 6 : 20-Nov-14

Victorian farmers will be offered concessional loans of up to $A1 million under drought relief schemes announced by the Federal and Victorian Governments on 19 November 2014. The southern Mallee and northern Wimmera regions have suffered severe drought conditions, with areas around Wedderburn and Charlton also being affected

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE, AUSTRALIA. BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY

Medibank float could raise $5.8b

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Original article by Jessica Gardner, Sarah Thompson, Jake Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 & 26 : 20-Nov-14

Strong demand for shares in the Medibank Private IPO has prompted the Australian Government to upgrade the indicative share price range. This was initially set at between $A1.55 and $A2, but will now be from $A2 to $A2.30. Some fund managers expect the final issue price to be set at $A2.10 per share, which would value the float at about $A5.8bn. Retail investors will pay a maximum of $A2 per share

CORPORATES
MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, QR NATIONAL LIMITED

SBS ad boost ‘will cost networks $198m’

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 2 : 19-Nov-14

The Australian Subscription Television & Radio Association has criticised the Federal Government’s plan to allow more advertising on SBS. The public broadcaster will be able to show 10 minutes of ads per hour during prime time if the reforms proceed. Mark Pejic of MediaCom estimates that this will boost SBS’s revenue by $A198.7m over five years, largely at the expense of the free-to-air commercial networks

CORPORATES
SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), AUSTRALIAN SUBSCRIPTION TELEVISION AND RADIO ASSOCIATION (ASTRA) INCORPORATED, MEDIACOM AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS AUSTEREO PTY LTD, FOXTEL COMMERCIAL PRODUCTIONS, DISCOVERY CHANNEL, WALT DISNEY COMPANY, VIACOM AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Big retailers warn of chill to competition

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Original article by Katie Walsh
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 19-Nov-14

An Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA) submission to the Harper review of competition law has expressed concern about the proposed "effects test". It warns that this would adversely affect competition and would have no long-term benefit for consumers. The ANRA has supported some of the other recommendations of the review, while small retailers say the proposal to deregulate trading hours will ultimately increase the dominance of retail giants Coles and Woolworths

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL RETAILERS ASSOCIATION LIMITED, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, WESFARMERS BUNNINGS LIMITED, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, INDEPENDENT GROCERS OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN CONSUMERS’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN TAXI INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION

Lib, Nat at odds because of abortion differences

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Original article by Matthew Dixon, Richard Willingham
The Age – Page: 6 : 18-Nov-14

Both the Liberal and National parties are running candidates in the seat of Buninyong for the Victorian state election on 29 November 2014. While the Coalition partners normally allocate preferences to each other, the Nationals’ Sonia Smith has refused to back the Liberals’ Ben Taylor. The reason is the latter’s statement at an Australian Christian Lobby event that he would like to see a repeal of laws making abortions legal. Taylor notes however that the Government has no plans for such a reform

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF VICTORIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN CHRISTIAN LOBBY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

New partnership with China

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 18-Nov-14

Australia and China have signed a free trade agreement. Chinese President Xi Jinping told the Australian Parliament on 17 November 2014 that China is a peace-loving nation. He hopes the trade deal will strengthen Australia’s ties with China. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the Australian Labor Party will scrutinise provisions for bringing Chinese workers to Australia for infrastructure projects valued at more than $A150 million

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

Minister calls for cut to Sunday pay rates

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Original article by Kim Macdonald
The West Australian – Page: 5 : 17-Nov-14

The Western Australia Government will face resistance from the union movement if it attempts to reduce penalty rates for working on weekends and public holidays. Small Business Minister Joe Francis says the high cost of penalty rates forces a lot of small businesses to close on such days, and notes that many large businesses do not have to pay such high penalty rates. Meredith Hammat of Unions WA says employees would to need to work longer hours to offset any reduction in penalty rates

CORPORATES
WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF CONSUMER AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS, UNIONS WA

Private sector will lead the way: Birrell

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Original article by Annabel Hepworth, Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 6 : 17-Nov-14

The creation of a new global infrastructure hub is one of the key results of the Group of 20 leaders’ summit held in Brisbane on 15-16 November 2014. Mark Birrell, chair of the Federal Government’s Infrastructure Australia body, has welcomed the news and pledged his full support for the initiative. Similar comments have come from WestConnex Delivery Authority chair Tony Shepherd and IFM Invest­ors CEO Brett Himbury

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GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), INFRASTRUCTURE AUSTRALIA, NEW SOUTH WALES. WESTCONNEX DELIVERY AUTHORITY, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD, WORLD BANK, BUSINESS 20 (B20)