O75 Public Administration

Turnbull tops leader vote

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 4-Nov-14

A national Fairfax/Ipsos poll shows that 24 per cent of voters prefer Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull as Liberal leader, ahead of Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop. The poll, which was carried out from 30 October to 1 November 2014, found that Turnbull is also the preferred Liberal leader for 48 per cent of Australian Labor Party supporters. Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is the preferred Labor leader for 30 per cent of voters

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, IPSOS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, THE NIELSEN COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION

PwC says GST review inevitable

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Katie Walsh
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 4-Nov-14

PricewaterhouseCoopers believes that Australia’s goods and services tax (GST) regime must be changed. The accounting firm calculated that raising the GST rate to 12.5 per cent and abolishing health, education and food exemptions would increase tax revenue by $A33.5 billion in 2018-19. Prime Minister Tony Abbott wants a debate on the matter but most of the states oppose it

CORPORATES
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, IPSOS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Shops wary of opening early

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phoebe Wearne
The West Australian – Page: 16 : 4-Nov-14

Woolworths has decided to switch to Western Australia’s new Christmas trading hours. Coles and David Jones have not yet announced whether they will follow Woolworths’ example. Under the new regulations, big stores can trade from 7am to 9pm on weekdays and from 8am to 6pm on Sundays

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, DAVID JONES LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS HOLDINGS LIMITED, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMERCE, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES

Hidden toll of student disability

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Justine Ferrari, Rick Morton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 3-Nov-14

It is estimated that just five per cent of Australian school students with a disability or learning problem receive funding for support services. However, a report produced by PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests that about 18.6 per cent of students have a disability. The report was prepared for the nation’s education ministers, who have agreed to postpone the introduction of a needs-based funding model for students with disabilities that was scheduled to begin in 2015

CORPORATES
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION, NATIONAL CATHOLIC EDUCATION COMMISSION, INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Shop from 7am

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Gareth Parker
The West Australian – Page: 1 : 3-Nov-14

Large retailers in Western Australia (WA) have been granted extended trading hours during Christmas. Stores will be able to trade from 7am to 9pm on weekdays from 5 December 2014 until 2 January 2015, while they can trade until 6pm on weekends. The move has been supported by the WA Chamber of Commerce & Industry, but John Cummings of the WA Independent Grocers’ Association says national supermarket chains will be the sole beneficiaries of the new trading hours

CORPORATES
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA (INCORPORATED), WESTERN AUSTRALIAN INDEPENDENT GROCERS’ ASSOCIATION, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMERCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, DAVID JONES LIMITED, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR

Direct Action may go above and beyond on savings, says Hunt

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Geoff Winestock
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 3-Nov-14

Under the Kyoto protocol, the greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of the Australian Government is 5% of 2000 levels by 2020. Environment Minister Greg Hunt says this will easily be achieved or even surpassed due to the new compromise deal struck with the Palmer United Party in order to secure passage of the Direct Action legislation through the Senate. Opposition environment spokesperson Mark Butler counters that the effort will fall short by as much as 70%. A new emissions reduction fund worth $A2.2bn is being created

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, PALMER UNITED PARTY, UNITED NATIONS, CARBON MARKET INSTITUTE LIMITED, ENERGY EFFICIENCY COUNCIL INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT COUNCIL, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW

PM claws back from budget lows

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 3-Nov-14

A national Fairfax/Ipsos poll has found that the Australian Labor Party has 51 per cent support on a two-party preferred basis, ahead of the Coalition with 49 per cent. However, the Coalition leads 42 per cent to 37 per cent on the primary vote, while the approval rating of Prime Minister Tony Abbott has increased by four per cent to 42 per cent. The poll, which was carried out from 30 October to 1 November 2014, also shows that Abbott’s rating as preferred prime minister 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, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE NIELSEN COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, PALMER UNITED PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Labor pledges $60m for new medi-tech hub

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Kate Hagan
The Age – Page: 4 : 3-Nov-14

Campaigning for the state election to be held on 29 November 2014, Victorian Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews has pledged that the Australian Labor Party would contribute $A60m to the cost of $A180m for a new biomedical engineering centre at St Vincent’s Hospital. The State Government has not specifically matched the promise. Peter Choong, director of orthopaedics at St Vincent’s Hospital, says the proposed Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery will allow for experts to co-operate across disciplines including engineering, medicine and biological sciences

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, ST VINCENT’S HOSPITAL (MELBOURNE) LIMITED, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE, UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG, SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, VICTORIAN COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTRE LIMITED, OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN CANCER AND WELLNESS CENTRE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Palmer cut $6m pre-poll cheque

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Hedley Thomas
The Australian – Page: 8 : 31-Oct-14

Chinese state enterprise Citic Pacific is suing private vehicles of iron ore joint venture partner Clive Palmer over alleged unauthorised access to an account and the withdrawal of a total $A12,167,065. Evidence tendered to the Supreme Court of Queensland shows some of the funds were channelled to the Media Circus Network public relations firm during the federal election campaign of the Palmer United Party. The latest document lodged by the defence indicates that a cheque for $A6m was written by Palmer personally

CORPORATES
CITIC PACIFIC LIMITED, PALMER UNITED PARTY, SINO IRON PTY LTD, MEDIA CIRCUS NETWORK PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND, COSMO DEVELOPMENTS PTY LTD, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MINERALOGY PTY LTD, KOREAN STEEL PTY LTD

Suncorp urges inquiry to level the playing field

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 30-Oct-14

Suncorp CEO Patrick Snowball believes that the Federal Government’s financial system inquiry focuses excessively on the stability of Australia’s banking system while paying little attention to competition in the sector. He said on 29 October 2014 that smaller banks are disadvantaged by the current regulations. Snowball also spoke against allowing foreign insurers to sell policies in north Queensland

CORPORATES
SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC