O75 Public Administration

Aluminium could win RET exemption

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 18-Sep-14

There is some support for exempting the aluminium industry from the Renewable Energy Target (RET). Australian Labor Party Leader Bill Shorten is sympathetic to the unique position of the industry. Miles George, the CEO of renewable energy company Infigen Energy, conceded that the aluminium industry is a special case. However, all parties have warned that undermining the RET would threaten investment and jobs in the renewable energy sector

CORPORATES
INFIGEN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX IFN, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD

Labor to honour Crown’s new deal

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Original article by Richard Willingham, Jason Dowling
The Age – Page: 1 : 17-Sep-14

The Australian Labor Party will not oppose the Victorian Government’s new deal with Crown Resorts. The deal will extend the casino’s licence to 2050 and bring the government an extra $A910 million in tax. Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said that the party would not be able to rewrite the commercial arrangement. It has negotiated a four-year package for the retraining of 500 retrenched workers

CORPORATES
CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF VICTORIA, VICTORIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE

Beijing sends 7.5pc of investment our way

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Original article by Rowan Callick
The Australian – Page: 20 : 17-Sep-14

Australia received about 7.5 per cent of China’s total outbound investment in the first half of 2014. This was worth about $A2.6 billion. PricewaterhouseCoopers said that two mining deals accounted for 88 per cent of the investment. China’s total outward investment rose by 40 per cent to $A35 billion. The investment focus has moved to real estate, hi-tech and telcos, which have risen from one per cent to 36 per cent of total overseas investment

CORPORATES
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

PM to cut tax burden on employee share schemes

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 16-Sep-14

The Australian Government will soon release its new policy on employee share schemes. The purpose of the changes is to make business start-ups more attractive to prospective employees. The new incentives scheme will be modelled on the Enterprise Management Incentive program in Great Britain, which limits the total number of share options issued by a company to Stg3 million and individual parcels to Stg250,000 per employee

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSBIOTECH LIMITED, POCKETBOOK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, LINK MARKET SERVICES LIMITED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, ATLASSIAN SOFTWARE SYSTEMS PTY LTD, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, INVESTEC AUSTRALIA LIMITED, EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Tax review urgent, warns Hendy

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 16-Sep-14

The Australian Government has been urged to pursue a wide-ranging reform agenda. Liberal Party MP Peter Hendy has called for reforms to the tax industrial relations regimes. He argues that the domestic economy is vulnerable to a range of external shocks, particularly the uncertain outlook for the Chinese economy. He also says the Government should commence its review of the tax white paper immediately

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS REMUNERATION GROUP INCORPORATED

States fire up over GST distribution

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Original article by Mark Ludlow, Simon Evans, Jonathan Barrett, Geoff Winestock
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 15-Sep-14

Changes to the GST regime will be on the agenda at a meeting of Australia’s state and federal treasurers on 19 September 2014. Some states are concerned about the Commonwealth Grants Commission’s proposed changes to the distribution of GST revenue, with Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett arguing that the Commission is outdated and suggesting that implementing reforms to the GST system should not be a complex task

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. COMMONWEALTH GRANTS COMMISSION, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF AUSTRALIA, QUEENSLAND. TREASURY, NEW SOUTH WALES. THE TREASURY

Confidence grows for China trade pact

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Original article by Sid Maher, David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 4 : 15-Sep-14

A free trade agreement between China and Australia may be signed by the end of 2014. There was good progress at negotiations in early September, but a number of issues must still be finalised. However, Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb said that both sides are politically motivated to conclude the agreement

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION, PEOPLE’S BANK OF CHINA, NATIONAL FARMERS’ FEDERATION LIMITED

Population boom

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Original article by James Robertson,{SPAC}Amy McNeilage
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 1 : 12-Sep-14

A leaked report from the New South Wales Department of Education suggests that population growth will necessitate an investment of $A7 billion in the state’s education system. More than 220 new primary and secondary schools will need to be built by 2036. The number of primary school students is forecast to rise from 625,600 in 2011 to 818,200 in 2036

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND COMMUNITIES,{SPAC}COMMITTEE FOR SYDNEY

Income slump will be a ‘shock’: Treasury

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Original article by Amanda Saunders,{SPAC}Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 12-Sep-14

Australia’s per capital income has increased by 2.25 per cent a year over the last three decades. Federal Treasury secretary Martin Parkinson has warned that this is likely to slow to less than one per cent in the next decade due to an expected decline in the nation’s terms of trade. He has told a Business Council of Australia forum that the public is unprepared for the forthcoming decline in income growth and has called for sweeping changes to the tax system

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY,{SPAC}BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA,{SPAC}AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE

NAPLAN numbers are not the bottom line

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Original article by Jewel Topsfield
The Age – Page: 9 : 12-Sep-14

Critics of the National Assessment Program – Literacy & Numeracy (NAPLAN) assessment say that the program is reductive. It reduces the child’s achievements to testable variables. The Australian Primary Principals’ Association wants NAPLAN data to be removed from the My School website

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRIMARY PRINCIPALS’ ASSOCIATION