O75 Public Administration

Palmer’s $9b bombshell

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1-Apr : 8-Jul-14

Palmer United Party leader Clive Palmer on 7 July 2014 announced that its senators would vote against a further $A9.5bn worth of cuts planned by the Australian Government in the 2014-15 Budget. While agreeing to pass legislation for the repeal of the minerals resource rent tax, Palmer said programs funded with its revenue would be retained, at a cost of close to $A8bn. Similarly, the repeal of the carbon tax will not bring the proposed rise in the income tax-free threshold from $A18,200 to $A21,000. The total value of Budget initiatives now set to falter in the Senate is $A34bn

CORPORATES
PALMER UNITED PARTY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. MEDICARE AUSTRALIA, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

New testing kit will let people diagnose HIV from home

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Original article by Kate Hagan
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 11 : 8-Jul-14

Australian Health Minister Peter Dutton has pledged to rescind a ban on the sale of home testing kits for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The move is being applauded by the National Association of People with HIV. John Skerritt, national manager of the Therapeutic Goods Administration, says the kit works in a way similar to a pregnancy test, but uses an oral swab. The product has already been widely used in the US. Dutton has also signalled that antiretroviral medicines to combat HIV will become more easily available under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIA. THERAPEUTIC GOODS ADMINISTRATION, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS, ALFRED HOSPITAL

Defence pact to lead way for joint submarine venture

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Original article by Brendan Nicholson
The Australian – Page: 1 : 7-Jul-14

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe will in the week starting 7 July 2014 sign a new defence treaty. One of the results may be a joint program for the construction of advanced submarines. The US Government is believed to be strongly in favour of Australia collaborating with Japan in this area. The closer military ties are being flanked by a new Economic Partnership Agreement between the two nations, and both deals may cause friction with the Chinese Government

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET. OFFICE OF NATIONAL SECURITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE LIMITED

Swift axe for carbon tax

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 7-Jul-14

The Australian Senate is expected to pass legislation repealing the carbon tax in early July 2014. It has the support of crossbench senators, which will stop the Australian Labor Party and Australian Greens from delaying the vote. Business leaders, academic economists and the Climate Change Authority have called on the Government to retain a carbon price mechanism

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. CLIMATE CHANGE AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, PALMER UNITED PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Pay plea to public patients

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Original article by Gareth Parker
The West Australian – Page: 3 : 4-Jul-14

Health care spending will account for 28% of the Western Australian (WA) Government’s 2014-15 Budget, compared with 25% in 2009-10. The average cost of treatment in the state’s public hospitals is also 8% above the national figure, and WA Health Minister Kim Hames has foreshadowed two major initiatives to address the issue. Those holding private health insurance cover will be asked by staff to use it rather than rely on public funding. As well, there will be increased reliance on in-home care services, as some 30% of those in hospital do not actually need a bed. The measures are backed by the Australian Medical Association

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (WESTERN AUSTRALIA), WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, SILVER CHAIN

Commission slams transfer at sea as clear rights breach

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Original article by Sarah Whyte, David Wroe, Jason Koutsoukis
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 4 : 4-Jul-14

Experts on international law have sounded a warning over claims that the Australian Government is transferring asylum- seekers on two vessels to Sri Lankan navy ships before they reach local waters. The UN High Commission for Refugees has taken the unusual step of criticising the operation, while the Federal Government is not releasing any details. International refugee law specialist Jane McAdam of the University of New South Wales says of particular concern is that the Australian authorities apparently asked the would-be refugees only four questions to determine their status

CORPORATES
UNITED NATIONS. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

Turnbull urged to take his $1m out of ‘vulture fund’

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Original article by Heath Aston
The Age – Page: 4 : 4-Jul-14

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Treasurer Joe Hockey are leading a push to crack down on tax minimisation by multinational corporations via profit shifting. However the stance in the lead-up to the Group of 20 (G20) leaders’ summit in Brisbane in November 2014 appears to have been undermined by revelations that Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has an investment worth about $A1m in the Bowery Opportunity Fund. The entity, a "vulture fund" acquiring distressed businesses, is registered in the Cayman Islands tax haven. Turnbull’s stake is not in breach of any laws, but at odds with the G20 agenda, critics say

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), CVC GLOBAL CREDIT OPPORTUNITY FUND LIMITED, BOWERY OPPORTUNITY FUND LP, BOWERY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LLC, UNITING CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA, TAX JUSTICE NETWORK, GLENCORE XSTRATA PLC

Abbott changes ‘a crime, absurd’

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Original article by Peter Martin
The Age – Page: 3 : 3-Jul-14

US-based economist and Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Stiglitz is visiting Australia. He has criticised some of the measures contained in the Federal Government’s May 2014 Budget, such as full deregulation of university course fees and co-payments for visits to general practitioners. Stiglitz also says the industrial relations system in Australia is superior to that in the US, as strong unions are a necessity in ensuring wages are high enough to boost the overall economy

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. MEDICARE AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, NOBEL FOUNDATION

Australia wins first battle in cigarettes row

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Original article by Amy Corderoy
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 4 : 3-Jul-14

A stake in Philip Morris Australia was bought by Philip Morris Asia 10 months after the then Australian government foreshadowed the introduction of plain packaging laws for cigarettes. The Permanent Court of Arbitration has now given Australia permission to challenge Philip Morris Asia’s right to launch a free trade case against the laws from Hong Kong. McCabe Centre for Law & Cancer director Jonathan Liberman says the ruling shows that the tribunal sees the objection to the tobacco group’s manoeuver as "serious and substantial"

CORPORATES
PHILIP MORRIS (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, PHILIP MORRIS ASIA INCORPORATED, PERMANENT COURT OF ARBITRATION, McCABE CENTRE FOR LAW AND CANCER

Japan visit will mark new era

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Original article by
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 2-Jul-14

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Australia and hold talks with Prime Minister Tony Abbott on 8 July 2014. During the official visit a new free trade agreement will be ratified that had been finalised in April. There will also be closer military ties between the two nations, including a deal to share defence technology. Abe will travel on to look at iron ore mining operations in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The last Japanese prime minister to come to Australia had been Junichiro Koizumi in 2002

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET. OFFICE OF NATIONAL SECURITY, EAST ASIAN SUMMIT, ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE. DEFENCE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ORGANISATION, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET