S9551 Business and Professional Association Services

G20 ‘has a duty to get tough on tax dodgers’

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Original article by Annabel Hepworth
The Australian – Page: 18 : 19-Aug-14

Stephen Martin, CEO of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, will issue a paper on 18 August 2014 that calls for the Federal Government to ensure tangible outcomes are achieved when the nation hosts the Group of 20 (G20) leaders’ summit later in the year. A major issue will be action by G20 members to crack down on tax evasion via profit shifting by multinational corporations. Martin warns that diplomatic disputes such as that with Russia over its actions in Ukraine must not detract from the G20 agenda

CORPORATES
GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSMIN, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF STATE

High cost of ‘green tape’ to economy

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Original article by Annabel Hepworth
The Australian – Page: 19 : 18-Aug-14

A new study has been commissioned from BAEconomics by the Minerals Council of Australia. The special interest group will argue that the research shows so-called green tape will hold up developments that could otherwise add some 69,000 jobs to the economy by 2015, unless state and federal governments act to reduce the bureaucratic burden. The Department of Employment recently also forecast that 16,000-plus workers would be made redundant in the half-decade to 2018 in the areas of exploration as well as metal ore and coal mining, after 106,700 positions had been created in the previous five years

CORPORATES
MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, BAECONOMICS PTY LTD, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, BG GROUP PLC, QUEENSLAND GAS COMPANY LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

Energy report urges job reform

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Original article by Amos Aikman
The Australian – Page: 18 : 18-Aug-14

A new study, "Heading North: The Importance of Labour Mobility in Developing Northern Australia", has been commissioned by the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association special interest group. It will argue before the federal parliament’s Joint Select Committee on Northern Australia on 18 August 2014 that state and federal governments must do more to support flexible staffing solutions. These include "fly in, fly out" rosters, more skilled immigration and the use of "457" visas. Such measures could unlock a potential $A180bn in capital investments

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON NORTHERN AUSTRALIA

Call for review of safety laws

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Original article by Annabel Hepworth
The Australian – Page: 19 : 15-Aug-14

The Council of Australian Governments in 2008 announced a push to streamline workplace health and safety legislation nationally. However the state governments in Victoria and Western Australia have still not joined the framework in 2014, and the Business Council of Australia has now commented on the issue. In a submission lodged with the Federal Department of Employment, the employer body argues the model laws should be watered down in order to persuade all states to adopt them. The Master Builders Australia lobby group had also recently called for reform of the laws

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS

Strike threat to Qld $70b LNG debut

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 4-Aug-14

Three separate LNG exporting plant projects worth a combined $A70bn are being pursued in the Gladstone region of Queensland by consortia led respectively by Santos, Origin Energy and BG Group. The latter has made the most progress, but is now also likely to be the most affected by potential strikes as the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union has applied for protected industrial action. Workers may down tools from 7 August 2014 over talks on a new enterprise bargaining agreement. They seek a "four weeks on, one week off" roster instead of the current "three weeks on, one week off’

CORPORATES
BG GROUP PLC, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, QUEENSLAND CURTIS LNG PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, BECHTEL PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

AMA demand could cost $2b

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Original article by Joanna Heath, Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 4-Aug-14

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has proposed a compromise regarding the Federal Government’s Medicare co-payment. The AMA wants pensioners to be excluded from the $A7 co-payment regime, while it continues to oppose the Government’s plan to reduce the Medicare rebate for GPs. The Government’s May 2014 Budget forecast that these measures would result in cost savings of about $A3.5bn, but this would be slashed by up to $A2bn if it agrees to the AMA’s proposals

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, PALMER UNITED PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Kathy Jackson hires a lawyer after union inquiry ‘ambush’

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 31-Jul-14

The Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance & Corruption has been told that Health Services Union official Kathy Jackson withdrew A$50,000 from a union "slush fund" in 2009 and gave the money to her ex-husband. When confronted with evidence of the withdrawals at a hearing on 30 July 2014, Jackson asked for legal representation, and the hearing was adjourned. She later complained to journalists that she had been "ambushed"

CORPORATES
HEALTH SERVICES UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, NATIONAL HEALTH DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION, PETER MACCALLUM CANCER INSTITUTE

Boards seeking new legal shields

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Original article by Annabel Hepworth
The Australian – Page: 20 : 31-Jul-14

Attorney-General George Brandis and other politicians are being lobbied by the Australian Institute of Company Directors. It wants to see the inclusion of an "honest and reasonable director" defence in the Corporations Act, to give company boards better protection in cases launched over alleged breaches of the law as well as of the Australian Securities & Investments Commission Act. The professional body notes that the majority of serious offences in the Corporations Act feature a dishonesty component. The call for reform is separate to any expansion of the current business judgment rule

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF COMPANY DIRECTORS, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX

‘Blackmail’ worked, says Boral

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Original article by Lucille Keen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 10-Jul-14

Concrete supplier Boral has accused the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union of blackmail. On 9 July 2014, Boral CEO Mike Kane told the Royal Commission Into Trade Union Governance & Corruption that the union threatened contractors and created a cartel on Melbourne building sites. He said that the criminal conspiracy was effective, with Boral’s profits falling by nearly $A6 million since the boycott was launched. Kane said that he expects the inquiry to refer his allegations to Victoria Police

CORPORATES
BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, VICTORIA POLICE, GROCON PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION

Rinehart’s charity for billionaires

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Original article by Jonathan Barrett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 23-Jun-14

At the 2012 Association of Mining & Exploration Companies (AMEC) congress in Perth, a new award was announced by mining heiress Gina Rinehart. It was to be handed to the identity in the resources sector who did the most to counter attacks by parts of the media, and to voice uncomfortable truths in public. However, the $A50,000 in prize money was not paid in 2013, and nor will the upcoming 2014 AMEC event feature the award. Instead Rinehart gave the funds in November 2013 to fellow billionaire Len Buckeridge, at a National Mining and Related Industries Day ceremony in Brisbane

CORPORATES
HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, ASSOCIATION OF MINING AND EXPLORATION COMPANIES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, BGC (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, VISY INDUSTRIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD