Debt collector hired to chase unpaid taxes for the ATO pays zero corporate tax itself

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Original article by Jonathan Barrett
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 20-Jan-26

The Australian Taxation Office has awarded $42.8m worth of contracts to a company called Recoveriescorp since 2022, with the company paid to chase unpaid taxes for the ATO. However, it has been revealed that its parent company, Symbos Bidco, has not paid any corporate taxes in recent years, due to a series of annual losses. The losses were in spite of large income streams in its two most recent annual accounts, with it being the second company with major government contracts that has been identified by the media as running at a financial loss, with no tax payable.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, RECOVERIESCORP, SYMBOS BIDCO

Capital gains tax breaks in our sights

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian – Page: 2 : 20-Jan-26

The Greens are looking to reduce the capital gains tax discount, with the party to hold a Senate inquiry into the tax this year. With figures from Treasury showing that the top one per cent of taxpayers get more than 54 per cent of the benefits from the capital gains tax discount, Greens senator Nick McKim says the best way to address intergenerational inequity is to wind back the discount. He says that the Greens "have the CGT discount in our sights", and that it intends to use the Senate inquiry to show "how grossly unfair it is".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

IMF rebuke as inflation stays high

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Original article by Lea Jurkovic
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 20-Jan-26

The International Monetary Fund has used its latest World Economic Outlook update to note that Australia still has a problem with inflation. It commented that inflation has stayed above the Reserve Bank’s target range of 2 per cent to 3 per cent for some time, while it stated that the RBA should be cautious when it comes to setting interest rates. Commenting on the IMF’s report, Treasurer Jim Chalmers claimed that high inflation was not unique to Australia, while the IMF predicts global headline inflation will decline from 4.1 per cent in 2025 to 3.8 per cent in 2026, before falling to 3.4 per cent in 2027.

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Albanese defends two-party politics

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Original article by Thomas Henry, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 20-Jan-26

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has responded to public opinion polls which show that support for One Nation is rising. Speaking on ABC Radio, Albanese said he does not want One Nation’s vote to exceed that of the Coalition, contending that Australia’s two-party system has "served the nation pretty well". He also argued that One Nation promotes division rather than social cohesion, adding that the party has been a divisive force ever since it was established. Meanwhile, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says the public is "fed up" with a lack of leadership from the major political parties and sees her as someone who wants to fight for them. Hanson added that "I stand up for what I believe in".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ONE NATION PARTY

Federal Voting Intention: ALP increases two-party preferred lead as One Nation surges (up 6%) at the expense of Coalition (down 6.5%)

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Jan-26

The Roy Morgan Poll from January 12-18, 2026 shows the ALP (53.5%, up 1.5% from a week ago) increasing its lead over the Coalition (46.5%, down 1.5%) on a two-party preferred basis. Primary support for the ALP fell 1.5% to 28.5%, the Coalition was down 6.5% to 24%, and One Nation surged 6% to 21% – a new record high for the party in the history of the Roy Morgan Poll. The Greens were unchanged on 13.5% while Independent/ Other Parties were up 2% to 13%. Only 52.5% of electors supported either the ALP or Coalition while 47.5% supported either One Nation, The Greens, or Independents/ Other Parties. The latest Roy Morgan Poll was surveyed with a representative cross-section of 1,630 Australians from Monday January 12 to Sunday January 18. Full details of this Roy Morgan Poll will be released later today.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

Queensland rejects gun buyback plan

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Original article by Brittney Levinson, Jesinta Burton, Sumeyya Ilanbey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 20-Jan-26

A Queensland government spokesman has advised that it will not support the proposed national gun buyback scheme, contending that the state will not be distracted from the core issue of anti-Semitism. The federal government’s gun buyback scheme will be jointly funded by the states and territories, although Tasmania and the Northern Territory oppose this aspect of the scheme. Shooting Industry Foundation of Australia CEO James Walsh says gun owners should receive "fair market value" for surrendering their firearms; he notes that unlike the 1996 gun buyback, the government’s proposed scheme does not guarantee fair compensation for gun owners and sellers.

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SHOOTING INDUSTRY FOUNDATION OF AUSTRALIA

Big four banks slammed over deposit deception for savings

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Original article by Max Aitchison
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 20-Jan-26

Research published in 2023 showed that two-thirds of customers at Australia’s four major banks are not earning the maxium interest rate on savings accounts that offer bonus rates. Data released by National Australia in response to a written request from Liberal MP Aaron Violi shows that this situation has not changed since then; NAB revealed that only 34 per cent of customers with a Reward Saver account earned the advertised bonus interest rate of 4.15 per cent in the last six months. Violi has called for an end to this ‘deposit deception’ and contends that all banks should be more transparent and remove hurdles to ensure that the majority of customers with such accounts can earn the maximum bonus interest rate.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Labor’s hate speech laws set to pass as Ley and Albanese cut deal on bill crafted in wake of Bondi terror attack

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Original article by Dan Jervis-Bardy, Tom McIlroy
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 20-Jan-26

The National Party will seek additional protections regarding the banning of hate groups when parliament debates the federal government’s hate speech laws today. However, sources within the Liberal Party say that the legislation is likely to be passed even without the Nationals’ support, after Liberal MPs agreed to vote in favour of the revised bill. Opposition leader Sussan Ley had described the previous omnibus bill as "pretty unsalvageable", but the Coalition agreed to back the hate speech provisions after Labor accepted the need to legislate gun control laws separately and make a number of changes to the hate speech bill. Legislation to establish a national gun buyback scheme is expected to be passed with the support of the Greens.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Rio Tinto boss delivers snub to Davos

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 20-Jan-26

Rio Tinto’s former CEO Jakob Stausholm attended the last three World Economic Forums in Davos. However, the resources group will not be represented at the 2026 event; current CEO Simon Trott and his executive team are believed to be focusing on operational matters and the proposed merger with Glencore. Meanwhile, BHP CEO Mike Henry and Fortescue’s executive chairman Andrew Forrest are amongst the mining industry leaders who will address the WEF. Glencore CEO Gary Nagle will also be at Davos, and he is expected to advocate the merits of the proposed merger with Rio Tinto.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE LIMITED – ASX FMG, GLENCORE PLC

Tennis player play claim business, not greed

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Original article by Scott Gullan
The Australian – Page: 23 : 20-Jan-26

The prize pool for this year’s Australian Open is a record $111.5 million, with this year’s men’s and women’s winners to receive $4.15 million, a 19 percent increase on last year. However, despite the increased prize pool, tennis players still believe the AO and the other grand slam events should be paying them more prize money, arguing they should get a bigger share of the enormous amount of revenue that the events generate. Alex de Minaur claims players are not being "greedy" in their push for a bigger slice of event revenue, while Daniil Medvedev says the players just want a percentage of revenue similar to other sports.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS