Kennett tells Coalition veterans it’s time to go

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 21-Jan-19

Former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett has called on long-serving federal Coalition MPs to follow the example of Kelly O’Dwyer and step down at the next election. Kennett says he does not think O’Dwyer was retiring because she did not believe she could retain her seat; O’Dwyer has stated she is stepping down to spend more time with her family, and Kennett says he takes at "face value" her reasons for not seeking re-election. Kennett said that Kevin Andrews and Julie Bishop were two Coalition MPs that should step down, while Prime Minister Scott Morrison has rejected Bill Shorten’s claim that his MPs were resigning because they thought the government would lose heavily at the next election.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Sector booms as Asians happy to shell out for abalone

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Original article by Sue Neales
The Australian – Page: 17 : 21-Jan-19

Australian seafood exports are valued at $1.5 billion, with abalone now its second biggest seafood export. Around 4,000 tonnes of Australian abalone is exported each year, with around a quarter of abalone exports coming from abalone farms in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. Yumbah Aquaculture, Australia’s biggest producer of farmed abalone, is planning to construct a new $60 million farm near the Victorian town of Portland. However, the Glenelg Shire Council has received over 300 objections to the proposal.

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GLENELG SHIRE COUNCIL, YUMBAH AQUACULTURE

Opal Tower a sign of industry trouble, says expert

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Original article by Anthony Klan
The Australian – Page: 3 : 21-Jan-19

Construction expert David Chandler says he was not surprised about the structural problems that have afflicted Sydney’s Opal Tower. Chandler, who is a former CEO of Fletcher Construction Group and who chaired the inquiry into the flawed $16.2 billion school halls national building project, says little seems to have been done about the problems with building quality that he pointed out almost 10 years ago. He says much of the problem is due to state building regulators lacking the will and the budget resources to properly enforce building standards, along with building ministers being too easily swayed by lobbying from the construction industry.

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FLETCHER CONSTRUCTION LIMITED

Kelly O’Dwyer to retire from federal politics

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Original article by Rick Morton, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: Online : 19-Jan-19

Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O’Dwyer will retire from federal politics at the next election. O’Dwyer, who holds the seat of Higgins in Victoria with a margin of just under 10 per cent, rejected suggestions she was quitting because of polling that indicated she might lose the seat. O’Dwyer stated her reasons for retiring were personal, and that she and husband Jon were keen to have a third child. O’Dwyer said she was very confident a woman would be chosen to replace her as the Liberal candidate for Higgins, while Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he had told O’Dwyer that he wants her to remain in her current role until the election.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Unemployment in December is 9.7% and under-employment is 8.8%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 21-Jan-19

Australian unemployment of 9.7% (down 0.1%) and under-employment of 8.8% (down 0.8%), are both down on a year ago, driving a 0.9% fall in overall labour under-utilisation to 18.5% (2.5 million). This is according to the latest employment data from Roy Morgan, which shows that the workforce, which comprises employed Australians and those who are unemployed and looking for work, is now 13,376,000, down 34,000 on a year ago. The decrease in employment was driven by a drop in part-time employment of 89,000 to 4,115,000. An increase in full-time employment of 65,000 to 7,959,000 wasn’t enough to offset this drop. Roy Morgan’s real unemployment figure of 9.7% for December is significantly higher than the current Australian Bureau of Statistics estimate for November 2018 of 5.1%.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Sky News ramps up coverage

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: Online : 21-Jan-19

The Sky News program ‘Paul Murray LIVE’ is to be broadcast from 10 regional locations in the leadup to the federal election, with the first program in the ‘Our Town, Our Show’ tour coming from Toowoomba on 20 February. Paul Whittaker, the CEO of Sky New’s parent company Australian News Channel, says the broadcasts will be an opportunity to hear the issues of importance to people living outside the big cities. As well as the Paul Murray tour, Sky News is to air new shows hosted by Chris Kenny and Peter Gleeson.

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SKY NEWS, AUSTRALIAN NEWS CHANNEL PTY LTD

Kogan blames Apple for dive in global sales

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 18 : 18-Jan-19

Kogan.com has reported revenue growth of 9.7 per cent for the first half of 2018-19. The listed e-commerce group’s private label and partner brand sales rose by 23.6 per cent and 92.8 per cent respectively, but sales of global brands fell by 47 per cent. Founder Ruslan Kogan notes that sales of Apple products fell sharply during the period, although sales of other global brand rose by 8.5 per cent. Kogan.com has also been affected by the federal government’s move to impose GST on goods purchased overseas that cost less than $1,000.

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KOGAN.COM LIMITED – ASX KGN, APPLE INCORPORATED, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY LIMITED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, GARMIN LIMITED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, BLOOMBERG LP, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS

Funds end in the red after a horror year

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 15 & 22 : 18-Jan-19

Data from Mercer shows that long-only Australian share funds posted a median loss of 4.2 per cent in 2018, compared with a loss of 2.7 per cent for the S&P/ASX200 Accumulation Index. The December quarter was particularly challenging, with the median active Australian share fund losing 9.6 per cent before fees and the ASX200 Accumulation Index falling 8.1 per cent. Panther Trust Australian Shares, a boutique long-only fund, was the top performer in 2018 with a return of 5.6 per cent.

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MERCER INVESTMENTS PTY LTD, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 ACCUMULATION INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, PANTHER TRUST AUSTRALIAN SHARES FUND, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, BENNELONG FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, IDP EDUCATION LIMITED – ASX IEL, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AFTERPAY TOUCH GROUP LIMITED – ASX APT, RESOLUTE MINING LIMITED – ASX RSG, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, ASALEO CARE LIMITED – ASX AHY, CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX, FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT, BELL ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BLM, APPLE INCORPORATED, MASTERCARD INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED, MICROSOFT CORPORATION, ALPHABET INCORPORATED

Live exports sabotaged by charity

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 18-Jan-19

Animals Australia has been accused of trying to sabotage the nation’s $2 billion live export industry. This follows allegations that it offered to pay workers on ships transporting stock to the Middle East for distressing footage of animals. Liberal senator Dean Smith says the Australian Charities & Not-for-profits Commission should suspend Animals Australia’s charitable status pending an inquiry into the claims. Australian Livestock Exporters Council chairman Simon Crean says the allegations call into question Animals Australia’s role as an animal welfare advocacy group.

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ANIMALS AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN CHARITIES AND NOT-FOR-PROFITS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LIVESTOCK EXPORTERS COUNCIL LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE

Trust tax to ‘hit Labor’s backyard’

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 2 : 18-Jan-19

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg claims that about 300,000 small businesses with turnover of up to $10 million would be affected by Labor’s proposal to impose a 30 per cent tax on the distributions of family trusts. The Treasury’s analysis of tax office data shows that the Greens-held seat of Melbourne Ports and the Labor seat of Adelaide would be hardest-hit by the policy, although the Coalition holds six of the 10 seats that would be impacted the most. Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen contends that 98 per cent of taxpayers would not be affected by the policy.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, BDO AUSTRALIA LIMITED