AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

MPs push for wage subsidy overhaul

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 3 : 13-May-20

The federal government’s JobKeeper scheme is slated to end on 27 September, but Liberal MP Jason Falinski believes that it should be phased out sooner. He suggests that the government should consider starting to phase out out JobKeeper once all students have returned to school. Liberal MP Craig Kelly in turn contends that businesses that have resumed normal operations should no longer receive the wage subsidy, while Liberal-National Party MP Warren Entsch says industries and regions that have been hardest hit by the coronavirus-induced downturn should continue to receive the subsidy beyond September.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND

Porter to consider EBA change limit

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 13-May-20

The Greens will back Labor’s Senate motion to disallow a regulation that temporarily reduces the notice period for changes to enterprise agreements from seven days to just 24 hours. Attorney General Christian Porter has signalled that the federal government may be open to One Nation’s proposal to limit any such variations in enterprise agreements to 12 months. The regulation is slated to expire after six months; shadow industrial relations minister Tony Burke contends that as it stands, any variations to enterprise agreements will remain in place after the pandemic abates, and they will need to be removed via another vote by employee

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AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY, CENTRE ALLIANCE

Bushfire recovery bill could top $2 billion: PM

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 12-May-20

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says that federal government spending on helping communities to recover from the impact of the summer bushfires could end up exceeding $2 billion. He has also announced another $650 million in bushfire assistance, with Morrison and Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud saying that the regions that were hit the hardest would be prioritised under the latest funding. Upwards of 16,700 applications have been approved for special small business support grants of $10,000, as well as 1,300 applications for small business grants of $50,000.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Door not shut on extending jobless aid: PM

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 2 : 12-May-20

JP Morgan expects about one million Australians to have lost their jobs in April, lifting the unemployment rate to 8.5 per cent. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has reiterated that at present the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme is still slated to be in place for six months. He adds that it could be extended or scaled back, depending on the pace at which the economy and the labour market recover from the pandemic. Official labour market data for April will be released on 14 May.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

‘Australians know there is no money tree’: Treasurer

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 12-May-20

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will use his economic statement on 12 May to stress that there must be a limit to the federal government’s stimulus and assistance schemes, and they must eventually be wound back. Treasury has estimated that the government’s three-stage strategy to re-open the economy by July will boost GDP by $9.4bn a month and generate 850,000 jobs. However, Frydenberg will emphasise that this is dependent on Australians continuing to observe social distancing and hygiene measures.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

China cereal killer threat

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 11-May-20

China is threatening to impose tariffs of over 80 per cent on Australian barley, with the federal government given 10 days to argue why they should not be imposed. China’s threat comes after an 18-month investigation into allegations that Australia was dumping its barley in China. Farmers and grain grower groups have consistently maintained the investigation was politically motivated, while Australia has not ruled out the possibility of taking China to the World Trade Organisation over the dispute. The Chinese market was worth just under $600 million to Australian barley farmers in 2019.

CORPORATES
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

Canberra, refiners talk fuel security

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 16 : 8-May-20

Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor has held talks with Caltex, Viva Energy, ExxonMobil and BP about increasing the amount of oil they store in Australia. Taylor flagged plans to establish a domestic oil reserve earlier in 2020, when the government spent $94m on a strategic fuel reserve in the US. Caltex’s acting CEO Matt Halliday has told a conference that the coronavirus pandemic has put the issue of fuel security on the agenda, while Viva Energy CEO Scott Wyatt said demand for petrol is rising as lockdown restrictions begin to ease.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE, ENERGY AND RESOURCES, CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX, VIVA ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX VEA, EXXONMOBIL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BP AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Slow crawl out of Covid hole

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Original article by Simon Benson, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 8-May-20

The national cabinet meeting on 8 May will decide on a timeframe for relaxing the coronavirus lockdown. The restrictions are expected to be progressively eased over the next two months. Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO James Pearson has called for restrictions to be lifted at the same time across all states and territories, arguing that maintaining ‘artificial barriers’ between jurisdictions will merely increase costs for businesses and make it harder for them to retain jobs. However, some states have signalled that they will follow their own timetable for easing restrictions.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

Fiscal stimulus is almost the world’s biggest

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 7-May-20

Analysis by BIS Oxford Economics shows that 46 advanced and emerging countries have spent a combined US8trn ($13trn) on direct stimulus measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Qatar tops the list, with its stimulus measures equating to 13 per cent of GDP; it is followed by Australia and Thailand, with stimulus worth 10.6 per cent and 8.9 per cent of GDP respectively. Gabriel Sterne of BIS Oxford Economics says Australia’s stimulus package was much bigger than the firm had expected, and he notes that the nation was in a strong fiscal position at the onset of the pandemic.

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BIS OXFORD ECONOMICS PTY LTD

Coal vital to post-virus boost: minister

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 6-May-20

Federal Resources Minister Keith Pitt has stressed the importance of resources projects to the Australian economy as it recovers from the coronavirus pandemic. He has urged banks to continue to support coal projects, as a growing number of lenders move to reduce their exposure to the sector. Pitt has also emphasised the need to address the issue of ‘green lawfare’, which resulted in Adani’s Carmichael coal project being subject to multiple legal challenges.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE, ENERGY AND RESOURCES, ADANI MINING PTY LTD