AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Reforms to level media playing field

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 4-Oct-19

Traditional and digital media companies will be subject to the same regulatory regime under changes proposed by the federal government. Any reforms arising from the review of the regulatory regime are expected to be implemented in stages, as recommended by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission in the final report of its Digital Platforms Inquiry. Potential reforms could include imposing local content obligation on subscription video-on-demand services and increasing the producer tax offset for TV shows.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO, DISNEY+

US can have Downer but not the cables: Morrison

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 3-Oct-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison say the federal government will co-operate with any request from the US to interview Alexander Downer as part of an investigation into the Mueller probe into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election campaign. Downer was Australia’s high commissioner to the UK in 2016, when he was told by a former Trump adviser that Russia had access to emails that could damage rival presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. However, Morrison has ruled out giving the US access to classified diplomatic cables associated with the meeting.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Uni funding: job success gets more weight

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Robert Bolton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 2-Oct-19

Education Minister Dan Tehan has advised that the federal government will give more weighting to graduate employment outcomes when allocating additional money to the nation’s universities under a new performance-based funding model. The increased focus on ensuring that university graduates are equipped with the skills to obtain employment quickly follows the government’s move to provide an extra $80m in performance-based funding in 2020. Meanwhile, the Australian Learning Lecture Project has questions the relevance of ATAR entry scores for admission to university courses.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING, AUSTRALIAN LEARNING LECTURE PROJECT, UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG, VICTORIA UNIVERSITY, SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

A-G’s media plan misses mark

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Chris Merritt
The Australian – Page: 6 : 2-Oct-19

The effectiveness of the federal government’s proposal to provide new legal protections for journalists continues to be questioned. News Corp Australia executive Campbell Reid contends that providing the attorney-general with ministerial discretion to block legal action against journalists for publishing legitimate news reports will have no effect on the level of scrutiny and investigation into journalists. Law Council of Australia president Arthur Moses and Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance CEO Paul Murphy also contend that the reforms are insufficient.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

A-G given veto to safeguard journalists

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Chris Merritt
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 1-Oct-19

News Corp Australia executive Campbell Reid says the federal government’s proposal to provide new legal protections for journalists is insufficient. Attorney-General Christian Porter has issued a ministerial direction to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions which will require it to seek permission from the attorney-general to pursue legal action against journalists if such prosecution is deemed to be in the public interest. Law Council president Arthur Moses has also expressed reservations about the reforms.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

Brawl over voluntary super push

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 30-Sep-19

SMSF Association chair Deborah Ralston was recently named as a members of the federal government’s review of the retirement income system. It has been revealed that Ralston wrote to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in early July. Amongst other things, she suggested that compulsory superannuation contributions could become voluntary for people on low incomes and young workers, a proposal that has been criticised by Industry Super Australia chairman Greg Combet. Ralston also called for the abolition of tax concessions for large super balances and questioned the need to increase the super guarantee from 9.5 per cent to 12 per cent.

CORPORATES
SMSF ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, MONASH UNIVERSITY, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ACTU, ALLIANCE FOR A FAIRER RETIREMENT SYSTEM, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Costs balloon in NDIS surge

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 30-Sep-19

Annual expenditure on the National Disability Insurance Scheme blew out to $11.9bn in 2018-19, with more than 117,000 new participants joining the NDIS during the financial year. Data from the National Disability Insurance Agency also shows that there has been a sharp rise in costs associated with external consultants and service providers, including recruitment firms, call centres and law firms. An NDIA spokeswoman says that spending on contractors and consultants is expected to account for 1.6 per cent of the NDIS’s total costs in 2019-20, compared with 2.6 per cent in 2017-18.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL DISABILITY INSURANCE AGENCY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Mining earnings heading for peak

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 30-Sep-19

Resources Minister Matt Canavan says the latest Resources and Energy Quarterly report underlines the importance of mining to Australia’s economy, noting that the sector contributed a third of GDP growth in the June 2019 quarter. He has urged lenders to continue to provide financing for resources and energy projects, at a time when local mining companies intend to increase their annual investment expenditure for the first time in six years. The report forecasts that resources and energy exports will top $282bn in 2019-20, eclipsing the record $279bn in 2018-19.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE

Setka forks out $40k of members’ funds on ad

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 26-Sep-19

Embattled Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union official John Setka has criticised senator Jacqui Lambie in a full-page advertisement in the ‘Herald Sun’. Lambie has signalled that she will support the federal government’s Ensuring Integrity Bill unless Setka steps down as Victorian secretary of the CFMMEU. Setka has accused her of attempting to blackmail himself and the union’s members. A spokesman for Setka says the ad was "union business", so it was funded by the CFMMEU rather than Setka.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Activists call for blanket cap on Qld LNG exports

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 26-Sep-19

The Australia Institute and the Lock The Gate Alliance are among the activist groups that have urged the federal governance to impose a cap on Queensland’s LNG exports. They contend that such a cap would put downward pressure on domestic gas prices. Another option that has been advocated by some activists is to amend the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism to include a price trigger. The federal government is reviewing the ADGSM, which has not been utilised to date.

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED, LOCK THE GATE ALLIANCE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, ENERGY USERS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ESSO AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, REMAPAK PTY LTD, CLAYPAVE PTY LTD