AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

After decade of deficits, budget ‘back to balance’, says Frydenberg

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Original article by Adam Creighton, Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 20-Sep-19

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg unveiled a budget deficit of $700 million for the 2018-19 financial year on 19 September. Frydenberg noted that the federal government had kept spending under the long-run average of 24.7 per cent of GDP for the second year running, while he said the creation of 300,000 jobs in 2018-19 had meant increased tax collections and reduced welfare expenses. The $700 million deficit was a $14 billion improvement on what had been predicted in May 2018, while a budget surplus is likely for 2019-20 if high commodity prices and strong employment growth continue to boost the government’s tax coffers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

PM lashes Liu security risk claims as racism

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 13-Sep-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has told Parliament he is satisfied Gladys Liu is not a national security risk, while claiming those who questioned her fitness to serve in parliament were racist. Liu has been under the spotlight recently over allegations regarding her connections to organisations in China, one of which is Beijing’s propaganda arm, and Labor and Centre Alliance have both called for her to be investigated. Morrison has declined to answer what steps he took to assure himself that Liu was not a security risk, while Victorian Liberal president Michael Kroger said he knew nothing about suggestions raised in a newspaper that ASIO had advised the Liberal Party against pre-selecting Liu.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Test for Labor as PM eyes victory

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Original article by Simon Benson, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 9-Sep-19

The federal government looks set to get bills that would see drug testing for welfare recipients introduced and its cashless welfare card expanded passed, after independent senator Jacquie Lambie indicated she would support them. In return for her support, the federal government will waive the $157 million housing debt that Tasmania owes the commonwealth. Labor caucus is said to be divided over Labor leader Anthony Albanese’s decision to enforce a ‘no vote’ on both bills, while manager of opposition business Tony Burke claims the two bills will not create any more jobs but will just "humiliate" people.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

PM rejects fears on press freedom

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 2 : 6-Sep-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has stressed that the Coalition is "absolutely" committed to press freedom. He has also expressed his view that there are sufficient protections for whistleblowers, while he has defended the Australian Federal Police over the recent raid on the Canberra home of Australian Signals Directorate officer Cameron Gill. News Corp Australia executive Campbell Reid has claimed that the AFP raid was aimed at intimidating potential whistleblowers into not approaching the media.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIAN SIGNALS DIRECTORATE, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Morrison spruiks infrastructure as key

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Original article by Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 6-Sep-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison hopes the federal government’s massive infrastructure investment program will help stimulate the economy. The government will spend some $100bn on infrastructure projects over the next decade, including $48.2bn over the next four years. However, shadow infrastructure minister Catherine King contends that the government failed to meet its infrastructure spending commitments in its first five Budgets.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Cyber threat to transport, power

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 6-Sep-19

Home Affairs­ Minister Peter Dutton will release a cyber security consultation paper on 6 September. It warns of the growing threat to Australia’s critical infrastructure, including energy, tele­communications and transport networks. The paper will note that industrial plants are also vulnerable to targeted attacks from state-sponsored hackers and cyber criminals. Dutton will also call for greater co-operation between governments and business, warning of the heightened risk since the Coalition released its cyber security strategy in 2016.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, MAERSK, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE LIMITED

Dragging the chain on wage theft must stop

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 4-Sep-19

ACTU secretary Sally McManus has outlined a range of proposed workplace reform measures in a four-page letter to Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter. Amongst other things, McManus has called for action to combat wage theft, an overhaul of the annual minimum wage review, the winding back of penalty rate cuts and allowing unions to undertake sector-wide enterprise bargaining. Porter has indicated that the government will shortly release discussion papers on issues such as wage underpayments.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, SKILLS, SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Quiet Australians shifted votes because of Shorten, not Morrison

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 3-Sep-19

Research undertaken by the Australian National University shows that 28.5 per cent of electors switched their voting intentions during the federal election campaign. The analysis of voters’ behaviour also shows that 39.6 per cent of electors who had intended to vote for Labor when the election was called in April subsequently voted for the Coalition on 18 May. Likewise, 37.2 per cent of electors who had expressed their intention to vote for the Coalition ended up giving Labor their vote. The research has concluded that the unpopularity of former Labor leader Bill Shorten was a key factor in the election outcome, rather than Labor’s policies or the personal appeal of Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

Look through soft growth

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 3-Sep-19

There is speculation that the latest national accounts data will show that Australia’s growth slowed to about 1.4 per cent in the year to June. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says GDP data for the June quarter is likely to be particularly weak, given that it was dominated by the federal election and the US-China trade war. He expects economic conditions to improve in the September quarter, citing stimulatory factors such as the Coalition’s income tax cuts and back-to-back interest rate cuts in June and July. Frydenberg stresses that the Australian economy’s fundamentals remain strong.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Cash softens blow for ousted MPs

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 2-Sep-19

Analysis shows that at least 20 politicians who lost their seats at the 18 May federal election are entitled to receive a resettlement allowance. The amount of the lump sum payment varies depending on factors such as how long a politician has been in parliament, and it was designed to provide outgoing MPs and senators who do not have access to parliament’s superannuation scheme with re-skilling and re-employment assistance. Kerryn Phelps, Steve Martin and Sarah Henderson are amongst those who are entitled to receive the allowance, which is expected to cost about $1.3m in total.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE