AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Super, insurance chiefs to face MPs

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 26-Jul-19

The CEOs of insurance companies and superannuation funds will be required to appear before federal parliament’s Standing Committee on Economics at least once a year. Bank CEOs have had to front the committee regularly since 2016, and the heads of industry groups such as the Australian Banking Association will now also be asked to do so. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended the government’s slow response to implementing the Hayne royal commission’s recommendations, stressing the need to proceed with caution to avoid any unintended consequences.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Energy policy, IR changes urgent

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Original article by Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 7 : 26-Jul-19

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox has backed comments by top bureaucrat Martin Parkinson on the nation’s declining productivity rate. Willox says that uncertainty regarding energy and carbon emissions policy has contributed to Australia’s underperformance in terms of productivity growth, and he has urged action on these issues. Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO James Pearson has in turn stressed the need for industrial relations reforms in order to lift productivity. Parkinson will shortly retire as the head of the Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet.

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU

It is time we all acted on the unions’ lawlessness

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Original article by James Pearson
The Australian – Page: 14 : 26-Jul-19

The Ensuring Integrity Bill aims to make registered organisations accountable for their actions in the same way as banks and corporations are held to account for their wrongdoings. The proposed legislation will apply equally to unions and employers’ associations, yet the former oppose it and the latter support it. This raises the question of why unions are reluctant to be held to account. Registered organisations and the individuals who run them enjoy special rights and privileges, and the bill will help to restore public confidence in them.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, BUILDERS’ LABOURERS’ FEDERATION

Tech giants to face shake-up

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Original article by Simon Benson, Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 26-Jul-19

The federal government’s official response to the final report on the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s inquiry into digital platforms will not be released until the end of 2019. However, the government is expected to endorse some of the ACCC’s key recommendations. Amongst other things, the ACCC has recommended greater scutiny of digital platforms’ use of news algorithms and how they use and store personal data. The ACCC’s final report will be released on 26 July, having been delivered to the government in June.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, UNITED STATES. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Transfer of money from workers’ fund theft of wages

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 25-Jul-19

Attorney-General Christian Porter says transferring money from workers’ entitlement funds to unions or employers’ groups is no more acceptable than the underpayment of staff. The federal government’s Workers Benefit Bill aims to crack down on such practices, with Porter citing examples such as the transfer of money from the Protect fund to the Electrical Trades Union. He says this occurred "for no reason". The Protect fund is jointly run by the ETU and the National Electrical Contractors Association.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, THE NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS’ ASSOCIATION, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Lambie piles pressure on Setka to quit CFMEU

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 25-Jul-19

The federal government’s Ensuring Integrity Bill is slated to be put before the Senate later in 2019. Independent senator Jacqui Lambie has indicated that she may be prepared to vote for the bill if John Setka does not step down as the Victorian secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union. Lambie has raised her concerns about Setka with ACTU president Michele O’Neil. The government has amended the bill in response to concerns raised by Labor, but Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick believes that further changes are needed.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, ONE NATION PARTY

PM’s next quiet revolution

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 25-Jul-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has revealed plans for a major overhaul of the federal public service, which will include a push for cultural and organisational change. Amongst other things, the reforms will result in increased accountability for senior public servants. The sweeping reforms will coincide with the departure of Martin Parkinson, who will retire as secretary of the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet in August. Parkinson stresses that he has a good personal and professional relationship with Morrison.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Greens, Labor urge Senate to dig deeper into press freedom

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 2 : 24-Jul-19

The Senate’s communications committee will hold its own inquiry into the issue of press freedom. The inquiry will have a broader scope than the one that is being undertaken by the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security. Labor’s Katy Gallagher says the second inquiry is necessary because unlike the PJCIS, the communications committee is not controlled by the Coalition. The inquiries come in the wake of controversial police raids on the ABC’s Sydney office and the home of a News Corp Australia journalist.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT, COMMUNICATIONS, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY JOINT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE

CFMEU slapped with $65m in penalties

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 24-Jul-19

The federal government has released data showing that the Construction, Forestry, Mining, Maritime & ­Energy Union has incurred about $65m worth of legal costs and court fines for breaching workplace laws since 2004. This includes court penalties totalling $28.6m in Victoria, with the bulk of these penalties having been incurred in cases involving controversial state secretary John Setka. The government’s Ensuring Integrity Bill will be put before the lower house on 24 July, and is aimed at making it easier to deregister unions and other registered organisations.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Showdown brewing over union ban laws

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 23-Jul-19

ACTU president Michele O’Neill has expressed concern that a key provision of the federal government’s Ensuring Integrity Bill could be misused. It allows any party with a vested interest to apply to the Federal Court to have a union official disqualified. O’Neill warns that this provision could be exploited in order to remove union officials for relatively minor breaches. Attorney-General Christian Porter has downplayed such concerns, arguing that the bill is consistent with Australia’s international obligations.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION, MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA