AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Media, foreign leaders step up freedom push

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Jacquelin Magnay
The Australian – Page: 4 : 12-Jul-19

The ABC and News Corp Australia still do not know if any journalists will be prosecuted following the police raids in early June. ABC MD David Anderson says the public broadcaster has asked Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to intervene, although government sources say that he has no power to do so. The Australian Federal Police raids have attracted scrutiny at the Global Conference for Media Freedom, with human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt expressing concern about the implications of the raids for freedom of the press globally.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, GREAT BRITAIN. FOREIGN OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Hanson flirts with Labor, warns PM

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 2 : 11-Jul-19

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says she has a much better working relationship with Anthony Albanese than she had with former Labor leader Bill Shorten. Hanson says she is "cautious" of all major political parties, but adds that it is important talk to all sides of politics to ensure the best legislative outcomes. Hanson also says she has had no "meaningful engagement" with Prime Minister Scott Morrison since the federal election, but adds that he should not disregard her as she intends to contest the next election.

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

Road map for recognition

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 11-Jul-19

Ken Wyatt, Minister for Indigenous Australians, has told the National Press Club that the federal government intends to establish an indigenous voice to parliament. Wyatt also said he will push ahead with separate plans for a referendum to recognise indigenous people in the Constitution, and that he will seek to develop a model that will have the support of all sides of politics and the general public. Linda Burney, the shadow minister for indigenous Australians, says Labor is of the view that the indigenous voice should be enshrined in the Constitution.

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

Labor urged to speed up dud policy review

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Original article by Greg Brown, Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 2 : 11-Jul-19

Labor has come under scrutiny for delaying a decision on key policies – including changes to the negative gearing and franking credits regimes – until a review of its 2019 federal election campaign is completed. Property Council of Australia CEO Ken Morrison argues that Labor should ditch these policies, as voters have rejected them at two elections. Wilson Asset Management chairman Geoff Wilson says the franking credits policy is flawed and inequitable, and was a key factor in Labor’s election defeat.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WILSON ASSET MANAGEMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Data retention compliance costs snowball past $200m

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 4 : 10-Jul-19

The Australian Communications & Media Authority has told a parliamentary committee that the cost of complying with the nation’s data retention laws was $35.3m in 2018-19. This compares with $119.8m in the previous financial year, and $211.5m in total since the laws were introduced in 2015. The data retention laws are being reviewed by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence & Security.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY JOINT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM

It’s not time: Albo hastens slowly on ditching policies

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Original article by Greg Brown, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 10-Jul-19

Labor will not decide whether to abandon policies that contributed to its federal election loss until a review of its election campaign is completed in October. Labor’s proposed changes to the negative gearing and franking credits regimes are amongst those that are likely to be reconsidered. A number of Labor MPs believe that the party’s review of its policy platform should not be rushed.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Media, security balance the goal

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 4 : 10-Jul-19

Foreign Minister Marise Payne will use a speech on 10 July to stress the importance of freedom of speech and freedom of expression. However, she will tell the Global Conference for Media Freedom that the public’s right to know must be balanced against the need to protect Australia’s national interest. Payne’s speech in London comes in the wake of the recent police raids on the Sydney offices of the ABC and the home of a News Corp Australia journalist.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, UNITED NATIONS. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION

Target surplus, but keep on spending

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 6 : 10-Jul-19

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says there is scope for the federal government to pursue stimulus measures in addition to its income tax cuts package. He says that although returning the Budget to surplus should remain a priority, there should also be increased government spending in areas that will generate economic growth. Treasury Josh Frydenberg is confident that the economy will be boosted by factors such as the tax cuts, monetary policy easing and the Coalition’s infrastructure spending program.

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN RESOURCES AND ENERGY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Lower wholesale power prices a pipe dream

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 9-Jul-19

Energy Users Association of Australia CEO Andrew Richards has questioned whether the federal government can deliver on its promise to reduce wholesale electricity prices to $70 per megawatt-hour by 2021. The wholesale price of electricity is currently around $95 per megawatt hour, and Richards says it is unlikely to fall much below $80. He adds that the federal government’s intervention in the energy market has also "spooked" some investors.

CORPORATES
ENERGY USERS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY COUNCIL

Pensioners face delay in deeming rate relief until late September

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 9-Jul-19

The federal government has not adjusted the pension ‘deeming’ rate since March 2015, despite a sharp fall in in interest rates since then. The expenditure review committee will shortly consider reducing the deeming rate, although no action may be possible until the government undertakes its bi-annual review of pension payments on 20 September. Ian Henschke of National Seniors Australia believes that the government is able to review the deeming rate at any time, although Council on the Ageing CEO Ian Yates says the Department of Human Services’ outdated computer systems means that an immediate reduction in the deeming rate may not be possible.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL SENIORS AUSTRALIA LIMITED, COUNCIL ON THE AGEING, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, AUSTRALIA. EXPENDITURE REVIEW COMMITTEE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY