AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Lawyer flags Frydenberg eligibility challenge

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 4 : 17-Jul-19

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the Coalition is confident that all of its MPs are eligible to be in parliament. However, the Kooyong Independents Group is said to be planning to challenge the citizenship status of Frydenberg, arguing that he is a Hungarian citizen by descent. The Kooyong Independents Group is associated with Oliver Yates, who contested Frydenberg’s seat of Kooyong at the 18 May election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, KOOYONG INDEPENDENTS GROUP, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, COURT OF DISPUTED RETURNS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Revamped bill to test ALP on forcing out rogue union bosses

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 17-Jul-19

The House of Representatives is slated to vote on the federal government’s amended Ensuring Integrity Bill within weeks. There have been significant changes to the bill in response to Labor’s concerns about the proposed legislation, but shadow industrial relations minister Tony Burke has warned that the amendments are insufficient and are also likely to be opposed by Labor. The bill is aimed at making it easier to deregister unions and ban union officials.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Labor decries Coalition complacency on economy

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 4 : 16-Jul-19

Deloitte Access Economics partner Chris Richardson contends that a slowdown in the economy is not the main reason why the Reserve Bank of Australia has cut interest rates in two consecutive months. Rather, he suggests that it is because the RBA has changed its view on how many new jobs need to be created in order to stimulate wage growth. Labor’s treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers says the opinion expressed in the latest Deloitte Business Outlook report is "just one opinion in a range of opinions". Chalmers claims that the Australian economy has gotten worse since the federal election, but that the Coalition still has its feet up.

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DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Pull your weight: Feds tell states

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 16-Jul-19

Urban Infrastructure Minister Alan Tudge has called on the states to accelerate new infrastructure projects where possible to help stimulate the Australian economy. While noting that capacity constraints in the construction sector are at their highest level since the resources boom, Tudge has suggested three areas where new infrastructure can be fast-tracked, including the 166 small urban congestion projects that the federal government announced in the lead-up to the 18 May election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, INFRASTRUCTURE AUSTRALIA

Hydro project wins $610m federal loan

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 12-Jul-19

Genex Power will receive a $610m loan from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility for its proposed pumped hydro project in Queensland. NAIF CEO Laurie Walker notes that the project will provide northern Queensland with an additional 250 megawatts of power, with EnergyAustralia in the process of concluding a deal to receive electricity from the project. The concessional loan is the largest allocation made by the $5 billion NAIF to date.

CORPORATES
GENEX POWER LIMITED – ASX GNX, NORTHERN AUSTRALIA INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, J-POWER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF ENERGY AND WATER SUPPLY

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.

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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