AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

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

Big super ready to fund infrastructure

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 9-Jul-19

IFM Investors CEO Brett Himbury has argued the case for industry superannuation funds to invest in public infrastructure, saying they are prepared to buy into both new and existing assets. Himbury concedes that there is still some concern about the partial sale of public assets; however, he stresses that unlike some private investors, super funds are focused on long-term returns rather than short-term profits. Former ACTU secretary Bill Kelty has proposed the creation of a new government-backed asset class that is focused on infrastructure.

CORPORATES
IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD, ACTU, INFRADEBT PTY LTD

Labor review may jettison 2pc tax slug

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

A spokesperson for Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has stressed that Labor has not yet formally dropped its proposed changes to the negative gearing and franking credits regimes, after Albanese gave indications that they will be dumped. Labor intends to review all of its policies in the wake of the federal election loss; some Labor MPs have suggested that increasing the highest marginal income tax rate to 49 per cent by reinstating the budget repair levy is among the policies that may be dropped. Several Labor MPs also say there may be merit in Bill Kelty’s proposal to reduce the top income tax rate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Stick to surplus to keep AAA

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 9-Jul-19

S&P Global Ratings upgraded Australia’s credit rating outlook to ‘stable’ in September 2018. S&P’s Anthony Walker says the federal government must retain its target of returning the Budget to surplus in 2019-20 in order to retain its triple-A credit rating. He has stressed the need for the government to have a strong public balance sheet so it can respond with fiscal stimulus if there is an external shock to the economy in the future. Martin Petch of Moody’s Investors Service in turn says the Australian economy will be boosted by factors such as the government’s income tax cuts, official interest rate cuts and spending on infrastructure.

CORPORATES
S&P GLOBAL RATINGS, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Labor’s deeming rate reduction predicted to cost $1b

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 8-Jul-19

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the federal government will change the deeming rate for pensioners by the end of 2019, and that over 25 per cent of pension recipients will be better off as a result. Shadow social services minister Linda Burney says a change in the deeming rate is urgently needed, and that cutting it by 1.25 per cent would see pensioners $3,875 a year better off. The deeming rate has not been changed since 2015, while cutting it by 1.25 per cent would reduce the Budget bottom line of at least $1 billion.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Kelty: cut the top tax rate

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Original article by Jennifer Hewett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 8-Jul-19

Former ACTU secretary Bill Kelty warns that Australia’s income tax system will remain uncompetitive unless there is broader reform than the federal government’s tax cuts package. Kelty argues that any reforms to the tax system should be in response to the demands of the future, negating Labor’s view that the stage-three tax cuts should have been put on hold due to uncertainty about the economic outlook in five years’ time, when they are slated to take effect. Kelty also says Australia’s top marginal income tax rate is too high, and changes to the enterprise bargaining system are needed.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA