AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Priceless: Bill’s climate costs

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson, Joe Kelly, Ben Packham, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 30-Apr-19

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says it is not possible to put a single price on the cost of Labor’s carbon emission reduction targets. Shorten was speaking during the first leaders’ debate on 29 April. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Coalition deserves to be returned to office on the basis of its economic performance, while he noted its commitment to create 100,000 jobs for young Australians. The debate was held in front of 48 undecided voters in the Seven West Media studio in Perth; 25 stated that they thought Shorten won the debate, 12 said Morrison had won and 11 were undecided

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Game on – Game won?

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Gary Morgan, Michele Levine
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Apr-19

Last Tuesday April 23, Roy Morgan Poll published ‘Game On: Easter Roy Morgan Poll shows election race tightening: ALP 51% cf. L-NP 49% on a two-party preferred basis’. The face-to-face Roy Morgan Poll was conducted on the weekend of April 20/21, 2019 with a cross-section of 707 electors. The latest Newspoll, published in ‘The Australian’ on Monday April 29, also shows Labor leading the L-NP 51% to 49% on a two-party preferred basis.

CORPORATES
MORGAN POLL, ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Labor’s penalty rates a triple hit for retailers

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 29-Apr-19

Labor will seek to reverse cuts to Sunday penalty rates within 100 days if it wins the federal election. The Australian Retailers Association has estimated that this would see wages rise by as much as 21 per cent for weekend workers. Cuts to Sunday and public holiday penalty rates are being phased in over four years by the Fair Work Commission to ease the impact on employees, but shadow Employment Minister Brendan O’Connor says it will reverse the cuts "in a single hit". Employers’ groups have called for greater consultation over Labor’s plans, while employment law professor Andrew Stewart has cautioned Labor about trying to rush legislation on the issue.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Shorten’s pledge to business

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 26-Apr-19

Opposition leader Bill Shorten says the federal election contest has become one of "hope versus fear". He says the federal government appears to be solely focused on attacking Labor’s policies, and has nothing to offer itself. Shorten says he intends to convene a summit on the economy and wages within the first 100 days of a Labor government, while he says Labor has no plans to change its policies in areas like industrial relations and company taxes. Shorten adds that Labor wants to work with business, while he will not be beholden to the union movement.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, INFRASTRUCTURE AUSTRALIA

Coalition go-ahead for giant U-mine

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 26-Apr-19

The Supreme Court of Western Australia has not released its ruling on a legal challenge to the state government’s decision to approve Cameco’s Yeelirrie uranium mine. However, it has been revealed that federal Environment Minister Melissa Price approved the project one day before the election was called. Mia Pepper, a spokeswoman for the Conservation Council of WA, has described Price’s decision to approve the mine as
"premature and highly political".

CORPORATES
CAMECO CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, CONSERVATION COUNCIL OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Workplace hitch to PM growth pitch

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Andrew Tillett, Matthew Cranston, John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Apr-19

Council of Small Business Organisations CEO Peter Strong says industrial relations reform will be essential if the federal government is to achieve its goal of creating 250,000 new small businesses over the next five years. Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO James Pearson says that in addition to workplace reforms, the government must invest in training and take action to reduce power prices. The Institute of Public Affairs adds that action to reduce the red tape burden is also necessary.

CORPORATES
COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS LIMITED, QUANTUM BUSINESS FINANCE PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

PM puts Palmer deal in play

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson, Sid Maher, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 24-Apr-19

The Coalition is believed to be finalising a preferences deal with Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party, although negotiations regarding some seats are said to be continuing. A deal with UAP would be likely to bolster the Coalition’s prospects of retaining a number of marginal seats, as well as regaining seats such as Lindsay and Herbert. Such a deal could also ensure that Palmer secures a seat in the Senate.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED AUSTRALIA PARTY, ONE NATION PARTY, KATTER’S AUSTRALIAN PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, PALMER UNITED PARTY

Top end of town pays $57bn tax

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 24-Apr-19

Data from the Australian Taxation Office shows that nearly 430,000 people had taxable income of at least $180,000 in fiscal 2017, an increase of 26 per cent since fiscal 2013. The total net tax they paid increased from $43 billion to $57bn. There was also a 17 per cent increase in the number of people with taxable income of $37,000 to $80,000, with their share of the total tax take rising from $47bn to $62bn. Tax cuts have been a key focus of the election campaign, but economics professor Richard Holden says a simpler option is to peg the tax system to wage inflation.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Budget close to surplus and a year early

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 24-Apr-19

The federal government had an underlying cash deficit of $8.1bn in the first nine months of 2018-19, according to monthly Budget data from the Department of Finance. This is $4.6bn lower than had been projected in the mid-year Budget update. Peter Downes of Outlook Economics says the final quarter of a financial year tends to be good in terms of government revenue, and a balanced budget for 2018-19 is possible. The government expects the Budget to return to surplus in 2019-20.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, OUTLOOK ECONOMICS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Game On: Easter Roy Morgan Poll shows election race tightening: ALP 51% cf. L-NP 49% on a two-party preferred basis

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 24-Apr-19

The ALP 51% leads the L-NP 49% on a two party preferred basis according to a face-to-face Roy Morgan Poll conducted on the Easter weekend of April 20/21, 2019 with a cross-section of 707 electors. The tight result at Easter means the Roy Morgan Poll has swung by 1.5% to the L-NP since the prior surveying period of April 6/7 & 13/14, 2019. The L-NP now has a primary vote of 39% (up 1.5%) and clearly ahead of the ALP on 35.5% (down 1%) while Greens support is down 1.5% to 9.5%. Support for One Nation is up 1% to 4.5% while support for Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party is up 0.5% to 2%. Support for Independents/Others is now 9.5% (down 0.5%). Roy Morgan Government Confidence has improved this week with 40% of electors saying Australia is now heading in the right direction, up 1% from a week earlier while 41% (down 1.5%) say Australia is heading in the wrong direction. These results leave Government Confidence below the neutral level of 100 and indicate the ALP is still the favourite to win with early voting opening next week, although the L-NP has closed the gap significantly during the last week.

CORPORATES
MORGAN POLL, ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY