AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Turnbull’s plan to destroy News Corp influence

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Original article by Aaron Patrick
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 15-Apr-19

Alex Turnbull is helping independent candidates in a number of seats at the federal election, but he says that Zali Steggall is not one of them. The former Olympian is running against ex-prime minister Tony Abbott in the seat of Warringah. Turnbull, who is a private investor based in Singapore and the son of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, says he wants to get more centrist MPs into parliament, as well as reducing the influence of the Murdoch family on Australian politics.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, GETUP LIMITED, BRONTE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION

CFMEU’s election windfall

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Weekend Australian – Page: 18 & 19 : 15-Apr-19

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union has been fined some $7.9m in total since 2016, due to legal action instigated by the Australian Building & Construction Commission. The CFMMEU will benefit significantly if Labor wins the federal election and pushes ahead with plans to scrap the ABCC. The militant union and its officials would face much lower financial penalties for breaches of the Fair Work Act, while Labor would also abolish the national construction code. Meanwhile, employers’ groups are not unduly concerned about a potential conflict of interest for shadow workplace relations minister Brendan O’Connor, whose brother is the national president of the CFMMEU.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

Phelps should quit after alleged breach

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Original article by Ean Higgins
The Australian – Page: 7 : 15-Apr-19

It has been revealed that independent federal MP Kerryn Phelps is treating patients one day a week as a GP. Phelps has previously claimed that she has legal advice that her actions do not place her in breach of section 44 of the Constitution, which states that persons who receive money from the Commonwealth under a financial arrangement with it are ineligible to sit in parliament. Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce says Phelps should not seek re-election if she is not willing to release that legal advice.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Tax gamble hits most workers

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Original article by Paul Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Apr-19

The Coalition has released data which suggests that low- and middle-income earners will be better off under the government’s tax policy than that of Labor. The tables indicate that people with annual income of $80,000 in 2024-25 will be $875 a year better off under the government rather than Labor; this rises to $2,125 a yearly for those who earn $100,000 and $5,705 a year for those whose income is $140,000. The figures are based on expectations that all three stages of the government’s tax cuts will be passed, reducing the marginal tax rate for the average worker to 30 per cent. Labor opposes the second and third stages of the tax cuts.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Shorten digs in over franking

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Apr-19

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says that providing cash refunds for excess franking credits currently costs $6bn a year, and this is projected to rise to $8bn in coming years. Shorten has described the franking credits system as a "gift" for people who have paid no income tax, and the money should instead be used to fund services such as healthcare. Meanwhile, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen will use a speech on 15 April to argue that the Coalition’s proposed income tax rate of 30 per cent for most workers is unfair and regressive, and that the third stage of its tax cuts package could see the Budget return to deficit in 2024-25.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE, CENTRE ALLIANCE

Tax attack kicks off campaign

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 12-Apr-19

The federal government has released Treasury modelling which suggests that tax revenue would rise by $387bn over the next decade if Labor wins the election on 18 May. Treasury estimates that Labor’s plans to scrap the second and third stages of the government’s income tax cuts package would increase the tax take by $230bn, which is consistent with Labor’s own estimate of $226bn. The modelling also shows that Australia’s tax-to-GDP ratio would rise to a record 25.9 per cent over the next decade if Labor wins the election.

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

A fair go and economy hums

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Original article by John Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 5 : 12-Apr-19

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten used the first day of the election campaign to emphasise that Labor will address issues such as low wages growth and concerns about the rising cost of living. He stressed that Labor will ensure a "fair go" for everyday Australians, as he sought to appeal to working-class and middle-class voters. Shorten also highlighted the lack of stable leadership within the Coalition since it gained office in 2013, which has resulted in three changes of prime minister.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Workers join the barricades for ALP

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 12-Apr-19

ACTU secretary Sally McManus has described the federal election as an opportunity to "restore fairness" for working people, arguing that the Coalition’s legacies include record low wages growth, record levels of inequality and lack of job security. The ACTU intends to campaign in 28 seats during the election, while unions will target 17 seats in a national door-knocking campaign on the weekend of 13-14 April. Meanwhile, political activist GetUp will target 30 seats during the election, including those held by Peter Dutton, Greg Hunt and Tony Abbott.

CORPORATES
ACTU, GETUP LIMITED, VICTORIAN TRADES HALL COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION

Morrison plays trumps to open

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 4 : 12-Apr-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison emphasised the federal government’s economic credentials on the first day of the election campaign. He noted that 1.2 million jobs have been created since the Coalition was elected in 2013, while the Budget is set to return to surplus in 2019-20. Morrison also stressed that a strong economy rather than higher taxes will deliver essential services such as health and education. Morrison did not mention climate change in his first press conference, but he later stated that Australia will meet its carbon emission reduction targets.

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

Federal Election 2019: ALP (52.5%) starts ahead of L-NP (47.5%) but wrong to say Labor has election won – Michele Levine, CEO Roy Morgan

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Apr-19

Yesterday Prime Minister Scott Morrison called the Federal Election for May 18, and the last weekend’s Roy Morgan ‘face-to-face’ poll showed the ALP (52.5%) cf. L-NP (47.5%) with a winning lead as official campaigning begins. However, the example of the 1993 Liberal ‘unloseable’ Federal election showed that one mis-step can swing the result of the election, when Opposition Leader John Hewson ‘stumbled’ over the impact of the GST on birthday cakes and subsequently lost the election. Prime Minister Morrison’s appeal to ‘trust’ in his re-election campaign is ‘gutsy’, but the real key is for leaders not to allow ‘distrust’ to attach to their campaigns and leadership. It is ‘distrust’ that really drives many electors’ voting decisions. Of more concern for electors are the areas where they ‘distrust’ a party or leader. What are electors worried about? The ALP has significant ‘distrust’ issues with their relationship with the unions and the ALP’s many potential changes to the tax system. For the L-NP the uncertainties about the change of leadership of the L-NP are still generating ‘distrust’, and the ‘shenanigans’ that big business – including financial institutions – have been engaging in are seen as a bigger problem driving ‘distrust’ in the L-NP than Labor. View the full 9-minute video with Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine explaining the key drivers for next month’s Federal Election at this link.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA