AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Business wants more detail on ALP’s emissions reduction policy

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 20-Mar-19

Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott has urged both major political parties to reveal details of how their greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets will be achieved. She notes that a report by former bureaucrat Brian Fisher shows that the policies of both Labor and the Coalition will have an impact on the economy. Minerals Council of Australia CEO Tania Constable has called for a measured response to meeting Australia’s emissions reduction target to avoid any negative economic impact.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY. CRAWFORD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY

PM rolls out rail, migrant strategy

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 20-Mar-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the federal government’s revised migrant intake is aimed at easing congestion in major cities. The nation’s permanent migrant intake will be capped at 160,000 a year, although some cabinet ministers had favoured reducing it to 155,000. Some 23,000 skilled migrants will also be required to live in regional areas for three years before qualifying for permanent residency. Meanwhile, the April 2019 Budget is expected to include funding for three proposed fast-rail projects in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MIGRATION COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Shorten slaps down union super bosses

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 20-Mar-19

The union movement continues to attract scrutiny for using industry superannuation funds to promote its industrial relations agenda. Labor leader Bill Shorten says the legal requirement of super fund trustees to act in the best interests of members overrides any other allegiances they may have. ACTU president Michele O’Neil recently urged super funds to use their influence as investors to ensure that companies offer secure and well-paid jobs. O’Neil is an alternate director on the board of AustralianSuper, which is partly owned by the ACTU.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, TWUSUPER, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, EQUIPSUPER PTY LTD, SUNSUPER PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

G20 must act on social evils

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Original article by Simon Benson, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 19-Mar-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says greater regulation of social media platforms should be a top priority for the next G20 leaders’ meeting in the wake of the Christchurch mosque attack. Morrison has written to G20 chairman Shinzo Abe arguing that the internet should not be regarded as an ungoverned space, and technology companies should be more accountable for the objectionable content that is distributed via their digital platforms. Facebook removed some 1.5 million live-streamed videos from its platform during the first 24 hours after the attack.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NEW ZEALAND. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, JAPAN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD

Tribalism dividing Australia: Morrison

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Original article by Ben Packham, John Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 6 : 19-Mar-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called for a more inclusive Australia, as well as attacking the dangers of tribalism. Speaking just days after the Christchurch mosque killings, Morrison said people on both sides of politics are seeking to distort public debate in order to divide Australians in the aftermath of the attacks. He said Australians should be allowed to express concerns about population growth without being labelled racist or anti-migrant, while opposition leader Bill Shorten said politicians should try to avoid point-scoring in the wake of the attacks.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA-ISRAEL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Labor tax breaks not enough

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 18-Mar-19

Canadian economist Jack Mintz has produced a report on behalf of the Minerals Council of Australia. He concludes that reducing the company tax rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent would do more to ensure that the nation remains internationally competitive than Labor’s proposal to provide businesses with a 20 per cent tax write-off for capital expenditure exceeding $20,000. The report also argues that the manufacturing sector would gain more benefit from Labor’s policy than industries such as mining.

CORPORATES
MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Global backlash against social media live-streaming of atrocity

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 18-Mar-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called for social media platforms to suspend live streaming in the wake of the Christchurch terrorist attack. Brenton Tarrant used Facebook to live stream his attack, and versions of his video were then seen on Twitter and YouTube. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have blocked and removed hundreds of versions of the video, while Facebook took down 1.5 million videos of the footage within 24 hours of the attack. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she intends to take up the issue of live streaming with Facebook directly.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, TWITTER INCORPORATED, NEW ZEALAND. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Risky bet tax cuts tip for budget

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 18-Mar-19

A report from Deloitte Access Economics suggests that there is scope for the federal government to include tax cuts of up to $12bn a year in the April 2019 Budget. The government has previously committed to $144bn worth of personal income tax cuts over six years, and Chris Richardson of Deloitte Access Economics says one option would be to bring forward these tax cuts by three years. Shane Oliver of AMP Capital Investors agrees that the Budget could feature tax cuts, saying it would be unlikely to affect the timing of a return to a surplus.

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DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Spy boss joins terror fight

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Original article by Paul Maley, Deborah Cornwall, Ean Higgins
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 18-Mar-19

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation will step up its monitoring of local right-wing extremists in the wake of the attack on two mosques in Christchurch. Federal cabinet’s ­National Security Committee will be briefed by ASIO’s director-general Duncan Lewis and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin on 18 March. Meanwhile, New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush says the alleged perpetrator Brenton Tarrant seems to have been acting alone, and three other people who were arrested following the attacks are not believed to have been involved.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL SECURITY COMMITTEE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, NEW ZEALAND. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Greens’ $20m man now says no more tax breaks

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Original article by Chip Le Grand, Christine Lacy
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Mar-19

Prominent barrister and Greens candidate Julian Burnside has declined to disclose whether he used negative gearing to build a property portfolio that is estimated to be worth about $20m. The Greens want to abolish negative gearing on all future residential property purchases, while its policy would restrict existing investors to negatively gearing just one property. Burnside says it is not fair that the system benefits wealthy people such as himself at the expense of first-home buyers. The Greens policies will not affect his investment portfolio.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MELBOURNE SAVAGE CLUB, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, PATRICK STEVEDORES HOLDINGS PTY LTD