AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

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.

CORPORATES
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

Dated media policies need fixing: Labor

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 7 : 15-Mar-19

Shadow communications minister Michelle Rowland has accused the federal government of adopting a piecemeal approach to media policy, claiming that it lacks a "coherent reform agenda". She adds that Australia’s media policy and industry regulation is a legacy of the analogue era and needs to be updated to take into account the rise of digital platforms.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Kelty warns ALP on wages

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Original article by Troy Bramston, Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 15-Mar-19

Labor will use its submission to the Fair Work Commission’s review of the minimum wage to push for an above-inflation increase in 2019. Meanwhile, former ACTU secretary Bill Kelty says any increase in the minimum wage must reflect the economy’s capacity to absorb it. He adds that a rise in the minimum wage must be linked to productivity gains. Kelty also supports Labor’s proposal for a living wage, stating that it would benefit the economy and make enterprise bargaining more effective.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, NATIONAL RETAIL ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Emissions target will cut wages, ACTU told

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 4 : 15-Mar-19

Unions have criticised Energy Minister Angus Taylor after he warned them of the potential impact of Labor’s greenhouse gas policy on wages. Taylor has written to unions claiming that wages could be reduced by $9,000 under Labor’s proposed 45 per cent emissions reduction target. The Electrical Trades Union has accused Taylor of "rank political opportunism" in targeting its members shortly before a federal election. Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says taxpayers’ funds should not be used to build new coal-fired power stations. He says this would result in less funding for infrastructure such as roads.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, GETUP LIMITED, BAECONOMICS PTY LTD, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

PM declares peace despite ongoing coal push

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 14-Mar-19

National Party MP Barnaby Joyce is still advocating the use of taxpayers’ funds to build new coal-fired power stations in Queensland. However, Joyce has put his leadership ambitions on hold, declaring that Scott Morrison and Michael McCormack will lead the Coalition into the federal election. Joyce has also backed down on his claim that he is the legitimately elected deputy prime minister, describing it as a "misstep". Meanwhile, Morrison has stressed the need for Australia to have reliable and sustainable power that is "technology and resource agnostic".

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

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine comments on the latest employment data

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Original article by Michele Levine, Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 14-Mar-19

The lack of jobs growth over the last year will be a significant concern for the Federal Government, which is due to seek re-election at a Federal election expected in mid-May. As well as the lack of employment growth over the past year the latest Roy Morgan Business Confidence rating for February of only 105.6 – the lowest since August 2015 – indicates Australia’s businesses are waiting for the political uncertainty to clear in a few months’ time. The consecutive ratings below 110 are the slowest start to a year for Business Confidence since the index began. The latest Australian GDP figures showed the economy growing by only 0.2% in the December 2018 quarter, the slowest rate of growth for over two years since a quarterly contraction of 0.5% in the September 2016 quarter. Given the political uncertainty facing Australia over the next two months, with a New South Wales election later in March before the Federal election expected in mid-May, the prospects for the economy and employment growth in the short-term appear to be limited. However, the Federal Government has a chance to ‘reboot the economy’ with a stimulative Federal Budget due to be delivered on the first Tuesday in April. The Budget is also the Morrison Government’s last chance to save their chances of re-election as the Roy Morgan Poll, and other polls, have consistently shown the ALP heading towards an easy election victory.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED