AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Income tax rise to fund Dutton’s $21b for defence

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Original article by Michael Read, Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 24-Apr-25

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has justified his decision to delay announcing his defence policy until the final weeks of the election campaign. Dutton says he wanted to wait until the Coalition had a better understanding of the state of the nation’s finances and how much money it could spend on defence if it wins the 3 May election. Dutton has confirmed that a Coalition government would aim to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP over five years, and three per cent over the next decade. He has also revealed that the proposed $21bn increase in defence spending will be funded by repealing the ‘top-up’ income tax cuts that Labor unveiled in its pre-election budget in March, and which are slated to take effect in mid-2026.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Dutton in U-turn on EV tax break

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Original article by Jack Quail, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 5 : 24-Apr-25

Opposition leader Peter Dutton issued a statement on Wednesday in which he committed to scrapping the fringe benefits tax exemption for people who buy electric vehicles. Dutton stated that abolishing the "badly designed" electric car subsidies will generate up to $3bn worth of savings over the forward estimates period and $23bn over the medium-term. However, Dutton had explicity ruled out abolishing the tax break on Monday. A Coalition source has suggested that Dutton might have misheard the question about the tax break on Monday. Dutton had previously backflipped regarding the Coalition’s policy of requiring federal public servants to return to working in the office full-time.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

‘Minerals for mates’: PM digs in

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Apr-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the federal government’s proposed strategic reserve of critical minerals and rare earths will make Australia "stronger and safer" in a time of global uncertainty. Albanese will announce details of the proposed national stockpile today; it will aim to ensure that such minerals are available to both local manufacturers and key allies, such as Japan, South Korea and the US. The government is expected to use the strategic reserve as a bargaining chip to negotiate an exemption from the Trump administration’s tariffs regime. The strategic reserve is also aimed at reducing China’s market dominance in the global supply of rare earths and critical minerals.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Housing crisis puts even safest seats at risk

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Original article by Ronald Mizen, Nila Sweeney, Tom Rabe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 23-Apr-25

Analysis of data from Cotality suggests that the housing affordability crisis could potentially undermine support for the Coalition and Labor in traditionally safe seats at the election on 3 May. The analysis shows that a number of such seats have recorded the biggest decline in housing affordability since the previous federal election in 2022. They include the Labor seats of Watson, Blaxland and Kingsford Smith, and Coalition-held seats such as Banks and Moncrieff. Both major parties have announced new initiatives aimed at helping people to buy their own home.

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

‘Liar, liar’: Leaders’ bitter row over campaign truth

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 6 : 23-Apr-25

The Nine Network hosted the third leaders’ debate between Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton on Tuesday. The latter expressed confidence that the Coalition can win the election on 3 May, despite trailing in public opinion polls. Dutton noted that polling is not always accurate, and conceded that the last federal government to serve just one term was in 1931; however, he added that there has not been a worse federal government since then. Meanwhile, the two leaders questioned each other’s integrity; Dutton accused Albanese of not being able to "lie straight in bed" during an exchange on the issue of Medicare bulk-billing, while Albanese accused Dutton of not being truthful about the Coalitions plans to cut government spending to pay for its proposed nuclear power stations.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Roy Morgan Poll: ALP increases election-winning two-party preferred lead to 55.5% cf. 44.5% L-NP as early voting has now started

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Apr-25

If a Federal Election were held now the ALP would be returned to Government with an increased majority with the ALP on 55.5% (up 1%) ahead of the L-NP Coalition on 44.5% (down 1%) on a two-party preferred basis, the latest Roy Morgan survey finds. Roy Morgan Government Confidence was unchanged at an 18-month high of 86 – although still below the neutral level of 100. Now 48% (down 0.5%) of Australians say the country is ‘going in the wrong direction’ compared to 34% (down 0.5%) that say the country is ‘going in the right direction’. This was the first week in which all candidates were known and support for both major parties increased at the expense of Independents and Other Parties. Primary support for the ALP increased 2.5% to 34.5% and is just ahead of the Coalition on 34%, up 0.5%, while the Greens were unchanged at a six-month high of 14.5% and One Nation was unchanged at 6%. The declaration of candidates meant a drop in support for Independents, down 2.5% to 7.5% with Independent candidates not running in all 150 seats. There was also a decline in support for Other Parties, down 0.5% to 3.5%, with many minor parties running in only a handful of seats.

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

Dutton’s tax oath

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Original article by Paul McIntyre, Dennis Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 17-Apr-25

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has indicated that income tax reform will be one of his long-term goals if the Coalition wins the election on 3 May. He has identified tax indexation as an issue that he particularly wants to address, arguing that ‘bracket creep’ stifles productivity, ­entrepreneurialism and hard work. However, Dutton has emphasised that returning the budget to surplus would be the priority in the first term of a Coalition government, given that Labor has forecast deficits for the next decade. Dutton likens his approach to that of John Howard and Peter Costello in the 1990s, whereby they focused on budget repair during their first term in office before putting tax reform on their second-term agenda.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Investors urge ALP not to extend tax on unrealised gains

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 16-Apr-25

The federal government is continuing to attract scrutiny over its plans to tax the unrealised gains of superannuation funds. The controversial proposal is part of Labor’s push to double the tax rate of super funds with balances exceeding $3m. A coalition of groups representing self-funded retirees, small businesses and farmers has issued a joint statement urging Labor to rule out any move to expand the unrealised gains tax beyond superannuation. The industry coalition contends that taxing unrealised gains is confiscation rather than reform.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Peter Dutton’s nuclear power plan could lead to major electricity shortages, analysis says

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Original article by Graham Readfearn
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 16-Apr-25

Modelling by Frontier Economics concluded that Australia’s remaining coal-fired power stations would need to keep operating until the Coalition’s proposed nuclear plants are built. However, the Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis contends that Frontier Economics has not taken into account the growing unreliability of coal-fired power stations as they get older. The IEEFA argues that the modelling is based on the assumption that the coal-fired plants would be able to keep operating at 72-81 per cent of their generation capacity. The IEEFA notes that the 13 coal-fired plants that have closed down since 2000 operated at just 66 per cent of their capacity in the last 10 years of their operating life.

CORPORATES
FRONTIER ECONOMICS PTY LTD, INSTITUTE FOR ENERGY ECONOMICS AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

Doctors v PM: free for every GP visit a fantasy

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Original article by Natasha Robinson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 16-Apr-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has reiterated that the federal government’s proposed bulk-billing incentives will allow 90 per cent of Australians to see a doctor for free. However, the Australian Medical Association’s president Danielle McMullen cautions that people should not expect to see a GP for free, contending that not all medical practices will switch to bulk-billing; she adds that Labor’s policy will not address the structural reforms that the Medicare system requires. The Coalition has committed to matching the bulk-billing incentives policy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION LIMITED