AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Trust tax to ‘hit Labor’s backyard’

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 2 : 18-Jan-19

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg claims that about 300,000 small businesses with turnover of up to $10 million would be affected by Labor’s proposal to impose a 30 per cent tax on the distributions of family trusts. The Treasury’s analysis of tax office data shows that the Greens-held seat of Melbourne Ports and the Labor seat of Adelaide would be hardest-hit by the policy, although the Coalition holds six of the 10 seats that would be impacted the most. Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen contends that 98 per cent of taxpayers would not be affected by the policy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, BDO AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Shorten attacks BHP, business

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Original article by John Kehoe, David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 18-Jan-19

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has attacked BHP for replacing Australian seafarers with foreign crews on ships that transport iron ore from Western Australia to Wollongong. His criticism of BHP came during the launch of his "Queensland Jobs Not Cuts" bus tour on 17 January, with Shorten attacking big business and the wealth-off. Business leaders expressed concern about Shorten’s anti-big business rhetoric, with Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO James Pearson saying it is important that businesses of all sizes are successful.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Dutton, Abbott top GetUp hit list

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Original article by Luke Griffiths
The Australian – Page: 4 : 17-Jan-19

GetUp has carried out an online poll in which respondents were asked to nominate three federal MPs who should be ousted from parliament at the next election due to their views on issues such as climate change and immigration. Peter Dutton attracted 22,028 votes, ahead of former prime minister Tony Abbott and George Christensen. Paul Oosting, the national director of GetUp, say the results of the poll will influence the activist group’s campaign strategy.

CORPORATES
GETUP LIMITED, EUROPEAN CLIMATE FOUNDATION

Shorten rounds on super fund duds

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Original article by Joanna Mather, John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 17-Jan-19

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has expressed some support for the Productivity Commission’s proposal to cull underperforming superannuation funds. He says super funds whose returns rank in the bottom quartile deserve to be culled, regardless of whether they are industry or retail funds. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has not ruled out making the Future Fund a default super fund, but he stresses that doing so is not on the government’s policy agenda at present.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY

Kelty urges Shorten to stand up to dud funds

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Original article by Eryk Bagshaw
The Age – Page: 3 : 16-Jan-19

Former ACTU secretary Bill Kelty says Opposition leader Bill Shorten must be prepared to take action against underperforming industry superannuation funds if Labor wins the federal election. Kelty has also criticised the Productivity Commission’s proposal for a list of the 10 best-performing super funds, arguing that the focus should be on targeting the 10 biggest underperformers and removing them from the industry. Industry Super Australia chairman Greg Combet also supports a crackdown on chronic underperformers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, MERCER INVESTMENTS PTY LTD, MOTOR TRADES ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA SUPERANNUATION FUND PTY LTD, SUPERRATINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY

Labor backs FWC boss over new members

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 16-Jan-19

Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO James Pearson says the Fair Work Commission’s new deputy presidents should be given the same duties as their colleagues, including deciding cases. FWC president Iain Ross recently advised that the five Coalition appointees will initially only handle relatively minor matters such as conciliation work. Shadow employment minister Brendan O’Connor has supported Ross’s stance, but a spokesman for Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O’Dwyer says all FWC members should be involved in duties such as conciliation work.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS

Dividends paid early to beat ALP

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 16-Jan-19

Jason Steed of Morgan Stanley expects some listed companies to announce share buybacks and special dividends prior to the federal election, in order to avoid Labor’s proposed changes to the franking credits system. Mirrabooka Investments has already advised that its special dividend will be paid immediately rather than on 1 July, with CEO Mark Freeman attributing the move to uncertainty regarding Labor’s policy. Liberal MP Tim Wilson notes that many companies have told a parliamentary committee that they have changed their investment strategy in anticipation of Labor’s policy.

CORPORATES
MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MIRRABOOKA INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX MIR, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW

Punishing company tax regime on par with Third World

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Original article by David Uren, Chris Griffith
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 16-Jan-19

A new report from the OECD shows that France is the only developed nation with a higher company tax rate than Australia at present. However, the French government intends to reduce its corporate tax rate to 28 per cent, while the Coalition’s tax reform policy has been stalled in the Senate. The OECD report also notes that Costa Rica and Chile are the only countries in the world that have a higher tax rate on new business investment than Australia.

CORPORATES
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CURIOUS THINGS, MURU MUSIC

ALP’s tax plan hurts workers, says Frydenberg

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 4 : 15-Jan-19

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that low- and middle-income earners would bear the brunt of Labor’s proposed capital gains tax reforms. According to the ABS, some 194,000 middle-income earners had a capital gain in 2016, compared with just 70,635 people whose taxable income exceeded $180,000. The figures also show that middle-income earners made an average capital gains of $9,176, while the average capital gain for people on high incomes was $164,710.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

No criminal charges for anyone implicated in leaking information in AWU raids case

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Original article by Matthew Doran
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 15-Jan-19

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions believes that there is little chance of securing any convictions over media leaks regarding raids on the offices of the Australian Workers’ Union in October 2017. An Australian Federal Police spokeswoman says that as there is no prospect of criminal charges, the investigation into the affair will be discontinued. The senior media adviser to former Employment Minister Michaelia Cash resigned over the leak, although Cash herself denied that her office had any knowledge of the leak.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS