AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Independent umpire pays the penalty

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Weekend Australian – Page: 18 : 17-Nov-18

Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia CEO Peter Strong says changes to Sunday and public holiday penalty rates do not seem to have led to more jobs or more hours for existing workers. However, he claims that this is due to increases in the minimum wage that have essentially offset the impact of the cuts, rather than because businesses are retaining the savings that have resulted from the cuts. Meanwhile, Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says Labor’s proposed bill to prevent the Fair Work Commission from reducing the take-home pay of any worker is "obviously unfair to employers".

CORPORATES
COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, UNITED VOICE

Aussie John warns Labor’s property plan a nuclear bomb

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 19-Nov-18

Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond has warned that Labor’s proposed changes to the negative gearing regime could lead to a recession in Australia. He says that although the "grandfathering" provisions of the Labor reforms would benefit people who are buying their first home, they would cause property prices to fall and result in many existing homeowners having negative equity in their home. Symond supports negative gearing reforms, but he argues that they should primarily target people on high incomes.

CORPORATES
AUSSIE HOME LOANS LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, THE TAX INSTITUTE, SQM RESEARCH PTY LTD

Health Minister relents on opt-out

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Original article by Sean Parnell
The Australian – Page: 6 : 15-Nov-18

The federal government has announced that consumers will now have until the end of January to opt out of the My Health Record system. The opt-out period had been slated to end on 15 November, after having previously been extended by a month. The 10-week extension will enable the government to make amendments to the My Health Record legislation to address concerns about privacy and security. Labor had sought a 12-month extension of the opt-out period.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Greens seek to wedge Labor on IR

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 15-Nov-18

Labor has indicated that it would prioritise low-paid workers in any push for industry-wide enterprise bargaining. However, the Greens argue that industry-wide enterprise bargaining should be available to all workers regardless of income or the sector in which they work. The Coalition and business leaders have expressed concern that the ACTU’s proposal for industry-wide enterprise bargaining would see industrial action escalate to the levels of the 1970s.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, HEALTH SERVICES UNION OF AUSTRALIA

ALP’s tax hike would strangle economic growth

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Original article by Adam Creighton, Michael Roche
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 14-Nov-18

Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics expects Labor to win the next federal election, and he warns that the party’s proposed tax and regulatory reforms will result in slower economic growth over the next several years. The economist also expects growth in consumption to slow under a Labor government, while the Australian dollar could also fall sharply. Labor plans to increase taxes by $34bn over two years if it wins the election.

CORPORATES
CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD

University outrage at research cash cut

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Original article by Michael Koziol
The Age – Page: 1 : 13-Nov-18

Australia’s leading universities have criticised the federal government’s plans to redirect $134m from the Research Support Program to provide increased funding for regional universities. University of Sydney vice-chancellor Michael Spence says universities will have to reduce their research activities while many students will miss out places at the nation’s top universities. Monash University’s vice-chancellor Margaret Gardner has described the funding cuts as "unnecessary" and "reckless".

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, MONASH UNIVERSITY, THE GROUP OF EIGHT LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING, JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF THE SUNSHINE COAST, CENTRAL QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY

Canberra still to control overall overseas intake, says Morrison

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Original article by Andrew Tillett, John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 13-Nov-18

The federal government will seek greater input from the states on the immigration rate, based on what they feel is their "carrying capacity" in terms of the infrastructure and services they can provide. However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the federal government will always be responsible for setting overall migrant numbers, and that it is not something it will be "contracting out" to the states. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has welcomed plans for the states to have more input on migrant numbers, saying it is "playing catch-up" on the infrastructure that is needed because of recent population growth.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Terrorism duo knew each other

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Original article by David Hurley, Keith Moor
Herald Sun – Page: 4 & 5 : 13-Nov-18

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Victoria Police’s Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton say the Bourke Street rampage by Hassan Khalif Shire Ali was clearly a terrorist attack, rejecting claims by his family that he was mentally ill. Ashton has also warned that law enforcement agencies lack the resources to fully monitor the "hundreds" of Muslims in Australia who have been radicalised. Police have revealed that Shire Ali had links to other Islamic State supporters, including Khaled Sharrouf and Brighton siege perpetrator Yacqub Khayre.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, VICTORIA POLICE

Negative gearing changes would create distortions

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Original article by Ingrid Fuary-Wagner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 13-Nov-18

RiskWise CEO Doron Peleg contends that Labor’s proposed negative gearing reforms would create a two-tiered property market. Economist Stephen Koukoulas believes that concerns about Labor’s proposals are unwarranted, as any fall in house prices that might result will make it easier for first-home buyers to enter the market. Tyrone Hodge of JLL thinks the proposed changes could have a negative impact on housing supply.

CORPORATES
RISKWISE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, JONES LANG LASALLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

PM push for states to set migrant rate

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 12-Nov-18

The federal government is understood to be planning major changes to immigration policy that would see the states and territories assume responsibility for determining permanent migrant numbers. Such a change would help address a major problem with current population policy, namely that while the states and territories are in charge of infrastructure issues like schools and roads, the federal government controls immigration, one of the major "levers" of population.

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