AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Taylor forces NEG security onto states

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith, Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 10-Oct-18

Power retailers will be required to guarantee a reliable electricity supply under a new proposal by the federal government. The proposal for a reliability mechanism – which was a key element of the national energy guarantee – will be put to the upcoming meeting of the COAG Energy Council. The reliability mechanism is one of the initiatives of Energy Minister Angus Taylor which are aimed at reducing electricity prices while ensuring a reliable energy supply as the proportion of electricity generated by renewables increases.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS. ENERGY COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, HYDRO TASMANIA, ERM POWER LIMITED – ASX EPW, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ENERGY SECURITY BOARD, INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF ENERGY AND WATER SUPPLY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT, LAND, WATER AND PLANNING

Regions plan a thought bubble: ALP

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 2 : 10-Oct-18

Labor has criticised the federal government’s proposal to ban some immigrants from settling in major capital cities for up to five years. Shadow workplace relations minister Brendan O’Connor has described it as a "thought bubble", arguing that the government’s priority should be to take action on the issue of temporary work visa holders. He notes that 1.6 million people are now on such visas, while 1.8 million Australians are unemployed or underemployed and looking for more work.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Scott Morrison: No issue with nuclear power but it doesn’t stack up

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 9-Oct-18

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has questioned the merits of nuclear power from an investment perspective. While Morrison says he does not have any issues with nuclear energy, he argues that there is a stronger investment case for Hydro Tasmania’s proposed pumped hydro project. Several nuclear power projects in the US and the UK have been marred by cost blowouts, while a recent report by Deloitte noted that the all-in cost of nuclear power has risen over the last eight years. In contrast, there has been a sharp fall in the cost of solar and wind power.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, SOUTHERN COMPANY, EDF ENERGY PLC, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SCIENTIST

Labor, Coalition square off in Reef election

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 9-Oct-18

Labor’s acting energy spokesperson, Penny Wong, has claimed that the federal government has given up on trying to tackle climate change. Wong was commenting on the release of an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report which warned that coral reefs would be wiped out by global warming of two degrees celsius. Wong said Labor is committed to its 45 per cent emissions reduction target, while Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he is confident Australia can easily meet its Paris emissions reduction target.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY, UNITED NATIONS

IPCC coal call not for us: PM

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Original article by Graham Lloyd
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 9-Oct-18

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has concluded that coal-fired power generation would need to be almost completely phased out worldwide by 2050 if global warming is to be limited to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. The IPCC’s special report argues that meeting this target would require global net human carbon ­dioxide emissions to be reduced to zero by 2050. However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australia is not bound by any of the report’s conclusions, while Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says removing coal from the nation’s energy mix would result in power blackouts on the east coast.

CORPORATES
INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, GLOBAL CARBON PROJECT, CSIRO, GLOBAL CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE INSTITUTE LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INCORPORATED

Nation’s economic success little more than good luck

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Original article by David Uren, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 8-Oct-18

Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott argues that the nation’s GDP growth is primarily due to factors such as population growth, consumption and government spending, rather than productivity gains. She notes that productivity growth has fallen to its lowest levels since the 1970s, and she has stressed the risks facing the domestic economy. Westacott and Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO James Pearson have both highlighted the federal government’s failure to deliver on policies such as the national energy guarantee and company tax cuts.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD

Expats urge rethink of draconian CGT plan

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Original article by Tom McIlroy, Michael Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 4-Oct-18

Tax experts are concerned about the federal government’s proposal to abolish the capital gains tax exemption for expatriates who sell their main residence in Australia. They have warned that the proposed reforms could potentially apply retrospectively from 1985, when CGT was introduced. Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has also expressed concern about the "unintended consequences" of the proposed reforms, which were announced in the May 2017 Budget as part of the government’s strategy to address the issue of housing affordability.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, CENTRE ALLIANCE, ST JAMES’S PLACE WEALTH MANAGEMENT, KING AND WOOD MALLESONS, THE HONG KONG GENERAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Union threat to Labor over trade deals

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 4-Oct-18

The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union has warned that it will reconsider financial support for federal Labor due to the party’s stance on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership. The union has contributed some $367,000 to Labor’s federal and New South Wales branches in the last two years, but AMWU state secretary Steve Murphy has criticise federal Labor’s lack of consultation with the union movement in deciding to support the trade deal. The TPP’s provisions regarding labour market testing for imported workers is a key concern for unions.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

Labor launches $1.8b plan to school kindies

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 4-Oct-18

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will announce details of Labor’s early education policy on 4 October. Amongst other things, Labor will provide three-year-olds with 15 hours of subsidised pre-school education each week, or 600 hours a year. The subsidy currently only applies to four-year-olds, and was introduced by Labor when it was previously in office. The expanded scheme is estimated to cost $1.75bn over four years. Meanwhile, Shorten has criticised the federal government for failing to guarantee funding for the scheme beyond 2019.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Morrison’s $9bn GST fix facing Labor, states revolt

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Original article by Andrew Burrell, Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 4-Oct-18

The federal government’s proposed changes to the formula for distributing goods and services tax revenue was rejected by the majority of state treasurers at a meeting on 3 October. The reforms had the support of Western Australia’s Treasurer Ben Wyatt, but other state treasurers warned that the Coalition must guarantee that no state or territory will be worse off. Federal Labor also opposes the GST reforms, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he will take the GST policy to the next election if it is blocked in parliament.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, VICTORIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, NEW SOUTH WALES. THE TREASURY, QUEENSLAND. TREASURY, TASMANIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE