AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Business lists IR demands for O’Dwyer

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Original article by Dana McCauley, Nick Toscano
The Age – Page: 5 : 30-Aug-18

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says the passage of three key workplace relations bills through Parliament should be a priority for incoming Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O’Dwyer. The federal government shelved its Ensuring Integrity Bill earlier in 2018, while the Proper Use of Worker Benefits Bill remains stalled in the upper house and Labor has blocked a bill to scrap four-yearly reviews of industrial awards. Willox has also urged O’Dwyer to intervene in a court case regarding the employment status of casual workers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, WORKPAC PTY LTD, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, MONDELEZ AUSTRALIA (FOODS) LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Small business tax cuts miss the point

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Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 30-Aug-18

Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently signalled that the small and medium business sector will be the focus of his government’s company tax policy. However, Jeremy Thorpe of PricewaterhouseCoopers argues that tax cuts for the small business sector should not be a priority as such businesses generally do not need to be globally competitive. Grant Wardell-Johnson of KPMG agrees, noting that large companies deliver the great economic benefit from tax cuts.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ERNST AND YOUNG, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

‘NEG is dead’: States go it alone

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Original article by Mark Ludlow, Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 30-Aug-18

Uncertainty about the future of the federal government’s national energy guarantee in the wake of the leadership spill has prompted Labor-led state governments to press ahead with their own renewable energy targets. Queensland’s Energy Minister Anthony Lynham says he has not anything from the federal government about the NEG since the leadership change, adding that the state remains committed to its renewable energy target of 50 per cent. The Australian Capital Territory’s Climate Change Minister Shane Rattenbury says it appears that the NEG will not proceed.

CORPORATES
QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF ENERGY AND WATER SUPPLY, AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT, PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, AUSTRALIA. ENERGY SECURITY BOARD

Price cuts come first over Paris emissions

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 30-Aug-18

Australia’s new Energy Minister Angus Taylor says his top priority in the portfolio will be to pursue measures that will result in lower electricity prices, rather than implementing carbon emission reduction targets under the Paris climate agreement. Taylor will use a Council of Small Business Organisations speech on 30 August to criticise the Opposition’s carbon emissions reduction target, arguing that it reduce the nation’s energy security as coal-fired power stations would be forced to close.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, McKINSEY AND COMPANY

Unions double down on trickle down Morrison

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Original article by Dana McCauley
The Age – Page: 5 : 29-Aug-18

The ACTU has signalled that industrial relations will be a key focus of its campaigning in the next federal election. ACTU secretary Sally McManus has described Prime Minister Scott Morrison as the "architect of trickle-down economics" and accused him of being out of touch with working people. The ACTU’s national president Michele O’Neil has urged Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O’Dwyer to support the introduction of paid domestic violence leave. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has committed to introducing such leave if he wins office.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

PM to seal trade deal with Jakarta

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Original article by Angus Grigg, Lisa Murray, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 29-Aug-18

Former trade negotiator Alan Oxley says Australia’s proposed free-trade agreement with Indonesia has more political than economic significance. Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to finalise a trade deal with Indonesia on 31 August, during his first overseas trip in his new role. President Joko Widodo indicated earlier in 2018 that a trade deal between the two nations was only being held up by "technical issues". Negotiations for a trade deal began in 2010 and were revived in 2016.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIA-INDONESIA BUSINESS COUNCIL LIMITED, RMIT UNIVERSITY, CENTRAL QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY, SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Brace for blackouts without the NEG

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Original article by Andrew White, Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 28-Aug-18

Australians have been warned to prepare for power blackouts after the federal government shelved its National Energy Guarantee. Rick Francis, the CEO of Spark Infrastructure, says not having an NEG means the energy sector lacks any "mechanism" to steer it through the transition to increased renewable energy generation. Stephen Bell, the CEO of petrochemicals producer Qenos, is disappointed that the federal government had chosen not to proceed with the NEG.

CORPORATES
SPARK INFRASTRUCTURE GROUP – ASX SKI, QENOS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, ERNST AND YOUNG, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY COUNCIL

Turnbull to walk away on Friday

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Original article by Andrew Clennell
The Australian – Page: 8 : 28-Aug-18

Nominations for the federal seat of Wentworth will be sought until 3 September, after former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull indicated that he intends to formally resign from Parliament on 31 August. Dave Sharma, Christine Forster and Andrew Bragg are said to be among the contenders for pre-selection, with the by-election likely to be held on 6 October. Turnbull’s son-in-law James Brown has ruled himself out of contention.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, THE RETURNED AND SERVICES LEAGUE OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SYDNEY CITY COUNCIL, WOOLLAHRA MUNICIPAL COUNCIL

ScoMo’s next generation cabinet

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 27-Aug-18

The federal government’s seventh ministerial reshuffle in three years includes four new cabinet ministers, while the number of women in cabinet has risen from five to six. Several key portfolios have been split under new Prime Minister Scott Morrison; Angus Taylor is the new Energy Minister and Melissa Price takes on the role of Environment Minister, while Peter Dutton will remain the Minister for Home Affairs but David Coleman will take charge of immigration policy. Kelly O’Dwyer will assume responsibility for the newly-reinstated industrial relations portfolio, while small business has regained cabinet status under Michaelia Cash.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Bottom line pushes budget closer to surplus

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 4 : 27-Aug-18

The Australian Government’s May 2018 Budget had forecast a 2017-18 deficit of $14.5bn. Economists expect the final figure – which will be disclosed by the end of September – to be slightly below this. Company tax receipts for the full year are likely to be in line with Budget projections, although overall government revenue was tracking slightly below forecasts during the first 11 months of the financial year. Shane Oliver of AMP Capital says incoming Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is likely to face some revenue challenges in the medium-term.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, S&P GLOBAL INCORPORATED