AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Hold-out senators set test for tax bill

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 4 : 8-May-18

Centre Alliance senator Rex ­Patrick says the contents of the May 2018 Budget may determine whether himself and colleague Stirling Griff hold further talks with the Federal Government regarding its corporate tax cuts package. Factors such as a clear strategy for a return to surplus and assurances that spending on social services will not be reduced in future years to finance the tax cuts are among Centre Alliance’s priorities in the Budget. The company tax package requires an additional two votes in the Senate.

CORPORATES
CENTRE ALLIANCE, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Seniors big winners in budget lift

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson, Rick Morton, David Uren
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 8-May-18

The Federal Government’s May 2018 Budget will feature a range of measures targeted at older Australians. Amongst other things, the government is expected to provide funding for an additional 20,000 people to receive in-home care, while a scheme that enables retirees to remain in the workforce without affecting their pension entitlements is tipped to be expanded. Meanwhile, people on low and middle incomes are expected to receive a tax cut of about $A10 a week.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF SOCIAL SERVICES

Morrison locks in tax limits

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 7-May-18

The Federal Government’s May 2018 Budget is expected to restrict tax cuts to people with taxable income of less than $A87,000. The tax cuts are likely to be delivered via the low-income tax offset, while Treasurer Scott Morrison has indicated that people on higher incomes are likely to receive tax cuts by 2024. Morrison stresses that the tax cuts in the 2018 Budget will be real and affordable. Meanwhile, the Government will use the Budget to formally adopt a tax-to-GDP ratio of 23.9 per cent, while it is tipped to forecast a modest surplus in 2019-20, which is one year ahead of schedule.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Banks lower now than during GFC: Costello

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Thomson, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 4-May-18

Corporate Australia is getting tarnished by the banking royal commission, according to former federal treasurer Peter Costello. He says the banks survived the global financial crisis so unscathed that they became complacent, while the likelihood that the federal government’s full company tax cuts package will be passed by the Senate is looking highly unlikely because of the royal commission. James Pearson, the head of the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry, says companies in other sectors should not have to miss out on tax cuts because of failings in the financial services sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Labor pledges end to live sheep exports

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 4-May-18

Labor’s agricultural spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon says it intends to phase out Australia’s live sheep export trade. Its decision pre-empts the findings of a review into the sector, which was prompted by revelations concerning sheep being transported to the Middle East in dreadful conditions in 2017. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has accused Labor of making a reckless decision based on emotion, rather than on science and information. Western Australian Farmers Federation president Tony York says banning the live sheep trade would have a detrimental impact on regional and rural communities.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN FARMERS FEDERATION (INCORPORATED), ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS, AUSTRALIAN LIVESTOCK EXPORTERS COUNCIL LIMITED, ANIMALS AUSTRALIA

Business pushes its case for restraint

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 4 : 3-May-18

A report released by the Business Council of Australia ahead of the Federal Government’s May 2018 Budget warns that achieving a surplus in 2020-21 is highly dependent on commodity prices remaining strong. The BCA also says Australia faces the prospect of large Budget deficits in the future unless action is taken to boost productivity. The employers’ group notes that growth in productivity has averaged just 1.2 per cent over the last decade.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Labor plan: spend and tax to bigger surpluses

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 3-May-18

The Australian Labor Party will raise at least $A160bn in additional revenue over 10 years if it wins the next federal election. This would be boosted by $A35bn if Labor revoked company tax cuts that have yet to be legislated. Labor argues that the additional revenue would allow it to achieve a Budget surplus while increasing government spending in sectors such as health and education. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has warned that Labor’s tax plan will have an adverse impact on jobs and investment.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Company tax cuts lift jobs growth

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 3-May-18

Small Business Council of Australia CEO Peter Strong says an analysis of data on the impact of tax cuts for businesses with turnover of up to $A2m strengthens the case for across-the-board corporate tax relief. The analysis by AlphaBeta shows that 19 per cent of businesses that received the tax cut in 2015 had hired additional staff in the following two years, while three per cent increased their employees’ wages. Companies that received the tax cut also created jobs at a faster pace than companies that were just above the turnover threshold.

CORPORATES
COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ALPHABETA, XERO LIMITED – ASX XRO, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Macron to sign pact targeting cyber war

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 2-May-18

French President Emmanuel Macron will commence an official visit to Australia on 2 May. The Federal Government has declined to comment on speculation that Macron will sign a cyber-security agreement on the first day of his three-day visit. However, senior intelligence sources have indicated that the proposed agreement will be similar to one that Australia and the UK recently finalised. The cyber-security agreement with France would be Australia’s first with a country that is not a member of the Five Eyes intelligence network,

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, FRANCE. OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIAN SIGNALS DIRECTORATE, COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

US extends tariff exemptions

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 2-May-18

The US has indicated that an agreement to exempt Australia from tariffs on steel and aluminium will be finalised shortly. President Donald Trump announced an in-principle agreement on 1 May. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the deal reflects the "fair and reciprocal" trade relationship between Australia and the US, and ensures that this relationship will continue in such a manner. He added that the tariff exemptions will support jobs in both countries.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF STATE, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION