AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

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

ATO targets 106 secret Credit Suisse accounts

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Neil Chenoweth
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 2-May-18

The financial affairs of Credit Suisse’s private clients in Australia are under scrutiny by the Australian Taxation Office. The ATO contacted 77 of the Swiss bank’s local private clients on 1 May, and it will target 106 such clients in total. The ATO has identified more than 5,000 cross-border transactions that are deemed to be suspicious, and which exceed $A900m in total. The Australian clients are believed to have been advised by Switzerland-based relationship managers, who are alleged to have provided advice on tax evasion schemes.

CORPORATES
CREDIT SUISSE AG, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Call for infrastructure boost, without tricks

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 1-May-18

Infrastructure Partnerships Australia CEO Adrian Dwyer has urged the Federal Government to increase its spending on infrastructure in the May 2018 Budget. He argues that infrastructure spending should be increased by $A7.5bn over four years to offset a decline in such expenditure over the last decade. Dwyer has also questioned the policy of funding infrastructure projects via financing vehicles such as the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility rather than the Budget. The Coalition and Labor both recently announced funding for major infrastructure projects.

CORPORATES
INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERSHIPS AUSTRALIA, NORTHERN AUSTRALIA INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Morrison to pledge a surplus of tax cuts

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Uren, Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 1-May-18

Treasurer Scott Morrison says the Federal Government will ensure that tax revenue is capped at no more than 23.9 per cent of GDP, and it will cut personal income taxes when necessary to avoid breaching this threshold. However, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen says this suggests that the Coalition has backtracked on its stated policy of achieving a Budget surplus that is equivalent to one per cent of GDP. Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott argues that personal income tax cuts should not be on the government’s agenda unless it also pursues measures that will increase productivity, such as reducing the corporate tax rate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD

Regional TV urges more deregulation

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 30-Apr-18

WIN Corporation, Prime Media and Southern Cross Austereo want the Federal Government to further relax cross-media ownership laws by scrapping the rule that a company can own just one TV broadcasting licence in a single market. This would enable regional broadcasters to merge, which Prime CEO Ian Audsley warns is crucial to the sector’s survival. He notes that the cost of buying content is rising while audiences and advertising revenue are fragmenting. Regional broadcasters have also called for the "two radio licences to a market" rule to be scrapped.

CORPORATES
WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, SOUTHERN CROSS AUSTEREO PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ

PM splurges on projects to soothe WA’s anger over GST carve-up

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 27-Apr-18

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has offered to give Western Australia a $A187 million top-up goods and services tax payment. The money is to be spent on expanding or refurbishing three hospitals, while Turnbull is also expected to announce funding for extra train stations and a road bypass in outer Perth suburbs. The Liberal Party currently holds 11 of the 16 federal seats in WA, but five are held with a margin of less than seven per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Labor sticks to high tax strategy

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jacob Greber, Tom McIlroy, David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 27-Apr-18

Labor intends to retain its policy of increasing the highest marginal tax rate by two per cent to 49 per cent, which it announced in 2017 after the Federal Government opted not to extend the temporary deficit levy. Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen says the Opposition is still of the view that it is inappropriate to limit tax relief to people on high incomes. Treasurer Scott Morrison says increasing the tax burden on high income-earners and business owners could impact on economic growth and the labour market.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Rudd cautions Shorten over CFMEU

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 24-Apr-18

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has dismissed suggestions that he is too close to the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union. Former prime minister Kevin Rudd says Shorten should distance himself from the militant union, as he did when he was in office. Meanwhile, Workplace Relations Minister Craig Laundy says Labor’s industrial relations policy is being driven by unions and will result in job losses. Labor intends to scrap the Australian Building & Construction Commission if it wins the next election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION