AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

‘There’s a lot of money in the room’

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 26-Feb-18

Seven Network owner Kerry Stokes says US President Donald Trump is more engaging than he had expected. Stokes is one of a number of Australian executives to have accompanied Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on his visit to the US, and whom Turnbull introduced to Trump. QIC CEO Damien Frawley said the White House was clearly a lot more organised than it has been portrayed in the media, while Business Council of Australia president Grant King said it was clear that Trump is "getting some things done".

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, QIC LIMITED, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PRATT INDUSTRIES PTY LTD

Plan now or quality of city life will fall

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 23-Feb-18

Infrastructure Australia contends that governments need to start planning for what it claims will be a population increase of 12 million over the next 30 years. Much of this growth is expected to occur in major capital cities such as Sydney and Melbourne, but Infrastructure Australia warns that the quality of life in large cities will suffer if planning does not start now on infrastructure issues such as the adoption of user-pays road systems and the development of large "timetable-free" public transport networks.

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INFRASTRUCTURE AUSTRALIA

Joyce faces challenge to Nats leadership

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Original article by Andrew Tillett, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 23-Feb-18

Barnaby Joyce’s future as leader of the National Party remains under scrutiny ahead of a party room meeting on 26 February. Nationals MP Andrew Broad will ask his colleagues to support a resolution calling for Joyce to resign, arguing that he should do so for the good of the party and the nation. Broad also believes that Joyce should step down from his ministerial portfolio and spend some time on the backbench in the wake of his affair with a former staffer. The National Party’s chief whip Michelle Landry says Joyce should have sufficient party room support to fend off a leadership spill.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

Cormann to pound company tax drum

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 22-Feb-18

The Federal Government’s company tax package requires the support of the majority of Senate crossbenchers. Acting Prime Minister Mathias Cormann has written to the 11 crossbenchers urging them to vote in favour of the tax package. The proposal to progressively reduce the tax rate for all companies from 30 per cent to 25 per cent has the support of Liberal Democrats senator David Leyonhjelm, who argues that it should in fact be reduced to 20 per cent. Meanwhile, a report from the International Monetary Fund has highlighted the economic benefits of reducing the company tax rate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATIVES, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

Big employers pile on the pressure over company tax

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 21-Feb-18

The retail industry has urged the Senate crossbenchers to support the Federal Government’s legislation to reduce the company tax rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent. The Australian Retailers Association’s executive director Russell Zimmerman says the nation’s high corporate tax rate hinders the ability of retailers to hire additional staff and increase wages, while Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci says a lower tax rate would enable the company to increase its investment in its Australian business. The National Retail Association argues that a lower tax rate would result in the creation of more entry-level jobs in the sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, NATIONAL RETAIL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Joyce crisis has tarnished Nats brand, WA says

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Victoria Laurie, Andrew Burrell, Andrew Clennell
The Australian – Page: 5 : 21-Feb-18

National Party leader Barnaby Joyce has lost the support of the party’s Western Australian division, which has stated that his position is no longer tenable in the wake of his affair with an ex-staffer. Some Nationals MPs believe that it would be in the best interests of the party for Joyce to resign voluntarily rather than being forced to step down, warning that he could damage the Coalition politically from the backbench. Meanwhile, the Liberal-National Party of Queensland’s president Gary Spence has urged a swift resolution to the crisis.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Joyce loses support of party bosses

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 20-Feb-18

The future of National Party leader Barnaby Joyce remains in doubt amid growing calls from within the party for him to stand down and retire to the backbench in the wake of his affair with a former staffer. The party’s federal executive discussed the Joyce situation via a conference call on 19 February, although they did not make a decision on his future. Veterans’ Affairs Minister Michael McCormack, who is seen as the leading contender to replace Joyce, has told Sky News that Joyce will remain leader while he retains the support of the party room. However, he downplayed suggestions of a leadership challenge.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Get a real job (for once) O’Connor, instead of fiddling with commission

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Original article by Judith Sloan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 20-Feb-18

A proposal by the Opposition’s workplace relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor to transfer responsibility for setting the minimum wage from the Fair Work Commission to the Federal Government was ill-considered. There is some merit in having the minimum wage set by the independent umpire, which takes into account factors such as the state of the economy. It should be noted that people on low incomes are most at risk of being retrenched or having their working hours cut if an increase in the minimum wage is excessive. Likewise, many people on the minimum wage are in fact from wealthy households.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Backdown on radical wage plan

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 20-Feb-18

A future Labor government may require the Fair Work Commission to give greater consideration to the needs of people on low wages when deciding on increases in the minimum wage. At present the FWC is also required to take into account a range of economic factors, and Stephen Smith of the Australian Industry Group says the potential change outlined by the Opposition’s workplace relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor could result in many people on low wages losing their jobs. Labor had previously proposed setting the minimum wage at a proportion of the median wage.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT

Plans to cut company tax responsible – Morrison

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 19-Feb-18

Treasurer Scott Morrison has downplayed concerns expressed by Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe about the potential impact of the Federal Government’s proposed company tax cuts. Morrison has stressed that Budget projections have already taken into account the long-term effect of the tax cuts, adding that the Government will not implement any policies that could threaten its timetable for returning the Budget to surplus. The Government also wants to include personal income tax cuts in the May 2018 Budget, again without risking the target date for a surplus.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY, BIRINYI ASSOCIATES, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX