AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Codes baulk at national sports court

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Original article by Chip Le Grand
The Australian – Page: 3 : 25-Oct-17

The Coalition of Major Professional & Participation Sports has rejected the Federal Government’s proposal to establish a national sports integrity tribunal. The CMPPS has argued that key sports codes are likely to favour resolving cases of corruption, doping and match-fixing via their own tribunals. Sports codes’ involvement in the national sports court would be on an "opt-in" basis rather than being compulsory. A review panel is also looking at issues such as imposing criminal penalties for match-fixing and increasing the powers of the National Sport Integrity Unit.

CORPORATES
COALITION OF MAJOR PROFESSIONAL AND PARTICIPATION SPORTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN RUGBY FOOTBALL UNION, FOOTBALL FEDERATION AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CRICKET AUSTRALIA, NETBALL AUSTRALIA, ESSENDON FOOTBALL CLUB, COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORT, AUSTRALIAN SPORTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN SPORTS ANTI-DOPING AGENCY, AUSTRALIAN ATHLETES ASSOCIATION, WORLD ANTI-DOPING AGENCY, RACING NSW

‘Citizenship seven’ have Friday on their minds

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 7 : 25-Oct-17

The High Court’s ruling on the eligibility of seven MPs and senators to be in federal parliament will be handed down on 27 October. A by-election in Barnaby Joyce’s seat of New England is slated for 2 December if the court rules that his dual citizenship at the time of the 2016 election disqualifies him from being in parliament. George Williams, the dean of law at the University of New South Wales, expects the court to disqualify at least some of the parliamentarians.

CORPORATES
HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

PC report urges fed-state tax revamp

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 25-Oct-17

The Productivity Commission has released a report which notes that the federal government is responsible for raising 80 per cent of all tax revenue. The report, which is titled "Shifting the Dial", advocates giving the states greater power to raise revenue for the provision of government services instead of being so reliant on the federal government for funding. The report will be on the agenda when Treasurer Scott Morrison meets with his state and territory counterparts on 27 October.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Australia ‘must commit to one emission target’

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Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 4 : 25-Oct-17

The Australian Greens have welcomed the release of a Productivity Commission report which advocates the adoption of a carbon price. The commission has also recommended the introduction of a national renewable energy target rather than having separate state-based schemes. It argues that a national approach would make it easier for Australia to meet its emission reduction target under the Paris agreement and do more to encourage investment in new power generation.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Raids over Shorten donations

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Original article by Brad Norington, Ewin Hannan, Simone Fox Koob
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 25-Oct-17

Australian Workers’ Union offices in Sydney and Melbourne have been the subject of simultaneous police raids. Australian Federal Police officers executed warrants issued to the Registered Organisations Commission as part of its investigation into donations the union made when Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was the head of the AWU. Police are believed to have seized documents relating to the 2006 and 2008 financial years, including the minutes of AWU meetings. The raids are said to have been prompted by concerns that the documents could be destroyed. The AWU intends to challenge the validity of the warrants in court.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, GETUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, ARNOLD BLOCH LEIBLER, ACTU

ALP’s $200 power bill shock

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Oct-17

Labor has stated that it will seek to have 50 per cent of electricity produced from renewable sources by 2030. It will also seek to reduce carbon emissions by 45 per cent. However, modelling by the Climate Change Authority has concluded that achieving its 50 per cent target would increase the average household’s power bill by $A200 a year, as well as requiring 17,000 megawatts of coal-fired power generation to be taken out of the National Electricity Market. Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has claimed Labor is trying to conceal the cost of its energy policy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. CLIMATE CHANGE AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Shorten faces ‘donation’ probe

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Original article by Brad Norington
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 23-Oct-17

The Registered Organisations Commission is believed to be investigating a $A25,000 donation by the Australian Workers’ Union to the 2007 election campaign of current Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. He had been the head of the AWU at the time. The union also made large donations to the election campaigns of two other Labor candidates. The ROC recently began a separate probe into the AWU’s donation to activist group GetUp in 2006, whose board members at the time included Shorten. Labor MP Brendan O’Connor alleges that the ROC investigations are part of a smear campaign against Shorten.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, GETUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, HEALTH SERVICES UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Income tax rises to save budget

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 4 : 20-Oct-17

The Parliamentary Budget Office estimates that personal income tax will account for 12.5 per cent of Australia’s GDP by 2020-21. This compares with 11.3 per cent of GDP at present and a record low of 9.3 per cent in 2009-10. The Federal Government’s May 2017 Budget had forecast that revenue from personal income tax will top $A253bn in 2021, which is 30 per cent higher than in 2016-17. Factors such as "bracket creep" and an increase in the Medicare levy to finance the National Disability Insurance Scheme are expected to offset low growth in wages.

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AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Labor vows crackdown on sham collective wage deals

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Original article by Anna Patty
The Age – Page: 20 : 20-Oct-17

Shadow employment minister Brendan O’Connor says the Australian Labor Party will take action to prohibit the use of "no-stake" enterprise agreements if it wins the next federal election. Labor will target companies that get a small number of employees to vote in favour of an enterprise agreement and then apply it to their general workforce, including those at other work sites. Mr O’Connor says Labor will also pursue reforms to allow employees and unions to renegotiate sham enteprise agreements via the Fair Work Commission.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR ADVISORY COUNCIL, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, CARLTON AND UNITED BREWERIES

Labor links expose GetUp! as a ‘front’

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Original article by Brad Norington
The Australian – Page: 3 : 19-Oct-17

Activist organisation GetUp may face further scrutiny over its links to the Australian Labor Party. The two latest additions to GetUp’s board have links to Labor, and include the party’s former digital director Daniel Stone. Liberal MP Ben Morton argues that GetUp is essentially a "front" for Labor and the Greens, rather than an independent organisation. The Coalition wants the Australian Electoral Commission to recognise GetUp as an "associated political entity". It previously failed to do so in 2011.

CORPORATES
GETUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA