AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Fifield to broker media deal with Greens or One Nation

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 7-Aug-17

The Australian Government’s cross-media ownership reform bill is slated to be debated in the Senate on 9 August. The Government is said to be confident of negotiating a deal with either the Greens or One Nation to support the bill. The Greens have previously been opposed to abolition of the "two out of three" rule. However, the party may be prepared to back the bill if there are measures to protect media diversity, which is also a key issue for the Nick Xenophon Team.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS)

States fear hospital funding clawback

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Original article by Sean Parnell
The Australian – Page: 6 : 4-Aug-17

Victorian Health Minister Jill Hennessy claims that the Federal Government is trying to effectively recoup hundreds of millions of dollars of health funding that has already been spent by the states. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has asked the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority to review previous state health spending activity before the Federal Government enters into the next hospital funding arrangement with the states. Hunt says there are some abnormalities in health spending by state Labor governments that are of concern to him.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIA. INDEPENDENT HOSPITAL PRICING AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, QUEENSLAND HEALTH

Hanson uses media votes as clout for ABC review

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 4 : 4-Aug-17

The Federal Government’s cross-media ownership bill will be on the Senate’s agenda when Parliament resumes in the week beginning 7 August. One Nation continues to have concerns about the impact on media diversity of abolishing the "two-out-of-three" rule, although the minor party has signalled that it may be open to supporting the media reforms if the Government agrees to a review of the ABC and SBS. The proposed review would include the public broadcasters’ costs and the number of TV channels they operate.

CORPORATES
ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

PM demands power chiefs act on prices

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 4-Aug-17

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has requested that the heads of Australia’s main electricity retailers attend a meeting with him in the week beginning 7 August. Turnbull will tell them that the Federal Government wants retailers to provide customers with greater detail about how their power costs are incurred, so as to help them to reduce their expenses by either changing plans or retailer. A recent report from St Vincent de Paul concluded that the average Victorian power customer could save $A830 a year on electricity costs by changing from the most expensive plan to the least expensive one.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, SNOWY HYDRO LIMITED, MOMENTUM ENERGY PTY LTD, ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, SIMPLY ENERGY, ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY

Labor to re-arm unions in inequality fightback

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 5 : 3-Aug-17

The Opposition’s industrial relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor has flagged a greater role for unions in enterprise agreement negotiations if the Australian Labor Party wins the next federal election. He has used a Sydney Institute speech to argue that employers now have too much bargaining power in wage negotiations, and noted that there has been a marked shift toward industrial award at the expense of collective agreements since 2008. He also questioned the effectiveness of the Fair Work Act and whether the Fair Work Commission’s powers are sufficient.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, SYDNEY INSTITUTE, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

Cut power prices or ‘firms will go bust’

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Original article by Matt Chambers, Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 3-Aug-17

Glencore executive Peter Freyberg has called for a national energy policy that exempts heavy industry from carbon emission targets. He has warned that government intervention is needed to ensure that the rising cost of electricity does not make such industries economically unviable in Australia. Amongst other things, Freyberg says federal and state renewable energy targets should be scrapped, while he has questioned whether a clean energy target – as recommended by the Finkel review – would be sufficient to combat climate change without other measures.

CORPORATES
GLENCORE PLC, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SCIENTIST, MANUFACTURING AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, BRICKWORKS LIMITED – ASX BKW, CSR LIMITED – ASX CSR, RHEEM AUSTRALIA LIMITED, DULUXGROUP LIMITED – ASX DLX, INCITEC PIVOT LIMITED – ASX IPL, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Hanson warms to media reform

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 3 : 3-Aug-17

Foxtel CEO Peter Tonagh says Amazon’s deal to acquire the exclusive British rights to ATP tour tennis rights demonstrates the need for Australia’s anti-siphoning laws to be reviewed. The Federal Government intends to reduce the number of sports events on the list as part of its broader media reform package. Meanwhile, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has signalled that the party may be open to supporting the reforms if the Government agrees to address its concerns about the package.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, SKY PLC, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Labor tax hike on trusts ‘risks hurting economy’

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Original article by Adam Creighton, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 3-Aug-17

Former Commonwealth Bank chairman John Ralph says the Federal Opposition’s proposal to impose a tax rate of 30 per cent on the distributions of discretionar­y trusts appears to be aimed at increasing tax revenue. Ralph, who headed a business tax review in 1999, adds that taxing trusts at the same rate as companies could merely prompt growth in the use of alternative structures to reduce tax liability. He also says the measures – which Opposition Leader Bill Shorten claims are aimed at addressing the issue of inequality – will have an adverse effect on economic growth and Australia’s competitiveness.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

IR reform can help fix the low wage-growth problem

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Original article by Graeme Watson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 39 : 2-Aug-17

The Australian Government is expected to use the next session of parliament to somewhat belatedly issue its response to the Productivity Commission’s 2015 report on the industrial relations regime. A major overhaul of the IR system is needed in order to address issues such as low wages growth and the nation’s high level of youth unemployment. Reforms that foster a less adversarial IR system and encourage greater employee engagement will help lift productivity, innovation and wages.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD

Tax leak as tradies borrow Bunnings ABN

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Original article by Nick Tabakoff, Amos Aikman
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 2-Aug-17

Paul Drum of CPA Australia has called for major changes to the Australian Business Number system, arguing that it is being widely rorted. He says businesses are abusing the tax system by creating multiple ABNs or using incorrect ones. The chairman of the Federal Government’s black economy taskforce, Michael Andrew, adds that 3.5 million ABNs have been issued to companies or individuals that have not lodged a single tax statement or tax return. The push for reform comes amid revelations that many tradespeople are exploiting the tax system by issuing invoices that quote the ABN of hardware giant Bunnings.

CORPORATES
CPA AUSTRALIA, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED