AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Labor’s trust policy misses the rich

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 2-Aug-17

Tax experts have questioned the likely effectiveness of the Federal Opposition’s proposed tax crackdown on family discretionary trusts in targeting wealthy Australians. Chapman Eastway CEO Sean Cortis says taxing family trusts at the same rate as companies would primarily affect people with investable assets of less than $A5m, rather than the "mega rich". The reforms are aimed at curbing the practice of income-splitting, but tax experts say wealthy families are more likely to "warehouse" money in a company within a family trust.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CHAPMAN EASTWAY, BDO AUSTRALIA LIMITED, GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY. GRIFFITH BUSINESS SCHOOL

Banks growl at BEAR necessities

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 26 : 2-Aug-17

Australian banks have expressed concern about the Federal Government’s proposed Banking Executive Accountability Regime. Criticisms include the lack of sufficient industry consultation and the fact that while non-bank financial services providers such as insurers will be excluded from the regime, it will apply to such businesses that are owned by banks. The Australian Bankers’ Association has also questioned the length of consultation period, although it is generally supportive of the push to increase the accountability of bank executives.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, CUSTOMER OWNED BANKING ASSOCIATION

Shorten ‘lie’ on growth exposed

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

Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott has criticised Opposition Leader Bill Shorten for claiming that reducing the company tax rate will adversely affect economic growth. She notes that Shorten has previously argued that a lower company tax rate would boost productivity and investment, resulting in higher economic growth and wages. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has criticised Shorten’s proposal to tax the distributions of discretionary trusts, which are used by some small and family businesses.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

MP fiasco extends to bloodlines

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 28-Jul-17

The issue of federal politicians with dual citizenship continues to attract scrutiny, with 21 lower house MPs having confirmed that a parent or grandparent was born overseas. There would be major implications for the Government if any Coalition MPs were found to have foreign citizenship by descent, given its one-seat majority in the lower house. Meanwhile, One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts has confirmed that he was a British dual national when elected to Parliament in July 2016. He had taken action to renounce his British citizenship, but official documentation was not completed until December.

CORPORATES
ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND. DEPT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Taxing trusts as companies not a bad idea, lawyers say

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 28-Jul-17

Opposition leader Bill Shorten has indicated that he will scrutinise the tax treatment of family trusts if Labor wins the next federal election. Currently, trust themselves are not taxed, with the income they distribute being taxed at a beneficiary level. However, it is possible that Labor may decide to start taxing trusts as companies, a move once considered by the Howard government. Michael Parker of Hall & Wilcox says such an idea has merit, provided that trusts are still able to access franking credits and the capital gains tax discount.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, HALL AND WILCOX, RSM GROUP, BDO GROUP PTY LTD

Labor left to embrace Corbyn, torpedo neoliberal economics

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Original article by Troy Bramston
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 28-Jul-17

The Australian Labor Party’s left faction will use its New South Wales state conference to ramp up its push to make inequality a key policy agenda. The left faction intends to formally repudiate the neoliberalism policies of the Bob Hawke and Paul Keating-led Labor governments in favour of the socialist agenda of the UK Labour Party’s leader, Jeremy Corbyn. Labor’s national ­assistant secretary, Paul Erickson, has praised Corbyn and believes that Australians are just as disillusioned about mainstream politics as people in the UK.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LABOUR PARTY (GREAT BRITAIN)

Canavan crisis is bad for Adani

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Original article by Matthew Stevens
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 27-Jul-17

Matt Canavan’s decision to step aside as Resources Minister over dual citizenship concerns could have implications for Adani’s proposed Carmichael coal mine. Canavan is a keen advocate of both coal and the Carmichael project, and he is highly likely to have approved a federal loan to Adani via the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility. A final investment decision on the first stage of the Carmichael project is conditional on NAIF funding for the rail line component of the project. The question of whether the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism will be triggered in 2018 is also uncertain after Canavan stood aside.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, ADANI ENTERPRISES LIMITED, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, NORTHERN AUSTRALIA INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

O’Dwyer lashes out at ‘tricky’ insurers

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Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 21 : 27-Jul-17

Financial Services Minister Kelly O’Dwyer has criticised the way life insurance providers have handled requests by superannuation fund members to opt out of life and disability coverage via their super fund. O’Dwyer says life insurers have been "tricky" regarding the issue of opting out. She also argues that life insurers must demonstrate that the products they offer have value to super fund members, and notes that such coverage may not necessarily be relevant to people under the age of 25.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

More MPs under threat

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Original article by Mark Kenny
The Age – Page: 1 : 27-Jul-17

Australian Greens leader Richard Di Natale says an audit should be taken to determine the eligibility of all federal MPs to hold public office in the wake of the dual citizenship saga. University of New South Wales law expert George Williams says more MPs may fail the eligiblity requirements under section 44 of the Constitution. This would have major implications for the Federal Government, given that it has a one-seat majority in the lower house.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

‘No quick fix’ in tax plan for family trusts

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 27-Jul-17

There is speculation that Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will propose subjecting family trusts to the same tax regime as companies. However, Bob Deutsch of the Tax Institute has questioned the merits of such a strategy, arguing that the dividend imputation system means that some beneficiaries of a trust would entitled to a full refund of the taxes paid. The recommendations of the Ralph Review of Business Taxation in 1999 included taxing trusts in the same way as companies.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE TAX INSTITUTE, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GREENWOODS AND HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS PTY LTD