AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

‘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

Labor won’t abolish trusts, just tax them

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 26-Jul-17

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen says the Australian Labor Party will still allow people to use trust structures if it wins the next federal election. However, Labor will crack down on the use of trusts as vehicles to reduce tax liabilities, although there are concerns that its measures could mainly affect users of trusts such as farmers and small businesses. Treasurer Scott Morrison says there are many legitimate reasons for using a trust.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Canavan quits cabinet over citizenship

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 26-Jul-17

Senator Matt Canavan will seek a High Court ruling on his eligibility to remain in Parliament after discovering that he may hold dual citizenship in Italy. Canavan has stepped down as the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia pending confirmation of his eligibility to be elected to Parliament. Canavan was born in Australia, but recently found out that his mother had applied for him to become an Italian citizen in 2006 without his knowledge or consent. Foreign-born Greens senators Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters were recently forced to quit Parliament due to their dual citizenship.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, COURT OF DISPUTED RETURNS, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Labor’s inequality claim a ‘lie’: Morrison

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

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has indicated that addressing rising inequality will be one of Labor’s main goals if its wins the next federal election. However, Treasurer Scott Morrison has rejected claims by Labor that inequality is on the rise, noting that the last census indicated that income inequality is actually declining. Nonetheless, Morrison does concede that not everyone may feel that they are getting the benefits of Australia’s 25-plus years of continued economic growth.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

Labor extends bank probe to regulators

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 25-Jul-17

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen will reveal on 25 July 2017 that Labor will review agencies that are involved in the regulation of the financial services sector if it wins the next federal election. He will speak at a meeting of the Financial Services Council, with Labor’s proposed review to be on top of its promised royal commission into the banking sector. The growing emergence of fintech and increased household debt are two of the reasons why Bowen will state that a review of financial services regulation is warranted.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. COUNCIL OF FINANCIAL REGULATORS

Canavan turns up heat on LNG exporters

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 25-Jul-17

The Federal Government will decide by November 2017 whether to impose LNG export controls in 2018 via its Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism. Resources Minister Matt Canavan has sought advice from regulatory agencies regarding the outlook for gas supply and demand. He has expressed disappointment with gas producers’ proposals to date for resolving the gas crisis on the east coast. Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher has urged greater co-operation between the gas industry and governments to encourage investment in new projects.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ENERGYQUEST PTY LTD

Exporter warning over gas shortfall

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 6 : 24-Jul-17

Resources Minister Matt Canavan will advise LNG exporters on 24 July 2017 that he may trigger the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism in 2018. Doing so would mean the Federal Government is not confident that there is enough gas to meet domestic needs, and it would take appropriate steps to ensure this does not happen. Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, wants Australian states that have imposed restrictions on conventional and unconventional gas exploration to reconsider their stance.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Left push widens ALP asylum split

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Original article by Troy Bramston
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 21-Jul-17

The left faction of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party will seek to have its current asylum-seeker policy abolished at its upcoming state conference. The left faction wants federal Labor to back the immediate closure of the Manus Island and Nauru detention facilities, with all their occupants to be moved to mainland Australia for processing. Labor’s opposition spokesperson for border protection and immigration Shayne Neumann is strongly against the proposal.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, SUPREME COURT OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Turnbull cool on ‘clean coal’ funding

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 21-Jul-17

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had stated on 19 July 2017 that high efficiency low emissions (HELE) coal-fired power stations could help Australia to meet its emission goals set out in the Paris climate agreement. However, when asked on the following day at the Economic and Social Outlook conference whether the Federal Government would be prepared to help finance the construction of such plants, he said he would prefer if the market decided whether HELE plants had a place in Australia’s future energy mix.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIA. CLEAN ENERGY FINANCE CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, TESLA INCORPORATED

No respite from bracket creep for another five years

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 21-Jul-17

Professor Bob Gregory has told a conference in Melbourne that the Federal Government appears to be hoping that increased tax revenue will restore the Budget to surplus. He also noted that it had not been able to reduce expenditure in terms of its share of GDP, although it is managing to control it. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told the conference that he hopes to reintroduce legislation to have the company tax lowered to 25 per cent by the end of 2017, while he noted that the government has prevented around 500,000 taxpayers being placed in a higher tax bracket by increasing the second-highest tax threshold by $A7,000.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA