AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

PM’s new super obstacle

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 25-Aug-16

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has signalled that the Australian Labor Party is prepared to support proposed superannuation reforms if the Federal Government agrees to further compromises. Labor wants the lifetime cap on non-concessional contributions to apply from 2016 rather than 2007. It will also push for the threshold for an increase in the contributions tax to be reduced to $A200,000 rather than $A250,000 as proposed by the Government. At present, people earning at least $A300,000 a year pay a contributions tax of 30 per cent instead of 15 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, GRATTAN INSTITUTE

Bureaucrats eye $1m pay despite flat wage growth

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Original article by David Uren, Sarah Elks
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 24-Aug-16

New figures show that the annual remuneration of many senior federal public servants have risen significantly since 2008. The secretary of the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet, Martin Parkinson, is paid $A861,700 each year, while Treasury secretary John Fraser is paid $A840,810. Both salaries are much higher than the remuneration of their predecessors during the global financial crisis. Public servants in many states have also enjoyed strong growth wages over the last eight years.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Super contributions slump after reforms unveiled

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 24-Aug-16

Data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority shows that personal contributions to superannuation funds fell by 11.3 per cent, or $A811m, in the June 2016 quarter. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia’s acting CEO Jim Minto says the figures could indicate that confidence in the super system has been undermined by the uncertainty surrounding the Federal Government’s proposed super reforms.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, THE ASSOCIATION OF SUPERANNUATION FUNDS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Drums beat on $6b Snowy Hydro sale

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Original article by Ben Potter, Lucille Keen, Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 24-Aug-16

The Federal Goverment has downplayed media reports which suggested that it is considering the privatisation of Snowy Hydro as part of its strategy to balance the Budget. Snowy Hydro is estimated to be worth around $A6bn, which would value the Federal Government’s 13 per cent stake about about $A800m. The Government had rejected the National Commission of Audit’s 2014 recommendation to privatise Snowy Hydro, while a previous sale proposal in 2006 caused disunity within the Coalition.

CORPORATES
SNOWY HYDRO LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL COMMISSION OF AUDIT, NEW SOUTH WALES. THE TREASURY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Labor: pass our budget cuts too

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Aug-16

The Australian Government’s $A6.5bn spending cuts will be presented to Parliament in a single bill. The Australian Labor Party has yet to decide its position on several of the 21 measures in the "omnibus" bill, but Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says that if the Government wants Labor’s support for its spending cuts it should in turn vote in favour of the $A8.1bn worth of cuts that Labor has proposed. Meanwhile, the proposed lifetime cap on non-concessional superannuation contributions will be increased to $A750,000 after Treasurer Scott Morrison reached a compromise with Coalition MPs, although it will still be backdated to 2007.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA), AUSTRALIAN RENEWABLE ENERGY AGENCY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE

Coalition cuts add $221bn to budget

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 4 : 23-Aug-16

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has indicated that the Budget bottom line will be boosted by $A26bn over the next four years, due to spending cuts that have been made since the Coalition took office in 2013. The Coalition also estimates that spending cuts could potentially bolster the Budget by about $A221bn over the next decade or so. Cormann has also urged the Australian Labor Party to support some $A6.5bn worth of spending cuts that it did not oppose during the 2016 election campaign.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Morrison mulls super cap retreat

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 19-Aug-16

The Australian Government may make further changes to its proposed lifetime cap on non-concessional superannuation contributions. Treasurer Scott Morrison is considering options such as lifting the proposed cap from $A500,000 to $A750,000 or leaving it unchanged but not backdating it to 2007. Meanwhile, Morrison has stressed that inheritances or lottery wins will not be regarded as "life events" that will qualify for an exemption from the lifetime cap. H has also ruled out any changes to the policy on limiting retirement balance transfers to $A1.6m.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN RENEWABLE ENERGY AGENCY

Shorten kills hope of deal on budget savings

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 18-Aug-16

The Opposition has signalled that it will not support all of the Federal Government’s proposed $A6bn worth of cost-saving measures, despite backing most of the reforms during the 2016 election campaign. A proposed $A1bn reduction in funding for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency in particular is likely to be opposed by the Australian Labor Party, which is also likely to vote down a plan to progressively reduce the corporate tax rate to 25 per cent. The Government plans to introduce a so-called "omnibus" bill containing 21 separate Budget-repair measures.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN RENEWABLE ENERGY AGENCY, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Beijing to Canberra: expect investments to be scaled back

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal, Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 17-Aug-16

China’s embassy in Australia has expressed concern that the Federal Government’s decision to block Chinese bids for Ausgrid and S Kidman & Company may signal a shift toward protectionism in Australia. The embassy says the rulings may deter Chinese companies from investing in Australia. The Government cited national security concerns as the reason for its preliminary decision to block the Ausgrid bids of State Grid and Cheung Kong Infrastructure.

CORPORATES
AUSGRID PTY LTD, S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, STATE GRID CORPORATION OF CHINA, CHEUNG KONG INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, TRANSGRID, ELECTRANET SA, SHANGHAI PENGXIN GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, OZ MINERALS LIMITED – ASX OZL, CHINA MINMETALS CORPORATION

PM’s $6.5b budget challenge to Labor comes with AAA warning

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 17-Aug-16

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will call for bipartisan political support for the Coalition’s economic agenda in a Committee for Economic Development of Australia speech on 17 August 2016. Turnbull will also reveal plans to present a single bill to Parliament which will include 21 separate initiatives aimed at reducing government spending by $A6.49bn in total. He will stress the need for action in order to protect Australia’s coveted "AAA" credit rating. The Australian Labor Party is expected to support some of the measures.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN RENEWABLE ENERGY AGENCY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION