AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Labor’s $8b budget drag

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Original article by Laura Tingle
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 23-May-16

The Federal Opposition estimates that its proposal to abolish the pharmaceutical co-payment will cost nearly $A1bn over four years. The co-payment was outlined in the Australian Government’s 2014 Budget but has been stalled in the Senate. The Opposition has now announced some $A8bn worth of election promises in the areas of health and education. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has called on Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to outline how the Australian Labor Party will fund its spending promises, arguing that it cannot do so without tax increases.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Double-dippers stand by rules

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Original article by Jared Owens, Rebecca Puddy, Sid Maher
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 23-May-16

Some 52 past and current MPs have declared a financial interest in residential properties in Canberra since the 2013 federal election. While the majority have not replied to enquiries as to whether they had claimed a travel allowance for staying in their Canberra home, Australian Labor Party MP Brendan O’Connor is the only one to have stated that he did not make such a claim. Five MPs have acknowledged that they have claimed both the travel allowance and a tax deduction associated with their Canberra home.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Call for changes gets legal support

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 25 : 23-May-16

Corrs Chambers Westgarth CEO John Denton and Norton Rose Fulbright managing partner Wayne Spanner are among the lawyers who believe that Australia’s cross-media ownership laws are outdated. The Federal Government’s proposed reforms include abolishing the "reach rule" and the "two-out-of three rule", but Denton says the anti-siphoning list for sports broadcasts should also be included in the reform process.

CORPORATES
CORRS CHAMBERS WESTGARTH, NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT AUSTRALIA, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Unions break ranks in fight to maintain penalty rates

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 20-May-16

Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari favours adding penalty rates to the National Employment Standards if the Fair Work Commission reduces weekend rates. The Australian Greens have proposed legislation to protect penalty rates if they are cut by the FWC, although this is opposed by both the Federal Opposition and the ACTU. Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has stressed that governments should not intervene on penalty rates.

CORPORATES
VICTORIAN TRADES HALL COUNCIL, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION

Business to push Turnbull tax cuts

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 20-May-16

The Business Council of Australia will spearhead a campaign by business groups to promote the Australian Government’s proposal to progressively reduce the company tax rate to 25 per cent. The BCA has not become directly involved in a federal election campaign since 2007. The advertising campaign is expected to embrace traditional and online media, and be launched at around the mid-point of the election campaign.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION, AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. MEDICARE AUSTRALIA, JWS RESEARCH PTY LTD

AFP raids Conroy’s office, ALP adviser’s house

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 9 : 20-May-16

The Opposition’s legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus says an Australian Federal Police raid on the office of senator Stephen Conroy may be unprecedented. Police are believed to have been seeking leaked documents concerning the national broadband network. The raids also included the home of Andy Byrne, an adviser to Labor communications spokesman Jason Clare and a former aide of Conroy during his tenure as communications minister.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, NBN CO LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Low wage growth sparks bleak outlook

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 7 : 19-May-16

The Department of the Treasury will release its pre-election economic and fiscal outlook on 20 May 2016. It is not expected to make any significant changes to the forecasts in the May 2016 Budget, although the outlook report is likely to highlight the risks to the Budget if the forecasts are not met. Slowing wages growth is looming as a key risk for the Budget, which has forecast wages growth of 2.25 per cent in 2015-16 and 2.5 per cent in 2016-17. Wages grew by just 2.1 per cent over the last year.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Labor to end doctors’ pay freeze

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 19-May-16

The Australian Labor Party intends to scrap the freeze on the Medicare rebate for visits to a GP if it wins the federal election. The rebate was slated to remain at around $A38 until 2020, but Labor proposes to abolish it the start of 2017. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has indicated that this policy will be partially funded by not proceeding with some of the company tax cuts that were outlined in the Federal Government’s May 2016 Budget.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. MEDICARE AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN COLLEGE OF GENERAL PRACTITIONERS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Coalition to beef up Fair Work

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Original article by Adele Ferguson, Sarah Danckert
The Age – Page: 2 : 19-May-16

The Australian Government will strengthen the powers of the Fair Work Ombudsman if it wins the 2016 election. It will also significantly increase the financial penalties for employs who underpay their staff. The FWO will also receive a $A20m increase in funding, while a Migrant Worker Taskforce will be established within the FWO in the wake of the 7-Eleven wage exploitation scandal. The taskforce will be led by Professor Allan Fels, who headed 7-Eleven’s now-defunct independent compensation panel.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, 7-ELEVEN STORES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

SDA canvasses penalty cut

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 18-May-16

The Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ Association does not support a push to reduce penalty rates for working on weekends. However, its submission to the Fair Work Commission’s review of weekend penalty rates proposes that workers be given the right to refuse to work on Sundays if the FWC rules that Sunday penalty rates should be reduced to the level that applies for working on Saturdays.

CORPORATES
SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIA. ROAD SAFETY REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL