AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

ALP & L-NP now too close to call as electors react to Government forcing Senate voting changes last week as Turnbull today recalls Parliament in April for Double Dissolution Election showdown

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 21-Mar-16

A multi-mode Morgan Poll on Federal voting intention has found that support for Australia’s ruling Liberal-National Coalition on a two-party preferred basis has fallen by 3.5 per cent to 49.5 per cent. The poll, which was carried out on the weekends of 12-13 and 19-20 March 2016, also shows that the Coalition’s primary vote has fallen by three per cent to 40 per cent, while the Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating has risen by 1.5 points to 103.5. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says that to reduce Australia’s "real" level of unemployment and under-employment the Government must introduce comprehensive industrial relations reform that cuts "red tape" such as lowering or eliminating excessive penalty rates for working on weekends and public holidays and which would lead to higher productivity and wages across the whole workforce. The Government must also make an effort to deal with Australia’s large "cash economy" that undercuts legitimate businesses and facilitates massive tax avoidance.

CORPORATES
MORGAN POLL, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, KATTER’S AUSTRALIAN PARTY, PALMER UNITED PARTY, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Triple fine threat looms as watchdog’s reach widens

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Original article by Elizabeth Colman
The Australian – Page: 5 : 22-Mar-16

ACTU secretary Dave Olive says the general public does not support the Federal Government’s push to reinstate the Australian Building & Construction Commission. The ABCC bill, which could be the trigger for a double dissolution election, would result in unions facing fines of up to $A180,000 for every breach of industrial relations laws, compared with just $A54,000 at present. The ABCC will also have the power to regulate non-building unions that are involved in the supply chain for building sites.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, ACTU, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, FAIR WORK BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE FAIR WORK BUILDING INDUSTRY INSPECTORATE

PM pulls the trigger

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1& 4 : 22-Mar-16

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says the Australian Labor Party and the general public are ready for the 2016 federal election. The Government is poised to use a bill to reinstate the Australian Building & Construction Commission as the trigger for a double-dissolution election on 2 July, after requesting that Parliament be recalled on 18 April to debate the bill. The Government will also hand down the Budget one week earlier than scheduled, on 3 May. The last double-dissolution election was in 1987.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL, AUSTRALIA. CLEAN ENERGY FINANCE CORPORATION

News calls for holistic media reform package

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 21 : 22-Mar-16

News Corporation’s submission to a Senate inquiry into changes to cross-media ownership laws has supported the proposed reforms but called for them to be more extensive. The Federal Government wants to abolish the "reach rule" and the "two-out-of-three rule", but News Corp says an additional three media ownership rules should be scrapped. Regional broadcasters WIN Corporation and Southern Cross Media Group have also supported the bill, while Foxtel has argued for changes to the anti-siphoning list for the broadcasting of sports.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS)

Markets not worried about an early election

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Original article by Stephen Cauchi
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 22-Mar-16

Matt Sherwood of Perpetual does not expect the 2016 federal election to have much impact on the Australian sharemarket. He adds that policies such as high taxes and high government spending are likely to have the biggest adverse effect on the market. Meanwhile, David Bassanese of BetaShares says the construction sector will benefit if the Federal Government succeeds in its bid to increase regulation of the industry, while the housing sector will face a less severe crackdown on negative gearing if it is returned to office.

CORPORATES
PERPETUAL INVESTMENTS, BETASHARES CAPITAL LIMITED, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, MONADELPHOUS GROUP LIMITED – ASX MND, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Senate vote reforms ‘will beat challenge’

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale, Phillip Hudson
The Australian – Page: 5 : 21-Mar-16

Special Minister of State Mathias Cormann is confident that the Australian Government’s changes to the voting system for the Senate will be upheld by the High Court. The Family First Party’s Senator Bob Day intends to challenge the validity of the reforms, which were passed by the Senate on 18 March 2016. Constitutional law expert Anne Twomey of Sydney University does not expect the High Court to support any challenge to the reforms.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, FAMILY FIRST PARTY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN MOTORING ENTHUSIAST PARTY

Turnbull gets nod for early, double dissolution election

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Original article by
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 18-Mar-16

The Senate is likely to pass laws changing the Senate voting system. The purpose of the changes is to prevent micro parties using the preference system to win Senate seats. The passage of the proposed legislation would enable Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to call an early, double-dissolution election for 2 July 2016.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

100 CFMEU militants in court

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Original article by Elizabeth Colman
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 17-Mar-16

New figures show that the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union, its state branches and union officials have been fined a total of $A6.98m since 2002 for failing to comply with industrial laws. Meanwhile, 100 of the union’s officials and delegates have been charged with more than 1,000 offences in total, including coercion, intimidation and unlawful industrial action. Federal Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has urged Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to support a bill to reinstate the Australian Building & Construction Commission.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, FAIR WORK BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO THE BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE FAIR WORK BUILDING INDUSTRY INSPECTORATE

Government revisits ‘backpacker tax’

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 17-Mar-16

Tourism and International Education Minister Richard Colbeck says the Australian Government may reconsider elements of its proposed tax on people who hold working holiday visas. The so-called ‘backpacker tax’ is slated to take effect on 1 July 2016, and will abolish the tax-free threshold for temporary workers. Colbeck has conceded that changes may be necessary to avoid a shortage of staff in sectors such as tourism and hospitality.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, TOURISM AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TTF AUSTRALIA LIMITED TOURISM AND TRANSPORT FORUM, NORTHERN TERRITORY. DEPT OF THE CHIEF MINISTER, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Fifield criticises ‘analogue warriors’

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Original article by Dominic White, Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 17-Mar-16

Federal Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has refuted suggestions that cross-media ownership reforms will benefit some media groups in particular. Addressing the National Press Club in Canberra, he said the majority of media companies favour abolishing the "reach rule" and the "two-out-of-three rule". He also dismissed the concerns of some senators that the reforms would allow Rupert Murdoch to increase his control of the media sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA), NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY