AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Morrison flags taking IR reform as election issue

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 17-Dec-15

Changes must be made to the industrial relations (IR) regime to ensure economic growth in Australia. Treasurer Scott Morrison signalled on 16 December 2015 that workplace relations reform could become an election issue. The end of the mining boom makes it necessary to make adjustments in both tax and IR policies.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, MOODY’S ANALYTICS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FITCH AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

L-NP increases lead over ALP – now 57.5% cf. 42.5%; biggest lead for Coalition since being elected in 2013

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 15-Dec-15

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 risen by 1.5 per cent to 57.5 per cent. The poll, which was carried out on the weekends of 5-6 and 12-13 December 2015, also shows that the Coalition’s primary vote has risen by 1.5 per cent to 48 per cent, but the Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating has fallen by seven points to 115. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says the scale of the Budget blowout in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook shows that the Turnbull Government faces a challenging 12 months as it attempts to win a mandate in its own right at the 2016 Federal Election whilst also steering the Australian economy through a slowing economy caused by the end of the long-running commodities boom.

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, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Coalition gives up on surplus

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 16-Dec-15

The Australian Government’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook forecasts that the 2015-16 Budget deficit will blow out to $A37.4bn, compared with expectations of $A35.1bn in May. The deficit will also be higher than expected in the following three fiscal years, while GDP growth forecasts have been reduced for both 2015 and 2016. Meanwhile, the worsening Budget deficit may prompt ratings agencies to review Australia’s triple-A credit rating, although Stephen Walters of JP Morgan says this is unlikely in the near-term.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Turnbull dodges bullet, Nationals left red-faced

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 15-Dec-15

Liberal Party of Australia backbencher Ian Macfarlane has signalled that he may quit Parliament after his attempt to defect to the National Party was thwarted. The Liberal National Party of Queensland’s state executive voted 14-12 to prevent him from resigning from the federal Liberal Party to join the National Party. Macfarlane was dropped from the frontbench when Malcolm Turnbull replaced Tony Abbott as Prime Minister.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Pressure on fossil fuels

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Original article by James Chessell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 14-Dec-15

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says the Australian Government will make changes to its Direct Action policy, after delegates at the United Nations climate summit in Paris secured an agreement to reduce carbon emissions. However, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has urged the Government to abandon the Direct Action policy. The agreement has set a goal of ensuring that growth in global warming remains significantly below two degrees Celsius.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, UNITED NATIONS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, GOLDMAN SACHS AND PARTNERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CLIMATE INSTITUTE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, OXFORD UNIVERSITY, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, INDIA. PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE

Budget deficit blown to $38b

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 14-Dec-15

The Australian Government’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook will include a significant reduction in Budget forecasts for the price of iron ore in 2015-16. The downturn in the price of the steel input will contribute to the deficit blowing out to around $A38bn. Meanwhile, government spending will rise to 26.2 per cent of GDP in 2015-16, compared with expectations of just 25.9 per cent in the May 2015 Budget. The Government is also tipped to significantly reduce its projections for longer-term economic growth.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Quantum computing could be worth billions to Australia

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Original article by Tim Dodd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 11-Dec-15

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull wants technology to play a bigger role in the Australian economy. He told a Knowledge Society lunch in Sydney on 10 December 2015 that innovative computing technology is particularly important. The Government has provided $A26 million for research on silicon-based quantum computing at the University of New South Wales. Telstra and the Commonwealth Bank gave $A10 million each in additional funding for the project.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Income tax for states in GST plan

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 11-Dec-15

Australia’s federal, state and territory treasurers will continue to conduct negotiations over the division of tax revenue from the GST. They agreed at a meeting on 10 December 2015 to consider a proposal by South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill. He suggested in November that extra revenue from a rise in the GST could be used to fund tax cuts. The states would also receive 17.5 per cent of income tax revenue, with no restrictions on how they would spend it.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Iron ore price plunge to blow $15bn hole in budget

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 2 : 10-Dec-15

The Australian Government’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook will need to contend with the sharp decline in the iron ore price since the May 2015 Budget. Revenue projections in the Budget were based on an average iron ore price of $US48 per tonne, but the price of the steel input has since fallen below $US40/tonne. The downturn in the iron ore price could reduce the Budget bottom line by around $A15bn over the next four years.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Business pushes PM on IR, tax

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Original article by Ben Potter, Ewin Hannan, Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 11 : 9-Dec-15

Business Council of Australia president Catherine Livingstone has used the Workplace and Productivity Summit to call on the Federal Government to pursue changes to the industrial relations and tax regimes. However, economist Ross Garnaut told the summit – which has been organised by "The Australian Financial Review" – that there is no need for tax cuts in sectors that face limited competition. GE Australia CEO Geoff Culbert and ACTU secretary Dave Oliver were among the other speakers during the first day of the summit.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, GE AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RESOURCES INSTITUTE, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, AIRTASKER PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ