AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Labor won’t play PM’s ‘game’ on union power

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Original article by Stefanie Balogh, Elizabeth Colman
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 26-Oct-15

Legislation to reinstate the Australian Building and Construction Commission and increase the governance standards of union officials have been blocked by the Senate twice. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned that industrial relations will be a focus of the Coalition’s 2016 election campaign unless the Opposition supports its proposed reforms. Meanwhile, the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union intends to review its governance following the trade union royal commission.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, FAMILY FIRST PARTY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Open up economy or suffer for years

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Rick Wallace, Rick Morton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 26-Oct-15

The head of the Australian Government’s competition review, Ian Harper, has called for urgent action to address the nation’s decline in productivity. He has warned that annual growth in productivity could fall to around one per cent unless action is taken, noting that Australians face lower growth in incomes and lower living standards. Harper says the Government should adopt the approach to economic reform that boosted productivity in the 1990s.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, NEW SOUTH WALES. THE TREASURY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE

Turnbull (76%) clearly preferred Australian PM cf. Shorten ‘Mr. 14%’. December 1988: Hawke 69% cf. Howard ‘Mr. 18%’.

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 23-Oct-15

A special telephone Morgan Poll, which was carried out on 20-22 October 2015, has found that 76 per cent of Australian electors favour Malcolm Turnbull as the "Better Prime Minister", an increase of six per cent since 15 September. In contrast, 14 per cent prefer Opposition Leader Bill Shorten as "Better PM" (down 10 per cent). The poll also found that 94 per cent of Coalition supporters and 58 per cent of Australian Labor Party supporters rate Turnbull as the Better PM. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan notes that 79 per cent of Coalition supporters and 60 per cent of Labor supporters also approve of Turnbull’s job performance after a month as Prime Minister.

CORPORATES
MORGAN POLL, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Anti-gay marriage campaign cruel: Shorten

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 23-Oct-15

The Australian Government will provide funding for both the Yes and No campaigns on the issue of same-sex marriage in the lead-up to a proposed plebiscite. The Australian Labor Party favours a parliamentary vote on gay marriage rather than a plebiscite, and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has expressed concern that the No campaign could prompt a rise in mental health problems in the gay community.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GAY AND LESBIAN HEALTH VICTORIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Bowen warns on effects test

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Original article by Primrose Riordan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 22-Oct-15

The Australian Retailers Association, Master Grocers Australia and the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry are among the groups that support adding a so-called "effects" test to the Competition Act. However, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has told an audience of grocers that small businesses would face a huge legal bill if they pursue action under the effects test and fail. Master Grocers Australia CEO Jos de Bruin has dismissed Bowen’s comments as a "scare campaign".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, MASTER GROCERS’ AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN HOTELS ASSOCIATION, NATIONAL FARMERS’ FEDERATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Murray reforms to end super’s ‘closed shop’

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Original article by Joanna Mather, James Eyers, Sally Rose
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 21-Oct-15

The Australian Government will fully or partially adopt 42 of the financial system inquiry’s recommendations. These include opening the default superannuation fund regime – which is currently dominated by industry funds – to greater competition, including banks and other owners of retail super funds. However, the Government will not implement a recommendation to ban self-managed super funds from borrowing to invest in property.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, COUNCIL OF FINANCIAL REGULATORS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP

Federal Voting Intention unchanged – L-NP (56%) leads ALP (44%) – equal biggest lead for L-NP since June 2013

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 19-Oct-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 is unchanged at 56 per cent. The poll, which was carried out on the weekends of 10-11 and 17-18 October 2015, also shows that the Coalition’s primary vote has fallen by 0.5 per cent to 46.5 per cent, while the Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating has risen by three points to 112 points. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says that if a federal election were held today Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull would win with a "Fraser 1975" landslide.

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, NEWSPOLL, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Ziggy casts doubt on NBN timetable

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Original article by James Chessell, David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 19-Oct-15

NBN Co expects the national broadband network to be rolled out to an extra 7.5 million premises in the next three years. However, chairman Ziggy Switkowski says that achieving the target of making the network accessible to more than 11 million homes by 2020 would be an "heroic outcome" given the current state of the rollout. The Australian Government is confident that the rollout will be completed by 2020.

CORPORATES
NBN CO LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD

Malcolm Turnbull in fresh push to curb union power

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 19-Oct-15

The Australian Government will press ahead with legislation to reinstate the Australian Building & Construction Commission (ABCC). The bill was narrowly defeated in the Senate in August 2015, while a bill to impose criminal sanctions on officials of registered organisations such as unions was also rejected by the Senate. Employment Minister Michaelia Cash says the proposed merger between the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union and the Maritime Union of Australia highlights the need to reinstate the ABCC.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, IPSOS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWSPOLL

Land tax joins GST on agenda

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 19-Oct-15

Australia’s federal and state governments will consider making changes to a range of state-based taxes as part of any tax reform process. Much of the debate on tax reform has centred on increasing the GST to 15 per cent, but other options that will be examined include changes to the land tax, payroll tax and stamp duty regimes. Economic modelling will be undertaken to examine how such reforms would affect government revenue.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA