AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Labor to pass China FTA despite unions

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 14-Oct-15

The Australian Government is expected to agree to some minor changes to the free trade agreement with China that have been endorsed by the Opposition’s caucus. The three amendments to the Migration Act relate to foreign workers who are hired on 457 visas. The trade deal is now expected to be passed by Parliament within weeks, allowing it to come into effect by the end of 2015. However, ACTU president Ged Kearney says the protection of Australian jobs is still a concern.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION

Denials wear thin as evidence mounts

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Original article by Ben Schneiders
The Age – Page: 5 : 14-Oct-15

Melbourne’s EastLink tollroad project was finished well ahead of schedule, but evidence presented to the trade union royal commission demonstrates that industrial peace came at a cost. Julian Rzesniowiecki was a senior executive at Thiess John Holland, who kept records showing that the Australian Workers’ Union had proposed that Thiess pay $A300,000 for one union organiser to be on site. The proposal was put forward by current Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in his capacity as head of the AWU. He had initially proposed that Thiess pay for four AWU members to be on site for the life of the project.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, THIESS JOHN HOLLAND, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Labor wins free trade concessions

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 13-Oct-15

The Australian Labor Party will release its proposed legislative changes to protect Australian jobs on 12 October 2015. The Federal Government is reportedly willing to agree to amend the Migration Act in order to ensure the passage of the China-Australia free trade agreement through Parliament. The matter was discussed by Trade Minister Andrew Robb and his Opposition counterpart, Penny Wong.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

Termination changes for 7-Elevens worry franchisees

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Original article by Adele Ferguson, Sarah Danckert
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 13-Oct-15

Australian Greens MP Adam Bandt wants an amendment to the Fair Work Act in the wake of the wage exploitation scandal at 7-Eleven. His private members’ bill would make a franchisor liable if a franchisee fails to pay staff the correct wages. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven franchisees in Melbourne are concerned that they will not gain much from a proposed change in the way profits are split with head office. They also fear that new termination clauses could be exploited by head office.

CORPORATES
7-ELEVEN STORES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Abbott ahead of PM in social media engagement at least

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 13-Oct-15

Figures from BrandData show that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is less popular on social media than his predecessor, Tony Abbott. Turnbull also trails behind ex-prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard in terms of engagement on Twitter. He boasts 456,000 followers on Twitter, while Rudd has 1.6 million. However, Turnbull is ranked in first place on YouTube.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BRAND DATA PTY LTD, TWITTER INCORPORATED, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

PM explores radical road, rail funding

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 12-Oct-15

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has signalled that the Australian Government is open to "innovative" options for funding infrastructure projects. These are believed to include capitalising on rising property values by channelling a proportion of revenue from land taxes into securities that would be sold to investors. The Australian Labor Party recently revealed plans to establish a $A10bn fund to finance infrastructure projects.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, INFRASTRUCTURE AUSTRALIA, CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Penalty rates a relic of class war

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Original article by David Leyonhjelm
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 38 : 9-Oct-15

If the Australian Government is serious about job creation, it should remove penalty rates. A bill introduced by Senator David Leyonhjelm, of the Liberal Democratic Party, would remove obstacles to job creation in the restaurant, retail and tourism industries. The bill removes penalty rates for working on Saturday and Sunday. However, penalty rates would apply after the first 10 hours of work on any day.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Loughnane’s exit the end for power trio

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Original article by James Massola
The Age – Page: 8 : 9-Oct-15

Brian Loughnane stepped down as federal director of the Liberal Party of Australia on 8 October 2015, after 12 years in the role. Loughnane, former prime minister Tony Abbott and the latter’s ex-chief of staff Peta Credlin – who is married to Loughnane – became a powerful team in Canberra. Under their stewardship, the Liberals came close to ousting the Australian Labor Party government in 2010, before taking office in 2013. However, conflict of interest allegations plagued Loughnane and Credlin as the Liberal Party floundered under Abbott’s leadership.

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

Turnbull hints at penalty rate cuts, compo

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 7-Oct-15

The Australian Government has indicated that the penalty rates regime may come under scrutiny as part of broader economic reforms. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull notes that the nation now has a seven-day economy, which will require greater workplace flexibility in the future. However, he has conceded that measures must be implemented to ensure that workers are not disadvantaged by any change to weekend penalty rates.

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

Shorten unlikely to reappear at commission

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 7-Oct-15

The Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance & Corruption will hear further evidence concerning the Australian Workers’ Union in the week beginning 12 October 2015. However, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is not expected to be asked to front the inquiry again, as there have been no applications to cross-examine the former AWU national secretary. Shorten has been highly critical of the royal commission.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, THIESS JOHN HOLLAND, CLEANEVENT PTY LTD, ACI GLASS PACKAGING, DOWNER EDI LIMITED – ASX DOW, UNIBUILT, WINSLOW CONSTRUCTORS PTY LTD, CHIQUITA MUSHROOMS PTY LTD