AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Abbott puts GST hike on the table

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Original article by Laura Tingle, Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 27-Oct-14

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says he will oppose any push by Prime Minister Tony Abbott to increase the GST rate. Abbott has indicated that tax reform may be on the agenda for the next federal election, including an increase in the state governments’ indirect tax base. The states currently derive about $A54bn of their annual income from the GST, but some have urged a more equitable distribution of GST revenue

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Student ‘acted in public interest’

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Original article by Louise Hall
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 13 : 24-Oct-14

A former employee of the Whitehouse Institute of Design has pleaded guilty to accessing restricted data. She leaked information about a $A60,000 "chairman’s scholarship" awarded to Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s daughter, Frances Abbott. A sentencing hearing took place on 23 October 2014. The woman will be sentenced on 25 November

CORPORATES
WHITEHOUSE SCHOOL OF FASHION AND INTERIOR DESIGN, DISTRICT COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY

L-NP gains ground on ALP after Abbott threatens to ‘shirt-front’ Putin at G20

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 20-Oct-14

A multi-mode Morgan Poll on Federal voting intention has found that support for the Coalition on a two-party preferred basis has risen by one per cent to 48 per cent. The poll, which was carried out on the weekends of 11-12 and 18-19 October 2014, also shows that support for the Australian Labor Party has fallen by one per cent to 52 per cent. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says Labor’s lead is the narrowest in six months, after Prime Minister Tony Abbott promised to "shirt-front" Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 Leaders’ summit in Brisbane in November

CORPORATES
MORGAN POLL, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, PALMER UNITED PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, MALAYSIAN AIRLINE SYSTEMS

Telstra NBN deal delayed to 2015

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Original article by David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 20 : 15-Oct-14

The Australian Government had expected to finalise a revised deal with Telstra regarding the national broadband network by mid-2014. Telstra CEO David Thodey is hopeful that much of the negotiations can be concluded by Christmas, but concedes that a final deal is unlikely before 2015. The Coalition’s decision to adopt a fibre to the node model has required renegotiation of the original $A11.2bn deal with the Australian Labor Party

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, NBN CO LIMITED, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Credit card bank licences to go

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Original article by Shaun Drummond
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 14-Oct-14

The Australian Government has accepted the Reserve Bank’s recommendation to scrap the requirement for companies that issue credit cards to hold a bank licence. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says the move will increase competition by attracting new entrants to the credit card market and result in lower fees for consumers and retailers. However, some experts doubt that the reforms will lead to greater competition

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, VISA INTERNATIONAL, MASTERCARD AUSTRALIA LIMITED, RFI CONSULTING PTY LTD, GE CAPITAL AUSTRALIA, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, TYRO PAYMENTS, SQUARE PTY LTD, PAYVISION, AIRPLUS INTERNATIONAL

Tax breaks to be reintroduced

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 13-Oct-14

The Australian Government will unveil its National Industry Investment and Competitiveness Agenda on 14 October 2014. The policy includes unwinding the Australian Labor Party’s changes to regulations governing employee share schemes and changes to the significant investor scheme to ensure that money is invested in sectors of the economy where it is needed. The Government will also encourage greater co-operation between the business and education sectors

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SCIENTIST

L-NP gains ground on ALP as Australia enters new war in Iraq

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 6-Oct-14

A multi-mode Morgan Poll on Federal voting intention has found that support for the Coalition on a two-party preferred basis has risen by 1.5 per cent to 47 per cent. The poll, which was carried out on the weekends of 27-28 September and 4-5 October 2014, also shows that support for the Australian Labor Party has fallen by 1.5 per cent to 53 per cent. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says Labor’s lead is the narrowest in six months, noting that support for the Coalition has increased after Australia joined the new Middle Eastern war and Parliament passed tough new anti-terrorism laws

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

PM Tony Abbott (44%) now leads Opposition Leader Bill Shorten (37%) as ‘Better PM’ but neither Leader has positive job approval

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 3-Oct-14

A special telephone Morgan Poll has found that 44 per cent of Australian electors now rate Prime Minister Tony Abbott as the "Better PM", compared with 37 per cent for Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. The poll, which was carried out from 30 September-2 October 2014, also shows that the number of electors who approve of his handling of his job has risen by 10 per cent to 44 per cent. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan notes that 51 per cent of men approve of Abbott’s handling of the job of PM, while 51 per cent of women disapprove

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

More tax not ruled out by Cormann

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Original article by Joanna Heath
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 6-Oct-14

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says the Australian Government remains committed to returning the Budget to surplus. Cormann has conceded that increasing taxes is one option in the December 2014 Budget update, as the Government seeks to finance the additional expenditure that has been made since the Budget was released in May. Cormann adds that the forward Budget estimates will include cost-saving measures that have been blocked by the Senate

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, SKY NEWS, AUSTRALIAN NEWS CHANNEL PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Hockey’s budget retreat

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Original article by Laura Tingle, Phillip Coorey, Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 1-Oct-14

The Australian Government has conceded that only about $A3 billion of its proposed welfare cuts will be passed by the Senate. Measures worth $A10 billion are likely to be blocked. The Government may be forced to drop up to $A30 billion of Budget savings, threatening its promise to reduce the deficit. The Government is examining alternative savings measures that will be revealed in the mid-year budget review in December 2014

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, PALMER UNITED PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET