AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Budget deficit hits $48.5b

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Original article by Joanna Heath
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 26-Sep-14

The Australian Government’s May 2014 Budget had forecast that the deficit for 2013-14 would be $A49.9bn. It has now revealed that the deficit for the financial year was $A48.5bn, while Treasury notes that 2013-14 tax revenue was $A3.3bn below expectations. Treasurer Joe Hockey says returning the Budget to surplus and reducing debt are still on the Government’s agenda

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Pollsters split on impact of ‘khaki’ vote after Coalition poll bump

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Original article by Edmund Tadros
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 24-Sep-14

The Australian Government’s primary vote has risen by 0.5 per cent to 38.5 per cent, according to a new Morgan Poll. The Australian Labor Party’s primary vote has risen by the same margin, to 37.5 per cent. Meanwhile, a Newspoll shows that the Coalition’s primary vote has risen to 41 per cent in the wake of police raids on terrorism suspects. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says the key issue for Australia at present is unemployment and under-employment, rather than national security

CORPORATES
MORGAN POLL, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NEWSPOLL, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, MILLWARD BROWN AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

‘Green’ paper smells foul to some

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Original article by Lucille Keen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 24-Sep-14

The Australian Government’s energy proposals may increase the price of power for many households. The "green" paper proposes changes in the pricing of electricity to give consumers greater control over their use of energy. Narelle Rothery of South Australia said that it would be difficult for families to move household power usage to off-peak periods

CORPORATES
GREEN INITIATIVES PTY LTD

Abbott’s decision to ‘send in the troops’ fails to secure poll bounce: Young Australians comprehensively reject the Abbot Government

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 22-Sep-14

A multi-mode Morgan Poll on Federal voting intention has found that support for the Coalition on a two-party preferred basis has fallen by 0.5 per cent to 45.5 per cent. The poll, which was carried out on the weekends of 13-14 and 20-21 September 2014, also shows that support for the Australian Labor Party has risen by 0.5 per cent to 54.5 per cent. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says the small boost in support for Labor comes despite a recent special snap SMS Morgan Poll showing that 54 per cent of Australians approve of Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s decision to send 600 troops to Iraq

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

States under pressure to privatise energy networks

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 6 : 19-Sep-14

The Australian Government is pushing ahead with its agenda to encourage the states to invest in infrastructure with the proceeds of asset sales. It will provide the Queensland Government with a $A1bn incentive if the state proceeds with the sale of electric power assets. However, Federal Treasury Joe Hockey says the incentive will not be available indefinitely and other states may receive the payment if Queensland does not act promptly

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, QUEENSLAND. TREASURY, ERGON ENERGY CORPORATION LIMITED, ENERGEX LIMITED, POWERLINK PTY LTD, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

PM to cut tax burden on employee share schemes

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 16-Sep-14

The Australian Government will soon release its new policy on employee share schemes. The purpose of the changes is to make business start-ups more attractive to prospective employees. The new incentives scheme will be modelled on the Enterprise Management Incentive program in Great Britain, which limits the total number of share options issued by a company to Stg3 million and individual parcels to Stg250,000 per employee

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSBIOTECH LIMITED, POCKETBOOK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, LINK MARKET SERVICES LIMITED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, ATLASSIAN SOFTWARE SYSTEMS PTY LTD, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, INVESTEC AUSTRALIA LIMITED, EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Tax review urgent, warns Hendy

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 16-Sep-14

The Australian Government has been urged to pursue a wide-ranging reform agenda. Liberal Party MP Peter Hendy has called for reforms to the tax industrial relations regimes. He argues that the domestic economy is vulnerable to a range of external shocks, particularly the uncertain outlook for the Chinese economy. He also says the Government should commence its review of the tax white paper immediately

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS REMUNERATION GROUP INCORPORATED

‘Death knell’ for community TV as Turnbull flicks the internet switch

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Original article by Mitchell Bingemann
The Australian – Page: 7 : 11-Sep-14

The Australian Government will reallocate the spectrum that is used by community TV stations. Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull says community stations will need to become internet-only broadcasters from the start of 2016. He says this will provide them with access to a much larger audience, noting that only about 2,000 people watch community TV stations during prime-time

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY TELEVISION ALLIANCE, CHANNEL 31, TELEVISION SYDNEY (TVS) LIMITED

‘Death knell’ for community TV as Turnbull flicks the internet switch

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Original article by Mitchell Bingemann
The Australian – Page: 7 : 11-Sep-14

The Australian Government will reallocate the spectrum that is used by community TV stations. Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull says community stations will need to become internet-only broadcasters from the start of 2016. He says this will provide them with access to a much larger audience, noting that only about 2,000 people watch community TV stations during prime-time

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY TELEVISION ALLIANCE, CHANNEL 31, TELEVISION SYDNEY (TVS) LIMITED

Immigration to crack down on investor rort

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Original article by Fleur Anderson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 11-Sep-14

The Australian Government will make changes to the residency visa program for wealthy overseas investors. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison says the Government is concerned that some foreigners have abused the significant investor visa scheme, which gives them access to Australian residency on the condition that they invest a minimum of $A5 million in Australia for four years. Morrison said some investors have shifted their money out of Australia once they received a visa

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA), BANK OF CHINA GROUP