AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Spend more on Defence now, PM told

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Cameron Stewart
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 20-Feb-24

The review of the Australian navy’s surface fleet is expected to recommend acquiring a fleet of warships that are smaller and more heavily armed than the Hunter-class frigates. However, naval expert Jennifer Parker says this will require allocating additional spending on defence in the federal government’s budget in May. She adds that scaling back the Hunter-class program will not in itself generate sufficient cost savings to finance a new fleet of warships. The findings of the review that was undertaken by retired US admiral William Hilarides will be released today.

CORPORATES
ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY

ALP maintains an election winning lead in mid-February as parties set to contest Dunkley by-election: ALP 52.5% cf. L-NP 47.5%

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Feb-24

Support for the Labor government (52.5%) is in an election-winning position ahead of the L-NP (47.5%) on a two-party preferred basis, according to the latest Roy Morgan survey on Federal voting intention. The result is a slight improvement on the 2022 Federal Election (ALP 52.1% cf. 47.9%) and augurs well for the ALP, which faces the Dunkley by-election in Victoria on the first weekend in March. If a Federal Election were held now the Albanese government would be returned with a narrow majority. There was little movement on primary votes this week, with the Coalition’s primary support unchanged at 37% while ALP support was down marginally by 0.5% to 34%. The Greens were up 1% to 13%, One Nation dropped 0.5% to 4% and support for Independents & Other Parties was unchanged at 12%. The latest Roy Morgan survey is based on interviewing a representative cross-section of 1,706 Australian electors from February 12-18. Further details will be released in Roy Morgan’s weekly video update presented by CEO Michele Levine.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

Shambolic right to disconnect fix

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 14-Feb-24

The federal government was criticised over its failure to consult with employers’ groups regarding the ‘right to disconnect’ provisions of its latest industrial relations reforms. Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has attracted further criticism for belatedly consulting with employers with regard to the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2024, which is intended to remove criminal penalties for employers who breach the right to disconnect. The haste with which the Closing Loopholes Bill No. 2 was pushed through parliament resulted in the criminal penalties inadvertently being left in the legislation.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

Frontline workers lose under Labor’s tax cuts

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Patrick Commins, Geoff Chambers, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 14-Feb-24

Analysis suggests that essential workers will benefit in the short-term from the federal government’s changes to the legislated stage-three tax cuts. However, so-called ‘bracket creep’ means that many middle-income earners will be paying more tax in 10 years’ time. They include school principals, police officers, electricians and paramedics. Meanwhile, a report from S&P Global has concluded that the government’s changes could be "marginally" more inflationary than the original version of the package, given that they will return more money to low- and middle-income earners.

CORPORATES
S&P GLOBAL INCORPORATED

Albanese slaps down Greens over juvenile negative gearing demand

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 13-Feb-24

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out making changes to the negative gearing regime and the capital gains tax discount in order to secure the Greens’ support for its Help To Buy shared equity scheme for first-home buyers. Albanese says the federal government will not be open to negotiation, and he has criticised the Greens’ "juvenile approach" to the issue of negative gearing. The government was previously forced to make concessions in 2023 to secure the Greens’ support for its Housing Australia Future Fund. The Opposition intends to vote against the shared equity scheme.

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

PM vows to crack down on doxxing

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joe Kelly, Jess Malcolm, Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 13-Feb-24

The federal government will criminalise ‘doxxing’ as part of an overhaul of the Privacy Act, after the personal details of 600 Jewish people in the nation’s creative industries were published online. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says it is "completely unacceptable" for Australians to be targeted due to their religion or faith. Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich says the laws are urgently needed, adding that the deliberate online targeting of Jewish people constitutes "digital terrorism". Meanwhile, the government has come under scrutiny for taking until 2 February to declare the mass killing of Israelis in October 2023 as a terrorist attack.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ANTI-DEFAMATION COMMISSION

Federal auditor to probe Labor’s $2.2b rail plan

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Gus McCubbing
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 13-Feb-24

A Senate estimates hearing has been told that Auditor-General Grant Hehir will examine the federal government’s $2.2 billion commitment to Victoria’s Suburban Rail Loop project. Hehir will look at whether this commitment represents value for money and if it was "informed by appropriate departmental advice". Department of Infrastructure secretary Jim Betts said the department will co-operate fully with Hehir’s investigation. Marion Terrill, former director of the Grattan Institute’s Transport and Cities Program, has welcomed the investigation, stating that big projects require more rather than less scrutiny.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, GRATTAN INSTITUTE

Staff disconnects from Tony Burke’s own office

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 5 : 13-Feb-24

The Department of Employment & Workplace Relations has disclosed that 36 per cent of its employees had an approved working from home arrangement at the end of October 2023. However, an Australian Public Service employee census survey shows that 72 per cent of the department’s staff had worked remotely at some point during 2023, including on an informal or ad hoc basis. The release of this data has coincided with the federal government’s push to introduce a legislated right for employees to ‘disconnect’ from their workplace outside of their designated working hours. Meanwhile, some 57 per cent of employees across the public service who completed the survey had access to working from home arrangements in 2023, compared with 46 per cent in 2021.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

Joyce leadership hopes take a tumble

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jess Malcolm, Rhiannon Down
The Australian – Page: 5 : 13-Feb-24

National Party leader David Littleproud says shadow veterans’ affairs minister Barnaby Joyce will be supported rather than reprimanded in the wake of an incident in Canberra. Littleproud says Joyce is "deeply embarrassed" about the incident, in which he was filmed lying on a pavement while making a profanity-laden phone call. Joyce has acknowledged that he should not have mixed alcohol with prescription medication. However, some Nationals MPs have suggested that he now has little chance of regaining the party’s leadership.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

No scrutiny of workplace laws

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman, Patrick Commins, Euan Black
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 13-Feb-24

The Productivity Commission has disclosed that the federal government did not consult it about proposed changes to industrial relations laws, including a legislated right for employees to ‘disconnect’ from their workplace. The revelation has strengthened concerns that the Closing Loopholes Bill No. 2 had been rushed through parliament. In addition, the bill as tabled by the government was subjected to a regulatory impact statement, but subsequent amendments – including the right to disconnect – were not subject to such scrutiny. The bill was passed by the lower house on Monday.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION