AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Negative gearing change can win support: Greens

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 28-Feb-24

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told a meeting of Labor’s caucus that legislation to establish the Help to Buy shared equity scheme for home buyers is expected to be passed by the lower house this week. However, the said the bill is likely to be blocked in the Senate by the Liberal Party and the Greens. Meanwhile, the Greens have signalled that they are open to a compromise on negative gearing in return for supporting the Help to Buy scheme. The party has proposed restricting negative gearing to existing investment properties, and progressively scrapping the regime for people who buy additional properties.

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

‘Every taxpayer wins’: PM hails stage three victory

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Feb-24

The federal government’s changes to the legislated stage-three personal income tax were passed by the Senate with bipartisan support on Tuesday night. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese contends that 84 per cent of Australians will get a bigger tax cut than they would have via the original version of the former Coalition government’s tax package. The government can be expected to capitalise on the stage-three changes in the final days of campaigning for the Dunkley by-election; Albanese says the changes are a win for "every single taxpayer" in the Melbourne electorate.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

ALP and Coalition can’t be split Federally as parties contest Dunkley by-election: ALP 50% cf. L-NP 50%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 27-Feb-24

Support for the ALP has dropped 2.5% to 50% and the party is now even with the L-NP 50% (up 2.5%) on a two-party preferred basis. If a Federal Election was held now we would have a hung Parliament with minor parties and independents deciding who would be our next Government, the latest Roy Morgan survey shows. There were big swings against the ALP in New South Wales and Victoria after asylum seeker boats landed in Western Australia and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton ‘hammered’ the Albanese Government all week over the failures in border protection policies. There were also significant anti-Semitic protests in Sydney and Melbourne last week as well as extensive blackouts of hundreds of thousands of people in Victoria due to heavy storms throughout the State. The swing in Victoria suggests a closer than expected by-election in the seat of Dunkley – although the ALP still leads 51.5% cf. L-NP 48.5% in Victoria. Primary support for the Coalition increased 1% to 38% – it’s highest for over a year, while support for the ALP dropped significantly, down 2.5% to 31.5%. The Greens were down 1% to 12%, One Nation increased 1% to 5% and support for Independents & Other Parties was up 1.5% to 13.5%. The latest Roy Morgan survey is based on interviewing a representative cross-section of 1,682 Australian electors from February 19-25. Further details will be released in Roy Morgan’s weekly video update presented by CEO Michele Levine.

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

Labor’s drone ship gamble

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Original article by Cameron Stewart
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 21-Feb-24

The federal government will increase its spending on defence to 2.4 per cent of GDP from the early 2030s, in response to the review of the navy’s surface fleet. The government will increase defence spending by $1.7bn over the four-year forward estimates period and $11.1bn over the next decade. Amongst other things, the government will fast-track the acquisition of 11 new general purpose frigates, while the Hunter-class project will be scaled back from nine frigates to just six. The navy will also retire the first of the ageing Anzac-class frigates immediately, while a second will be decommissioned by 2026. The government will invest in a fleet of semi-autonomous ships that are still being developed in the US; these ‘drone’ ships will each have 32 missile cells, significantly increase the navy’s firepower.

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ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY

BHP urges Labor to fix IR before issuing subsidies

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Original article by Peter Ker, Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 21-Feb-24

BHP CEO Mike Henry says the resources group would be supportive of any assistance for Australia’s embattled nickel industry, such as a short-term production tax credit. However, he warns that a tax credit may not be sufficient to save the industry, given the significant challenges facing the nickel market. Henry adds that getting industrial relations policy right is more important than offering subsidies and rescue packages. BHP in particular will be impacted by the same job, same pay’ regime for labour hire workers. BHP’s wholly-owned labour hire firm, Operations Services, pays workers less than their colleagues employed on site-specific enterprise bargaining agreements. BHP’s Western Australian nickel mines are among the sites that use Operations Services workers.

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BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, OPERATIONS SERVICES

Spend more on Defence now, PM told

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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.

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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%

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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.

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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

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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.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

Frontline workers lose under Labor’s tax cuts

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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.

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S&P GLOBAL INCORPORATED

Albanese slaps down Greens over juvenile negative gearing demand

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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.

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