AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Red card for postal boss

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 23-Oct-20

Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate will stand aside pending the outcome of an investigation into revelations that four senior executives were rewarded with luxury watches. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ordered the independent review after Holgate told a Senate estimates committee that the Cartier watches – which cost $3,000 each – were given to the executives for securing the Bank@Post deal with three of the major banks. Holgate contended that taxpayers’ money had not been used as Australia Post is a commercial business. Some Coalition MPs have called for Holgate to resign, while the Communications Union’s national secretary Greg Rayner says Australia Post’s entire board should step aside.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA POST, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COMMUNICATIONS, ELECTRICAL, ELECTRONIC, ENERGY, INFORMATION, POSTAL, PLUMBING AND ALLIED SERVICES UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Future of refinery hangs in balance

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 15-Oct-20

Viva Energy’s Geelong refinery in Victoria has posted a loss of $30m for the September quarter, following a loss of nearly $50m in the first half of 2020. Viva will seek to boost cash flow at the refinery by reducing or deferring non-essential spending at the plant. The federal government’s $2.5 billion fuel security package may be crucial to the future of the refinery. Viva will provide an update on the outlook for the plant in December.

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VIVA ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX VEA

Pressure to extend wage plan to all ages

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 12-Oct-20

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the federal government will not agree to any concessions to get its JobMaker wage subsidy scheme through Parliament. Labor and the Senate crossbenchers have expressed concern that the scheme could be rorted and is too focused, given that it is only available to employers who hire people aged up to 35. Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers says the JobMaker scheme leaves 928,000 older Australians "in the lurch", and says the existing incentive scheme for employing people aged 50+ has been a "monumental failure". Unions have warned that the government’s wage subsidy scheme for apprentices could also be exploited.

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

Cash to go: the tax cuts start to flow

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Weekend Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 10-Oct-20

The omnibus bill containing the federal Budget’s key tax measures was passed by both houses of Parliament on 9 October. The stage-two income tax cuts are expected to begin flowing through to workers’ take-home pay in November, after the Australian Taxation Office adjusts its withholding tax schedules. The omnibus bill also provides tax relief for corporate Australia, including a business investment allowance, a loss carry-back scheme and changes to the fringe benefits tax regime that will benefit small businesses.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

Upgraded NBN a more attractive takeover target

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Original article by Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 28-Sep-20

Telstra chairman John Mullen has welcomed the federal government’s decision to upgrade the national broadband network by rolling out fibre-to-the-premises to more households and businesses. He says the NBN will be easier to maintain than the current hybrid system, which includes fibre-to-the-node and the existing copper network. Amid speculation that the NBN will eventually be sold, Mullen says the upgraded network will be more attractive to potential investors, including Telstra’s own infrastructure division. However, InfraCo would need to be demerged in order to buy the NBN.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS,INFRACO,NBN CO LIMITED

A-G slams wharfies holding state to ransom

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 3 : 28-Sep-20

The federal government may intervene to end an industrial dispute at the Port Botany terminal of stevedoring firm Patrick. Attorney-General Christian Porter has indicated that he would be open to supporting Patrick if it applies to the Fair Work Commission to halt the Maritime Union of Australia’s industrial action. The MUA’s national secretary Paddy Crumlin says it is negotiating with stevedoring companies in good faith. He rejects suggestions that the legal industrial action has caused the massive delays at Port Botany that have been alleged by Patrick.

CORPORATES
PATRICK CORPORATION LIMITED,MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA,AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION,AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Manufacturing vision drives blueprint for future

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Original article by Geoff Chambers,Simon Benson,Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Sep-20

Sectors such as defence, medical technology, biotechnology, agriculture and resources are expected to be the focus of the federal government’s strategy to boost Australia’s manufacturing capacity in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will reveal details of the manufacturing strategy ahead of the federal Budget on 6 October. The push to increase local manufacturing is part of the government’s five-year plan to revive the economy and increase jobs.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

NBN push for fibre to the home

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 11 : 23-Sep-20

The federal government has forecast that a major upgrade of the national broadband network will boost GDP by $6.4bn a year by 2024. The $4.5bn upgrade project is also expected to generate about 25,000 jobs over coming years as more businesses and households gain fast internet access. NBN Co will allocate $3.5bn to rolling out high-speed fibre cables to nearly 10 million households and businesses, which will be given the option of taking up a fibre-to-the-premises connection. Communications Minister Paul Fletcher says it was always the Coalition’s intention to upgrade the NBN to full fibre when the initial rollout was completed.

CORPORATES
NBN CO LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

Time to get back to work: PM

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 18-Sep-20

The federal government will introduce stricter mutual obligation rules for JobSeeker recipients as part of its push to get more people into the workforce. The unemployed will have to apply for up to eight jobs a month from 28 September; this had been reduced to just four jobs per month in August, compared with 20 prior to the coronavirus pandemic. However, mutual obligation requirements will remain suspended in Victoria for the time being. The government will also require JobSeeker recipients to accept any offer of ‘suitable work’, while the ‘work-for-the-dole’ program will resume.

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Australia’s top cop says raiding journalist’s home was no mistake

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Original article by Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 1-Sep-20

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw appeared before a Senate inquiry into press freedom on 31 August. He told the inquiry that the AFP had been right to raid the home of News Corp Australia journalist Annika Smethurst in mid-2019, despite the fact that the search warrant was subsequently ruled to be invalid by the High Court. Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance CEO Paul Murphy told the inquiry that contestable search warrants are necessary to ensure press freedom. However, Kershaw and Department of Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo argued that allowing such warrants would be "detrimental to the workings" of the police.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS