BUDGET – AUSTRALIA

Cuts, tax hikes critical to AAA rating

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 6-Feb-15

Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey said on 5 February 2015 that there is "no easy path" to a Budget surplus. The Federal Government seems to have given up aiming for large savings in the May 2015 Budget. Ratings agencies contend that for Australia to preserve its "AAA" credit rating in the long term, the Government must raise taxes or reduce spending. Andrew Colquhoun of Fitch Ratings notes that New Zealand’s Budget was revised without the political turmoil seen in Australia

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AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, STANDARD AND POOR’S (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, FITCH RATINGS LIMITED, FITCH AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MOODY’S ANALYTICS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Untreated trauma costs $9.1b a year: report

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Original article by Rachel Browne
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 5 : 4-Feb-15

A new study by Pegasus Economics states that the annual loss to the Australian economy stemming from unresolved childhood trauma after sexual abuse is $A9.1bn. The four issues of alcohol abuse, mental illness, obesity, and suicide or attempted suicide were looked at in the research, commissioned by the Adults Surviving Child Abuse lobby group for its 2015 Budget submission to the Federal Government. Meanwhile the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse estimates the cost over a decade of a redress scheme for victims at $A4.3bn

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ADULTS SURVIVING CHILD ABUSE, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSES TO CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE, PEGASUS ECONOMICS

Treasury experts $290bn wide of the mark on budget forecasts

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 1 : 18-Dec-14

Every single one of the Australian Treasury Department’s four-year forecasts in Budget estimates since 2010 has had to be downgraded later on. The total amount involved is $A290bn, and the poor track record casts doubt as well on the latest prediction, made in the December 2014 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook, that a surplus will be restored in 2019-20. In the agency’s defence, Deloitte Access Economics’ Chris Richardson notes that reliable forecasts have become very hard to achieve due to the nation’s exposure to commodity export markets for coal, iron ore and LNG

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE

$500m yearly drop in tariffs on Japan goods

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Original article by Sid Maher
The Australian – Page: 21 : 16-Dec-14

The Australian Government’s mid-year Budget update shows that the free trade agreement with Japan will reduce revenue from tariffs by $A100m in 2014-15 and $A1.59bn over the next four years. The Budget update also forecasts that China’s economic growth will slow to 6.5 per cent in 2016, while India’s economy will grow by six per cent

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, JAPAN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, INDIA. PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE

Business plea to fix budget mess

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 16-Dec-14

The Australian Government’s mid-year economic and fiscal outlook forecasts an increase in the Budget deficit and the unemployment rate. The deficit is expected to rise to $A40.4bn in 2014-15, compared with the May 2014 Budget forecast of $A29.8bn. The jobless rate is now expected to top 6.5 per cent in 2015. The Business Council of Australia and the Australian Industry Group say bipartisan support in Parliament is needed to ensure that necessary reforms are implemented

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BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Softer China blows out the budget deficit

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Dec-14

The Australian Government’s mid-year Budget update will scale back its forecast for 2014-15 revenue to $A379bn, compared with expectation of $A386bn in the May 2014 Budget. Treasurer Joe Hockey has attributed the revenue shortfall primarily to the decline in commodity prices. The update also forecasts that Australia’s terms of trade will fall by 13.5 per cent, compared with a previous forecast of a 6.75 per cent decline. The Government has also downgraded its forecast for China’s economic growth

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, 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

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

Budget takes $10b welfare hit

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 2-Oct-14

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says the Australian Government still aims to roll out cuts to welfare spending worth $A10bn. This is despite the Budget measures having been abandoned in a compromise deal struck with the Opposition. The Australian Labor Party will now vote for a bill that contains $A2.7bn worth of cuts, after negotiations were fruitful on 1 October 2014. Treasurer Joe Hockey and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann will also continue to hold talks with independent and minor party senators on getting more bills passed

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

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

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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

CEOs: Senate threat to growth

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Original article by James Thomson, Shaun Drummond, Simon Evans, Jamie Freed, Jessica Gardner, Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 1-Sep-14

Wotif.com CEO Scott Bulme and Cochlear CEO Chris Roberts are among the executives who say the Senate should cease its resistance to the Australian Government’s Budget measures. Business leaders are concerned about the outlook for consumer and business confidence, arguing that it is being undermined by the impasse in the upper house. Many CEOs also believe that the Reserve Bank should not increase official interest rates while business confidence remains weak

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WOTIF.COM HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX WTF, COCHLEAR LIMITED – ASX COH, PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT, MEMBERS EQUITY BANK PTY LTD, TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, NIB HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NHF, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, EXPEDIA INCORPORATED