BUSINESS AND POLITICS – AUSTRALIA

Business groups push to open international borders for economic boost

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Original article by Jennifer Duke
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 20-Aug-20

Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO James Pearson is among the business leaders who have urged the federal government to re-open the nation’s international borders as soon as possible. He describes it as a "critically important step" in the Australian economy’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and he argues that domestic markets cannot sustain high employment and living standards. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox and Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott have also called for international travel restrictions to be eased as soon as possible.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Thatcher claim fighting words to Labor, ACTU

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 4 : 27-Jul-20

Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO James Pearson has backed a push to extend temporary changes to the Fair Work Act for employers that will not be eligible for the JobKeeper scheme after September. He has urged Labor and the ACTU to support extending the emergency measures, which allow bosses to vary the hours an employee works and the duties they perform. Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers has expressed concern that the federal government wants to adopt an industrial relation policy similar to that of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU

Business in push to fast-track tax cuts

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Jul-20

The Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry has used its pre-budget submission to call for comprehensive tax reform, including bringing forward legislated personal income tax cuts. The ACCI also advocates a gradual reduction in the JobSeeker allowance to pre-coronavirus levels, while it says the domestic economy will be vulnerable to further shocks for several years due to the impact of COVID-19. Meanwhile, a Menzies Research Centre paper argues that all of the national cabinet’s decisions on coronavirus lockdowns measures should be subject to a cost-benefit analysis. The report by economists Henry Ergas and Joe Branigan was written before the new virus outbreaks in Melbourne and Sydney.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, THE MENZIES RESEARCH CENTRE LIMITED

JobKeeper could send firms broke

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 14-Jul-20

The federal government will announce details of its revised JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme on 23 July, when it will also release an economic update. Council of Small Business Organisations Australia CEO Peter Strong says JobKeeper has enabled employers to retain staff. However, he warns that many businesses will need to think carefully about signing up for the revised scheme, as employees on JobKeeper are accruing entitlements such as annual leave that will have to be paid out if they are laid off. These will have to be paid from cash reserves if the company is not making a profit.

CORPORATES
COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Covid strategy clarion call

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Original article by Greg Brown, Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 13-Jul-20

Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott says the nation cannot afford to maintain a ‘stop-start’ approach to re-opening the economy. She stresses that Australia needs to learn to live with the coronavirus, as it may be two years before a vaccine is available. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox has expressed similar sentiments, arguing that the nation’s response to the pandemic must be "proportionate and logical", rather than "hysterical and irrational". Flight Centre CEO Graham Turner has called for a nationally consistent strategy in dealing with the pandemic.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT

Reform to offset slump in mine jobs

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 6 : 29-Jun-20

The Australian Mines & Metals Association has warned that the coronavirus pandemic could result in the loss of between 24,000 and 48,000 jobs in the resources and energy sector in the absence of any new projects. AMMA CEO Steve Knott argues that this would be offset by $250bn worth of proposed projects in the sector that would create 100,000 jobs by 2026. However, he says the federal government’s industrial relations working group on greenfields agreements must secure backing for a proposal to allow new workplace deals to cover the entire construction phase of new projects. Members of the working group met for the first time on 26 June.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED)

Late payers put on notice

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Original article by Robert Gottliebsen
The Australian – Page: 21 : 25-Jun-20

The federal government proposes to introduce a new supplier payments disclosure regime for businesses with turnover of $100m or more. They will be required to submit regular reports on how quickly they pay the invoices of small business suppliers. The disclosure regime takes effect at the start of 2021, but the 3,000 or so large enterprises that will be affected need to start preparing for it immediately. The proposed Payment Times Reporting Regulator will be responsible for enforcing the legislation and determining whether a supplier is a small business for the purposes of the disclosure regime.

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JobKeeper cash needed for schools and hospitals

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 2 : 16-Jun-20

Restaurant & Catering Australia CEO Wes Lambert has urged the federal government to retain the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme until at least the end of 2020. However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has argued that retaining coronavirus stimulus measures beyond the scheduled expiration date of late September would result in less funding for essential services such as health and education. The government may introduce stimulus measures that target sectors which have been hardest hit by the economic downturn.

CORPORATES
RESTAURANT AND CATERING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

BOOT test a hurdle for IR reform: Scott

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 10-Jun-20

Wesfarmers CEO Rob Scott says that Australia’s first recession in three decades requires a new approach to industrial relations. He says the ‘better off overall test’ in the Fair Work Act in particular is a hindrance to finalising enterprise bargaining agreements. He argues that employees and businesses alike benefit from EBAs if they are structured in the right way. Wesfarmers’ trading update shows that Bunnings has recorded sales growth of 11.3 per cent so far in 2019-20, while Kmart’s sales are up 6.1 per cent.

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Plea to save media jobs in the regions

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 30-May-20

Regional media companies such as WIN Corporation and Australian Community Media have lobbied the federal government to further relax cross-media ownership laws. Concerns about the future of the regional media sector have been heightened by News Corp Australia’s decision to axe 36 regional and community newspapers and shift 76 titles to digital-only editions. The move will also result in the loss of hundreds of jobs. Further job cuts in the regional media are possible when the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme ends in September.

CORPORATES
WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS