BUSINESS AND POLITICS – AUSTRALIA

Call for infrastructure boost, without tricks

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 1-May-18

Infrastructure Partnerships Australia CEO Adrian Dwyer has urged the Federal Government to increase its spending on infrastructure in the May 2018 Budget. He argues that infrastructure spending should be increased by $A7.5bn over four years to offset a decline in such expenditure over the last decade. Dwyer has also questioned the policy of funding infrastructure projects via financing vehicles such as the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility rather than the Budget. The Coalition and Labor both recently announced funding for major infrastructure projects.

CORPORATES
INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERSHIPS AUSTRALIA, NORTHERN AUSTRALIA INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Morrison to pledge a surplus of tax cuts

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Original article by David Uren, Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 1-May-18

Treasurer Scott Morrison says the Federal Government will ensure that tax revenue is capped at no more than 23.9 per cent of GDP, and it will cut personal income taxes when necessary to avoid breaching this threshold. However, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen says this suggests that the Coalition has backtracked on its stated policy of achieving a Budget surplus that is equivalent to one per cent of GDP. Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott argues that personal income tax cuts should not be on the government’s agenda unless it also pursues measures that will increase productivity, such as reducing the corporate tax rate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD

Regional TV urges more deregulation

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 30-Apr-18

WIN Corporation, Prime Media and Southern Cross Austereo want the Federal Government to further relax cross-media ownership laws by scrapping the rule that a company can own just one TV broadcasting licence in a single market. This would enable regional broadcasters to merge, which Prime CEO Ian Audsley warns is crucial to the sector’s survival. He notes that the cost of buying content is rising while audiences and advertising revenue are fragmenting. Regional broadcasters have also called for the "two radio licences to a market" rule to be scrapped.

CORPORATES
WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, SOUTHERN CROSS AUSTEREO PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ

Business urges Turnbull to patch China rift

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Original article by Andrew Tillett, Jennifer Hewett, Michael Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 13-Apr-18

Business leaders have urged Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to take steps to improve Australia’s seemingly strained relationship with China. There are a number of factors behind the recent poor relationship between the two countries, including attacks on China’s Pacific foreign aid policy by International Development Minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells and the federal government’s foreign interference laws. Former Labor foreign minister Bob Carr contends that the government has increased its "anti-Chinese rhetoric" since the start of 2017 in an attempt to impress Donald Trump.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA CHINA BUSINESS COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (CHINA), UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY

Any reforms of tax is better than none: BCA

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 12-Apr-18

The Federal Government still needs the support of crossbench senator Tim Storer for its corporate tax package. Storer has called for a broader range of tax reforms rather than simply reducing the tax rate for all companies. However, the Business Council of Australia has used a submission to a Senate inquiry to argue that changes to the company tax rate should not be stalled, as broader reforms will take too long to achieve. Storer has hired journalist Jim Middleton as a senior adviser.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, VICTORIA UNIVERSITY, THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED

Business hits at dismal IR reform moves

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 10-Apr-18

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox noted the Federal Government’s lack of significant progress on industrial relations reform in 2015. He will use a Brisbane Club speech on 10 April to stress that little has changed in the last three years, particularly with regard to implementing the recommendations of a review of the IR system by the Productivity Commission. Willox will also caution against IR reforms that have been proposed by the ACTU, stating that they would result in the widespread industrial action of the 1960s and 1970s.

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, BRISBANE CLUB, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, PATRICK CORPORATION LIMITED

NEG to help extend life of coal power

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 9-Apr-18

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg believes that the federal government’s proposed National Energy Guarantee will encourage investment in existing coal-fired power stations, thus enabling them to remain operating longer than under alternative energy policies. He has tasked the Australian Energy Market Operator with conducting an audit of Australia’s newer coal-fired power stations, while pro-coal businessman Trevor St Baker is of the view that energy companies must obtain permission from the federal government before closing down any coal-fired power stations.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, DELTA ELECTRICITY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, CHOW TAI FOOK ENTERPRISES LIMITED, AUSGRID PTY LTD

Alinta’s $1bn bid for coal power station

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Original article by Ben Packham, Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 5-Apr-18

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison have urged AGL Energy to consider selling the Liddell power station, which is slated to close in 2022. Alinta Energy has advised that it is preparing to make an indicative offer of around $A1bn for the coal-fired power plant, and CEO Jeff Dimery is confident that his company can extend the ageing plant’s operational life at a significantly lower cost than AGL has estimated. AGL in turn has argued that it needs to retain Liddell as the site will be used to supply alternative sources of energy beyond the existing plant’s closure.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, MACQUARIE GENERATION, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, CS ENERGY LIMITED, DELTA ELECTRICITY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SHANDONG RUYI TECHNOLOGY GROUP COMPANY LIMITED

Big Power says No to new fossil-fuel plant

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 4-Apr-18

Major electricity companies maintain that the construction of new coal-fired power stations is not economically viable, despite a push by some Coalition MPs. A spokesperson for EnergyAustralia says the company’s focus is on a "modern energy system" based on renewables and technology such as battery storage. Ben Skinner of the Australian Energy Council argues that clean-coal technology would not significantly reduce the "material carbon risk" of coal-fired power plants.

CORPORATES
ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY COUNCIL, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, GENEX POWER LIMITED – ASX GNX, ENGIE SA, GRATTAN INSTITUTE

Labor urged to hold fire on super rise

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 4-Apr-18

The superannuation guarantee is currently slated to increase to 12 per cent in 2025. Labor had originally legislated for the super guarantee to reach this level in 2019, and employers’ groups have cautioned against any move to bring forward the Coalition’s revised target date. Jenny Lambert of the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry says any such move could dampen wages growth and would be too costly and disruptive for many businesses. Labor’s employment spokesman Brendan O’Connor stresses that changes to the super guarantee would depend on the state of the Budget.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY