BUSINESS AND POLITICS – AUSTRALIA

Diamond days as TV celebrates a jubilee

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 5 : 12-Oct-16

Industry executives and on-air presenters have joined politicians in marking the 60th anniversary of TV in Australia at Parliament House in Canberra. The event coincided with a decision by the Australian Labor Party’s caucus to support a proposed 25 per cent reduction in broadcasting licence fees for commercial TV and radio stations. Free TV Australia chairman Harold Mitchell notes that linear TV continues to be an important part of daily family life.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, OZTAM PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED

New Free TV boss Savill to push for cuts in broadcast licence fees

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 10-Oct-16

Brett Savill, who has succeeded Julie Flynn as CEO of Free TV Australia, says the TV sector is likely to undergo greater change in the next 5-10 years than the switch from analogue to digital. However, he notes that TV is still the only medium than can attract the large audiences that viewed the recent Australian Football League and National Rugby League grand finals. Savill is expected to lobby the Federal Government for a further reduction in broadcasting licence fees, which Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has indicated is under active consideration.

CORPORATES
FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, BAI COMMUNICATIONS, BROADCAST AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS, KORN/FERRY INTERNATIONAL, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE

Bank culture won’t change overnight: PM

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 6-Oct-16

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says Australian banks require more accountability and transparency. He is confident that requiring the "big four" CEOs to front a parliamentary committee at least once a year will facilitate this, although he concedes that it will take some time for the culture within banks to change. The Federal Government also proposes to create a new tribunal for aggrieved customers to seek restitution, which was backed by Commonwealth Bank CEO Ian Narev and ANZ Bank CEO Shayne Elliott when they fronted the committee.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, TIMBERCORP LIMITED

Regulating profits ‘dangerous’

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Original article by James Eyers, Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 5-Oct-16

Commonwealth Bank CEO Ian Narev fronted a parliamentary committee on 4 October 2016, where he responded to questions on issues such as profits, interest rates and the bank’s insurance and financial planning scandals. Narev cautioned against any move to regulate the profits of the banking sector, stressing that banks need healthy profits to ensure that they can ride out economic shocks. The CEOs of the other major banks will appear before the committee in coming days. The Australian Labor Party continues to argue the case for a royal commission into the banking sector.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, FINANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, COMMONWEALTH FINANCIAL PLANNING LIMITED, COMMINSURE, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Stop point scoring and plan, says industry

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 4-Oct-16

Bruce Mountain of Carbon Market Economics rejects suggestions that the state-wide power outage in South Australia could have been avoided if its coal-fired power plant had not been decommissioned. Meanwhile, Energy Users Association of Australia chairman Brian Morris has urged both sides of federal politics to co-operate in developing a national energy policy. A similar view has been expressed by Tony Wood of the Grattan Institute.

CORPORATES
CARBON MARKET ECONOMICS PTY LTD, ENERGY USERS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ARRIUM LIMITED – ASX ARI

Extra tax perks to boost R&D

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Original article by Michael Bailey, Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 29-Sep-16

The Federal Government wants to encourage large companies to be more technologically innovative. The existing research and development scheme was reviewed by Innovation Australia chairman Bill Ferris, chief scientist Alan Finkel and Treasury Secretary John Fraser, who recommended doubling the value of tax breaks for large companies to a maximum of $A17 million a year. They also proposed an annual cap of $A2 million on cash claims by smaller companies.

CORPORATES
INNOVATION AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SCIENTIST, DULUXGROUP LIMITED – ASX DLX, CSIRO

Tourism slams departure tax slug

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Original article by Laura Tingle
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Sep-16

Treasurer Scott Morrison says reducing the proposed backpacker tax from 32.25 per cent to 19 per cent will enhance Australia’s ability to compete with other countries that are popular with people on working holidays. The Federal Government will also reduce the application fee for working holiday visas in a bid to arrest a decline in such visas in recent years. The Tourism & Transport Forum has welcomed the move to reduce the backpacker tax, but it has criticised a proposed $A5 increase in the departure tax on outbound travellers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, TTF AUSTRALIA LIMITED TOURISM AND TRANSPORT FORUM, TOURISM AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Free-to-air TV bosses strengthen calls for licence fee cuts

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 28-Sep-16

The Australian Government’s May 2016 Budget included a 25 per cent reduction in TV broadcasting licence fees. Nine Entertainment Company’s submission to a Senate inquiry into the media reform bill has argued that a further reduction in licence fees should have priority over changes to cross-media ownership rules. The Ten Network noted in its submission that Australia’s broadcasting licence fees are still the highest in the world, while News Corp Australia called for broader media reform and changes to the anti-siphoning list for sports broadcasts.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Senate urged to pass tax reforms

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Original article by Annabel Hepworth
The Australian – Page: 19 & 23 : 28-Sep-16

The Federal Government’s bill to progressively reduce the company tax rate is being scrutinised by a Senate committee. The Business Council of Australia has used its submission to argue the case for Parliament to pass all of the tax reforms rather than restricting tax cuts to the small business sector. The Minerals Council of Australia and the Australian Industry Group also favour implementing the tax cuts in full, although the latter concedes that providing tax relief to small businesses would be better than having the entire bill reject by Parliament.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Labor says bank profits are too high

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Original article by Joanna Mather, Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 27-Sep-16

The profits of Australia’s four major banks will come under scrutiny when their CEOs front a parliamentary committee in early October 2016. Pat Conroy, an Australian Labor Party member of the committee, will seek an explanation for the banks’ high return on equity compared with their international peers. He notes that there has not been an influx of foreign banks despite the local industry’s high level of profitability. Labor and the Greens favour a royal commission into the banking sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, FINANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ