BUSINESS AND POLITICS – AUSTRALIA

Big retailers warn of chill to competition

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Original article by Katie Walsh
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 19-Nov-14

An Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA) submission to the Harper review of competition law has expressed concern about the proposed "effects test". It warns that this would adversely affect competition and would have no long-term benefit for consumers. The ANRA has supported some of the other recommendations of the review, while small retailers say the proposal to deregulate trading hours will ultimately increase the dominance of retail giants Coles and Woolworths

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL RETAILERS ASSOCIATION LIMITED, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, WESFARMERS BUNNINGS LIMITED, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, INDEPENDENT GROCERS OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN CONSUMERS’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN TAXI INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION

Trade action pivotal to G20

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Original article by Annabel Hepworth
The Australian – Page: 21 : 12-Nov-14

BHP Billiton chief executive Andrew Mackenzie is also the chair of the trade taskforce of Business 20 (B20), the body advising the Australian Government on the Group of 20 (G20) leaders’ summit in Brisbane in mid-November 2014. He argues that the G20 goal of additional global GDP growth worth $A2trn-plus relies heavily on increased investment in trade-related infrastructure. G20 nations such as India have pledged tariff reductions. GE Mining CEO and B20 human capital taskforce chair Steve Sargent also wants the leaders to roll out new job creation measures

CORPORATES
GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), BUSINESS 20 (B20), BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, GE MINING SERVICES HOLDINGS PTY LTD, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

Goyder pleads for action on new trade deal

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Original article by Annabel Hepworth
The Australian – Page: 19 : 7-Nov-14

Richard Goyder, CEO of Wesfarmers, also chairs the Business 20 (B20) body advising the Australian Government on the Group of 20 (G20) leaders’ summit in November 2014. He urges G20 nations to adopt the recommendations of B20 on issues such as global free trade and investment in infrastructure projects to boost the economy. Goyder also backs comments by International Monetary Fund MD Christine Lagarde that industrial relations reforms are needed. Robert Milliner, the B20 sherpa, says G20 members must roll out free trade initiatives agreed to at a meeting in Indonesia in late 2013

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, BUSINESS 20 (B20), GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION, MALLESONS STEPHEN JAQUES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Miners see progress but call for more cuts to red tape

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Original article by Annabel Hepworth
The Australian – Page: 21 : 23-Oct-14

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and parliamentary secretary for deregulation Josh Frydenberg on 22 October 2014 unveiled a move to abolish 7,000-plus pages of unnecessary legislation, in a further bid by the Government to reduce "red tape". However the Minerals Council of Australia, while welcoming the initiative, also issued a report that outlines areas where more reforms are still needed. These include industrial relations, environmental approvals and rules governing cabotage. It notes that from late 2007 to mid-2013 only 297 ­federal acts were repealed but 874 new ones rolled out

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Tackle Telstra or we all pay, says Optus boss

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Original article by Mitchell Bingemann
The Australian – Page: 23 : 22-Oct-14

Dominant Australian telco Telstra will gain some $A90bn by 2045 from its role in the national broadband network. Paul O’Sullivan, CEO of main rival Singtel Optus, is calling on the Federal Government to impose rules on Telstra regarding how the funds can be used. He also wants the telco to be separated into wholesale and retail businesses, and argues that failure to do so will erode competition as well as jeopardise investment by groups such as the Singapore-based parent of Optus. The current infrastructure spending of Optus worth up to $A1.2bn annually will fall if its fixed-line operations suffer a further decline

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED – ASX SGT, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, NBN CO LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FRONTIER ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, BT PLC

Tide of regulation is still coming in, directors warn

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Original article by Annabel Hepworth, Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 23 : 21-Oct-14

A business leaders’ forum has heard that despite recent positive efforts by the Australian Government, the burden of excessive regulation is still increasing. Among the examples cited was the likely tightening of capital requirements for banks after the financial system inquiry hands down its report. It was also noted that many smaller companies are better served by abandoning a sharemarket listing and instead operating in the less restrictive privately-held sector. However others argued that corporate boards must adapt to changing values and expectations to remain relevant in modern society

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FINANCIAL REPORTING COUNCIL, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGK, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, EVANS AND PECK PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF COMPANY DIRECTORS, BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS. BASEL COMMITTEE ON BANKING SUPERVISION, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, COCHLEAR LIMITED – ASX COH, BEYOND BANK AUSTRALIA, COMMUNITY CPS AUSTRALIA LIMITED, EQUITY TRUSTEES LIMITED – ASX EQT, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), ARRIUM LIMITED – ASX ARI, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. CORPORATIONS AND MARKETS ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Infrastructure needed ‘to pick up slack’

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal, Annabel Hepworth
The Australian – Page: 17 : 20-Oct-14

An Australian Institute of Company Directors forum has heard from Kevin McCann, chair of investment banking firm Macquarie Group. He said the national economy was likely to remain subdued, and there was an urgent need for major infrastructure projects by governments to provide a stimulus as capital expenditure in sectors other than energy declines. Such an approach has already been promised by the Federal Government, and will be promoted by it at the Group of 20 (G20) leaders’ summit in November 2014

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF COMPANY DIRECTORS, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, COCHLEAR LIMITED – ASX COH, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Telstra NBN deal delayed to 2015

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Original article by David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 20 : 15-Oct-14

The Australian Government had expected to finalise a revised deal with Telstra regarding the national broadband network by mid-2014. Telstra CEO David Thodey is hopeful that much of the negotiations can be concluded by Christmas, but concedes that a final deal is unlikely before 2015. The Coalition’s decision to adopt a fibre to the node model has required renegotiation of the original $A11.2bn deal with the Australian Labor Party

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, NBN CO LIMITED, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Credit card bank licences to go

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Original article by Shaun Drummond
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 14-Oct-14

The Australian Government has accepted the Reserve Bank’s recommendation to scrap the requirement for companies that issue credit cards to hold a bank licence. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says the move will increase competition by attracting new entrants to the credit card market and result in lower fees for consumers and retailers. However, some experts doubt that the reforms will lead to greater competition

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, VISA INTERNATIONAL, MASTERCARD AUSTRALIA LIMITED, RFI CONSULTING PTY LTD, GE CAPITAL AUSTRALIA, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, TYRO PAYMENTS, SQUARE PTY LTD, PAYVISION, AIRPLUS INTERNATIONAL

Leave RET alone, urge fund managers

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Original article by Andrew Main
The Australian – Page: 19 : 30-Sep-14

One option recommended by business leader Dick Warburton in his review of the Renewable Energy Target (RET) for the Australian Government is to reduce it from 41,000 gigawatt hours by 2020 to between 17,000 and 25,000. However the original RET is being strongly favoured by the Investor Group on Climate Change that represents some $A1trn worth of superannuation fund accounts. The lobbying body, which is chaired by Catholic Super CEO Frank Pegan, has started a public awareness campaign on the issue

CORPORATES
INVESTOR GROUP ON CLIMATE CHANGE, CATHOLIC SUPERANNUATION AND RETIREMENT FUND, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. CLIMATE CHANGE AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP