ETC – AUSTRALIA

MCA cedes ground to BHP over climate

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 15-Mar-18

BHP Billiton may back down on its threat to withdraw from the Minerals Council of Australia after the lobby group released its revised climate policy. The MCA has been criticised by BHP for advocating coal-fired power generation, but its revised policy adopts a similar position to BHP regarding a "technology-neutral approach" to low-emission energy sources. Rio Tinto in turn has welcomed the MCA’s new policy stance and urged shareholders to reject resolutions to be put before its upcoming AGM by the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, AUSTRALASIAN CENTRE FOR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

Federal agencies to dodge union deals

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 9-Feb-18

Australian Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd says smaller government agencies are most likely to ditch enterprise agreements under the Coalition’s new policy on public sector bargaining. It allows departments and agencies to opt for alternative workplace arrangements such as common law employment contracts. Lloyd notes that unions tend to have greater influence on workplace negotiations in larger agencies, where enterprise agreements will most likely continue to prevail. The new policy has been criticised by Labor, which has raised the spectre of a return to the WorkChoices era.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION

Lib MP growls over layer of BEAR red tape

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 6-Feb-18

The Greens will seek amendments to the Federal Government’s Banking Executive Accountability Regime in the Senate, after the legislation was passed by the lower house on 5 February. Liberal MP Nicolle Flint opposed the BEAR regime, arguing that it will further increase the compliance burden for the financial sector, noting that it has been subject to a spate of new rules and regulations in recent years. The BEAR regime, which is slated to take effect in July, has the support of the Australian Labor Party.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Nation uplifted as marriage bill passes

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Joe Kelly, Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 8-Dec-17

Same-sex marriage will be legalised in Australia after the private members’ bill of Liberal senator Dean Smith was passed by the House of Representatives on 7 December. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has described it as a "unifying day" for Australians, and he expects the first same-sex marriages to occur in early January. Three Coalition MPs voted against the bill, while Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison are among seven who are believed to have abstained from voting. Several proposed amendments to the bill regarding religious freedom were rejected by the lower house. The bill was passed by the Senate in late November.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION

Tensions increase over rival SSM bill

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 6 : 10-Nov-17

Liberal MP Ian Goodenough has expressed concern about the limited focus of religious protections in a private members’ bill to legalise same-sex marriage. He says some Coalition MPs are developing a separate bill on same-sex marriage that will provide greater protection for religious freedoms if the majority of Australians support marriage equality in the postal survey. Meanwhile, Australian Conservatives founder Cory Bernardi says resolving parliament’s dual citizenship crisis should take priority over the issue of same-sex marriage.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATIVES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, FREEDOM FOR FAITH, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY. UNITED STATES STUDIES CENTRE

Speculation ends as ABA names ANZ’s Elliott as chairman

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 17-Oct-17

ANZ Bank CEO Shayne Elliott will succeed his National Australia Bank counterpart Andrew Thorburn as chairman of the Australian Bankers’ Association. The role is traditionally rotated between the CEOs of the four major banks, and Ian Narev had been expected to take up the role prior to announcing that he will step down as Commonwealth Bank CEO by mid-2018. Elliott had taken a less hostile approach to the Federal Government’s proposed bank levy than his peers earlier in 2017.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Australians are voting in favour of same sex marriage

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 16-Oct-17

A special Roy Morgan Snap SMS Survey taken on 6-8 October shows that 61.5% of Australians are voting "Yes" in favour of same-sex marriage in the postal plebiscite. Some 17.5% are voting "No", while a further 21% did not answer the question or have no intention of voting. Although these results are slightly inconclusive on the exact margin of the final result, they do provide a degree of certainty that the plebiscite will be carried nationwide. Analysis of supporters of various political parties shows that 92% of Greens supporters and 77% of ALP supporters are voting "Yes", compared with just 40.5% of Liberal supporters and 33% of Nationals supporters. Support for the change is also consistent across the country, with clear majorities in all six States opting to vote "Yes". The State with the largest support for the change is Victoria, in which 69.5% of respondents are voting "Yes", ahead of Western Australia and Tasmania (63.5%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

CBA faces investor class action

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 10-Oct-17

Andrew Watson of law firm Maurice Blackburn says its class action against the Commonwealth Bank could be the largest ever in Australia. The firm will seek compensation for retail and institutional investors who bought the bank’s shares between 1 July 2015 and 3 August 2017. The class action centres on the bank’s failure to make adequate disclosures regarding the money-laundering scandal. Austrac’s revelation that it was investigating the bank prompted a sharp fall in its share price.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, IMF BENTHAM LIMITED – ASX IMF

Marriage poll nearly 80% done

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Original article by Adam Gartrell
The Age – Page: 1 : 3-Oct-17

Polling undertaken on behalf of the Equality Campaign has found that 77 per cent of Australian electors have already voted in the postal plebiscite on same-sex marriage. The survey of 1,000 people shows that 69 per cent of electors aged 18-24 have returned their survey form, while 17 per cent of people in this age group have filled in their form but have yet to return it. The majority of young people are expected to vote in favour of same-sex marriage. Some 80 per cent of people aged 65+ have also returned their survey form; support for the traditional view of marriage is expected to be high among this age group.

CORPORATES
THE EQUALITY CAMPAIGN, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN CHRISTIAN LOBBY, SKY NEWS, REACHTEL PTY LTD

Golden handshake as exiting Goyder pockets $12m

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 28 : 21-Sep-17

The annual report of Perth-based conglomerate Wesfarmers shows that outgoing CEO Richard Goyder will receive total remuneration of $A12.1m in 2017, compared with just $A5.5m in 2016. However, Goyder’s short-term incentive bonus was slashed in 2016 due to the underperformance of Target and the Curragh coal mine. Wesfarmers chairman Michael Chaney has praised Goyder’s contribution during his 12-year tenure. He will be succeeded by Rob Scott in November.

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, CURRAGH QUEENSLAND MINING LIMITED, OFFICEWORKS SUPERSTORES PTY LTD, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW