GOVERNMENT SPENDING POLICY – AUSTRALIA

No end to Labor’s $60 billion spendathon

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 7-May-19

Labor has made spending commitments in excess of $60 billion during the federal election campaign, according to a newspaper analysis of its spending announcements. Labor’s spending promises include $22 billion for infrastructure projects and community facilities, and $16.2 billion for climate change and energy. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told the treasurers’ debate on 6 May that taxpayers would be the ones paying for Labor’s higher spending, while Labor will need to convince the Senate to pass the tax measures that it will need to implement in order to pay for its spending.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

New ABC boss warns job cuts inevitable

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Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 2 : 7-May-19

The ABC’s MD David Anderson says the public broadcaster will need to retrench workers and reduce its services due to the Coalition’s funding freeze. He adds that cost efficiencies will be necessary even if the three-year freeze were to be scrapped. Anderson was recently confirmed as the permanent successor to former MD Michelle Guthrie. He had been acting MD since her sacking. Meanwhile, Anderson rejects suggestions of bias at the ABC.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Free blood tests: Labor raises health pressure

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 : 16-Apr-19

Healthcare is set to continue to dominate the federal election campaign, with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to announce an expansion of Labor’s cancer care package on 16 April. Shorten will commit to providing free blood tests for cancer patients and older Australians, at a cost of $200m. This is in addition to Labor’s previously-announced $2.3bn cancer treatment plan. Meanwhile, Labor has rejected suggestions of a $5.8bn funding shortfall for its cancer policy, stating that the Health Department has advised that it has not costed the policy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Tax cut plan needs $40b off spending

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Original article by John Kehoe, Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 16-Apr-19

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann is confident that the Coalition can reduce government spending to about 23.6 per cent of GDP over the next decade, as outlined in the April 2019 Budget. Danielle Wood of the Grattan Institute warns that this would require spending to be cut by $40bn a year in order to finance tax cuts and retain a surplus. Meanwhile, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has described the second and third stages of the government’s tax cuts package as "utterly unsustainable, unaffordable and irresponsible". Labor supports the first stage of the tax cuts, and Bowen says further cuts will be considered in the context of each Budget.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Cancer doctors: Labor plan won’t cure system

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Sean Parnell
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 9-Apr-19

Reaction to Labor’s $2.3 billion cancer treatment plan has been somewhat mixed. Its announcement has been welcomed by the Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Radiologists and the Australian Diagnostic Imaging Association. However, Ben Brady of the Private Cancer Physicians of Australia says his organisation rejects compulsory bulk-billing. Brady, who is also the director of haematology and medical oncology at Cabrini Health in Melbourne, adds that it is somewhat "un-Australian" to focus on just one disease.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND COLLEGE OF RADIOLOGISTS, AUSTRALIAN DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING ASSOCIATION, PRIVATE CANCER PHYSICIANS OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, CABRINI HEALTH

Per capita health spend is falling, says academic

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 5-Apr-19

Analysis of the April 2019 Budget papers by the Centre for the Health Economy shows that the federal government’s per capita spending on healthcare will rise by just 1.5 per cent in 2019-20. This compares with growth of 6.7 per cent in 2016-17. Per capita spending will grow by just 0.4 per cent between 2019-20 and 2022-23 when population growth is taken into account. Centre for the Health Economy director Henry Cutler adds that ending the freeze on Medicare rebates may not result in lower co-payments for visiting a GP.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY. CENTRE FOR THE HEALTH ECONOMY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH

Fifield demands more efficiency from Aunty

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 5 : 5-Apr-19

The ABC was given a modest funding increase in the April 2019 Budget, to allow the public broadcaster to increase its newsgathering capacity in regional and rural areas. Acting MD David Anderson has welcomed the increased funding for the Enhanced News initiative, but he has criticised the decision to retain a freeze on overall funding for the next three years. He says this will require some difficult decisions regarding staffing and services, but Communications Minister Mitch Fifield argues that the ABC has greater funding certainty than any other Australian media organisation.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

To surplus with love

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 3-Apr-19

The federal government’s April 2019 Budget has forecast a surplus of $7.1bn in 2019-20, and accumulated surpluses of $45bn over the four-year forward estimates period. The government also expects net debt to be reduced to zero by 2029-30. Highlights of the Budget include tax relief for individuals, dual-income families and small businesses, an additional $100bn worth of funding for infrastructure projects and $525m to create 80,000 apprenticeships in sectors that are experiencing skills shortages.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Coalition to ram through budget tax cuts ahead of poll

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 2-Apr-19

Labor has indicated that it will not oppose tax cuts in the April 2019 Budget if they largely benefit people on low and middle incomes. Changes to the Low Income Tax Offset are expected to be among the tax reforms to be outlined in the Budget. The tax cuts and one-off cash payments to offset rising energy costs are likely to be put to parliament on 3 April, with a view to making it harder for Labor to repeal them if it wins the election. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten contends that Labor’s tax cuts package will be of more benefit to 10 million working Australians than the Coalition’s policy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Coalition defuses debt bomb

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 2-Apr-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has rejected suggestions that the April 2019 Budget will be a ‘cash splash’ ahead of the federal election, stressing the government’s track record for fiscal discipline. Meanwhile, the Budget papers are forecast to show that Australia’s net debt will be reduced to zero by 2028-29 under the Coalition, compared with $370bn at present. The Budget is expected to remain in deficit for 2018-19, although it is likely to be lower than the $5.2bn that was forecast in the mid-year update. The government is tipped to bring forward the second and third stages of its tax cuts package.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION