GOVERNMENT SPENDING POLICY – AUSTRALIA

Budget to fail debt test

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Bevan Shields
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 1 : 8-May-18

Former federal treasurer Peter Costello says the Coalition government has not done enough to reduce government debt. Costello claims it would require the Budget to be in surplus for 10 years in a row for it to be paid off, and he has urged the government to cut spending by at least $A18 billion to address the debt issue. Costello supports Treasurer Scott Morrison’s goal of setting the government’s overall tax collection rate at 23.9 per cent of GDP, but says it should apply the same target to government spending.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Seniors big winners in budget lift

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson, Rick Morton, David Uren
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 8-May-18

The Federal Government’s May 2018 Budget will feature a range of measures targeted at older Australians. Amongst other things, the government is expected to provide funding for an additional 20,000 people to receive in-home care, while a scheme that enables retirees to remain in the workforce without affecting their pension entitlements is tipped to be expanded. Meanwhile, people on low and middle incomes are expected to receive a tax cut of about $A10 a week.

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

Labor plan: spend and tax to bigger surpluses

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 3-May-18

The Australian Labor Party will raise at least $A160bn in additional revenue over 10 years if it wins the next federal election. This would be boosted by $A35bn if Labor revoked company tax cuts that have yet to be legislated. Labor argues that the additional revenue would allow it to achieve a Budget surplus while increasing government spending in sectors such as health and education. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has warned that Labor’s tax plan will have an adverse impact on jobs and investment.

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

Call for infrastructure boost, without tricks

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

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

ASIC a cash cow gouging millions in excessive fees

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Anthony Klan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 24-Apr-18

Data shows that the Australian Securities & Investments Commission generated revenue of $A801.7m in fees during 2016-17, while it issued $A118.5m worth of fines. ASIC received a total of $A341.6m in federal government funding for the financial year, down from $A350m in 2012-13. However, the government has since ended taxpayer funding of ASIC in favour of an industry-funded system. The government had previously announced in 2014 that ASIC’s funding would be reduced by $A120m over four years.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Consultancy spend alarms union, MPs

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Edmund Tadros, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 22-Jan-18

MPs are concerned about the level of money that federal government departments are spending on consultants and contractors. Almost 5,000 consultants are employed across government agencies, and the Community & Public Sector Union estimates that $A380 million could be saved each year by replacing them with permanent public servants. Accenture and the four major accounting firms are estimated to have made more than $A3 billion over a five-year period from federal government contracts.

CORPORATES
COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, ACCENTURE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, ERNST AND YOUNG, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE, AUSTRALIA. JOINT COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL DISABILITY INSURANCE AGENCY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, JOBS, TRANSPORT AND RESOURCES

Stronger economy to cut size of deficit

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Uren, Joe Kelly, John Ross
The Australian – Page: 2 : 15-Dec-17

The Federal Government’s May 2017 Budget had forecast a total deficit of $A46bn over four years. However, Westpac economists Bill Evans and Andrew Hanlan expect the mid-year budget update to revise this down to $A40bn. Westpac also forecasts a deficit of $A1.5bn in 2019-20, followed by a modest surplus in 2020-21. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has signalled that higher education funding will not be reduced in the budget update, although he has flagged new savings measures after the government’s proposed university funding cuts were rejected by the Senate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, THE GROUP OF EIGHT LIMITED, GRATTAN INSTITUTE

PM’s ‘agile’ agenda fails auditor test

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Primrose Riordan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Sep-17

The Australian National Audit Office has released a report which questions the economic benefits of the Federal Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda. Amongst other things, the ANAO has raised concerns about the limited time-frame in which the innovation agenda was developed and the criteria used to measure the performance of the scheme. The NISA was launched in late 2015, and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull stated in December 2016 that it had resulted in increased jobs and investment.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, CSIRO, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Tax break idea worthy, but unworkable

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 4 : 17-Aug-17

Senator Nick Xenophon’s proposal to provide a 40 per cent tax break for smaller media companies has merit, and it is likely to benefit the publishers of newspapers such as "The Saturday Paper" and websites like "The New Daily". However, the Federal Government would need to determine whether the local editions of overseas publications would be eligible for the tax break. There is also the question of whether taxpayers should subsidise small media outlets that would be competing with the monolithic ABC for both funding and audiences.

CORPORATES
NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SCHWARTZ MEDIA PTY LTD, THE NEW DAILY, THE GUARDIAN AUSTRALIA, DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA, THE HUFFINGTON POST, POLITIFACT AUSTRALIA

States fear hospital funding clawback

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sean Parnell
The Australian – Page: 6 : 4-Aug-17

Victorian Health Minister Jill Hennessy claims that the Federal Government is trying to effectively recoup hundreds of millions of dollars of health funding that has already been spent by the states. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has asked the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority to review previous state health spending activity before the Federal Government enters into the next hospital funding arrangement with the states. Hunt says there are some abnormalities in health spending by state Labor governments that are of concern to him.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIA. INDEPENDENT HOSPITAL PRICING AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, QUEENSLAND HEALTH