GOVERNMENT SPENDING POLICY – AUSTRALIA

Government faces delay on ‘urgent’ cuts

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 30-Aug-16

The Australian Government will introduce 26 separate bills to Parliament in coming days, although its "omnibus" and superanuation reform bills will be delayed. The Australian Labor Party was not given a copy of the omnibus bill at its caucus meeting on 29 August 2016, while some Labor MPs oppose several of the proposed measures to reduce government spending. Meanwhile, the Government is yet to reach consensus within its own ranks regarding the lifetime cap on non-concessional super contributions.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE, COUNCIL ON THE AGEING, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN RENEWABLE ENERGY AGENCY, VICTORIA. COUNTRY FIRE AUTHORITY, UNITED FIREFIGHTERS’ UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Labor: pass our budget cuts too

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Aug-16

The Australian Government’s $A6.5bn spending cuts will be presented to Parliament in a single bill. The Australian Labor Party has yet to decide its position on several of the 21 measures in the "omnibus" bill, but Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says that if the Government wants Labor’s support for its spending cuts it should in turn vote in favour of the $A8.1bn worth of cuts that Labor has proposed. Meanwhile, the proposed lifetime cap on non-concessional superannuation contributions will be increased to $A750,000 after Treasurer Scott Morrison reached a compromise with Coalition MPs, although it will still be backdated to 2007.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA), AUSTRALIAN RENEWABLE ENERGY AGENCY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE

Coalition cuts add $221bn to budget

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 4 : 23-Aug-16

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has indicated that the Budget bottom line will be boosted by $A26bn over the next four years, due to spending cuts that have been made since the Coalition took office in 2013. The Coalition also estimates that spending cuts could potentially bolster the Budget by about $A221bn over the next decade or so. Cormann has also urged the Australian Labor Party to support some $A6.5bn worth of spending cuts that it did not oppose during the 2016 election campaign.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Shorten kills hope of deal on budget savings

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 18-Aug-16

The Opposition has signalled that it will not support all of the Federal Government’s proposed $A6bn worth of cost-saving measures, despite backing most of the reforms during the 2016 election campaign. A proposed $A1bn reduction in funding for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency in particular is likely to be opposed by the Australian Labor Party, which is also likely to vote down a plan to progressively reduce the corporate tax rate to 25 per cent. The Government plans to introduce a so-called "omnibus" bill containing 21 separate Budget-repair measures.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN RENEWABLE ENERGY AGENCY, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY

PM’s $6.5b budget challenge to Labor comes with AAA warning

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 17-Aug-16

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will call for bipartisan political support for the Coalition’s economic agenda in a Committee for Economic Development of Australia speech on 17 August 2016. Turnbull will also reveal plans to present a single bill to Parliament which will include 21 separate initiatives aimed at reducing government spending by $A6.49bn in total. He will stress the need for action in order to protect Australia’s coveted "AAA" credit rating. The Australian Labor Party is expected to support some of the measures.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN RENEWABLE ENERGY AGENCY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Australian debt control worst in G20: report

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 27-Jul-16

A Peterson Institute for International Economics report notes that Australia’s debt-to-GDP ratio has risen by 27.1 per cent since the global financial crisis. This is not much lower than the average increase recorded by developed nations such as the US, the UK, Japan and Italy. The report’s author, Paolo Mauro, concludes that Australia could have cleared its net debt and Budget deficit if real government spending had not significantly outpaced that of other major Group of 20 nations over the last eight years.

CORPORATES
PETER G PETERSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION

$123bil Green splurge

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Original article by Annika Smethurst, Ellen Whinnett
Herald Sun – Page: 1 & 10 : 24-Jun-16

The Australian Greens have announced a range of election policies that will collectively cost some $A123bn. In contrast, the Coalition and the Australian Labor Party have respectively announced $A10.5bn and $A20bn worth of new spending measures during the election campaign. The Greens’ policies include an increase in the pension, which has been costed at $A10bn. The party also proposes the introduction of a tax on soft drinks, a new carbon tax, a tax on banks and a reduction in university fees. Greens leader Richard Di Natale says the policies will be funded via revenue measures and spending cuts.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Labor, Libs leave $60b health hole

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Original article by Laura Tingle
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 14-Jun-16

The issue of public hospital funding is under scrutiny, with the health policies of the Coalition and the Australian Labor Party only providing funding for the next four years. Professor Stephen Leeder notes that none of the major political parties have outlined a plan for sustainable funding of the public hospital system. Deloitte Access Economics’ Chris Richardson says Australia faces a "black hole" in hospital funding that will ultimately have to be addressed by the federal government rather than its state counterparts.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Labor retreats on cuts

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1& 6 : 10-Jun-16

The Federal Opposition will unveil a number of savings measures on 10 June 2016 that it will implement if it wins the federal election. It will also no longer oppose some of the spending cuts that were announced in the Australian Government’s May 2014 Budget, which have been stalled in the Senate. These measures are expected to include the Government’s proposed changes to welfare payments such as the Family Tax Benefit and a reduction in R&D tax concessions. The Opposition aims to eliminate the budget deficit within five years.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Leaders vie to score goals in women’s sport

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Original article by Sarah Martin, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 8 : 30-May-16

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten notes that women’s sports events account for just seven per cent of Australian TV networks’ overall sports coverage. Shorten aims to address this imbalance by committing an extra $A21m in funding for the ABC to provide greater coverage of women’s sports. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has indicated that the Government will provide an additional $A60m in funding for the Sporting Schools program.

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