LOBBYING – AUSTRALIA

Banks lobbied to ‘feather nests’

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Original article by Anthony Klan
The Australian – Page: 31 : 4-Dec-14

It has emerged that nine financial services industry bodies lobbied the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) in mid-2013 against the proposed Consultation Paper 212 regulations. They were meant to raise the standard of professional qualifications to be held by financial planners. ASIC chair Greg Medcraft has sharply criticised the industry, and noted the impact flawed advice has on clients. Meanwhile the Association of Independently Owned Financial Professionals argues the lobbying effort was indicative of the major banks and their aligned planning groups trying to defend their market share

CORPORATES
ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENTLY OWNED FINANCIAL PLANNERS INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, FINANCIAL PLANNING ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION, FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL, CPA AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA)

ASIC forced to fold on reform plan

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Original article by Anthony Klan
The Australian – Page: 22 : 3-Dec-14

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) will not go ahead with the proposed Consultation Paper 212 regulations, which were designed to lift the level of professional qualifications to be held by financial planners. ASIC maintains that the decision is due to the Federal Government failing to get amendments to the Future of Financial Advice laws passed by the Senate, making the issue less urgent. However it has emerged that nine industry bodies wrote to the watchdog in 2013 and argued against the push

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, FINANCIAL PLANNING ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION, FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Future fund at risk without $7 GP fee

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Original article by Joanna Heath
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 27-Nov-14

The Australian Government’s decision to no longer pursue the $A7 co-payment for visits to general practitioners in the hostile Senate may also jeopardise the proposed Medical Research Future Fund. Its funding had been tied to the revenue to come from the abandoned measure, and the Department of Finance says it has no other source. Health Minister Peter Dutton previously said the fund would still be created, but with reduced resources. A Medical Research Future Fund Action Group lobbying body contains the CEOs of UBS, Wesfarmers and ASX

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Cancer therapy worth cost, doctors say

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Original article by Amy Corderoy
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 15 : 27-Nov-14

Dion Forstner, the Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Radiologists’ faculty of radiation oncology dean, claims that under-resourcing by the Australian Government means many cancer sufferers cannot access potentially life-saving intensity-modulated radiation therapy. The body is lobbying the federal Medical Services Advisory Committee on the issue. Treatment rates in the UK have been lifted substantially after the Government set up a special funding vehicle with Stg23m

CORPORATES
THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND COLLEGE OF RADIOLOGISTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH. MEDICAL SERVICES ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Free TV gets back on the licence fee warpath

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Original article by Lara Sinclair
The Australian – Page: online : 25-Nov-14

Free TV Australia CEO Julie Flynn has revived the lobbying body’s campaign for the Federal Government to significantly reduce the licence fees paid by commercial free-to-air TV networks. The trigger this time is a plan by the Government to allow public broadcaster SBS to lift the length of advertising slots by 100%, and gain as much as $A200m extra in half a decade. That decision had been meant by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull to compensate SBS for funding cuts worth $A53.7m

CORPORATES
FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

No power without real reform

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Original article by Annabel Hepworth
The Australian – Page: 6 : 10-Nov-14

The Business Council of Australia (BCA) has prepared a study on energy policy, in a lobbying effort as the Federal Government takes submissions for a new white paper on the topic. The BCA argues that rising energy prices are jeopardising the nation’s global competitiveness in the resources sector. Prime Minister Tony Abbott recently commented that he wants Australia to be an "affordable-energy super power", as part of the Government’s industry and competitiveness agenda

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP

Boards seeking new legal shields

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Original article by Annabel Hepworth
The Australian – Page: 20 : 31-Jul-14

Attorney-General George Brandis and other politicians are being lobbied by the Australian Institute of Company Directors. It wants to see the inclusion of an "honest and reasonable director" defence in the Corporations Act, to give company boards better protection in cases launched over alleged breaches of the law as well as of the Australian Securities & Investments Commission Act. The professional body notes that the majority of serious offences in the Corporations Act feature a dishonesty component. The call for reform is separate to any expansion of the current business judgment rule

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF COMPANY DIRECTORS, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX