POLITICAL PARTIES – AUSTRALIA – PLATFORMS

Warning as housing stock piles up

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Original article by Ben Wilmot
The Australian – Page: 25 : 17-May-19

Data from CoreLogic shows that based on current rates of sales, housing supply across Australia’s capital cities is currently 5.3 months, up from 3.9 months a year ago. Meanwhile, Macquarie Equities says Reserve Bank data suggests that 2.5-3.5 per cent of house buyers with bank-issued mortgage loans are in negative equity following the downturn in the housing market. RiskWise Property Research CEO Doron Peleg says Labor’s proposed changes to the negative gearing and capital gains tax regimes would make residential property investment less attractive.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MACQUARIE EQUITIES LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, RISKWISE PROPERTY RESEARCH, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, STARR PARTNERS PTY LTD, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Don’t worry if house prices fall, says Bowen

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Original article by Turi Condon, Ben Packham, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 16-May-19

Property Council of Australia president Stephen Conry says the housing market is "fragile", and it is not the right time for Labor’s proposed changes to the negative gearing regime. Real Estate Institute of Australia president Adrian Kelly warns that the prices of existing properties will fall if Labor implements its reforms, while the Housing Industry Association’s chief economist Tim Reardon says housing rents will rise. Meanwhile, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has downplayed concerns that homeowners may find themselves in negative equity, arguing that they will only incur a loss if they sell.

CORPORATES
PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, THE REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, SQM RESEARCH PTY LTD

Shorten reaches out to miners

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 16-May-19

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has indicated that Labor may be open to industrial relations reforms that would allow greenfields enterprise agreements to be struck for the life of a resources project rather than having to be renegotiated every 3-4 years. He argues that this would provide greater certainty for workers, unions, employers and global investors. Shorten also intends to hold a national economic summit in early June if Labor wins the federal election; the agenda will include industrial relations, wages, productivity and the economy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL

Secret plans for anti-graft body

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Original article by Chris Merritt
The Australian – Page: 8 : 15-May-19

Former Victorian Court of Appeal judge Stephen Charles says Labor has a detailed plan for its proposed federal anti-corruption commission. Charles says he is a member of a group of retired judges who drafted the plan, which has been accepted by Labor’s legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus. A spokeswoman for Dreyfus has rejected suggestions that Labor has a "secret plan". Labor has previously stated that it has only developed a series of ‘design principles’ for the anti-corruption watchdog, and it will consult with legal experts if it wins the election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, COURT OF APPEAL (VICTORIA), THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED, NEW SOUTH WALES. INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Coalition rejects interest rate risk on loan plan

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 15-May-19

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has downplayed concerns that the Coalition’s First Home Loan Deposit Scheme could prompt banks to impose higher interest rates on participants in the scheme. He is confident that banks will want to be involved in the scheme and will not charge higher interest rates, arguing that banks’ exposure will still be restricted to a maximum loan to value ratio of 80 per cent. The New Zealand government introduced a similar scheme in 2003.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, KEYSTART HOME LOANS, NEW ZEALAND. MINISTRY OF HOUSING, HOUSING NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION

Employers fear payroll nightmare

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 15-May-19

The Fair Work Commission is expected to make a ruling on the minimum wage before the end of May. However, employers’ groups have warned of the potential payroll complications if Labor wins the federal election and pushes ahead with plans to make a new wage submission immediately upon taking office. Any increase in the minimum wage will take effect from 1 July, and Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO James Pearson has expressed concern that employers will not have enough time to apply the new pay rates if Labor seeks to make a new submission to the FWC.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, ACTU

Wage theft: Labor takes on employers

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-May-19

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will use a speech in Perth on 15 May to announce that Labor will establish a small claims tribunal for people with unpaid wages if it wins the federal election. The tribunal, which will hear claims of up to $100,000, will be able to make and enforce orders to pay wages and to mediate claims. The tribunal will operate alongside the existing Fair Work Commission. Shorten will also use the speech to criticise the Coalition’s preferences deal with Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED AUSTRALIA PARTY, ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

PM’s late pitch for young voters

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 13-May-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has used the Coalition’s official election campaign launch to announce a First Home Loan Deposit Scheme. The $500m scheme will allow Australians to buy their first home with a deposit of just five per cent rather than 20 per cent, with the government to underwrite the balance via its National Housing Finance & Investment Corporation. Labor responded by announcing that it will match the policy while pressing ahead with its negative gearing reforms. Morrison also committed to providing $4bn worth of federal funding for the East West road link in Melbourne.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL HOUSING FINANCE AND INVESTMENT CORPORATION

Newstart review will go beyond adequacy of dole

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 13-May-19

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says he does not intend to pre-empt the findings of the review of Newstart that Labor will conduct if it wins the federal election, and that the review will not just be about increasing the dole. A study commissioned by the Australian Council of Social Service in 2018 concluded that increasing the dole by $75 a week would cost taxpayers $3.3 billion, but that it would deliver $4 billion in economic benefits. ACOSS CEO Cassandra Goldie contends that people on Newstart are the "real victims of growing inequality in Australia".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD

Income tax cuts, bigger surpluses

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 10-May-19

Labor will release the Parliamentary Budget Office’s costings of its election policies on 10 May. The costings show that Labor is projected to deliver a Budget surplus equivalent to one per cent of GDP in 2022-23. In contrast, the Coalition expects to post a surplus in 2022-23 that is just 0.4 per cent of GDP. Meanwhile, Labor’s proposed tax reforms are slated to raise $154bn over 10 years. The costings also show that a Labor government would deliver total tax cuts over the next decade that are similar to those that have been budgeted by the Coalition.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY