POLITICAL PARTIES – AUSTRALIA – PLATFORMS

Shorten outbids on tax, health

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 5-Apr-19

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has used his Budget reply speech to advise that Labor will not support the second and third stages of the federal government’s income tax package. However, Labor will increase the low- and middle-income tax offset for people earning less than $37,000 year, while it will match the government’s rebate for those earning $48,000 to $90,000. Meanwhile, Labor will increase Medicare funding by $2.3bn over four years, in order to reduce the cost of cancer treatment and to list more cancer drugs on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme

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

Shorten’s magic pudding

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Original article by Simon Benson, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 4-Apr-19

Tax relief for Australians with annual income of less than $40,000 will be a key focus for Labor leader Bill Shorten in his Budget reply speech on 4 April. Workers whose income is below this threshold will be offered more generous tax cuts than those outlined in the Budget. Meanwhile, the federal government has announced that the one-off cash payment cash for pensioners, single parents and carers to offset rising energy costs will be extended to Newstart recipients. This will add about $80m to the cost of the Budget measure.

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

Stunning lost opportunity on innovation

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 4-Apr-19

Former Innovation Science Australia chairman Bill Ferris has criticised the April 2019 Budget’s lack of policy announcements regarding innovation. He describes it as a missed opportunity to address declining investment in innovation by both government and business. Ferris argues that innovation is a key driver of productivity. The federal government will also reduce funding for the R&D tax incentive program by a further $1.35bn over four years. Krish Patel of Element 8 Group warns that government policy is forcing business start-ups to outsource R&D work offshore.

CORPORATES
INNOVATION SCIENCE AUSTRALIA, ELEMENT 8 GROUP, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, CSIRO, GEOSCIENCE AUSTRALIA

ALP plan reignites carbon wars

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

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has criticised Labor’s proposed baseline and credit scheme, describing it as a "massive tax on jobs" that will force affected companies to spend $35bn to buy offshore carbon credits. However, the Greens argue that the scheme does not go far enough, and it should cover a broader range of industries. Greens MP Adam Bandt adds that allowing the use of international carbon permits will delay Australia’s transition to 100 per cent renewable energy. Morrison has also criticised Labor’s 2030 target for electric vehicles to comprise 50 per cent of new cars that are sold in Australia.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

ALP’s emissions trading scheme

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

Labor will released details of its climate change policy on 1 April. Amongst other things, Labor will introduce a new carbon emissions cap, which will be known as a baseline and credit scheme. It will initially apply to about 250 businesses whose carbon emissions are 25,000 tonnes a year. Labor will also seek to address the issue of vehicle emissions by mandating that electric vehicles must account for 50 per cent of all new cars that are sold by 2030.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Top 10 housing stress seats all held by Labor

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 1-Apr-19

Labor is hoping to make housing more affordable if it wins the federal election by implementing changes to the negative gearing and capital gains tax regimes. Analysis conducted by the National Centre for Social & Economic Modelling indicates that the 10 electorates with the highest level of housing stress are all held by Labor, while Digital Finance Analytics estimates that the number of households facing mortgage stress now exceeds one million. The NATSEM analysis also indicates that Labor holds eight of the 10 seats with the highest level of poverty.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA. NATIONAL CENTRE FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC MODELLING, DIGITAL FINANCE ANALYTICS, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Greens’ plan to save world would destroy Australia

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 4 : 29-Mar-19

The Greens would seek to reduce military spending in order to lift expenditure on foreign aid to 0.7 per cent of gross national income by 2030. The Greens also want the alliance with the US to be re-negotiated, and for foreign military bases in Australia to be closed. Greens leader Richard Di Natale claims that both major political parties have turned Australia into a major arms dealer. The Assistant Minister for Treasury and Finance Zed Seselja claims that the Greens are an "extremist" party whose policies would destroy the economy and make Australia less secure.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ONE NATION PARTY

Property tax crackdown from Jan 1

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 29-Mar-19

Labor is set to announce that its proposed changes to the negative gearing and capital gains tax regimes will take effect from the start of January 2020 if it wins the federal election. Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen will state on 29 March that this will give investors sufficient time to prepare for the reforms, which Labor had initially flagged more than three years ago. Labor’s reforms would most likely require the support of at least two independents in the upper house, in addition to the Greens.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY, CENTRE ALLIANCE, FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL

Union wants Labor to fix free rider problem

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 28-Mar-19

The National Tertiary Education Union’s industrial relations policy identifies several options for addressing the issue of workers who benefit from enterprise agreements without being a union member. They include requiring non-union members to pay a bargaining agents fee. The NTEU has lobbied Labor to put the issue of so-called "free riders" on its industrial relations agenda. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says bargaining fees are contrary to the right to freedom of association. Such fees have been banned in Australia since 2003.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL TERTIARY EDUCATION INDUSTRY UNION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, ACTU, MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD

Greens push to ban $25bn coal industry

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 6 : 28-Mar-19

Coal-fired power stations will be a key target of the Greens’ new climate policy, which will be released on 28 March. The Greens aim to ban both thermal coal mining and the use of coal to generate electricity, while it proposes to progressively reduce thermal coal export quotas with the goal of eventually phasing out an industry that is estimated to be worth about $25bn a year. The Coal Council of Australia has warned that up to 150,000 direct and indirect jobs could be at risk under the Greens’ policy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, COAL COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY