POLITICAL PARTIES – AUSTRALIA – PLATFORMS

Investor hit: Labor seats in crossfire

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 7-Nov-18

The federal government’s analysis of income and tax data for 2015-16 shows that 1.3 million Australians owned a negatively-geared investment property during that financial year. Some 640,000 people lived in seats held by the Coalition, while 570,000 were in seats held by Labor. Two Labor-held seats in the Australian Capital Territory had the highest number of people who used negative gearing. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says Labor’s proposed changes to the negative gearing regime will hit not only its own supporters, but all Australians who own a home.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, RISKWISE

Labor flags the end of Work for Dole

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Original article by Eryk Bagshaw
The Age – Page: 8 : 2-Nov-18

Labor’s employment services spokeswoman Terri Butler has queried whether the $65 million spent each year on the "Work for the Dole" program is money well spent. There are claims that the program does not have a high success rate in terms of participants finding jobs, and that participants have been put into unsafe workplaces. As well as signs that Labor may scrap the scheme if it wins the next federal election, there are indications that it may cancel employment services contracts under the federal government’s $7.3 billion Jobactive program.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT SERVICES ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS

Greens in push to slug rich to boost the dole

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 2 : 30-Oct-18

Greens leader Richard Di Natale will announce plans to impose a minimum tax rate of 35 per cent on earnings in excess of $300,000 a year. The proposal, which has been costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office, would raise around $10.5 billion a year, with the funds raised to be used to increase unemployment benefits by $75 per week. The Greens are also seeking to revive Labor’s failed super-profits tax on mining companies.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ALP’s property-tax hit may be imposed as early as July

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 25-Oct-18

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has defended Labor’s proposed negative gearing and capital gains tax reforms, amid concern about their impact on dwelling construction. He says modelling commissioned by Master Builders Australia is flawed as it does not take into account the fact that negative gearing changes will be "grandfathered". MBA CEO Denita Wawn argues that the grandfathering provisions will have no effect on future investment decisions. Sources have indicated that a Labor government would implement the negative gearing reforms from July 2020, and possibly a year earlier if the federal election is called before the end of 2018.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, CADENCE ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Cut power bills by new year or else

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Oct-18

The Business Council of Australia has warned that some of the federal government’s proposed measures to put downward pressure on electricity prices could create investment uncertainty. Amongst other things, energy retailers will be required to offer default price contracts from mid-2019, while energy companies could be forced to divest assets if they fail to take sufficient action. The government also proposes to underwrite investment in new reliable energy sources. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says reducing electricity prices and cutting carbon emissions are not mutually exclusive.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY COUNCIL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT, LAND, WATER AND PLANNING, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Labor risks $12bn housing hit

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 24-Oct-18

Independent modelling by Cadence Economics has examined the likely impact of Labor’s proposed negative gearing and capital gains tax reforms on the residential property market. It concludes that the policy could result in new dwelling commencements falling by between 10,000 and 42,000 over a five-year period. This would in turn reduce construction activity by up to $12bn over this period and result in between 7,500 and 32,000 fewer jobs in the sector. Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn notes that housing approvals have peaked since Labor announced its policy two years ago.

CORPORATES
CADENCE ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

ALP looks to loosen reins on strike action

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 16-Oct-18

Labor is understood to be planning changes to the Fair Work Act to make it easier for workers and unions to undertake sector-wide pay claims. However, to ease employers’ concerns over the prospect of allowing industry-wide industrial action, Labor is believed to be considering giving the Fair Work Commission more powers to stop or cease industrial action where a number of companies are being targeted. University of Adelaide law professor Andrew Stewart says it would seem reasonable to allow industry-wide bargaining in sectors where enterprise bargaining is not easy to access.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE, ACTU

Labor flags flip on small biz tax cuts

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 12-Oct-18

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has signalled that Labor remains open to backing legislation to bring forward tax cuts for small and medium enterprises. He says a prerequisite would be that there is no impact on government funding for hospitals and schools. The tax cuts for businesses with turnover of up to $50m have already been legislated, but the federal government wants to reduce the tax rate to 25 per cent in 2021-22 rather than 2026-27.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Shorten to shake up bank super

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Original article by Simon Benson, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 12-Oct-18

Labor leader Bill Shorten has indicated that bank-owned superannuation funds could face tougher regulation under a Labor government. Noting the inherent of conflict of interests associated with profit-focused banks owning retail super funds, he said that one option could be a requirement that such funds appoint independent trustees. He also flagged the possibility of empowering the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to sack trustees of super funds that consistently underperform.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, ONE NATION PARTY, CENTRE ALLIANCE

Taylor forces NEG security onto states

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith, Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 10-Oct-18

Power retailers will be required to guarantee a reliable electricity supply under a new proposal by the federal government. The proposal for a reliability mechanism – which was a key element of the national energy guarantee – will be put to the upcoming meeting of the COAG Energy Council. The reliability mechanism is one of the initiatives of Energy Minister Angus Taylor which are aimed at reducing electricity prices while ensuring a reliable energy supply as the proportion of electricity generated by renewables increases.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS. ENERGY COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, HYDRO TASMANIA, ERM POWER LIMITED – ASX EPW, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ENERGY SECURITY BOARD, INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF ENERGY AND WATER SUPPLY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT, LAND, WATER AND PLANNING