POLITICAL PARTIES – AUSTRALIA – PLATFORMS

New Senate push to kill union merger

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman, Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 21-Mar-18

The Federal Government hopes to secure the support of Senate crossbenchers for legislation to block a merger between the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union and the Maritime Union of Australia. The Nick Xenophon Team has signalled that it is open to negotiations regarding amendments to the Ensuring Integrity Bill, while the Liberal Democratic Party’s David Leyonhjelm say he is holding talks with the Government. The CFMEU-MUA merger will proceed on 27 March unless the bill is amended.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, ONE NATION PARTY, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Flaw in Shorten’s $2.5m cash refund claim exposed

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 21-Mar-18

SMSF Association chair Deborah Ralston says that contrary to claims by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, relatively few self-managed superannuation funds receive $A2.5m worth of cash refunds for excess dividend imputation credits each year. She adds that SMSFs would need to hold at least $A100m worth of Australian shares that pay fully franked dividends to qualify for such cash refunds. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has accused Shorten of targeting people on low incomes.

CORPORATES
SMSF ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, RICE WARNER ACTUARIES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

Labor’s $59b franking figure questioned

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Original article by Joanna Mather, Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 20-Mar-18

SMSF Association chair Deborah Ralston has questioned the modelling supporting Labor’s plan to scrap cash refunds for franking credits. Labor has stated that it will deliver revenue gains of $A59 billion, but Ralston contends that the modelling does not take into account the $A1.6 million limit imposed on tax-free superannuation pensions in 2017. For its part, Labor claims that the Parliamentary Budget Office did take the new limit into consideration when costing its proposal.

CORPORATES
SMSF ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE, MORTGAGE CHOICE LIMITED – ASX MOC, MONASH UNIVERSITY

Greens fire up climate row

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Andrew Burrell, Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 20-Mar-18

Australian Greens leader Richard Di Natale has been criticised for suggesting that a cyclone in Darwin and recent bushfires in two states were due to the Federal Government’s policy on climate change. A total of 69 homes were destroyed in the New South Wales town of Tathra, and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says it is inappropriate to politicise such events. Di Natale’s leadership is also under scrutiny in the wake of the Greens’ loss in the Batman by-election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GREENS (WESTERN AUSTRALIA), AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BEGA VALLEY SHIRE COUNCIL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NORTHERN TERRITORY. DEPT OF THE CHIEF MINISTER

Cormann presses crossbench on tax cuts

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 4 : 20-Mar-18

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says the Federal Government’s corporate tax cuts are needed to ensure that Australian businesses are internationally competitive. The Government will seek the Senate crossbenchers’ support for the tax package ahead of the May 2018 Budget, and it will require nine of them to vote in favour of the bill. The Nick Xenophon Team opposes the tax cuts, while One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is not convinced that reducing the tax rate for all companies to 25 per cent will result in higher growth in wages.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, ONE NATION PARTY, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Future Fund exempt from Labor tax plan

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 16-Mar-18

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has advised that the Federal Government’s Future Fund will be exempt from Labor’s proposed changes to the dividend imputation system. He says exempting the sovereign wealth fund from the reforms will have no net impact on the Budget, while adding that the fund’s ability to meet future public sector pension liabilities could have been affected if it were denied access to cash refunds for unclaimed dividend imputation credits.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE

Shorten in scramble to fix tax grab

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Original article by Simon Beavis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 15-Mar-18

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has signalled that he is open to a compromise regarding plans to unwind changes to the dividend imputation system, amid concern about the potential impact on retirees. Shorten has conceded that about 250,000 pensioners would be affected by the policy, and he has indicated that Labor will look at measures to ensure that they are not worse off. The Self-Managed Super Fund ­Association and seniors groups have urged Labor to reconsider the policy, while Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has accused Labor of targeting pensioners and self-funded retirees in a "cash grab".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, SMSF ASSOCIATION, NATIONAL SENIORS AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT RETIREES (AIR) LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. CENTRELINK

Tax grab to hit lowest incomes

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Original article by Simon Benson, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 14-Mar-18

The Federal Opposition claims that abolishing cash refunds for excess dividend imputation credits would primarily affect wealthy individuals and members of self-managed superannuation funds. However, analysis by the Treasury suggests that people whose annual income is less than $A18,200 would be hardest hit, which is estimated to be about 610,000 individuals. In contrast, the reforms would only affect about 5,000 people with annual income of more than $A180,000. Treasurer Scott Morrison has warned that the policy would affect more than a million Australians, including 230,000 pensioners, while the wealthy would continue to gain the full value of their franking credits.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, FINANCIAL SERVICES CONSUMER POLICY CENTRE INCORPORATED, SMSF ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, CHIFLEY RESEARCH CENTRE

Labor to cut dividends cash refund

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 13-Mar-18

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will unwind changes to the dividend imputation system that were introduced by the Coalition in 2000 if Labor wins the next federal election. The move would affect around 1.2 million taxpayers and about 200,000 members of self-managed superannuation funds, who would no longer be entitled to receive a cash refund for excess dividend imputation credits. Shorten has emphasised that nobody will pay more tax as a result of the changes, while Australians will still be able to reduce their tax via dividend imputation. The policy is forecast to boost government revenue by $A59bn over the next decade.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE

Labor a triple threat to jobs and wages: PM

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: W3 : 8-Mar-18

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has told a business summit that unemployment would rise if Opposition Leader Bill Shorten implemented his proposed minimum wage reforms. He warned that regulating increases in the minimum wage would not be sustainable unless it was accompanied by growth in the economy. Turnbull also said that Shorten’s stance on Adani’s proposed Carmichael coal mine has resulted in a "genuine" sovereign risk that could affect other projects, with a resulting impact on jobs and investment in Australia.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND