POLITICAL PARTIES – AUSTRALIA – PLATFORMS

Energy mess deters US investors

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 28-Feb-18

DowDuPont’s executive chairman Andrew Liveris has warned that uncertainty over Australia’s energy policy is adversely affecting foreign investment intentions. He recently participated in a round-table discussion in the US with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, state and territory leaders and the CEOs of major US companies. Liveris told the meeting that while Dow is keen to further invest in Australia, this is dependent on a competitive and reliable energy market. He also urged bipartisan support for the Federal Government’s National Energy Guarantee.

CORPORATES
DOWDUPONT INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS

Shorten vowed to kill Adani mine

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Original article by Rhian Deutrom, Sarah Elks
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Feb-18

Former Australian Conservation Foundation president Geoff Cousins held private meetings with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in January. They discussed the potential environmental impact of Adani’s proposed Carmichael coal mine in Queensland, and Cousins says Shorten repeatedly stated that Labor will revoke Adani’s coal mining licence on environmental grounds if it wins the next election. Shorten’s stance on the Carmichael mine has wavered over the last year, and Cousins argues that he needs to resolve Labor’s policy regarding the controversial project.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INCORPORATED, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Shorten’s IR promise to militant CFMEU

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 27-Feb-18

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and employment spokesman Brendan O’Connor visited Glencore’s Oaky North coal mine in October 2017. Shorten told Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union members who were engaged in a long-running strike at the site that Labor will overhaul workplace laws if it wins the next federal election. Employment Minister Craig Laundy says Shorten’s speech demonstrates that Labor intends to pursue industrial relations reforms that would give unions greater power in the workplace.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, GLENCORE PLC, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, ACTU

Hanson dooms company tax cuts

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 26-Feb-18

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has reiterated that Australia must reduce its company tax rate in order to remain internationally competitive in the wake of the Trump administration’s tax reforms. However, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says her party will not support the tax bill in the Senate. She has also questioned whether reducing the tax rate for all companies to 25 per cent would actually result in increased investment in Australia. Acting Prime Minister Mathias Cormann says the tax package must be passed in its entirety.

CORPORATES
ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

Backdown on radical wage plan

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 20-Feb-18

A future Labor government may require the Fair Work Commission to give greater consideration to the needs of people on low wages when deciding on increases in the minimum wage. At present the FWC is also required to take into account a range of economic factors, and Stephen Smith of the Australian Industry Group says the potential change outlined by the Opposition’s workplace relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor could result in many people on low wages losing their jobs. Labor had previously proposed setting the minimum wage at a proportion of the median wage.

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

Shorten’s policies shrink small businesses

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Original article by Craig Laundry
The Daily Telegraph – Page: 64 : 16-Feb-18

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has outlined plans to tie the minimum wage to 60 per cent of the median wage. As well as potentially putting up to one million small companies out of business, his plan is one similar to that rejected by the Fair Work Commission in 2017, with the FWC being an independent body that Shorten himself helped to set up. Australia already has the second-highest minimum wage in the OECD, with 3.3 per cent increase in 2017 being the largest since 2011. Australian small businesses provide 4.7 million jobs, and account for $A378 billion in outputs; Shorten’s plan would spell disaster for the sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE

Laundy’s bid to toughen IR rules

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 9-Feb-18

Workplace Relations Minister Craig Laundy has signalled that the Federal Government may consider amendments to the Fair Work Act aimed at providing greater protection to workers in the enterprise bargaining process. Laundy says there may be a case for strengthening existing provisions of the Act that require workers to be fully informed of the pay and conditions in an enterprise agreement before they vote for it. He has also warned of the potential for huge job losses if a future Labor government were to implements the ACTU’s proposals regarding the minimum wage and workplace laws.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS, McDONALD’S AUSTRALIA LIMITED, KFC

PM switches to plan B on tax reform

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 9-Feb-18

The Senate is set to reject the Federal Government’s corporate tax cuts package after One Nation and the Nick Xenophon Team advised that they will vote against it. The two minor parties have a combined six seats in the Senate, and just three cross-benchers currently support the tax reforms. The lower house passed the company tax cuts bill on 8 February, and Treasurer Scott Morrison says the Government remains committed to getting the tax cuts through the Senate. However, the package’s looming defeat in the upper house will allow the Government to focus on personal income tax cuts in the May 2018 Budget.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, ONE NATION PARTY, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP

Living-wage bid could be death of businesses

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 2-Feb-18

Scott Barklamb of the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry says small businesses in particular would face a big increase in wage costs if a future government adopted the ACTU’s proposal for a "living wage". The Federal Opposition has indicated that it may consider permanently setting the minimum wage at a proportion of the median wage, although it has not specified what this would be. The ACTU’s target for a living wage is 60 per cent of the median wage, and Workplace Minister Craig Laundy says implementing this target would force many businesses to close.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE, THE WORLD BAR

PM’s tax cut drive for companies, workers

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

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will use a speech on 1 February to push for broad-based tax reforms that provide tax cuts for individuals and companies. He will state that the Coalition will aim to deliver tax relief to middle-income earners while retaining its goal of returning the Budget to surplus in 2020-21. Turnbull has reiterated that company tax cuts will be at the top of the Coalition’s agenda when Parliament resumes, stressing that the issue has become more urgent in the wake of tax reforms in the US.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT