Online Press review 23 April 2015
The articles in purple are not available online. Please contact the Press and Information Department.
FRONT PAGE
Lost in Syria: the journey to jihadi for Neil Prakash (AUS) Schliebs Just 18 months before he was urging Australians to launch attacks for Islamic State, Neil Prakash was seemingly lost in Syria, with no idea what the group’s Arabic name was. Budget locks in billions in funding cuts to states (AUS) Uren The federal budget is expected to detonate a row between the commonwealth and the states by locking in $4 billion in cuts to school and hospital funding ahead of Tony Abbott’s retreat with premiers in July, when he has promised to revisit the issue. Pension costs to triple but ALP says it’s sustainable (AUS) Maher Labor has declared the Age Pension is “sustainable” without policy changes, despite government projections showing the annual cost will more than triple in 40 years to $165 billion. Welfare to work drive has zero gain (AUS) Sid Maher WELFARE-to-work programs promoted by federal governments over the past decade have failed to have any substantial effect on the pool of about one million Australians not in work. Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen flags Labor intention to wind back negative gearing (CAN+SMH) Kenny Buying that second or third investment property to help fund retirement may be less attractive in future with Labor opening the door to a policy of tightening up negative gearing tax concessions, if elected.
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS
POLITICS ‘One eye shut’ tactic is a double vision of failure (AUS/Opinion) Crowe Labor and the Coalition are slowly facing up to the huge cost of the nation’s retirement incomes policies, but each will admit to only half the problem. ‘Tough policies’ in Chris Bowen Treasurer blueprint (AUS) Maher After spending just under three months as treasurer during Kevin Rudd’s brief return as prime minister in 2013, Chris Bowen yesterday laid out a blueprint for what he hopes is a second stint in the job. Bill Shorten’s wedge politics is neither clever nor productive (AUS/Opinion) van Onselen There is nothing inherently wrong with Bill Shorten’s superannuation tax policy announced yesterday. In fact it’s hard to disagree that earnings above $75,000 a year should pay a modest 15c in the dollar in taxation. A retired couple can still earn $150,000 a year before paying tax on their super. Better a swift schooner than being courted by terror (AUS/Opinion) Savva Last Saturday night, Tony Abbott went to a pub with a group of friends to farewell an old uni mate who was going overseas.
Ambassade de France en Australie – Service de Presse et Information Site : http://www.ambafrance-au.org/ Tél. : 61 (02) 6216 0150 Email : [email protected]
The good, the bad and the ugly in health reform (AUS/Opinion) Barnes The changed direction of the Abbott government’s health policy, announced by minister Sussan Ley yesterday, combines the good, the bad and the ugly.
SOCIAL SERVICES Sussan Ley giving up on ‘big-bang Medicare structural reform’ (AUS) Parnell Premature X-rays for back pain, unnecessary referrals to allied health professionals and regional spikes in cardiac procedures are areas likely to be reviewed in the Abbott government’s search for Medicare savings. Wasteful health system ‘ripping off’ patients, taxpayers (AUS) Crowe Patients and taxpayers are being “ripped off” by a health system riddled with waste, according to a Productivity Commission report that will call today for tougher action to save money.
TAX AVOIDANCE Tax boss returns fire at tech giants and miners (AUS) Shanahan The tax commissioner has cast doubt on the veracity of evidence given by tech giants and Australia’s largest miners at an inquiry into corporate tax avoidance, revealing that the Australian Taxation Office is auditing tech giants such as Google for billions of dollars of profit it believes ends up in Bermuda.
TAX REFORM Labor eyes negative gearing after superannuation move (AFR) Coorey Negative gearing could be limited to new houses or just one investment property under changes being considered by the federal Opposition as part if its ongoing policy blitz between now and the election. Super Labor attack – it's a financial mirage (AFR/Comment) Hewett Labor couldn't help itself. The lure of grabbing supposedly easy money from superannuation "tax breaks" was just too great. Labor's superannuation tax policy needs more bite (AFR/Opinion) Daley Labor's proposals to rein in superannuation concessions is a step in the right direction but what it leaves is still far too generous. Treasurer Joe Hockey open to scaling back superannuation tax concessions (CAN) Khadem Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey has left open the option of scaling back superannuation concessions as part of the tax white paper process. Labor's crackdown on super tax breaks for wealthy is politically risky, but makes sense (SMH/Analysis) Kenny Tax concessions on super were designed to encourage people to save for retirement, not to allow the very wealthy to park their money out of reach of the taxman.
BUDGET 2015 Canada joins NZ, UK in showing Hockey how to balance budget (AFR) Kehoe, Greber Canada has become the latest Commonwealth country to trump Australia's fiscal management despite being hamstrung by tumbling commodity prices, with the conservative Harper government setting the ambitious goal of achieving a budget surplus next year. Joe Hockey flags start-up incentives in budget (AFR) Mather Treasurer Joe Hockey says "one of the main groups of beneficiaries" from this year's budget will be "innovative small businesses" including start-up companies.
ANZAC DAY Turks’ trench restoration efforts at Gallipoli branded ‘sacrilege’ (AUS) Walker Turkish efforts to restore historic trenches at Gallipoli have been slammed as “sacrilege’’ by a leader of the Anzac mission to map the battlefield, straining relations in the build-up to Saturday’s centenary of the World War I landings.
Ambassade de France en Australie – Service de Presse et Information Site : http://www.ambafrance-au.org/ Tél. : 61 (02) 6216 0150 Email : [email protected]
Pillars of nationhood steeped in the Anzac legend (AUS/Opinion) Sheridan Anzac Day is one of the supreme achievements of modern Australia. The original event in all its glory and terror rightly remains the centre of our attention: the heroism of the Anzac soldiers, the scale of the casualties in the Gallipoli campaign — 27,000 Australians killed and wounded — the role of the journalists, the galvanising effect on society, the heroism of the nurses and much, much more. Anzac Day marks a century of failed foreign policy (AFR/Opinion) Latham There are far too many parallels between Gallipoli and the conflicts that we fight in today. It is time for an independent foreign policy.
DEFENCE Staff ‘too stretched’ to help veterans (AUS) Burrell As Australians gather in Gallipoli to celebrate the centenary of the Anzac Day landings, a veterans’ support group says thousands of the nation’s recently returned soldiers are increasingly desperate and suicidal because the Department of Veterans’ Affairs is severely understaffed.
SECURITY/TERRORISM Bosnian leader lashes out at Islamic centre for radicalisation (AUS) Baxendale The Bosnian Islamic Council of Australia has lashed out at the Melbourne Islamic centre linked to the radicalisation of several terror suspects, saying it is preying upon young Muslims. Islamic State recruiter Neil Prakash calls for attacks in Australia in propaganda video (CAN) Calligeros Australia's most senior Islamic State recruiter in Syria has urged young Muslim men to "rise up" and launch attacks on home soil in a new alarming propaganda video. Muslim community still waiting for Abbott government's anti-terror funds (SMH) Bachelard Muslim communities have not yet received any funds from the Abbott government to combat the lure of Islamic State recruiters, and neither the government nor community leaders can say how that money will be spent.
CLIMATE CHANGE Greg Hunt bid for direct action at auction (AUS) Maher Environment Minister Greg Hunt said it would be “outstanding’’ if the government’s first emissions reduction auction purchases five million tonnes of abatement, the results of which will be released today. Bjorn Lomborg centre: leaked documents cast doubt on Abbott government claims (CAN+SMH) Cox, Knott It was the Abbott government's original idea for the University of Western Australia to host a think tank created by the "sceptical environmentalist" Bjorn Lomborg, according to leaked talking points.
INFRASTRUCTURE Andrews government looks to road project in the west (AFR) Keen The Victorian government is considering building a road in Melbourne's west similar to the cancelled second stage of the East West Link that it cancelled in an effort to break the stalemate with the federal government over billions in funding.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
FOREIGN POLICY Australia warming up to Tehran (AUS/Features) Nicholson Julie Bishop’s trip to Iran was groundbreaking in several unexpected ways, and timely. Our shining Foreign Minister needs to focus (CAN+SMH/Opinion) Garnaut These are testing times and Julie Bishop should keep a close eye on her portfolio.
Ambassade de France en Australie – Service de Presse et Information Site : http://www.ambafrance-au.org/ Tél. : 61 (02) 6216 0150 Email : [email protected]
IMMIGRATION Cambodia your only option, Peter Dutton warns Nauru refugees (AUS) Alford, Kohlbacher Cambodian officials remained on Nauru yesterday, explaining resettlement offers to refugees as Immigration Minister Peter Dutton addressed prospective transferees via a video.
FRANCE
Man arrested for French ‘church attacks’ (AUS) AP An Islamic extremist was arrested here for planning an imminent attack on one or more churches, France’s top security official said last night. Paris ends 'romantic' opposition to takeovers (AFR) Chassany, Stothard, FT France's economy minister has admitted that the country is uncompetitive as a base for global companies and can no longer take a "romantic" approach to rebuffing foreign takeovers, following the €16bn sale of Alcatel-Lucent to Nokia.
WORLD
Shinzo Abe and Xi Jinping start Asian anniversary diplomatic dance (AFR/Comment) Earl While the Gallipoli commemoration soaks up public attention over the next week, two other anniversaries which bookend it will say more about the contemporary world in which Australia exists. The IMF has never been as important, or as lost (AFR/Opinion) Walsh The International Monetary Fund's role has morphed several times since its founding. Now it is in the driving seat on Europe, confronting the vast challenge of stagnating and ageing developed economies.
EDITORIALS
The Australian Editorial: Looming battle over retirement incomes Peter Costello ensured he would be a cult hero for the current cohort of retirees by freeing them of the obligation to pay tax on superannuation earnings. In the 2006 budget, the dubious epitome of the Howard era’s fiscal largesse, a 15 per cent tax on super earnings was scrapped. Editorial: Vital push for border control Cutting off the flow of thousands of foreign jihadists, including those from Australia, heading to Syria and Iraq is an important aspect of defeating Islamic State.
The Australian Financial Review Labor's approach is piecemeal Labor's proposed squeeze on superannuation tax concessions enjoyed by those who supply the great bulk of tax revenue is a modest attack on an easy target, a bit like its proposed crackdown on multinational corporate profit taxing. But this supposed rejection of a small-target opposition strategy amounts to a piecemeal response to a problem that requires a more systemic framework. As The Australian Financial Review said on Monday, Labor leader Bill Shorten needs to agree with Tony Abbott that Australia has dug itself into a nasty fiscal hole that is being deepened by the sharp slide in iron ore prices; that both sides of politics need to accept the blame; that, while some tax breaks should be wound back, in a world of mobile capital and skilled labour, no government will be able to fix the problem by trying to squeeze out more tax revenue; that the budget will not return to surplus without a concerted winding back of projected spending growth; and that, ultimately, the solution lies in reviving productivity by sharpening the incentives to working, saving and investing.
Ambassade de France en Australie – Service de Presse et Information Site : http://www.ambafrance-au.org/ Tél. : 61 (02) 6216 0150 Email : [email protected]
The Canberra Times Labor's small step towards sustainable and fair superannuation The Abbott government has responded to the Opposition's self-proclaimed "courageous" crackdown on superannuation concessions by claiming that "every new policy that the Labor Party has is a new tax".
CAPTIONS & CIRCULATION
AUS = The Australian (News Limited); Circulation WK: 126,901, Sat.: 277,386; Digital WK: 31,240, Digital SAT: 31,381. AFR = The Australian Financial Review (Fairfax Media Ltd); Circulation WK: 68,425, Sat.: 69,012. SMH = The Sydney morning Herald (Fairfax Media Ltd); Circulation WK: 161,169, Sat.: 265,457; Digital WK: 56,559, Digital SAT: 56,113. CAN = The Canberra Times (Fairfax Media Ltd); Circulation WK: 30,420, Sat.: 49,965, Sun.: 31,308.
Ambassade de France en Australie – Service de Presse et Information Site : http://www.ambafrance-au.org/ Tél. : 61 (02) 6216 0150 Email : [email protected]