Online Press review 11 May 2015 The articles in purple are not available online. Please contact the Press and Information Department. FRONT PAGE Budget 2015: Reforms to shrink bureaucracy (AUS) Crowe Iconic assets will be sold and government departments will be slashed in a new effort to reduce the size of the public sector and raise more than $4 billion, in contentious reforms to be revealed in tomorrow’s federal budget. Police pounced on teenager’s home after bomb tip (AUS) Stewart, Baxendale The decision to swoop on a teenage terror suspect in Melbourne’s north on Friday was made after police suspected he may have had bombs in his family home. Bjorn Lomborg confident of getting host for Consensus Centre (AUS) Taylor Danish professor Bjorn Lomborg will establish an Australia Consensus Centre outside the University of Western Australia after “toxic politics, ad hominem attacks and premature judgment” led Perth’s oldest university to back out of hosting the commonwealth-backed policy research unit. Terror attack thwarted by ASIO (AUS-WE) Stewart, Baxendale Several improvised explosive devices found during a high-level counterterrorism operation at a suburban house were to be detonated on Friday night after ASIO’s fears of an imminent attack in Melbourne sparked police raids that led to the detention of two terror suspects. Rebuff for navy on super warships (AUS-WE) Stewart The navy has been stymied over an audacious bid to obtain the most potent warships in the - nation’s history, capable of launching almost 100 missiles, because they are too costly. Federal budget 2015: Budget switch to spending (AFR) Coorey, Greber The federal government says it needs to spend savings made in Tuesday's budget rather than use them to reduce debt and deficit because job creation and economic growth are the key priorities. Federal budget 2015: Almost 50 per cent of mums to lose government paid parental leave entitlements (CAN+SMH) Ireland, Wade Almost 80,000 new mothers will lose some or all of their government parental leave payments in a move slammed by a key consultant for the paid parental leave scheme as "the mother of all insults". Renewable energy target: Labor and the government agree to a number but sticking points leave local projects on ice (CAN+SMH-WE) Cox, Riordan The government and Labor have agreed in principle to a large scale renewable energy target of 33,000 gigawatt hours, but a proposal to include the burning of native timber in the scheme could still scupper a deal. Ambassade de France en Australie – Service de Presse et Information Site : http://www.ambafrance-au.org/ Tél. : 61 (02) 6216 0150 Email : [email protected] DOMESTIC AFFAIRS POLITICS Politics of distortion is a poor match for fair-minded debate (AUS-WE/Feature) Crowe The laziest way to malign something you hate is to twist it into something it is not. So when a federal Labor MP was asked on Tuesday about the Coalition’s new plans for the pension, he needed to bend it into the shape he wanted before he could try to condemn it. Scott Morrison defuses criticism with policy smarts and political pragmatism (AFR- WE/Opinion) Coorey Without detracting from the recent efforts of Social Services Minister Scott Morrison, politics has now reached a level where we are celebrating competence. BUDGET 2015 $34m medical boost to counter terrorism threat (AUS) Parnell The National Medical Stockpile will be given $34 million in new medicines and equipment as the Abbott government moves to ensure Australia is well prepared for any terrorist attack or pandemic. Budget 2015: Treasury formula optimistic (AUS) Uren Treasury’s forecasts of the budget heading towards surplus by the end of the decade will be based on highly optimistic projections of economic growth accelerating rapidly for the five years beyond 2016-17 to the fastest sustained growth since the productivity boom of the mid-1990s. Coalition to keep its powder dry on military spending (AUS) Nicholson Australians will have to wait for the release of the defence white paper in August for the full picture of the Abbott government’s spending in that area. Government sources told The Australian it was on course to keep its promise to increase spending on defence to 2 per cent of GDP within 10 years of its election. We will stick to our guns on university reforms: Mathias Cormann (AUS) Lewis Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says the government will “absolutely” stand by its higher- education reforms, confirming the policy will remain in Tuesday’s budget. Fear poor kids will be penalised (AUS) Bita Daycare operators fear some children will miss out on pre-school education despite the $3.5 billion boost to childcare subsidies in tomorrow’s budget. Scientists cheer vow to establish $20bn medical research fund (AUS) Lewis Scientists have applauded the Abbott government for sticking to a pledge to establish the $20 billion Medical Research Future Fund. Bureaucrat jobs to go in driveto save $450m (AUS) Crowe The public service will be forced to cut more jobs to save $450 million over the next five years as the government tries to eliminate waste in health and education, amid a review of duplicated effort across the federation. Scott Morrison at the wheel, back seat for Joe Hockey (AUS/Opinion) Hudson Joe Hockey’s second budget will have Scott Morrison’s fingerprints all over it. Pension reform exposes Labor as Tony Abbott turns dial to fairness (AUS-WE/Feature) Hudson On the diabolical issue of pension reform the Abbott government in the form of Scott Morrison has learned from its near-death experience in 2014 by crafting an astute policy and political package that turns the heat back on the opposition parties and the Senate. Danger of budget failure is manifest for Joe Hockey and Tony Abbott (AUS-WE/Feature) Shanahan Joe Hockey and Tony Abbott are on notice: if the budget they bring down next Tuesday, their second attempt, fails then the Treasurer and possibly the Prime Minister will have to go. Budget 2015: Scott Morrison key to saving Tony Abbott's and Joe Hockey's jobs (AFR/Comment) Hewett It is not surprising so many of Scott Morrison's colleagues want him to replace Joe Hockey as Treasurer. What is unusual is that this Liberal preference for Morrison would still hold if Malcolm Turnbull were ever to replace Tony Abbott as Prime Minister. Ambassade de France en Australie – Service de Presse et Information Site : http://www.ambafrance-au.org/ Tél. : 61 (02) 6216 0150 Email : [email protected] Federal budget 2015: Childcare package backed by industry (AFR) Coorey Industry groups at both ends of the income spectrum have welcomed the government's revamped child care package, putting pressure on the Senate to pass cuts to welfare which would provide the extra $3.5 billion in funding required over the next four years. Budget 2015: The 'de facto diverted-profits tax' (AFR) Mather The government will target tax avoidance by multinational companies by beefing up provisions in existing laws rather than introducing a diverted-profits tax, or so-called Google tax. Budget 2015: Tax office formula a 'work in progress', say experts (AFR) Potter A complex Australian Tax Office formula for estimating multinational corporations' effective tax rates would be almost impossible to implement and isn't ready for budget prime time, tax experts said. Recession? Australia is on the threshold of its greatest-ever era, says Joe Hockey (AFR) Greber Treasurer Joe Hockey has dismissed warnings that the economy faces a recession in 2016 and vowed that Tuesday's federal budget will help keep the jobless rate from climbing above 6.5 per cent. Budget 2015: No top-up for emissions fund, says Greg Hunt (AFR) Ludlow Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt said the $2.5 billion emissions reduction fund – the centrepiece of the Abbott government's climate change policy – would not be topped up over the next four years, despite fears it could run out of money before the next year's federal election. Budget 2015: Confidence fairy unlikely to wave wand for Hockey (AFR/Opinion) Toohey It is little wonder the "confidence fairy" has turned into a shy creature, rarely sighted these days. People don't know what to believe any more from economic managers. Once, politicians could claim infallibility for their policies and then rely on the economists' convenient invention, the confidence fairy, to work her magic on a trusting population. At least, that was the expectation. Government needs to lead, not offer 'dull' budgets (AFR/Opinion) Richardson Canberra will be doing its damnedest to be dull in Tuesday's budget. Budget 2015: global economic context cannot be ignored (AFR-WE/Opinion) Walker In the run-up to the federal budget this coming Tuesday, the government might have anticipated – certainly hoped for – some clearer air both domestically and internationally, but that has not been the case: far from it. Federal Budget 2015: A stepping stone towards preserving the AAA credit rating (AFR- WE/Feature) Tingle, Greber The now "normal" public rituals of the federal budget started in the days when governments really only had one outing a year on the economy, and government controlled a lot of things; when there were lots of market-sensitive decisions on things such as indirect taxes, and there were only newspapers and the radio to carry the message. Federal budget 2015: How the Abbott government childcare changes affect you (CAN+SMH) Ireland The Abbott government has unveiled its long-promised childcare package pledging more money for many families from 2017 but stripping others of nearly all of the childcare assistance they currently receive.