Business Council of Australia

Intergenerational report to warn of slow growth and pressures on revenue

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

At the same time, there will be pressures on the revenue base, and changes in revenue sources.

Key Points:

At the same time, there will be pressures on the revenue base, and changes in revenue sources.
The lower growth reflects a slowdown in Australia’s rate of population increase, reduced participation in the workforce as the population ages, and assumed slower long-term productivity growth.
It describes this as a technical assumption and says assumptions that limit long-term tax-to-GDP growth have been a feature of every intergenerational report.
The report points to structural changes to the economy it says will put pressure on the revenue over coming decades.

Presented with a JobSeeker finding too clear to ignore, he changed the subject: how Jim Chalmers is shaping the budget

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Late last year he set up a committee he specifically asked to tell him how bad JobSeeker was.

Key Points:

Late last year he set up a committee he specifically asked to tell him how bad JobSeeker was.
The exact words in its terms of reference required it to advise him on the “adequacy, effectiveness and sustainability of income support payments”.
Independent Senator David Pocock made the committee a condition of supporting an unrelated industrial relations bill in the Senate.

Impossible to ignore

And this committee did make 37 recommendations, as Finance Minister Katy Gallagher noted this week saying she was “not going to be able to do everything”.
But, unusually, this committee went out of its way to make sure one recommendation stood out above all others.
Measured against other members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Australia’s JobSeeker payment for a newly-unemployed single was the third worst.

Too little to get medicines or work

Job seekers told the committee that $347 per week is so low, they kept looking around their homes for things to sell.
Some had to choose between medicines and electricity.
Ben Phillips has calculated that would cost $5.7 billion per year, which is less than 1% of total government spending.

Changing the subject

There are 920,640 Australians on JobSeeker and Youth Allowance (which is a lower rate of JobSeeker for young Australians and is also paid to apprentices and students).
Chalmers appeared to verbal his committee on Tuesday by saying it had found women over 55 are the most vulnerable group amongst unemployed Australians.
Chalmers says we ought to wait to see what is in the budget, which is fair enough.
Read more:
Boosting JobSeeker is the most effective way to tackle poverty: what the treasurer's committee told him

Fraser Institute News Release: Canada lags behind Australia on productivity—more business investment key to increased living standards

Retrieved on:

Thursday, September 29, 2022

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CALGARY, Alberta, Sept. 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- If Canada followed Australias lead in several key policy areas, it could increase productivity growth and raise living standards, finds a new essay released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

Key Points:

CALGARY, Alberta, Sept. 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- If Canada followed Australias lead in several key policy areas, it could increase productivity growth and raise living standards, finds a new essay released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
The similarities between Australia and Canada, economically and culturally, make it an important comparator country for Canadian policymakers, said Stephen Kirchner, senior economist at the Business Council of Australia, senior fellow of the Fraser Institute and author of The Canadian-Australian Productivity Gap: Comparative Institutions and Policy Settings .
This is the third study in a three-part series of studies comparing the Canadian and Australian economies.
To protect the Institutes independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research.

Rio Tinto donates A$1.5 million to Queensland and New South Wales flood relief and recovery efforts

Retrieved on:

Monday, March 7, 2022

Natural Resources, Fund Raising, Other Philanthropy, Philanthropy, Mining, Minerals, Lists of disasters, Â, The Business Council, Rio Tinto, Flood, Red, Volunteering, Business Council of Australia, Tinto, Disaster, Investor, Mining, Jesus för världen givit sitt liv

Rio Tinto has donated A$1.5 million to disaster relief and recovery efforts supporting people affected by widespread floods in Queensland and New South Wales.

Key Points:

Rio Tinto has donated A$1.5 million to disaster relief and recovery efforts supporting people affected by widespread floods in Queensland and New South Wales.
A$250,000 to Givit , a grassroots charity buying and delivering essential items for people affected by the floods.
Rio Tinto is also offering immediate financial support to employees directly impacted by the floods, as well as providing staff involved in recovery efforts, such as Queenslands Mud Army, with full paid leave.
In addition to this, the company will match any staff donations to flood relief causes.