Union pulls trigger for national pay deal at McDonald's
The Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association applied on Friday for national orders against the fast-food giant just days after winning a major case to force 18 South Australian franchisees to the negotiating table for 5000 workers.
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West Australian
30 minutes ago
- West Australian
Opposition says WA's GST might not be safe from Jim Chalmers' secret tax advice
Sussan Ley has assured WA voters she has 'no plans whatsoever' to change GST arrangements, but said a Treasury briefing urging the Albanese Government to raise taxes is proof Labor cannot be trusted. The new Opposition Leader has arrived in Perth for the first time since the May election and praised the 'great state of Western Australia' for 'having a crack', after a tour of mining giant Rio Tinto's operation centre. She seized on a briefing note from Treasury, accidentally released after a freedom of information request, when asked about a new push to reform the GST. 'We have no plans whatsoever to change the GST arrangements. However, when you look at the report that the Labor party leaked that it received, it doesn't make that clear,' Ms Ley told reporters on Monday. 'What it says is that taxes may need to be raised, so the great people of WA need to ask their Treasurer and their Prime Minister what plans they may have when it comes to the GST and, indeed, every other business tax, personal tax, mining tax that might affect the State of WA.' Treasurer Jim Chalmers said his view hasn't changed, since repeatedly promising during the election campaign that there would be no change to the deal that guarantees WA 75 cents for every dollar of GST raised. But he also vowed to keep an open mind, ahead of an economic reform roundtable in Canberra next month. 'We've tried not to artificially limit the ideas that the states or others will bring to the reform roundtable,' he told reporters on Monday. 'We've tried to have a relatively open mind. But you've all heard me talk about the GST before, and you all would have noticed what the Prime Minister said about the GST in the last few days and those views haven't changed. 'When it comes more broadly to complexity in the tax system, of course, we are interested in ways to simplify the tax system.' Mr Chalmers told reporters he was 'pretty relaxed' about the briefing notes that were reportedly sent by mistake, warning that additional revenue and spending reductions were needed, and that the Government's target to build 1.2 million homes over five years will not be met. 'When (Anthony Albanese) gets back to Australia, he's got some explaining to do,' Ms Ley said. Ms Ley is due to meet with WA Liberal Leader Basil Zempilas on Monday afternoon, as the party comes to terms with dismal results in both the State and Federal elections this year. The Liberal party lost the seat of Moore to Labor, leaving the Opposition with only four out of 12 Federal seats in WA, but boosted its numbers to seven MP's in the lower house of State Parliament. Ms Ley said the nation's prosperity depends on WA. 'They represent what the Liberal Party stands for, aspiration, having a crack and backing those Australians who do want to get ahead,' she said. 'But I am worried that productivity is declining, flat-lining to its lowest point in 60 years. 'To improve productivity requires a competitive economic agenda, tough decisions to be taken, less regulation, smaller government, and it requires effort from this Labor Government, and I'm not sure that we're seeing that.' She said she is in WA to listen and identified energy policy as one focus. 'I mention energy because energy is so important in our manufacturing industries, and they play such a vital role in WA,' Ms Ley said. 'The small businesses of WA that I came to know and love over the last three years are doing it really tough because of energy. 'So we're setting clear parameters around policies, but we're also making sure that we do listen, because we accept with humility the result of the last election. 'We will listen, we will stand by our values and, as we develop policy, it will be through the prism of those values. Lower, simpler, fairer taxes, less government regulation.' Ms Ley said projects in WA are 'drowning' in red tape and called the extension of Woodside's North-West Shelf gas project - that was granted provisional approval in June - a prime example, but wouldn't say how she proposes to fast-track approvals. 'I'm not going into the individual details,' she said. 'You have to have a government that's determined to bust that congestion and not bog everything down in bureaucracy.'
The Age
41 minutes ago
- The Age
Albanese walks trade-security tightrope before Xi meeting
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australia is not for turning on its decision to take the Port of Darwin out of Chinese hands, as mining billionaire Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest warns that an overemphasis on security risks posed by China is hurting the $312 billion in annual trade between the two nations. As Albanese prepares for a grand welcome at his meeting with Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday, the final day of his two-day stop in Shanghai was centred on Australia's financial ties with its biggest trading partner. Trade will be central to Albanese's talks with Xi and Chinese Premier Li Qiang – who famously referred to Albanese as a 'handsome boy' in 2023 – on Tuesday. But disagreements are likely to make the agenda, including China's frustration with Australia's decision to force a Chinese firm to end its lease over the Port of Darwin due to security concerns. Albanese said his government would not be deterred when asked if he believed China might retaliate against the move, Chinese-owned firm Landbridge having leased the asset since 2015. 'The answer to that is no,' the prime minister said at a press conference in Shanghai's Peninsula Hotel. Loading 'We had a very clear position that we want the port to go into Australian ownership. We've been very clear about it … and we will go through that process.' On the economic front, the prime minister said Donald Trump's trade war might benefit Australia because Asian nations hit by tariffs might turn their attention from the US to Australia. Albanese said he was solely focused on his trip to China when asked if he was closer to securing a meeting with Trump, noting that previous Liberal prime ministers Tony Abbott and Malcolm Fraser had met with Chinese leaders before seeing their US counterparts.
Sydney Morning Herald
42 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Albanese walks trade-security tightrope before Xi meeting
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australia is not for turning on its decision to take the Port of Darwin out of Chinese hands, as mining billionaire Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest warns that an overemphasis on security risks posed by China is hurting the $312 billion in annual trade between the two nations. As Albanese prepares for a grand welcome at his meeting with Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday, the final day of his two-day stop in Shanghai was centred on Australia's financial ties with its biggest trading partner. Trade will be central to Albanese's talks with Xi and Chinese Premier Li Qiang – who famously referred to Albanese as a 'handsome boy' in 2023 – on Tuesday. But disagreements are likely to make the agenda, including China's frustration with Australia's decision to force a Chinese firm to end its lease over the Port of Darwin due to security concerns. Albanese said his government would not be deterred when asked if he believed China might retaliate against the move, Chinese-owned firm Landbridge having leased the asset since 2015. 'The answer to that is no,' the prime minister said at a press conference in Shanghai's Peninsula Hotel. Loading 'We had a very clear position that we want the port to go into Australian ownership. We've been very clear about it … and we will go through that process.' On the economic front, the prime minister said Donald Trump's trade war might benefit Australia because Asian nations hit by tariffs might turn their attention from the US to Australia. Albanese said he was solely focused on his trip to China when asked if he was closer to securing a meeting with Trump, noting that previous Liberal prime ministers Tony Abbott and Malcolm Fraser had met with Chinese leaders before seeing their US counterparts.
