THE 2019 ELECTION year Federal Budget will be handed down on Tuesday, April 2, and the ABC will have extensive coverage on all its platforms.

Coverage begins at 7:30pm (AEDT), as the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg hands down his first Federal Budget live from Canberra on the eve of an election campaign.

From 8pm, our expert team of Leigh Sales, Andrew Probyn, Laura Tingle and Barrie Cassidy will discuss the winners and losers and what the budget means to you, with insights from Greg Jennett and Annabel Crabb.

The Budget Special will include the first interview with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, as well as an interview with Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen.

The coverage and analysis of Budget 2019 continues on ABC NEWS channel from 9pm (AEDT) with extended analysis by Greg Jennett, Andrew Probyn and Emma Alberici, who will be joined by Patricia Karvelas and Ian Verrender.

At 9.30pm (AEDT) Elysse Morgan presents a half hour special of The Business featuring:

• Mathias Cormann - Finance Minister
• Jim Chalmers - Shadow Finance Minister
• Diane Smith-Gander - Australian Business Executive
• Simon McKeon - Chancellor of Monash University

At 10pm (AEDT), there will be a late-night special edition of The Drum simulcast on ABC and ABC NEWS channel, hosted by Ellen Fanning, talking to leaders of the Australian business community for their reaction to the budget. Joining Ellen Fanning will be:

• Ketan Joshi – energy, science and technology expert
• Phil Coorey - Political Editor for the Australian Financial Review
• Wesley Enoch – artistic director and playwright

ABC will also broadcast Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s Budget Reply speech at 7:30pm (AEDT) on Thursday, April 4, followed by extended coverage and analysis on ABC NEWS channel from 8pm (AEDT).

www.abc.net.au

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“MASTER Builders Australia welcomes the announcement of Labor’s Build to Rent tax concessions that will encourage institutional investment in housing and boost residential building activity,” Denita Wawn, CEO of Master Builders Australia said. 

“However, Labor’s announcement that its increase of capital gains tax and restrictions on negative gearing will start from January 1, 2020 does nothing to allay concerns about the impact on building activity and the housing supply. 

“Our modelling that shows Labor’s policy will reduce the number of new homes by up to 42,000 and deprive the economy of up to $11.8 billion worth of building activity,” Ms Wawn said. 

“Master Builders Forecasts tell us that we need 62,000 new homes built each year to meet the community’s demand for housing. 

“We need all incentives for investment on the table rather than taking away incentives from one part of the market to prop up another,” Ms Wawn said. 

“This is just robbing Peter to pay Paul."

www.masterbuilders.com.au

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STRONG PROJECTIONS for key Queensland resource commodities was good news for the state’s economy, jobs, exports and royalty revenue, Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane said.
 
Mr Macfarlane said the Australian Government’s Office of Chief Economist report had forecast strong market conditions for metallurgical and thermal coal, LNG, bauxite, copper and zinc.
 
“A strong and supported Queensland resources sector means a stronger Queensland,” Mr Macfarlane said.
 
“Figures in the latest Resources and Energy quarterly projects growing demand from India and south-east Asia which means even more exports, even more royalty taxes and even more jobs for Queensland.
 
“The resources sector already contributed more than $60 billion of Queensland’s exports, more than $5 billion in royalty taxes, more than 316,000 jobs across the State and will deliver an extra $1 billion in company tax to next week’s Federal Budget due to higher metallurgical coal prices. 

“I am urging Queensland community groups, charities, local councils and other industries to nominate their project and cause for this maroon money through our Maroon Fund (see link below).”

Mr Macfarlane said it was critical there was stable and predictable policy and royalty tax rates or Queensland will fail to benefit from the improved outlook across key commodities.
 
“The reality is that Queensland is a leading supplier of coal, LNG, bauxite, copper and zinc, but we are not alone,” he said.
 
“Haphazard or anti-investment policy will only allow our competitors to improve their market share, attract new investment, create new jobs and return more taxes to their own governments.”

Maroon Fund nominations.

www.qrc.org.au

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THE Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is pleased to acknowledge Australia and New Zealand Bank (ANZ) along with the Westpac bank and its subsidiaries' decision to allow retailers and merchants a choice on how Tap and Go debit card transactions are processed.

Currently, ANZ charges retailers around 25 cents to process contactless debit card payments through eftpos, while Visa and Mastercard impose a fee of approximately 1 percent of the value on a transaction.

Russell Zimmerman, Executive Director of the ARA said, while the bank’s announcement is sound news for retailers and merchants across Australia, there is still a long way to go before those who have higher value average transaction tickets recognise any marginal reductions in costs.

“Contactless payments were first introduced into Australia 13 years ago and since then major banks have automatically routed contactless debit card transactions through higher-cost processing platforms such as Visa and Mastercard, and the extra costs have been borne by retailers and merchants,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“The bank’s approach is a step forward for retailers and merchants across Australia. However, the ARA is disappointed that the banks have only gone halfway by offering merchants an 'opt-in model' and not supported 'Least Cost Routing' as per the RBA Payments System Board, who have been urging banks to adopt the least cost routing processing platform.

“Although the ANZ bank has stated that it is committed to working towards Least Cost Routing, it is difficult to understand why ANZ was unable to achieve this when Tyro, a small acquirer, was able to accomplish this in about three months,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“Furthermore, the ARA is perplexed as to why the National Australia Bank (NAB) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) banks are still silent on this issue. While we understand that both banks will be working towards an offering, we would encourage both banks to offer a Least Cost Routing and not an opt-in model as a matter of urgency.”

While the ANZ website stipulates that merchants must disclose to customers using a sign at the point of sale, that all contactless Multi Network Debit card transactions are to be routed through a domestic ePal network (i.e.eftpos), the ARA is under the impression that this is an unnecessary measure.

“It is the ARA’s understanding -- having had past discussions with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) that the RBA does not require merchants to reveal the way consumers transactions are routed, as it makes no difference to the consumer,” Mr Zimmerman said.

The ARA strongly encourage merchants to consider routing debit transactions via the eftpos network, to secure the vibrancy of the Australian retail industry and the sustainability of the economy. 

“eftpos make significant contributions to the vitality of the Australian economy. Therefore, it is imperative that transaction costs are kept low, to ensure eftpos remains a competitive force within the payments system.”

About the Australian Retailers Association:

Founded in 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is Australia’s largest retail association, representing the country’s $320 billion-dollar sector, which employs more than 1.3 million people. As Australia’s leading retail peak industry body, the ARA is a strong pro-active advocate for Australian retail and works to ensure retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 7,800 independent and national retail members throughout Australia. For more information, visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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