Company boards are stacked with friends of friends. So how can we expect change?
Corporate Boss Caught On TV Video Singing “We’re In The Money” Undermines His Interview
Intoning lines from a piece called “The Gold Diggers’ Song (We’re in the Money)” was probably not the best way to assuage concerns that shareholders might be making hay on the back of higher prices and job cuts. The song was first written for a 1933 film, but is perhaps most famously used in the musical “42nd Street.”
Malcolm Turnbull announces sweeping 'health check' into federal ...
Mr Turnbull says there has not been a significant review into publicservice administration since a royal commission in the 1970s and it is time for another look. The review will be led by CSIRO chairman and former Telstra boss David Thodey and will assess whether public servants have the digital skills ...
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and with Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service Kelly O'Dwyer.Andrew Meares
Former Telstra boss David Thodey to lead major public service review
Former Telstra boss and CSIRO chair David Thodey will lead a wide-ranging review of the federal public service, due to report to the Turnbull government next year.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Minister Assisting for the Public Service Kelly O'Dwyer announced the surprise review on Friday afternoon, saying much of the current structure dated back to a royal commission in the 1970s.
"This review is an excellent opportunity to ensure the APS is fit-for-purpose in the years and decades ahead," Mr Turnbull said.
"It is therefore timely to examine the capability, culture and operating model of the APS, to ensure it is equipped to engage with the key policy, service delivery and regulatory issues of the day."
*APS under review: David Thodey asked to pick up where Nugget Coombs left off
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced an independent review of the Australian Public Service as a whole, led by CSIRO board chair David Thodey and reporting in a year's time.
"This review is an excellent opportunity to ensure the APS is fit-for-purpose in the years and decades ahead," Mr Turnbull said in a statement on Friday.
Labor finance spokesman Jim Chalmers said the review should not be used as a smokescreen to slash frontline services or an excuse to delay reform.
"The Liberals have hollowed out the APS and imposed arbitrary caps, which have seen a blowout in spending and consultants and labour-hire, and poor morale among public servants," he said.
The review should address the use of contractors and consultants, the APS travel budget, senior bureaucrats' salaries and the amount of full-time and permanent staff within the public service, he added.
Other members of the review panel include ANZ executive Maile Carnegie, University of Melbourne vice-chancellor Glyn Davis, former bureaucrat Gordon de Brouwer, University of Sydney chancellor Belinda Hutchinson and Coca-Cola Amatil executive Alison Watkins.
The public sector union says it is a business-dominated panel.
"The panel chosen to oversee this review is not an encouraging start, given it includes only one person who has worked in the Australian Public Service, while four of the six participants have backgrounds serving multinational corporations," CPSU national secretary Nadine Flood said.
"We should not be sleep-walking into the Uber-isation of public services, where communities have no say or control over services and where working people have no security or dignity."
She said a "clear-eyed and objective" review was needed, with bipartisan support and genuine engagement with public servants.
Thodey asked to pick up where Coombs left off
The PM has announced an independent review of the Australian Public Service as a whole, led by CSIRO chair David Thodey and reporting in a year's time.
◾ Secretaries Board: open letter to the Australian Public Service
The new APS review isn't everything former mandarins were calling for
VERONA BURGESS: Malcolm Turnbull has chosen a panel and terms of reference. But does that predetermine the outcome? Here's what ‒ and who ‒ didn't make the cut.
Politicians missing in action on real public sector change
TOM BURTON: If ever there was any sector ripe for disruption, it is the modern bureaucracy, Australian or otherwise.
A 'neoliberal stitch-up' say union critics, but ALP cautious
The wide-ranging review into the APS hasn't even started yet, but it's already taking criticism.
Think
Small explains the behavioural science behind these
principles. And puts them into a straightforward, 7 step framework.
Its aim is to help all of us apply the insights from the behavioural science
research to our own lives, when we recognise that we want to do something, but
haven't necessarily got the tools at hand to follow through. The book sets out
to help you make better decisions at work, rest and play ...
New Zealand sick of being left off the map2:43
Everything Political May 2018: Sydney Democracy Network
Kidnapped democracy: how can citizens escape?
Ramón A. Feenstra, Universitat Jaume I
The financial oligarchies differ from other kidnappers by being silent about their power over institutions and policies – they don't want to alert anyone to what they have done.
Legal precedent based on false beliefs proves hard to overturn
Helen Fraser, University of New England
Not all false beliefs arise from malicious misinformation. Some legal precedents rest on the status of everyday 'common knowledge', since shown to be false, but embedded in our law nonetheless.
New Zealand sick of being left off the map2:43
Everything Political May 2018: Sydney Democracy Network
Kidnapped democracy: how can citizens escape?
Ramón A. Feenstra, Universitat Jaume I
The financial oligarchies differ from other kidnappers by being silent about their power over institutions and policies – they don't want to alert anyone to what they have done.
Legal precedent based on false beliefs proves hard to overturn
Helen Fraser, University of New England
Not all false beliefs arise from malicious misinformation. Some legal precedents rest on the status of everyday 'common knowledge', since shown to be false, but embedded in our law nonetheless.
Tourist killed after SatNav told driver to go wrong way near Cliffs of Moher, court hears The Journal. PlutoniumKun: “Just a little example of how even satnav systems can kill, its not just self driving cars.”
Melbourne’s water supply on verge of “disaster” as population balloons MacroBusiness
Russia’s Bonds Are Toxic Nuclear Waste Again, Hello Bondageddon Russia Insider (Kevin W). Key section, which also happens to apply to Brexit, which is why the “Oh this will be sorted somehow” crowd is in store for a rude awakening:
“Politics is more important than business now and this is a change that will last for years. The people that make politics think that politics is more important than finance,” says Stefan Benedetti, portfolio manager at Pioneer Investment. “This is going to be the biggest change in our lifetime.”
Even
when ASIC has been sufficiently resourced to pursue litigation, the
Australian courts have contributed to an environment where contravening
behaviour is a rewarding option
Big Pharma Greets Hundreds Of Ex-Federal Workers At The ‘Revolving Door’
An update on one of the biggest users of DC revolving doors: health care industry executives.
Teachers’ rebellion spreads on four continents WSWS
Teachers’ rebellion spreads on four continents WSWS
Firm accused of helping businesses dodge creditors goes into liquidation
New laws to fight phoenix activity | INTHEBLACK
The revolving door at the infrastructure club
The public disclosure of information that Australia’s largest companies give to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) on their tax returns doesn’t sway investors’ decisions and doesn’t reduce corporate tax avoidance, our research shows.
We examined the first three releases of ATO tax transparency data in 2014, 2015 and 2016, along with financial statement data and share price movements for 244 listed companies. Under the Tax Laws Amendment Act 2013 the ATO is required to disclose total revenue, taxable income, and income tax payable for these companies.
The public disclosure of information that Australia’s largest companies give to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) on their tax returns doesn’t sway investors’ decisions and doesn’t reduce corporate tax avoidance, our research shows.
We examined the first three releases of ATO tax transparency data in 2014, 2015 and 2016, along with financial statement data and share price movements for 244 listed companies. Under the Tax Laws Amendment Act 2013 the ATO is required to disclose total revenue, taxable income, and income tax payable for these companies.