Author: roymorgansocial

Anger bottled up over botched deposit scheme

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Original article by Andrew Clennell
The Australian – Page: 3 : 30-Nov-17

A container deposit scheme is due to come into effect in New South Wales on 1 December, but Deputy Premier John Barilaro wants Premier Gladys Berejiklian to delay its introduction. Under the scheme, consumers get a refund of $A0.10 for each container they take back to collection points or reverse vending machines. However, Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton has been accused of failing to ensure that there are enough collection points available, particularly in regional areas, despite consumers already being charged at least $A3 more for a carton of beer.

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, SHOOTERS AND FISHERS PARTY INCORPORATED, LION NATHAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Port operator to sue MUA over illegal picket line

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 30-Nov-17

Victoria International Container Terminals is planning legal action against the Maritime Union of Australia over what it claims is an illegal picket at Melbourne’s Webb Dock terminal. The picket has been in place since 27 November, and is aimed at pressuring VICT to re-deploy a stevedore who was denied a security clearance that would allow him to work in the dock’s restricted zone. VICT contends the MUA’s action puts at risk business growth in the order of $A100 million.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA INTERNATIONAL CONTAINER TERMINALS, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN MARITIME OFFICERS’ UNION, CONTAINER TRANSPORT ALLIANCE AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, DP WORLD AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PATRICK CORPORATION LIMITED

Teach primary school kids about IT: Atlassian boss

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 19 : 30-Nov-17

Atlassian co-founder Michael Cannon-Brookes wants to see young Australian children exposed to computer science and coding at a young age, particularly girls. Cannon-Brookes says Australia has a lack of people with skills in computer science and coding at the present time, and teaching these skills at primary school level would make students more likely to study computer science and coding as they get older. Atlassian allows its staff to take five days off a year to undertake volunteer work, and its staff in Sydney have been teaching basic computer skills to 55 schools for the past two years.

CORPORATES
ATLASSIAN CORPORATION PLC, GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Fairfax pulls plug on HuffPost

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Original article by Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 5 : 30-Nov-17

Fairfax Media has announced the end of its joint venture with Huff Post Australia, just two years after the launch of the online news and commentary web site by editor Tory Maguire. Maguire will leave HuffPost Australia as a result, as will CEO JJ Eastwood. It is understood that Fairfax may try to find jobs for some HuffPost Australia staff, but the majority are expected to lose their jobs. The end of the joint venture could impact on former "Today" host Lisa Wilkinson, who is HuffPost Australia’s editor-at-large, and who is understood to be on a six-figure annual deal.

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FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, HUFFPOST AUSTRALIA, AMERICA ONLINE INCORPORATED, VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED, HUFFINGTON POST

Euthanasia to be legal from 2019

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Original article by Noel Towell
The Age – Page: 2 : 30-Nov-17

Victoria’s lower house passed the government’s voluntary assisted dying bill on 29 November, bringing to an end over 100 hours of debate on the legislation. Denis Hart, the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, said he was extremely disappointed that the legislation had been passed, although its passage was welcomed by Lisa Fitzpatrick from the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation. The legislation will not come into effect until 2019.

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CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIAN NURSING AND MIDWIFERY FEDERATION, VICTORIA. DEPT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

$5bn hit targets tech giants

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Original article by Nick Tabakoff
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 30-Nov-17

Australian Taxation Office commissioner Chris Jordan says its clampdown on multinationals has unearthed $A5 billion in unpaid taxes in just 16 months. Jordan claims that multinationals have tried to intimidate the ATO into giving them reduced assessments, and that they have tried to "bamboozle" him with excessive documentation and diagrams. Jordan is particularly critical of the manner in which Google has structured its business affairs in Australian to avoid paying as little tax as possible.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, MICROSOFT CORPORATION, CHEVRON CORPORATION, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Marriage bill clears Senate

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 30-Nov-17

The Senate has approved legislation allowing same-sex couple to marry, with the vote 43-12 in favour of the bill. The legislation will now go to the House of Representatives in the week beginning 4 December, when conservatives will be seeking to move amendments to the legislation to allow for religious protection, something they were not able to achieve in the Senate. Labor Senate leader Penny Wong said the bill’s passage was cause for great celebration.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ONE NATION PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT

ANZ fires staff over harassment

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 30-Nov-17

The ANZ Bank has dismissed one of its overseas employees after he had sexually harassed a female employee from another bank. The incident occurred outside of work hours. His dismissal was reported to staff in an email from ANZ’s Kathryn van der Merwe; the same email also noted that other staff had been sacked for using illicit drugs at a work-connected event. Van der Merwe stressed in the email that ANZ staff could be dismissed for illegal activities, even if they occurred outside of work time.

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AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Governments, Treasury officials and RBA forecasters all work in sheltered workshops

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Original article by P.D Jonson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 29-Nov-17

In developed nations, governments have opted for definitions of unemployment that make things look better than they really are. For over a decade, Roy Morgan (and myself) have been pointing this out. The latest Roy Morgan survey shows 2.3 million Australians unemployed or underemployed. In percentages of the workforce, this is 9.5 per cent unemployed and 8.5 per cent under-employed, well above the official 5.4 per cent unemployment figure. Hardly shooting the lights out. One might be tempted to imagine that governments, Treasury officials and RBA forecasters all work in sheltered workshops and are the last to accept messages that run against their workshop’s findings. Indeed, their proven blindness has larger consequences. Click for PDF version.

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ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Fitness tests for ageing doctors

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Original article by Sean Parnell
The Australian – Page: 5 : 29-Nov-17

The Medical Board of Australia has recommended that doctors over the age of 70 be required to undergo fitness testing to ensure they are still capable of treating patients. However, Board chairwoman Joanna Flynn stressed that there were no plans to introduce a mandatory retirement age for doctors. The Board also wants registered doctors to undertake a minimum of 50 hours of continuing professional development each year, while it would like to see young doctors and medical students observed "for possible integrity issues"

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MEDICAL BOARD OF AUSTRALIA