Author: roymorgansocial

Shut border risk to jobs

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Original article by Andrew Tillett, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 7-Jul-20

A record 127 new coronavirus cases were reported in Victoria on 6 July, including 16 at the nine public housing estates that are in a hard lockdown. Another two people in Victoria have died from the virus, lifting the national death toll to 106. Meanwhile, Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox has described the decision to close Victoria’s border with New South Wales as a "sledgehammer approach" which will result in immense economic disruption. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian argues that the border closure is necessary because the coronavirus is now being spread in Melbourne via community transmission. She maintains that borders between other states should be re-opened.

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Overcrowded towers are virus incubators

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Original article by Natasha Robinson
The Australian – Page: 3 : 7-Jul-20

Fifty-three residents of Melbourne’s nine locked-down public housing towers have tested positive to the coronavirus to date. Victoria’s Housing Minister Richard Wynne says that about 400 residents were tested on 6 July, and four per cent tested positive. The Victorian Public Tenants Association’ executive officer Mark Feenane says there is chronic overcrowding in the towers, adding that it is time to consider scrapping the high-rise buildings in favour of low-density accommodation. Australia’s acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has likened the public housing towers to ‘vertical cruise ships’.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT, LAND, WATER AND PLANNING, VICTORIAN PUBLIC TENANTS ASSOCIATION

Fears of Victorian outbreak acceleration amid rise in intensive care admissions

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Original article by
The New Daily – Page: Online : 3-Jul-20

Victoria recorded 77 new coronavirus cases on 2 July, including 31 that have been attributed to community transmission. A total of 86 new cases were reported nationwide, with eight in New South Wales. This includes a Woolworths employee who had returned to Sydney after leaving hotel quarantine in Melbourne; 50 workers at the Woolworths store in Balmain are now in lockdown. Meanwhile, the Northern Territory has recorded its first coronavirus case in four weeks, with another person who was in hotel quarantine in Melbourne testing positive after returning to Darwin. Australia now has 807 active coronavirus cases, with the nation’s total number of infections having risen to 8,001.

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Judges urged to report concerns

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Original article by Nicola Berkovic
The Australian – Page: 7 : 3-Jul-20

The New South Wales Supreme Court has issued a new policy on unacceptable workplace conduct, covering issues such as sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying. It applies to judges and ­judicial staff, and encourages judges and staff to report unacceptable workplace conduct or suspected misconduct. The policy has been introduced in the wake of sexual harassment allegations raised against former High Court judge Dyson Heydon, and includes the appointment of an external consultant to investigate complaints of unacceptable workplace conduct against judges and other judicial staff.

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SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Trad in clear but no recall to cabinet

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Original article by Michael McKenna, Charlie Peel
The Australian – Page: 7 : 3-Jul-20

Queensland’s Crime & Corruption Commission has cleared former deputy premier and treasurer Jackie Trad of deliberately trying to intervene in the appointment of a secondary school principal in her electorate. However, the Commission stated her involvement in the appointment process created a "corruption risk". Trad says she feels vindicated by the Commission’s findings, and that the issue had been turned into a "political witchhunt" by the Liberal National Party. Despite being cleared by the Commission, it is believed Trad will remain on the backbench until the state election on 31 October, when she is expected to struggle to hold her seat of South Brisbane against the Greens.

CORPORATES
QUEENSLAND. CRIME AND CORRUPTION COMMISSION, LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

JobSeeker’s $200 boost could cost $4 billion for six months

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Original article by Shane Wright
The Age – Page: Online : 3-Jul-20

The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre’s director, Alan Duncan, says the JobSeeker payment should be increased when the coronavirus supplement ends in September. Duncan contends that the unemployment benefit was insufficient prior to the pandemic, and he has suggested that it could be increased by $200 a fortnight; he estimates that this would cost about $3.8bn over six months. Duncan adds that the JobSeeker payment must be scaled back in order to provide people with an incentive to seek work.

CORPORATES
BANKWEST CURTIN ECONOMICS CENTRE

Can the Federal Government’s $50 million regional media bailout package save community newspapers?

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Original article by Ainsleigh Sheridan, Peta Doherty
abc.net au – Page: Online : 3-Jul-20

Launched in April, the federal government’s $50 million Public Interest News Gathering fund aims to support high quality news in rural Australia. The fund has announced that it is offering financial assistance to five television stations, 13 radio stations and 92 newspapers, with major media companies Australian Community Media and Seven West Media among those to receive assistance. Country Press Australia president Bruce Ellen claims small regional publishers did not get overly much in the way of money from the fund. Noting the federal government gave regional airlines $300 million, he questions whether the government values independent and local journalism

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AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, COUNTRY PRESS AUSTRALIA

Feds eye charges for ABC reporter

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 3 : 3-Jul-20

A spokesman for Attorney-General Christian Porter has declined to comment on the Australian Federal Police’s decision to refer an ABC journalist for possible prosecution. The AFP has forwarded a brief of evidence to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions following a two-year investigation into the ‘Afghan Files’ case. However, the brief only names one of the ABC journalists responsible for the series of reports, Dan Oakes. Porter would have to approve any decision to prosecute Oakes, and he has previously stated that he would be unlikely to authorise the prosecution of journalists for publishing classified information.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

‘A national security scandal’: Kevin Rudd names three gaps in defence strategy

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Original article by Anthony Galloway
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 3-Jul-20

The federal government’s new defence strategy includes expenditure of $270 billion over the next 10 years on boosting the Australian Defence Force. However, former prime minister Kevin Rudd contends there are three major gaps in the strategy: failing to build up Australia’s cyber defences with sufficient speed; insufficient spending in the Pacific region, and delays in the delivery of new submarines. Rudd noted his government’s 2009 Defence White Policy had called for a doubling of Australia’s submarine fleet, and he claims the submarine project has been "comprehensively botched".

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AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE

BHP’s fresh punt on Bass Strait

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 13 & 20 : 3-Jul-20

BHP is one of several companies that provided funding for a 11,500sq km seismic survey in Bass Strait. This has prompted speculation that BHP may be hoping to make a new gas discovery as a prelude to divesting its 50 per cent stake in the Bass Strait joint venture. ExxonMobil is pressing ahead with plans to sell its stake; some observers believe that BHP’s non-operating stake could be more appealing to prospective buyers, and that it could potentially secure a deal before ExxonMobil.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION