O75 Public Administration

Communication fail: Optus opts out

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Original article by Simon Benson, Joseph Lam, Jess Malcolm
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 9-Nov-23

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland says Optus should have been upfront with its customers regarding the network outage that caused nationwide chaos on Wednesday. The Optus network went offline at about 4am, but the telco did not issue its first statement online until 6.45am and CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin did not make any public statements until 10.30am. Optus’s mobile network, internet and landline services were not fully restored until about 6pm. Bayer Rosmarin says the outage was caused by a "vey technical network engineering issue" and Optus technicians have yet to determine its cause; however, she has emphasised that it was not due to a botched network upgrade.

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SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

Labor delivers concessions on gig economy employment reforms

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Original article by
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 9-Nov-23

On-demand platforms have welcomed the federal government’s decision to make changes to the gig economy provisions of its Closing Loopholes Bill; however, they believe that the concessions do not go far enough. Amongst other things, the amendments will limit the introduction of traditional employment conditions for gig economy workers, such as penalty rates. The Fair Work Commission will be able to impose penalty rates if they are deemed to be appropriate for the type of work, although on-demand platforms had wanted weekend and evening penalty rates to be specifically excluded from the legislation.

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AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

McKibbin warns of 5pc rates

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Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 9-Nov-23

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock noted on Tuesday that progress on reducing inflation has been slower than expected, which contributed to the RBA’s decision to increase official interest rates to 4.35 per cent. Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the rate increase was in the interest of the fight against inflation, while shadow finance minister Jane Hume contends that the federal government’s increase in spending since taking office in May 2022 is making the RBA’s job harder. Meanwhile, former RBA board member Warwick McKibbin argues that increases in taxes or reductions in other government spending programs are necessary to reduce demand in the economy; he adds that the RBA may need to increase the cash rate to five per cent in order to rein in the inflation rate.

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Over 3 million Australians were either unemployed (1.54 million) or under-employed (1.58 million) in October – highest for three years

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Nov-23

The latest Roy Morgan employment series data shows that the number of Australians who are unemployed fell by 22,000 to 1,542,000 (9.9% of the workforce, down 0.3%) in October. However, underemployment rose by 248,000 to a record high of 1,577,000 (10.2% of the workforce). A total of 3.12 million Australians (20.1% of the workforce) were unemployed or underemployed in October, the highest figure since October 2020. Meanwhile, employment rose by 204,000 to a new record high of 13,959,000 in October. The increase was due to a rise in both full-time employment (up 46,000 to 9,009,000) and a large increase in part-time employment (up 158,000 to a new record high of 4,950,000). Roy Morgan’s unemployment figure of 9.9% for October is almost triple the ABS estimate of 3.6% for September, but it is almost identical to the combined ABS unemployment and under-employment figure of 10.0%.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Never have the survivors of the Holocaust felt the need to make a collective statement – until now

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Original article by Fiona Harari
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 9-Nov-23

There is growing concern that anti-Semitism has increased in Australia in response to the Israeli-Hamas war. Some 102 of Australia’s remaining Holocaust survivors have used the 85th anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom in Germany to publish a joint statement urging all Australians to denounce the anti-Semitism and hatred that is speading in Australia and around the world. Amongst other things, they have warned of the consequences of allowing history to repeat itself. Nina Bassat describes Australia as one of the last bastions of civility, but warns that its multicultural and tolerant reputation is now at risk. The 84-year-old adds that anti-Semitism is not only about Jewish people, as any group that is perceived to be different also becomes its victims.

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Pro-Palestine business boycott condemned

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 9-Nov-23

The Stand For Palestine group has been criticised for launching a social media campaign urging Australians to boycott local retailers that have tenuous links to Israel. The companies that have been targeted include Chemist Warehouse and Spotlight Group, which were both founded by the offspring of Jewish migrants. Australian entrepreneur Paul Bassat says these businesses are being boycotted simply because they are owned by Jews, while Arnold Bloch Leibler partner Mark Leibler has described the campaign as "pure unadulterated antisemitism".

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CHEMIST WAREHOUSE, SPOTLIGHT GROUP HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Albanese and Xi to restart annual talks

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 8-Nov-23

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese held talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Tuesday. Li said the meeting will mark the resumption of annual talks between the leaders of the two nations. Albanese had previously held formal talks with Li in Jakarta in September; it was the first meeting between an Australian prime minister and a Chinese premier since Scott Morrison held talks with the late Li Keqiang in Bangkok in November 2019. Meanwhile, Albanese and Li have agreed to a number of initiatives aimed at improving relations between the two nations, including the introduction of multi-entry visas.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Business blues over IR shake-up bill

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 2 : 8-Nov-23

The federal government continues to attract scrutiny over its compromise agreement with the Australian Hotels Association regarding the casual employment provisions of the Closing Loopholes Bill. The deal has been criticised by Restaurant & Catering Australia, the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia and the Minerals Council of Australia. They have released legal advice from Corrs Chambers Westgarth which suggests that, despite the amendments, employers that breach the new definition of a casual could still incur existing penalties.

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AUSTRALIAN HOTELS ASSOCIATION, RESTAURANT AND CATERING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence up 2.8pts to 77.8 – with more people saying it’s a good time to buy major household items

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Nov-23

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose 2.8pts to 77.8 in the week to 5 November; however, it has now spent a record 40 straight weeks below the mark of 85. Consumer Confidence is now 0.9pts below the same week a year ago (78.7), and it is just above the 2023 weekly average of 78.1. Consumer Confidence was up in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, but down slightly in Western Australia. Now 20% of Australians (up 3ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 52% (down 4ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Only 6% (unchanged) of Australians now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 38% (down 2ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 22% (up 4ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 51% (down 3ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Australian government paid millions for unusable Covid face masks from obscure online retailer

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Original article by David Conn, Christopher Knaus
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 8-Nov-23

The former Coalition government has come under renewed scrutiny over its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been revealed that the Department of Health awarded $100m worth of contracts to supply personal protective equipment to a small online retailer in April and June 2020. The contracts to supply 50 million face masks and four million isolation gowns were subsequently outsourced to two companies that are registered in Cyprus. However, some 46 million face masks were deemed to be unusable because they did not comply with quality standards. The Department of Health awarded the contracts via a limited tender.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH AND AGED CARE