O75 Public Administration

PM’s China visit life and death for jailed writer

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

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has indicated that he will raise issues such as human rights and China’s growing presence in the South China Sea during his upcoming official visit to Beijing and Shanghai. The family of Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun has urged Albanese to also raise his case with Chinese officials. Yang has been detained in China for nearly five years without receiving an official verdict on alleged espionage offences. Yang’s two sons are concerned that he will die from medical neglect if he is not released soon. Journalist Cheng Lei recently returned to Melbourne after three years’ detention in China on similar charges.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Teenagers experiencing intimate partner violence at troubling rates, research finds

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Original article by Sacha Payne
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 1-Nov-23

Data from the Australian Institute of Family Studies shows that nearly one-third of teenagers aged 18-19 have experienced violence from an intimate partner in the last year. This includes emotional, physical and sexual abuse, with the latter being more prevalent among teenage women. AIFS senior research officer Karlee O’Donnell says that many participants in the survey reported being subjected to two or three types of intimate violence. The AIFS’s Growing Up in Australia longitudinal study is one of the largest of its type in the world, and it is undertaken in partnership with Roy Morgan and the federal Department of Social Services.

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AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF FAMILY STUDIES, ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF SOCIAL SERVICES

Total debt pile triples in 10 years

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 4 : 1-Nov-23

Data from the Parliamentary Budget Office shows that Australia’s net debt has risen to $31,400 per capita over the last decade. Net debt per capita totalled just $8,600 at the federal level in 2013-14, but this is forecast to reach $21,300 in 2023-24. Across the states and territories, net debt per person was just $2,000 in 2013-14, and is slated to reach $11,200 in the current financial year. Victoria has recorded the biggest increase in net debt per capita among the states over the last decade, ahead of NSW and South Australia.

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AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE

Foreign agents planting digital mines in key tech

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Original article by Liam Mendes, Ellen Whinnett
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 1-Nov-23

The Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre has warned that Australia’s critical infrastructure is under serious threat from foreign interference and espionage. The CISC’s inagural annual risk review notes that the nation’s critical infrastructure sectors are deeply interconnected, so a significant disruption in one sector will affect others. Concerns have also been raised that foreign players have planted ‘digital landmines’ in Australia’s critical infrastructure that could be triggered in the future.

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CYBER AND INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY CENTRE

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence down 3.2pts to 75.0 – lowest since early August 2023

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Nov-23

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 3.2pts to 75.0 in the week to 29 October; it has now spent 39 straight weeks below the mark of 85 – equalling the longest streak at this level set in 1990-91. Consumer Confidence is 4.9pts below the same week a year ago (79.9), and it is now clearly below the 2023 weekly average of 78.1. Consumer Confidence was down in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, but increased slightly in Queensland. Now 17% of Australians (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 56% (up 3ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Only 6% (down 2ppts) of Australians now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 40% (up 4ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 18% (down 1ppt) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 54% (up 4ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Global pressures on PM’s domestic agenda

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 30-Oct-23

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended his hectic overseas travel schedule, arguing that personally engaging with world leaders is critical at a time of significant economic and security shocks. Albanese has come under scrutiny over his international travel itenary amid the domestic cost-of-living crisis, a high inflation rate and rising oil prices. Albanese recently returned from his first official visit to the US, while his upcoming trip to China will be the first by an Australian prime minister since 2016. Albanese used a speech on his final day in Washington to emphasise the need to engage with China and to develop understanding, given that the nation accounts for 25 per cent of Australia’s exports. Albanese will also attend the Pacific Islands Forum and the APEC summit in coming weeks.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

ANZ-Roy Morgan New Zealand Consumer Confidence up 1.7pts to 88.1 in October

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Oct-23

ANZ-Roy Morgan New Zealand Consumer Confidence rose 1.7 points in October to 88.1. Consumers’ net perceptions of their current personal financial situation fell 2 points to -25%. A net 22% (down 2% points) of New Zealanders now say they are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 47% (up 1% point) say they are ‘worse off’ financially. Meanwhile, a net 16% of consumers now expect to be ‘better off financially’ this time next year, up 1 point. A net 38% (up 6% points) of New Zealanders say now is a ‘bad time to buy a major household item’, but net perceptions regarding New Zealand’s economic outlook in 12 months’ time rose 14 points to -18%. The two-year-ahead CPI inflation expectations lifted from 4.2% to 4.5%, undoing most of the previous month’s fall.

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

End game trade deal with EU collapses as both sides walk away

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Original article by Rachel Clun
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 30-Oct-23

A free trade deal between Australia and the European Union could be some years away, after talks between Trade Minister Don Farrell and European Commission executive vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis broke down in Osaka on Sunday. Farrell had said prior to their meeting that he hoped he and Dombrovskis could make a deal, but he said afterwards that the two were not able to make progress. National Farmers’ Federation president Fiona Simson had told the National Press Club on 24 October that there was no Australian agriculture sector that was getting a good deal under what the EU was currently offering.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, NATIONAL FARMERS’ FEDERATION LIMITED

Israel enters second stage of war

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Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 14 : 30-Oct-23

Israeli Defence Forces troops have engaged in direct combat with Hamas militants in northern Gaza, supported by tanks and airstrikes on more than 450 locations. The IDF’s Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi says Israeli soldiers have killed "hundreds" of terrorists in the first major ground incursion of the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described it as his nation’s ”second independence war", and stated that Israel’s campaign to "abolish evil" is "only just beginning". Israel had previously only conducted small-scale incursions into Gaza, and Netanyahu says this stage of the war is aimed at destroying the governing and military capabilities of Hamas and to bring hostages home.

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ISRAELI DEFENCE FORCES

ACTU calls for fairer, stronger IR reform

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 25-Oct-23

The ACTU has used its submission to the Senate’s inquiry into the Closing Loopholes Bill to propose 44 amendments that it claims would improve the legislation. Amongst other things, the peak union body wants the "employee-like" provisions of the bill to be expanded to all employees with such arrangements, rather than just gig economy workers. It also wants the Fair Work Commission to have powers to arbitrate on the question of whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor, and for superannuation to be included in the provisions of the bill regarding wage theft.

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ACTU, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION