O75 Public Administration

Israel steps back from ground assault on Gaza

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Original article by Hans van Leeuwen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 18-Oct-23

Israeli Defence Force spokesman Lt Colonel Richard Hecht has downplayed suggestions that a ground invasion of Gaza could be imminent. He says Israel is preparing for the next stages of the war against Hamas, but this may not necessarily include a ground offensive. Any such invasion is unlikely to proceed until after US President Joe Biden visits Israel on Wednesday, where he will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The US has put 2,000 troops on a "heightened state of readiness" and deployed two aircraft carriers to the region, and Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi says Biden has made it "clear to our enemies" that the US will become involved if Iran or Hezbollah join the conflict.

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ISRAELI DEFENCE FORCE, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Airlifts out of Tel Aviv

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Original article by Phillip Coorey,[SPACE]Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 12-Oct-23

Two Qantas flights will leave Tel Aviv for London on Friday night, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying they would just be the start. With growing fears of a ground war between Israel and Hamas, he said the government is looking at all options in terms of helping Australians in Israel who want to get back home. As well as speaking to Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson and Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka about the use of their aircraft for emergency evacuations, it is believed the government is considering the use of military aircraft. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Penny Wong says Hamas has done the Palestinian people a disservice with its "abhorrent" attacks on Israel, in that they have pushed the "two-state solution further out of reach", with Wong accusing Hamas of perpetrating an "unconscionable crime" against the Palestinian people.

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Australian journalist Cheng Lei released from Chinese prison, arrives in Melbourne

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Original article by Georgia Roberts
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 12-Oct-23

Australian journalist Cheng Lei has returned to Australia more than three years after being arrested in China, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying he had known about her release for some time. Cheng was working at Chinese state-owned media CGTN when she was arrested in August 2020; she was accused of "supplying state secrets overseas", an allegation she denied. Albanese said he had spoken to her on Wednesday, noting she had been happily reunited with her family in Melbourne. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday that Cheng had served a sentence of two years and 11 months, and was released after completing it

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IMPRISONMENT – CHINA,[SPACE]DETENTION OF PERSONS – CHINA]

‘Hell of a journey’: campaign run ends after 14,500km

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 12-Oct-23

Former Liberal MP Pat Farmer has finished a 14,500-kilometre run around Australia in support of an Indigenous Voice to parliament. Starting his run in Tasmania in April, Farmer arrived at Uluru on Wednesday, where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles were among those to greet him. Farmer said the run "was a hell of a journey", while Albanese described him "as an absolute inspiration". Farmer spoke in favour of Indigenous constitutional recognition in towns and cities along his run, while he referred to the voice referendum on 14 October as a "turning point in Australia’s history"

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ATHLETES – AUSTRALIA]

Moves to cut apprentice dropout rate

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 4-Oct-23

Federal Skills Minister Brendan O’Connor has told the National Press Club that a review is underway into how high dropout rates for apprentices can be addressed. He said low pay was one reason why many apprentices dropped out, while the review would also look at issues such as how they were welcomed in the workplace and mistreatment by co-workers. He also said that work was in hand to address the perception that TAFE and private vocational education providers were inferior to universities.

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NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA)

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION – AUSTRALIA]

Ethnic swing away from PM could bring down Voice

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 4-Oct-23

Australian Development Strategies chairman John Black says there was a significant change in voting intentions against Labor by Asian Australians between the Aston byelection in April and the Fadden byelection in July. He says the shift away from Labor by Chinese and Indian Australian voters could be critical to the result of the Voice referendum, and could see it defeated. Black, who is a former Labor senator, says the party has previously relied on multicultural voters to bolster its support in outer suburban areas, so it would be worried by their apparent change in voting intentions.

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AUSTRALIAN DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES PTY LTD,[SPACE]AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

REFERENDUM – AUSTRALIA,[SPACE]VOTING – AUSTRALIA]

Victoria’s Commonwealth Games legal bill balloons to $1.3m

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Original article by Gus McCubbing
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 4-Oct-23

Victoria’s upper house is to conduct an inquiry into the cancelled 2026 Commonwealth Games, with the inquiry to start later in October. Filling out a questionnaire in response to the inquiry, the Department of Premier and Cabinet has stated that law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler was paid $1,265,982 for legal services regarding the state’s withdrawal from the Games. Arnold Bloch Leibler’s work was said to have begun in June, meaning it was engaged around three weeks before then Premier Daniel Andrews announced his government was cancelling the games; it ended up having to pay $380 million in compensation to Commonwealth Games bodies

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ARNOLD BLOCH LEIBLER

LAWYERS,[SPACE]VICTORIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT]

Bullock keeps calm continuity

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

Reserve Bank of Australia has left the cash rate at 4.1 per cent for the fourth month in a row at its October board meeting, which was Michele Bullocks’s first as RBA governor. She said keeping the cash rate at 4.1 per cent would give the RBA more time to assess the impact of rate increases to date, in a statement that was quite similar to the final one issued by her predecessor Philip Lowe in September. Bullock stated that inflation appeared to have peaked, but that it was still too high and would remain so for some time to come. Treasurer Jim Chalmers welcomed the RBA’s decision to keep the cash rate unchanged, but shadow treasurer Angus Taylor claimed Labor was not doing enough to tackle what he said was " stubbornly high inflation"

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA,[SPACE]AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

INTEREST RATES – AUSTRALIA]

Australia’s wealthiest 20% worth 90 times the country’s poorest, new report reveals

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Original article by Cait Kelly
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 27-Sep-23

The Australian Council of Social Service and the University of New South Wales have released a report which highlights the nation’s growing wealth gap. The report, which is based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data from 2019, concluded that superannuation and property investment have been key drivers of growth in wealth over the last two decades. The wealthiest five per cent of Australians were worth an average of $6.7m in 2019, accounting for one-third of the nation’s combined wealth. Likewise, the wealthiest 20 per cent of Australians were worth an average of $3.2m. In contrast, people in the lowest quartile relied on an average of $419 each week in social security payments for half of their income.

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AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Doha views Qatar Airways flight block as national insult

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 2 : 27-Sep-23

Australian Qatar Business Council chairman Simon Harrison has appeared before a Senate hearing into the federal government’s decision to reject Qatar Airways’ request for more flights to Australia. He said the decision has caused "sensitivities" in the local Qatar business community. He added that Qatar regards it as a "national insult" that the decision has been linked to an incident in which Australian women were strip-searched at Doha airport in 2020. Qantas chairman Richard Goyder and CEO Vanessa Hudson will appear before the committee on Wednesday; former CEO Alan Joyce may be summonsed to appear when he returns from overseas.

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AUSTRALIAN QATAR BUSINESS COUNCIL, QATAR AIRWAYS, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN