O75 Public Administration

ALP (53%) lead over the L-NP (47%) narrowed slightly before Sydney re-opened this week

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 13-Oct-21

The latest Roy Morgan Poll on Federal voting intention shows that support for the ALP has fallen to 53% (down 1% point since late September), cf. the L-NP on 47% (up 1% point) on a two-party preferred basis. The 1% points swing to the L-NP came after Prime Minister Scott Morrison met foreign leaders in Washington in late September as part of a series of security meetings. However, the swing to the L-NP in recent weeks has merely acted to reverse the similarly sized swing away from the L-NP in September. If a Federal Election were held now the ALP would be elected with a similar margin to that won by Bob Hawke at the 1983 Federal Election (ALP 53.2% cf. L-NP 46.8%). Primary support for the L-NP increased by 1.5% points to 37.5% in mid-October and is now just ahead of the ALP, which is unchanged on 36%. Greens support has dropped 1% point to 11.5%. Support for One Nation was down 0.5% points to 3%, while support for Independents/Others was unchanged at 12%. Interviewing for the latest Roy Morgan Poll was conducted over the weekends of October 2/3 and 9/10, with a nationally representative cross-section of 2,794 Australian electors using a combination of telephone and online interviews (multi-mode).

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

Victoria’s vaccine passport too easy to forge, says academic

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Original article by Clay Lucas
The Age – Page: Online : 12-Oct-21

The trial of a COVID-19 vaccine passport commenced in six local government areas in regional Victoria on 11 October. Cryptography expert Professor Vanessa Teague from the Australian National University has expressed concern that the vaccine passport is easy to forge and argues that it should not be linked to the QR code check-in system; she notes that the latter is highly invasive and already collects too much data on users. Victoria reported 1,612 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases on Monday, plus another eight deaths from the current outbreak. About 59 per cent of Victorian adults are now fully vaccinated, putting the state on track to achieve the 70 per cent target for reopening the economy up to a week ahead of schedule.

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AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

Fly-in fly-out mine worker tests positive for COVID-19 after arriving in Adelaide from Melbourne

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Original article by
abc.net au – Page: Online : 12-Oct-21

A hotel reception area and a Jetstar flight have been declared Tier 1 exposure sites after a female ‘fly-in, fly-out’ miner tested positive to COVID-19 after arriving in Adelaide from Melbourne. A taxi driver and a reception worker at the hotel have been ordered into quarantine, while Adelaide Airport has been declared a Tier 4 exposure site. South Australia’s Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said the woman was very infectious, and is one of three new COVID-19 cases identified in South Australia on Monday.

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Inflation Expectations up 0.2% points to 4.5% in September; highest for three years since October 2018

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Oct-21

In September 2021, Australians expected inflation of 4.5% annually over the next two years, up 0.2% points and the highest Inflation Expectations since October 2018. Inflation Expectations are now 1.2% points higher than a year ago (3.3%). Inflation Expectations are still 0.2% points below their long-term average of 4.7%, but a full 1% point higher than the record low 2020 monthly average of 3.5%. A look at Inflation Expectations by Generations shows that there is now agreement between people of different ages about how much prices are set to rise. Inflation Expectations have increased across the board but have increased most rapidly for Australians aged under 60 – led by Millennials – up 1.6% points from a year ago to 4.5% in September. Generation X, now aged from 45-60, have the highest Inflation Expectations at 4.6% in September, an increase of 1.3% points from a year ago. The Inflation Expectations of Generation Z have also increased significantly, up 1.2% points to 4.5% – matching the increase of Australians overall. Although Inflation Expectations for Baby Boomers are in line with the national average at 4.5% this is an increase of only 0.7% points from a year ago while older Australians, aged 75+, the Pre-Boomers, now have the lowest Inflation Expectations at 4.2%, up only 0.6% points from a year ago. On a State-based level Inflation Expectations are highest and well above the national average in Tasmania at 5.1%. Inflation Expectations are above the national average in New South Wales at 4.7%.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Next freedom day in NSW set for October 25

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Original article by Mary Ward
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 12-Oct-21

Some 74 per cent of New South Wales residents aged 16+ are now fully vaccinated. Based on current rates of vaccination the state should reach the 80 per cent target in just over a week. This would allow the next easing of COVID-19 restrictions in Sydney to occur on 25 October, in line with the state’s reopening roadmap. Premier Dominic Perrottet says the government is unlikely to bring forward this date after refusing to bring forward the first ‘freedom day’ despite reaching the 70 per cent vaccination milestone ahead of schedule. NSW reported 498 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases and eight additional deaths on Monday.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Movement in the Sydney CBD at only 17% of pre-pandemic levels before Greater Sydney prepared to leave lockdown

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Oct-21

A special analysis of movement data in Australia’s Capital City CBDs since the COVID-19 pandemic began shows that movement in the Sydney CBD and Melbourne CBD was at only 17% of pre-pandemic levels in early October, just before the lockdown of Greater Sydney was set to end. The average 7-day movement level in the Sydney CBD hit a low of 8% of pre-pandemic levels in late July and have slowly increased since then as restrictions have been eased as vaccination rates have increased rapidly. Late last week NSW hit a mark of 70% of the population aged 16+ being fully vaccinated, which is the mark that was set for the ending of the lockdown of Greater Sydney this week. Average movement levels in the Melbourne CBD have tracked closely with those in the Sydney CBD over the last two months since Greater Melbourne entered its record sixth lockdown in early August. However, full vaccination rates in Victoria are at under 60%, well behind those in NSW, and Greater Melbourne is not set to end its current lockdown until the last week of October. The movement levels in other Capital City CBDs have increased over the last few weeks as Australia emerged from Winter. Once again it is the Adelaide CBD which has average movement levels closest to pre-pandemic ‘normal’ at 74%, just ahead of the Perth CBD at 73% of pre-pandemic averages. Notably, this is the highest level of movement in the Perth CBD for nearly six months. Roy Morgan has partnered with leading technology innovator UberMedia to aggregate data from tens of thousands of mobile devices to assess the movements of Australians as we deal with the restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, UBERMEDIA

Andrews loses fourth minister to branch stacking scandal

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Original article by Sumeyya Ilanbey
The Age – Page: Online : 12-Oct-21

Luke Donnellan resigned as Victoria’s Aged Care Minister on the first day of an Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission inquiry, after he was named as being part of a Labor branch-stacking operation led by former minister Adem Somyurek. Donnellan is the fourth member of the state government to have resigned in connection to the branch-stacking scandal; Somyurek, Marlene Kairouz and Robin Scott were forced to resign in 2020 after the media exposed the scandal.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. INDEPENDENT BROAD-BASED ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

US ‘won’t share nuclear subs’: expert

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 2 : 6-Oct-21

Former US submariner and navy commander Bryan Clark believes that Australia is likely to buy Britain’s Astute-class nuclear-powered submarine. Clark doubts that the US will make its Virginia-class submarine available to Australia under the recently-announced three-nation AUKUS alliance. He adds that the Astute-class vessel is smaller and significantly less expensive, and is designed for a range of different missions. Clark adds that the US is also highly unlikely to lease refurbished nuclear submarines to Australia.

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Mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for WA FIFO and mining workers

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Original article by James Carmody
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 6-Oct-21

The Western Australian government has advised that all workers in the state’s mining and energy sector will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19. This includes ‘fly-in, fly-out’ workers and all visitors to resources projects in the state. The directive will apply to about 100,000 people, who must have their first vaccine dose by 1 December and be fully vaccinated by the start of 2022. Premier Mark McGowan says that amongst other things, the ‘no jab, no job’ policy will protect remote Aboriginal communities; he notes that the mining sector is the largest employer of indigenous people in regional WA.

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WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Fortescue, ANZ link to bribes tycoon

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Original article by Liam Walsh, Neil Chenoweth
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 6-Oct-21

The Pandora Papers have revealed that several prominent Australian companies have links to Chinese businessman Du Shuanghua, who had testified in 2010 that he had paid bribes to secure Australian iron ore. The documents released by the International Confederation of Investigative Journalists show that Fortescue Metals Group had sold iron ore to Bright Ruby Resources, a commodities trading hub that is controlled by Du. Fortescue has stated that it has a "zero tolerance" approach to bribery and corruption. The Pandora Papers also show that the ANZ Bank has been providing banking services to Bright Ruby Resources since 2013, via its office in Singapore. Du was not prosecuted for his role in the alleged bribery scandal that involved former Rio Tinto executive Wang Yong.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS, BRIGHT RUBY RESOURCES PTE LTD, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO