O75 Public Administration

Submarine jobs will be sent offshore under nuclear deal with US and UK, defence suppliers say

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Original article by Andrew Greene
abc.net au – Page: Online : 1-Oct-21

The federal government’s now cancelled $90 billion submarine contract with the French called for a commitment to 60 per cent of the work being done by local suppliers. With that deal now replaced by one with the US and UK that will see Australia get nuclear-powered submarines, the local defence industry is calling for a similar commitment. However, there are suggestions that the government’s focus has shifted from local industry to getting the submarines built quickly, prompting concerns that local submarine jobs will be sent overseas.

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Hydroxychloroquine sales spiked almost 100% in Australia at start of Covid pandemic, study finds

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Original article by Donna Lu
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 1-Oct-21

Australian researchers have reported that there was a 99 per cent increase in hydroxychloroquine dispensing in March 2020. The surge came at a time when it was being touted by people such as Donald Trump and Elon Musk as being effective against COVID-19, despite there being no evidence of this. They also found that new use of ivermectin doubled in May 2020, even though studies that suggest it can effectively treat COVID-19 have not held up under careful scrutiny.

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Victoria’s exit from lockdown could be delayed if grand final case spike becomes trend

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Original article by Paul Sakkal
The Age – Page: Online : 1-Oct-21

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says "some poor choices" resulted in the state reporting a record 1,438 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday. He has not ruled out pushing back the scheduled date for relaxing Melbourne’s lockdown restrictions if case numbers and hospitalisation rates continue to rise. Contact-tracing interviews suggest that about 500 of the new cases may be linked to illegal home gatherings on the AFL grand final long weekend. COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar has warned that the ‘superspreader’ event could potentially see case numbers reach the upper limit of modelling by the Burnet Institute, which formed the basis for the state government’s reopening roadmap. Victoria’s death toll from COVID-19 has risen by five, and there are now 11,018 active cases state-wide.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

National cabinet secrecy: senator to cross the floor

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Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 29-Sep-21

The federal government will need the support of four crossbench senators for its legislation to overturn a Federal Court ruling on the status of the national cabinet. Justice Richard White recently ruled in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal that the national cabinet is not covered by secrecy laws. Liberal senator Gerard Rennick has advised that he will vote against the legislation, stating that he has no time for secrecy and that Australians have a right to know what is discussed in meetings of the national cabinet.

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FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Roy Morgan Business Confidence increases by 3.1pts (+3.1%) to 104.6 in September as NSW and Victoria outline re-opening plans

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Sep-21

In September 2021, Roy Morgan Business Confidence rose 3.1pts (+3.1%) to 104.6. Business Confidence has increased for the first time since May, following the outlining of re-opening plans in September in both NSW and Victoria. Business Confidence is 19pts (+22.2%) higher than in September 2020 (85.6); however, Business Confidence is now 9.2pts below the long-term average of 113.8. Businesses grew increasingly confident about the performance of the Australian economy, with of 50.4% of businesses expecting ‘good times’ for the economy over the next 12 months. In addition, 47.4% of businesses say the next 12 months is a ‘good time to invest in growing the business’. Business Confidence in September was widely divergent amongst the Australian States although all six were up strongly on a year ago. Western Australia has by far the highest Business Confidence at 135.4, up 26.5pts (+23.4%) from a year ago and is now over 30pts higher than the national figure of 104.6. The latest Roy Morgan Business Confidence results for September are based on 1,417 detailed interviews with a cross-section of Australian businesses from each State and Territory.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Victorian cases surpass NSW for first time since Delta outbreaks began

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Original article by Clay Lucas, Sumeyya Ilanbey, Caitlin Fitzsimmons
The Age – Page: Online : 29-Sep-21

Victoria has recorded 867 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases, while the number of cases in recent days has been revised upwards due to a testing error by a third-party software vendor. The state’s toll from the current outbreak has risen to 29 after another four deaths. New South Wales has in turn reported 863 new COVID-19 cases, down from a peak of more than 1,500 during the current outbreak; however, Premier Gladys Berejiklian recently warned of a likely spike in cases when the state’s economy starts to reopen in October. Meanwhile, some lockdown restrictions in Victoria were eased at 11.59pm on 28 September in line with the state’s reopening roadmap, although there will be a snap seven-day lockdown in the regional local government area of Latrobe after four new COVID-19 cases were detected.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

29% of Australians now say Freedom is more important than the law

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Sep-21

New Roy Morgan data shows that since the COVID-19 pandemic began there has been a sustained increase in how Australians view freedom compared to the law of the land. Some 29.3% of Australians aged 14+ now agree that ‘Freedom is more important than the law’ – an increase of almost 8% points compared to the March 2020 quarter (21.6% of Australians), just prior to the onset of the pandemic. Agreement with this statement jumped 7% points in the June 2020 quarter to 28.6% of Australians and has remained between 27-31% over the last year. Meanwhile, 24.9% of women now agree with the statement, an increase of 8.4% points from the March 2020 quarter and close to the high of 25.2% reached in the March 2021 quarter; 33.8% of men also agreed with the statement in the June 2021 quarter, an increase of 6.8% points from the March 2020 quarter and above the pre-pandemic high of 32% reached briefly in the June 2019 quarter. The data comes from Roy Morgan Single Source, the nation’s largest and longest-running program of research into consumer behaviour and attitudes, continuously conducted year-round.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Chalmers’ Shorten-era tax threat

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 29-Sep-21

Labor abandoned a number of unpopular policy measures that contributed to its 2019 election defeat, including changes to the franking credit and negative gearing regimes. However, shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers is said to have pushed for Labor to retain a policy which targeted the use of family trusts to minimise taxation. He is believed to have raised the issue at a recent meeting of Labor’s strategic policy review committee. Sources have indicated that discussions regarding the policy on discretionary trusts are at a preliminary stage and the issue has not been debated by the shadow cabinet.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

PM to end money for lockdowns

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 29-Sep-21

The federal government’s temporary COVID-19 Disaster Payment will be phased out when the states and territories have achieved the vaccination rates that were agreed upon in the national plan to reopen the economy. The income support payments will be completely withdrawn two weeks after 80 per cent of the eligible population of a given jurisdiction has been fully vaccinated. States and territories that opt to set higher vaccination targets than the national plan will be required to implement their own income support programs. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the coronavirus cannot be eliminated, so Australia must learn to live with it.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence increases for third straight week to 103.7 as Australians focused on domestic issues

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Sep-21

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose 0.4pts to 103.7 on September 25/26. The small increase came as Australians focused on domestic issues in recent weeks, with the ‘AUKUS’ defence agreement with the US and UK having a negligible impact on people in Australia. Despite the increase Consumer Confidence remains well below the 2021 weekly average of 108.5, but it is now 8.7 points higher than the same week a year ago (95.0). Consumer Confidence was up slightly in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, and down slightly in the other States. Now 28% (up 2ppts) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 28% (down 2ppts) also say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. In addition, 37% (down 1ppt) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, and 14% (up 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Some 14% (unchanged) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 25% (up 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 38% (up 4ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 31% (down 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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