O75 Public Administration

Tech giants targeted by historic G7 deal

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Original article by David Milliken, Kate Holten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 7-Jun-21

The Group of Seven finance ministers have committed to a deal that would see a minimum global corporate tax rate of at least 15 per cent. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said it would mean an end to what she referred to as a "race to the bottom on global taxation", while Facebook has stated that it expects to pay more tax in more countries as a result of the deal. German finance minister Olaf Scholz claimed the deal was "bad news for tax havens around the world", but Irish finance minister Paschal Donohoe said any global deal needs to take small nations into account; Ireland has a corporate tax rate of just 12.5 per cent.

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GROUP OF SEVEN (G-7), UNITED STATES. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Bosses and unions unite to urge senator’s vote against seriously flawed super reform bill

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 7 : 7-Jun-21

The ACTU and the Australian Industry Group have joined forces to call for the ‘Your Super, Your Future’ legislation to be rejected by the Senate. They contend that the bill still has some major flaws; it recently passed the lower house following the removal of provisions which allow the federal government to veto investments made by superannuation funds that are not deemed to be in members’ best interests. Amongst other things, the ACTU and the Ai Group are concerned that the bill will result in people being stuck in underperforming super funds.

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ACTU, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Trump calls for $13 trillion in Covid reparations from China

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Original article by Alex Leary
The Australian – Page: 9 : 7-Jun-21

Former US president Donald Trump has used a campaign-style speech in North Carolina to argue that China should pay reparations of $US10 trillion ($12.9 trillion) for the global damage caused by COVID-19. He said the US and the world must demand reparations and accountability from the Communist Party of China for the pandemic, which is estimated to have killed more than 3.7 million people to date. Trump’s comments were made in the wake of growing speculation that the virus leaked from a Chinese lab. Trump also called for the US to impose a tariff of 100 per cent tariff on all Chinese-made goods.

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COMMUNIST PARTY (CHINA)

World facing a long-term Covid aftermath

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Original article by Max Maddison
The Australian – Page: 4 : 7-Jun-21

Research undertaken at Murdoch University’s Australian National Phenome Centre has added to the growing body of evidence that so-called ‘long-Covid’ may have more serious health consequences than COVID-19 itself. The research shows that people who have a strong immune response to the virus trigger a biochemical reaction that can result in long-term health problems, including heart disease and liver dysfunction. One of the researchers, Jeremy Nicholson, is still experiencing side-effects some 14 months after contracting COVID-19; he also developed type-2 diabetes after recovering from the virus.

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MURDOCH UNIVERSITY

Fears over mystery Melbourne Covid cluster

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Original article by Grant McArthur
Herald Sun – Page: 9 : 7-Jun-21

Four new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases have been reported in Victoria in the last 24 hours. They include a resident and a nurse at an aged-care facility that has reported two previous infections; both of these cases will be included in the case numbers for 7 June. Meanwhile, health authorities are hopeful that the northern suburbs outbreak that prompted the latest lockdown in Melbourne has been contained, as all of the initial close contacts of people in the cluster are no longer required to self-isolate. However, deputy chief health officer Allen Cheng has downplayed the prospect of the lockdown ending ahead of schedule; he say attention has shifted to the West Melbourne cluster, which now comprises 10 people with the more infectious Delta variant of COVID-19. There are 85 active cases in Victoria, including six new cases in hotel quarantine.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF HEALTH

Australian unemployment increases 186,000 to 10.3% in May – a month after the end of JobKeeper

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Jun-21

The latest Roy Morgan employment series data shows that 1.49 million Australians were unemployed in May, up 186,000 on April for an unemployment rate of 10.3%. Some 13.07 million Australians were employed in May, just below the record high in April: a record 8,679,000 workers were employed full-time, an increase of 145,000 from April and the seventh straight monthly increase. However, the increase in full-time employment was offset by a drop of 367,000 in part-time employment, to 4,390,000. In addition to those who were unemployed, 1.26 million Australians (8.6% of the workforce) were under-employed – working part-time but looking for more work. This was a decrease of 101,000 on April. In total 2.75 million Australians (18.9% of the workforce) were either unemployed or under-employed in May, an increase of 85,000 on April. The increase was driven by rising unemployment in May. Roy Morgan’s unemployment figure of 10.3% for May is over 4% points higher than the current ABS estimate for April 2021 of 5.5%

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Melbourne braces for new lockdown

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 27-May-21

The Victorian government has held an emergency meeting of cabinet to discuss further COVID-19 restrictions for Melbourne after six new cases were reported in the northern suburbs cluster on 26 May. There are now 15 cases in the cluster, all of whom have the Indian variant of COVID-19. More than 60 exposure sites have been identified to date, including Marvel Stadium and several locations in regional Victoria. Acting Premier James Merlino has not ruled out further restrictions, including the possibility of a five-day ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown. He adds that the number of new cases identified on 27 May will determine the government’s course of action. Meanwhile, the federal government will provide Victoria with an additional 130,000 vaccine doses.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

ALP warms to $130bn tax cuts

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Greg Brown, Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 27-May-21

Labor is finalising the tax policy that it will take to the next election, and there are indications that it may support the federal government’s stage-three tax cuts. Labor’s caucus is divided over the issue of the tax cuts, which will benefit high-income earners in particular; however, there is growing support for the tax cuts among senior Labor MPs, who are concerned about a potential voter backlash at the next election over any changes to a tax package that has already been legislated. Labor is not expected to retain the government’s Low and Middle Income Tax Offset, which was intended to be temporary.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

NBN Co staff on salaries of $200,000 or more received average bonus of almost $50,000

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Original article by Josh Taylor
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 27-May-21

The issue of bonus payments for employees of government business enterprises is under renewed scrutiny following the release of data on the bonuses received by employees of NBN Co. A total of 3,819 employees shared the $77.5m worth of cash bonuses that NBN Co paid in 2020. Some 2,865 employees who earn between $100,000 and $200,000 received an average bonus of $13,000 each; in contrast, those on annual salaries of more than $200,000 received an average bonus of $49,743. Shadow communications minister Michelle Rowland says the ongoing problems with the national broadband network mean that the "excessive" bonuses are not justified.

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NBN CO LIMITED

Open door in Adelaide led to outbreak

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Original article by David Penberthy
The Australian – Page: 5 : 27-May-21

South Australian health authorities have concluded that aerosol transmission of COVID-19 in an Adelaide quarantine hotel is the most likely source of Melbourne’s new cluster. SA Health believes that the Melbourne man who was diagnosed with the virus several days after returning home may have contracted it when the doors of his hotel room and the adjacent room were opened within a short time of each other to receive deliveries, which may have resulted in the man being exposed to contaminated air. Procedures for delivering meals to people in hotel quarantine will be reviewed to minimise such risks in the future. Meanwhile, South Australia has closed its borders to residents of Greater Melbourne in response to the northern suburbs cluster.

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SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT FOR HEALTH AND AGEING