O75 Public Administration

Alice Springs locks down, Adelaide on edge

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Original article by Tom Burton, Julie-anne Sprague
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 1-Jul-21

The Northern Territory government has imposed a three-day lockdown for the Alice Springs local government area after a worker at the Tanami gold mine spent seven hours at the city’s airport before returning home to Adelaide. The man and four members of his family subsequently tested positive for the Delta variant of COVID-19, ending South Australia’s record of seven consecutive months with no locally-acquired cases. The man is not believed to have been infectious while he was at the airport, but NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner says the lockdown is necessary in order to protect vulnerable communities in the region. The SA government hopes the cluster can be contained without the need for a lockdown.

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NORTHERN TERRITORY. DEPT OF THE CHIEF MINISTER

Lower corporate taxes vital to growth

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Original article by Tom Dusevic
The Australian – Page: 2 : 30-Jun-21

The Business Council of Australia has released a discussion paper which calls for an overhaul of the nation’s tax system. The BCA contends that tax revenue is too heavily skewed toward the largest companies and the three per cent of individuals who pay the highest personal income tax, and the tax system must evolve in line with a changing economy. BCA CEO Jennifer Westacott says the 30 per cent company tax rate in particular needs to be reviewed, given that the OECD and the Group of Seven have proposed a global minimum corporate tax rate of just 15 per cent.

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BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, GROUP OF SEVEN (G-7)

Movement in the Sydney CBD plunged last week – even before the city was placed into lockdown

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Jun-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 plunged to only 26% of pre-pandemic averages last week – even before the city was placed into a two-week lockdown on the weekend. The average 7-day movement level in the Sydney CBD last week was at its lowest since early January, during the COVID-19 outbreak in the Northern Beaches, and movement levels are set to fall further this week after the entire Sydney metropolitan area was placed into its first lockdown since mid-May 2020. Movement levels in the Melbourne CBD are recovering from the lockdown of the city in early June. Although restrictions on mask wearing and crowd gathering sizes remain, average movement levels in the Melbourne CBD had picked up to 18% of pre-COVID-19 averages last week, up from a low of 12% during the lockdown. The last few days have seen a flurry of new border restrictions introduced as new cases of COVID-19 have emerged in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Before the new restrictions introduced over the weekend, movement levels in other Capital City CBDs were at just under half of their pre-pandemic levels, led by the Adelaide CBD at 46% – the only mainland State yet to report a recent community case of COVID-19. In a close second place was the Perth CBD at 44% of pre-COVID-19 averages, ahead of Brisbane CBD (40%) and Hobart CBD (39%). 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

Queensland and Victoria push to slash number of international arrivals in Australia

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Original article by Yara Murray-Atfield
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 30-Jun-21

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has called for a "massive reduction" in the number of international travellers who are allowed into Australia in the wake of the latest wave of COVID-19 lockdowns across the country. Palaszczuk adds that international travellers should be quarantined in dedicated facilities such as Howard Springs in the Northern Territory, rather than hotels. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews also supports a big reduction in overseas arrivals, contending that it is preferable to locking down entire cities or states if the coronavirus leaks from the hotel quarantine system. More than 35,000 Australians remain stranded overseas, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade.

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QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Roy Morgan Business Confidence down only slightly in June to 128.3; but new COVID-19 restrictions a clear threat to the recovery

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Jun-21

In June 2021, Roy Morgan Business Confidence fell 1pt (-0.8%) to 128.3. Despite the fall, Business Confidence is 33.3pts (+35.1%) higher than a year ago (95.0), and it is now 14.4pts above the long-term average of 113.9. Business Confidence has now averaged 124.7 during the first six months of 2021, the best start to a year for the Index for a decade since 2011. The index also averaged 124.7 in the first half of 2011 during the middle of the ‘Mining Boom’. This is the first time in the history of the index that Business Confidence has been above 120 for seven consecutive months from December 2020 to June 2021. Some 64.8% of businesses now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months and 58.4% say the next 12 months is a ‘good time to invest in growing the business’. The Business Confidence result for June is based on interviewing conducted before the Sydney-wide lockdown and the latest restrictions introduced in several States announced over the weekend.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Qld virus ward worker not vaccinated

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Original article by Jamie Walker, Lydia Lynch
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 30-Jun-21

The Queensland government has announced a three-day snap lockdown of south-east Queensland, Townsville, Magnetic Island and Palm Island after a female employee at Brisbane’s Prince Charles Hospital contracted the Delta variant of COVID-19. She worked as a casual receptionist outside the hospital’s COVID-19 ward and travelled to Townsville and Magnetic Island while she was infectious. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is "furious" that the woman has not been vaccinated. The woman is one of two new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases recorded in Queensland in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, New South Wales has recorded 19 new cases and there have been two new cases in the Northern Territory. Some 12 million people across Queensland, NSW, Western Australia and the NT are currently subject to lockdowns.

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QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, PRINCE CHARLES HOSPITAL

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence virtually unchanged at 112.2 but down in Sydney (-4.6%) as Melbourne recovers (+2.4%)

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Jun-21

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 112.2 on June 26/27, although there were contrasting movements in Australia’s two largest cities; Sydney was down 4.6% while Melbourne increased 2.4% on a week ago as the city continued to recover from its recent lockdown. Consumer Confidence is just above the 2021 weekly average of 111.4, and 19.2pts higher than the same week a year ago (93). Now 28% (down 2ppts) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 25% (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. In addition, 38% (down 1ppt) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, and 13% (down 3ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Some 19% (down 2ppts) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 15% (up 2ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 45% (up 3ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 24% (unchanged) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’. Interviewing this week was largely conducted before the Sydney-wide lockdown began on Saturday night and before many restrictions and border closures were announced in other States.

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

Part-timers win in award flexibility

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 29-Jun-21

Part-time retail workers currently earn over-time if they work longer than their set roster, even if their roster is only five hours a week. They can only waive overtime if they agree in writing to alter their roster. Employer groups have previously called for the rules to be changed, arguing it makes them tend to favour casuals over part-time employees. The Fair Work Commission has heeded the call of employer groups and has announced that part-time retail workers can work extra hours without over-time just by sending a text message to their boss, and will change the retail award to that effect as from 1 July.

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AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

PM opens vaccines to under-40s

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Original article by Greg Brown, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: Online : 29-Jun-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has disclosed a plan for compulsory vaccination for aged care workers by September, following a meeting of national cabinet on 28 June. The meeting also agreed that people under the age of 40 would be able to join the vaccine rollout and receive the AstraZeneca jab, while Morrison said the federal government would offer doctors indemnity for giving vaccines to anyone under 60. Twenty-three new COVID-19 cases in Australia were reported on 28 June, with 18 being in NSW, while the Northern Territory government extended the snap lockdown of the Darwin region until 2 July after a new case was reported in the NT.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ASTRAZENECA PLC

Ban stands for euthanasia phone tips

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Original article by Lydia Lynch
The Australian – Page: 3 : 24-Jun-21

National legislation passed in 2005 ban doctors from encouraging suicide by phone, email or videoconference, with fines of $222,000 in place. With Queensland due to pass voluntary assisted dying legislation in September, it has written to the federal government to ask that the legislation to be amended to ensure that doctors who give voluntary assisted dying advice to terminally patients over the phone or internet are not caught up by the suicide legislation. However, the federal government has declined to give such an exemption.

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