O75 Public Administration

Tax bonus eases pain of lockdown

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Original article by Sid Maher, Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 11-Jan-21

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the federal government delivered some $7bn worth of tax cuts to Australian workers in the second half of 2020. This includes about $1.1bn under the stage-two tax cuts and $5.9bn via the Low and Middle Income Tax Offset. Treasury estimates that the tax cuts will boost GDP by around $3.5bn in 2020-21. The tax relief is likely to have contributed to a surge in retail spending during the half-year, despite the impact of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Citigroup expects consumer spending to have risen by seven per cent in November, with data to be released on 11 January.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Berejiklian slams Andrews over hasty border shutdown

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Original article by Stephen Rice
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 11-Jan-21

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has urged other states to consult with her government before closing their borders in the future. Victoria’s border with NSW remains closed, and Premier Daniel Andrews has yet to set a firm date for lifting the restrictions. This is despite the fact that NSW recorded just three new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases on 10 January, while just 10 new cases among returned travellers in hotel quarantine were recorded nationwide. There are now 199 active cases in NSW, 45 in Victoria, 21 in the Northern Territory, 20 in Queensland, 15 in South Australia and 15 in Western Australia.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Qld govt refuses to reveal whether harsh restrictions will be lifted

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Original article by Hayden Johnson
The Courier-Mail – Page: 4 & 5 : 11-Jan-21

The three-day lockdown of Greater Brisbane is slated to end at 6pm on 11 January, but Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has not yet committed to lifting the restrictions. The snap lockdown was imposed after a cleaner at a quarantine hotel tested positive for the highly contagious UK strain of COVID-19; two returned travellers in quarantine at the hotel have also been diagnosed with the mutated variant of the coronavirus. Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young says the latest COVID-19 numbers will determine the government’s next move. Queensland has recorded two consecutive days with no new cases.

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QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, QUEENSLAND HEALTH

China trade rises to $208bn despite feud

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 6 : 8-Jan-21

Two-way goods trade between Australia and China hit $208.8 billion over the 11 months to November, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on 7 January. The figure is higher than the comparable period in 2019, despite the increasingly strained relationship between the two countries. Imports from China over the subject period increased by five per cent to $76.3 billion, while Australian exports to China rose to $132.5 billion. The value of iron ore shipments fell by two per cent in November, while LNG sales were up eight per cent.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

States push for masks on local flights

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman, Hannah Wootton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 8-Jan-21

A proposal to make mask wearing mandatory on domestic flights and in airports will be discussed at an emergency national cabinet meeting on 8 January. The proposal is one of a number of measures aimed at preventing a mutant strain of the coronavirus that has originated from the UK from spreading throughout Australia. Other measures to be discussed include daily testing of hotel quarantine staff and compulsory pre-flight screening of passengers. A survey conducted by the Australian Airports Association in December found that around 88 per cent of people supported mandatory masks in international terminals, while 82 per cent supported pre-flight screening.

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AUSTRALIAN AIRPORTS ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Crop losses from labour shortages hit $39m

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: Online : 8-Jan-21

The updated National Crop Loss Register has revealed that farmers have lost at least $39 million in crops as a result of labour shortages due to the pandemic and closed international and domestic borders. Berries accounted for 55 per cent of losses, while Queensland recorded the worst losses among the states. Richard Shannon from Growcom, which runs the Register for the National Farmers Federation, says urgent action is needed to expand capacity to safely bring in Pacific Islanders and East Timorese into Australia to take up job offers. Shannon also says the agricultural sector needs to reduce its reliance on backpackers.

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GROWCOM, NATIONAL FARMERS’ FEDERATION LIMITED

PM fast-tracks vaccine rollout for frontline workers

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Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 8-Jan-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on 7 January that Australians will start getting the COVID-19 vaccine from mid- to late February. Quarantine, border and frontline healthcare workers will be the first to get the vaccine, with Morrison saying around 80,000 people a week will initially receive it. The government has set a target of having four million people receive the vaccine by the end of March, with that figure to include around 500,000 aged and disability care residents and staff.

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Congress defies mob

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Original article by Cameron Stewart
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 8-Jan-21

A state of emergency remains in place in Washington until Joe Biden’s inauguration on 20 January after a day of violence that saw supporters of Donald Trump storm the US Capitol, with the attack having been incited by Trump. One protestor was shot inside the Capitol and later died, while three other protestors died as a result of medical emergencies. Once the Capitol was cleared, Congress continued its counting of Electoral College votes, formally certifing Biden as US president in an early morning sitting. Biden said the attack bordered on sedition, while former Republican president George W. Bush condemned the protestors and the politicians who "inflamed them".

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Australia demands WHO entry to China without delay

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 7-Jan-21

A delegation from the World Health Organisation was due to depart in early January on a visit to China to investigate the origins of COVID-19. However, there have been delays in China in issuing their permits, which has prompted WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu say he was "very disappointed", while Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne has called on China to allow the entry of the WHO delegation "without delay". Australia led the call for an independent investigation into the COVID-19, and it has been suggested this was a major factor in China’s ongoing retaliatory trade action against Australia.

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WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

Warnock projected to defeat Loeffler in Georgia, moving Democrats closer to control of Senate

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Original article by Hannah Mio
cnbc.com – Page: Online : 7-Jan-21

Democrat Raphael Warnock has won the Georgia U.S. Senate runoff according to NBN projections; he would be the first Black Senator elected in Georgia if his victory is confirmed. Democrat Jon Ossoff was leading Republican Senator David Perduff in the other runoff with 98 per cent of the expected vote counted. If Ossoff wins, the Senate will be equally split between Republicans and Democrats, giving Vice-President elect Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote. An earlier ABC News exit poll had indicated the Georgia vote would be tight, with voters evenly divided on preferred control of the Senate

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