O75 Public Administration

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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ALP (50.5%) leads L-NP (49.5%) on a two-party preferred basis – no bounce for PM from G7 trip

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 24-Jun-21

ALP support is now 50.5% (down 0.5% points since early June) cf. L-NP on 49.5% (up 0.5% points) on a two-party preferred basis following Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s overseas trip to the G7 in the United Kingdom according to the latest Morgan Poll on Federal voting intention. If a Federal Election were held now it would be too close to call with the chance Australia would have a hung Parliament for the first time since 2013. Interviewing was conducted on the weekends of June 12/13 & June 19/20, 2021 with a representative cross-section of 2,782 Australian electors using a combination of telephone and online interviews. Primary support for the L-NP was up 1.5% points to 41.5% compared to the ALP on 34.5% (down 1% point). Greens support was up 0.5% points to 12%. Support for One Nation was up 0.5% points to 3.5% while support for Independents/Others has dropped by 1.5% points to 8.5%. Voting Intention by State shows ALP ahead in Victoria but the L-NP leading in NSW, QLD & WA.

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Two jabs needed for Delta coverage

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Original article by Natasha Robinson
The Australian – Page: 5 : 24-Jun-21

Data from the UK suggests that Australians will need two Covid-19 vaccine doses for them to be adequately protected against the Delta variant, and only around five per cent of Australians have had two doses. Public Health England estimates the Pfizer vaccine offers only about 36 per cent protection against the Delta variant after one dose, while the AstraZeneca vaccine offers only around 30 per cent protection after one dose. Protection from the Delta variant rises to 88 per cent for Pfizer and 67 per cent for Astra-Zeneca after two doses. The Delta variant is estimated to be about 50 per cent more infectious than the original Wuhan strain, and Australian health authorities have warned it can be transmitted as the result of "inadvertent" contact between people, sometimes lasting just a matter of seconds.

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PFIZER INCORPORATED, ASTRAZENECA PLC

Only 31pc of aged care staff have had their jab

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 23-Jun-21

It has been revealed that as of the week beginning 22 June, just 31 per cent of aged care workers have told their employer that they have at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshi said that 31 per cent was "nowhere near good enough", and that aged care staff should be subject to mandatory vaccination requirements. Opposition health spokesman Mark Butler has accused Prime Minister Scott Morrison of leaving aged care workers to fend for themselves, while he noted that Morrison had "promised to fully vaccinate aged care workers by Easter".

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AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Joyce’s backers query childcare funds boost

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 23-Jun-21

A combined meeting of Liberal and National MPs on 22 June is believed to have seen heated debate on the federal government’s proposed $1.7 billion funding boost for childcare services. National MPs George Christensen and Matt Canavan are said to have argued for bigger tax breaks and welfare payments for families, claiming this would encourage stay-at-home parenting; both Christensen and Joyce backed Barnaby Joyce in his leadership challenge against ousted leader Michael McCormack on 21 June. Christensen is said to have told the meeting that the package amounts to an "outsourcing" of parental responsibilities, while Liberal MPs Jane Hume and Katie Allen were among those to speak in favour of the funding boost.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

School in fear as outbreak grows

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Original article by Kieran Gair, Lydia Lynch
The Australian – Page: 5 : 23-Jun-21

NSW reported 10 new local COVID-19 cases on 22 June, while the Bondi cluster has risen to 21. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said a student at a Waverley primary school was the one mystery infection among the new cases, while she announced that mask rules will be extended until 30 June. Victoria has banned people from seven Sydney local government areas from entering the state as from 1am on 23 June, while the trans-Tasman bubble between NSW and New Zealand has been paused for 72 hours. Queensland recorded one new local COVID-19 case, while it will open its border to people from Melbourne from 1am on 25 June.

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ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence up 1.4pts to 112.4 after Melbourne’s restrictions ease further

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: 3 : 23-Jun-21

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose 1.4pts to 112.4 on June 19/20, as Melbourne’s lockdown restrictions eased further. This week’s small increase was driven by more Australians saying they are ‘better off’ financially than this time a year ago and more Australians expecting ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months. Consumer Confidence is now above the 2021 weekly average of 111.3 and is 14.9pts higher than the same week a year ago. Looking at future conditions, over a fifth of Australians, 22% (up 1ppt), are expecting ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years compared to only 13% (up 1ppt) expecting ‘bad times’. A decreasing plurality of Australians, 42% (down 3ppts), say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items while 24% (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

Vic Liberal leadership rumblings resurface as Coalition closes gap on Labor

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Original article by Annika Smethurst, Paul Sakkal, Michael Fowler
The Age – Page: Online : 17-Jun-21

Victoria’s Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien survived a leadership spill in March, but there is believed to be a renewed push to oust him. Sources have indicated that state and federal Liberal Party MPs had discussed seeking a leadership spill on 22 June, but there had been insufficient numbers to move against O’Brien. The Victorian Liberals’ partyroom is said to be divided, with some MPs supporting either O’Brien or former party leader Matthew Guy, while others do not support either of them. A number of Victorian federal MPs are also pushing for Guy to replace O’Brien ahead of the state election in 2022.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF VICTORIA, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA