O75 Public Administration

Health officials beg for hotel quarantine to be upgraded

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Original article by Christopher Knaus, Melissa Davey
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 28-Apr-21

Public Health Association of Australia president Tarun Weeramanthri has urged the national cabinet to end the ‘political blame game’ over hotel quarantine and address deficiencies with the system. He says airborne transmission of COVID-19 in hotels with inadequate ventilation is the single biggest risk in terms of the virus spreading. Chief medical officer Paul Kelly has defended the hotel quarantine system; he has told a parliamentary inquiry that the system is ‘fit for purpose’, but concedes that improvements can be made. Some state governments are continuing to advocate housing returned travellers in purpose-built facilities in regional areas.

CORPORATES
PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH

Morrison’s crisis aid for India

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Emma Connors
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 28-Apr-21

The federal government will provide a COVID-19 support package to assist India to combat its second wave of the coronavirus. The initial aid will include 500 ventilators, 100 oxygen concentrators and personal protective equipment such as surgical masks, face masks and surgical gloves. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also announced that all direct flights from India will be suspended until at least 15 May. The move will affect up to 9,000 Australian citizens and permanent residents who are currently in India. Meanwhile, India has recorded 323,144 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours; Australia has reported 23 new cases in hotel quarantine.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

‘We must get real on a possible China war’: Dutton

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Original article by Olivia Caisley
The Australian – Page: 4 : 26-Apr-21

Defence Minister Peter Dutton says Australia must continue to be a ‘good neighbour’ in the Asia-Pacific and work with its partners and allies to maintain peace in the region. He adds that China has made it clear that reunification with Taiwan is firmly on its agenda, and he has warned that war over Taiwan cannot be ruled out in the future. Dutton has also indicated that thousands of deals with foreign governments are being reviewed following the Coalition’s decision to terminate Victoria’s deal to participate in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. They include the 2015 deal to lease the Port of Darwin to a Chinese company for 99 years.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE

Perth facing more COVID limits, slashes international arrivals by half

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Original article by
The West Australian – Page: Online : 26-Apr-21

Australia has recorded seven new COVID-19 cases in hotel quarantine nationwide in the last 24 hours. Western Australia recorded one locally-acquired case on 24 April, the first day of a snap-three day lockdown of Perth and the Peel region. Premier Mark McGowan has warned that some restrictions are likely to remain in place if the lockdown ends as scheduled at 11.59pm on 26 April. It was prompted by two cases of community transmission that have been linked to the Mercure quarantine hotel in Perth. McGowan also says the federal government has accepted his request to temporarily cap the state’s returned travellers at just 512 per week from 29 April. He adds that WA cannot return to its previous weekly cap of 1,025 unless ‘proper’ commonwealth quarantine facilities are used.

CORPORATES
WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Business calls to fast-track tax cuts

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 2 : 26-Apr-21

The third stage of the federal government’s income tax cuts package is slated to take effect from 1 July 2024. Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott says the government should consider bringing forward the tax cuts in order to boost the economy and create jobs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Australian Council of Social Service CEO Cassandra Goldie recently called for the third-stage tax cuts to be dropped, arguing that they will benefit people on high incomes the most.

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BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE

Parental leave a $5bn earner

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 26-Apr-21

The Business Council of Australia has called for paid parental leave to be increased to 26 weeks for couples who agree to more equally share the amount of time they take off work. The BCA has also proposed increasing the childcare subsidy for lower-income households from 85 to 95 per cent; it notes that modelling by KPMG suggests that this would boost the economy by about $5bn a year. The BCA contends that the high cost of childcare is deterring many women from returning to the workforce. Some Liberal MPs have urged the federal government to include childcare reforms in the Budget on 11 May.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Anzac Day services and private commemorations across Australia remember ultimate sacrifice of war

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Original article by
abc.net au – Page: Online : 26-Apr-21

Over 4,000 people with special tickets attended the national Anzac Day dawn service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaking at the service. He paid special tribute to the 41 Australians who have lost their lives in Afghanistan, following his recent announcement that the last 80 remaining troops will be withdrawn later in 2021. Seating at the dawn service complied with social distancing requirements, with similar measures in place at other services across Australia; crowds were barred from Anzac Day services in Perth due to the snap COVID-19 lockdown.

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Economy gets caffeine hit as spending soars

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 22-Apr-21

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that retail sales increased by 1.4 per cent nationwide in March, after falling by 0.8 per cent in February. Retail sales grew by 5.5 per cent in Western Australia and four per cent in Victoria, with both states having been affected by snap COVID-19 lockdowns in February. Consumer spending totalled $30.7bn overall in March, which is 10.6 per cent above pre-pandemic levels. The growth in retail sales has been driven by service-oriented businesses such as cafes and restaurants.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Deloitte reveals extent of workplace complaints

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Original article by Edmund Tadros, Hannah Wootton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 22-Apr-21

Professional services firm Deloitte has disclosed that it has investigated about 15 workplace complaints annually over the last three years. The firm’s voluntary disclosure follows recent media reports which revealed that rival firm KPMG received nearly 100 workplace complaints between 2014 and March 2019, an average of about 17 per year. The majority of these complaints were allegations of bullying or sexual harassment. Workplace experts agree that the number of complaints lodged at KPMG does not reflect the true extent of the problem.

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DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Experts eye Melbourne-made mRNA vaccines

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Original article by Paul Sakkal, Melissa Cunningham, Liam Mannix, Rachel Clun, Emma Koehn
The Age – Page: Online : 22-Apr-21

The Victorian government has announced that it will contribute $50m to the cost of establishing a facility to manufacture mRNA-based vaccines in Melbourne. Professor Colin Pouton of Monash University believes that this amount of funding would be sufficient to establish a facility for the local manufacturing of the COVID-19 vaccines that were developed by Pfizer and Moderna. He says Australia could begin producing these vaccines within a year, adding that this could be accelerated if CSL – which is producing AstraZeneca’s adenovirus-based vaccine – becomes involved. Australia currently receives limited supplies of the Pfizer vaccine.

CORPORATES
MONASH UNIVERSITY, PFIZER INCORPORATED, MODERNA INCORPORATED, ASTRAZENECA PLC, CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL