O75 Public Administration

Thousand in isolation as Qld cluster grows

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Original article by Charlie Peel
The Australian – Page: 7 : 1-Apr-21

Queensland has recorded two new locally-acquired cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours; both are linked to Brisbane’s second cluster, which has increased to 11. The new cases are a nurse at Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital and her housemate. The nurse is one of two healthcare workers who have contracted the virus from an international traveller who had arrived in Brisbane from India. One new COVID-19 case has also been reported in hotel quarantine in Queensland. The state government will make a decision on whether to end Greater Brisbane’s three-day lockdown at 9am on 1 April. At present the lockdown is scheduled to end at 5pm.

CORPORATES
PRINCESS ALEXANDRA HOSPITAL

Australian Greens to propose 6% wealth tax on billionaires to combat inequality

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 29-Mar-21

The Greens will call for 700 per cent of Australia’s energy needs to be produced from renewable energy sources as part of their ‘Fight for the Future’ policy. The policy also calls for a six per cent wealth tax on billionaires, for public schools, universities and Tafe to be free, and for a jobs and income guarantee. The proposed wealth tax would see mining magnates Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest hit with tax increases of $2.2 billion and $586 million respectively, while the Greens will urge voters to elect a minority Labor government and give them the balance of power in both houses of parliament at the next election.

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AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Mine export surge holds up economy

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith, John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 29-Mar-21

The federal government expects the value of Australia’s resources and energy exports to top $296bn in 2020-21, after a record $291bn in the previous financial year. The surge in export earnings will be driven by iron ore; the Department of Industry, Science, Energy & Resources now expects iron ore earnings to total $136bn, compared with its forecast in December of $123bn for the financial year. However, exports of LNG, thermal coal and coking coal are forecast to be lower in 2020-21. The record resources and energy exports will boost the Budget bottom line, with the full-year deficit now expected to be $150bn.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE, ENERGY AND RESOURCES

Lockdown unlikely as Queensland’s Covid cluster grows

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Original article by Mackenzie Scott
The Australian – Page: 7 : 29-Mar-21

Queensland has recorded one new locally-acquired COVID-19 case in the last 24 hours, but health authorities say the man has already recovered and is no longer infectious. He is the brother of a 26-year-old Brisbane man who tested positive on 26 March; a friend of the landscape gardener has also tested positive. Meanwhile, there are two new cases in hotel quarantine, and a total of 71 active cases across the state. Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young is optimistic that Greater Brisbane will not have to be locked down ahead of the Easter long weekend, but says it is too soon to rule anything out. A total of seven new cases have been reported in hotel quarantine nationwide in the last 24 hours.

CORPORATES
QUEENSLAND HEALTH

Treasurer warns of subsidy dangers

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 29-Mar-21

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the federal government will continue to provide economic stimulus following the end of the JobKeeper scheme on 28 March. He has flagged further targeted support for sectors that have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and says the wage subsidy scheme had ‘stemmed the tide’ of coronavirus-induced job losses. However, he cautions that fiscal discipline is also necessary to prevent higher taxes and higher debt in the future. Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers says JobKeeper should have been extended in a "responsible, temporary, and targeted fashion", and he has warned that the Coalition will be responsible for any job losses in coming weeks.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Andrew Laming to quit politics after unacceptable behaviour

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Original article by
SBS News – Page: Online : 29-Mar-21

The Liberal-National Party has confirmed that Queensland MP Andrew Laming will not contest the next federal election. The announcement came one day after a woman accused him of taking a picture of her bottom on his mobile phone in 2019, and two days after he apologised for trolling two women from his constituency online. The announcement that Laming would step down from Parliament had been made by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who said that Laming’s behaviour had been "unacceptable".

CORPORATES
LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Biden Covid rescue plan clears Senate

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Original article by Michael Mathes
The Australian – Page: Online : 8-Mar-21

The US Senate has approved President Joe Biden’s US1.9 trillion ($2.5 trillion) relief package by 50 votes to 49 vote after much negotiation and a marathon voting session. It will now go back to the House of Representatives, where the Democrats have a majority and where it is expected to be adopted. The legislation provides stimulus cheques of $US1,400 for most Americans, along with $US41 billion for COVID-19 vaccine distribution and $US49 billion for increased COVID testing, tracing and research. The bill also allocates $US350 billion to state and local governments and $US130 billion to schools.

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Rise puts union leader on $470k

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 8-Mar-21

United Firefighters Union secretary Peter Marshall received $470,280 in the 2019-20 financial year, $51,000 up on the previous year. This is according to figures released by the Registered Organisations Commission, with Marshall being Australia’s highest paid union official. Former Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief Mark Stone was paid $506,366 in 2019-20, while Pharmacy Guild of Australia national president George Tambassis received $394,720 and Aged & Community Services Australia secretary Patricia Sparrow received $323,025. It is understood Marshall is paid more than double the amount earned by ACTU secretary Sally McManus and ACTU president Michele O’Neil.

CORPORATES
UNITED FIREFIGHTERS’ UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, VICTORIAN EMPLOYERS’ CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, THE PHARMACY GUILD OF AUSTRALIA, AGED AND COMMUNITY SERVICES AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, ACTU

Two cabinet ministers attended event at which woman alleged Christian Porter raped her

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Original article by Paul Karp, Christopher Knaus, Katharine Murphy, Naaman Zhou
The Guardian – Page: Online : 6-Mar-21

Attorney-General Christian Porter has strenuously denied allegations he sexually assaulted a woman during a 1988 debating competition at the University of Sydney. It has been revealed that current federal Health Minister Greg Hunt attended the event as a member of the University of Melbourne debating team, while Communications Minister Paul Fletcher is understood to have been one of the event’s adjudicators. A spokesperson for Hunt said he had never met the woman in question to the best of his knowledge, while a spokesperson for Fletcher declined to comment.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Voucher boost for suffering tourist mecca

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Original article by Michael McKenna
The Australian – Page: Online : 8-Mar-21

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced a scheme that will see Queenslanders given a $200 voucher to spend on holidays in Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. The voucher scheme will cover travel from 15 March to 25 June, with 15,000 vouchers available from 8 to 11 March. In announcing the scheme, Palaszczuk repeated her call for the federal government to extend its JobKeeper program for industries such as tourism beyond its scheduled end of 28 March, while Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Daniel Gschwin said other parts of Queensland would also benefit from a voucher scheme.

CORPORATES
QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, QUEENSLAND TOURISM INDUSTRY COUNCIL LIMITED