O75 Public Administration

NSW reaches virus crossroads

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Original article by Natasha Boddy, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 13-Jul-20

Victoria recorded 455 new coronavirus cases on the weekend of 11-12 July, while the state’s death toll has risen to 24. The number of cases linked to public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington has risen to 237, while 142 cases have now been linked to the Al-Taqwa College. Meanwhile, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned that south-west Sydney could become a coronavirus hotspot after a cluster was identified at the Crossroads Hotel in the suburb of Casula. The nation’s death toll has risen to 108, while the global death toll is now 570,564. More than 13 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with the virus, although more than 7.5 million have recovered.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Inflation Expectations down to new record low in June of 3.2%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 13-Jul-20

In June, Australians expected inflation of 3.2% annually over the next two years; this result signified a new record low for the index – down 0.1% points on May and 0.8% points on the pre-COVID period of February 2020. Inflation Expectations have declined around the nation; however, the magnitude of the drop has been far larger in some places than others – notably Melbourne where Inflation Expectations have dropped 0.9% points since February to only 2.8% in June. The biggest decline has been in Tasmania, down from 4.9% in February to 2.9% in June, as Hobart’s formerly hot housing market has cooled during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adelaide experienced the least change, with Inflation Expectations of 3.7% in June down only 0.1% points since February, while expectations in Brisbane, Sydney and Perth are down by 0.5-0.6%. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the rapid decline in Inflation Expectations in recent months is a sign of ongoing economic weakness as Australia experiences its first recession for three decades.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Morrison: Stay course on reopening economy

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Original article by Tom McIlroy, Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 10-Jul-20

The national cabinet meeting on 10 July will discuss issues such as Victoria’s new coronavirus outbreak, the hotel quarantine system and border controls. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will argue the need for the other states and territories to open their borders. South Australia will impose a mandatory testing and quarantine regime on all residents who are returning from Victoria, while Western Australia will ban entry to anybody who has been to Victoria in the last two weeks.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Victorian health officials took tracing rules short-cut

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Original article by Yoni Bashan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 10-Jul-20

Victoria recorded 165 new coronavirus cases on 9 July, amid a surge in community transmission. The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee has indicated that the state’s health officials failed to follow the national guidelines for contact tracing. These require the close contacts of virus patients to be monitored on a daily basis for 14 days after their last contact with the infected person. Teams of specialists from interstate are travelling to Victoria to assist with contact tracing, in the wake of revelations that the state has a shortage of personnel who are trained to undertake this work.

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AUSTRALIAN HEALTH PROTECTION PRINCIPAL COMMITTEE

Australia’s fatality rate one of lowest, but that’s not whole story

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Original article by Natasha Robinson
The Australian – Page: 3 : 10-Jul-20

Data from Johns Hopkins University shows that Australia currently boasts a case fatality rate from COVID-19 of just 1.19 per cent. This compares with 15.44 per cent in the UK and four per cent in the US. The case fatality rate is the ratio between confirmed deaths and confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Professor Paul Glasziou of Bond University says a number of factors can contribute to a lower CFR rate, including the number of cases that are detected, the ability of a nation’s healthcare system to cope with the virus, and the age demographic of the population.

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JOHN HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, BOND UNIVERSITY LIMITED

Premier should go, struggling businesses say

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Original article by James Fernyhough
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 10-Jul-20

Chapel Street Precinct Association general manager Chrissie Maus says Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews should resign over the hotel quarantine fiasco that has seen Victoria placed in lockdown again. Chris Lutz, owner of Design a Space, says he cannot understand why the Victorian government did not use the military to manage the hotel quarantining. Kurt Falkenstein, the owner of shared workspace Revolver Lane, says he does not think "it would inappropriate for Daniel Andrews to resign".

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CHAPEL STREET PRECINCT ASSOCIATION, DESIGN A SPACE

China’s fury at HK haven

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Original article by Andrew Tillett, Michael Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 9 : 10-Jul-20

Australia has suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong in response to China’s imposition of new national security laws on the former British colony. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the new laws undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy, while he has offered a ‘pathway to permanent residency’ in Australia to more than 12,000 resident of Hong Kong. The Chinese embassy in Canberra has attacked the federal government over its actions, as has China’s foreign ministry; Australian government officials expect the federal government’s actions to result in trade retaliation by China.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Restrictions to ease in eight of Melbourne’s locked-down public housing towers

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Original article by
SBS News – Page: Online : 10-Jul-20

Eight of the nine Melbourne public housing towers that were put in ‘hard lockdown’ on 4 July will move to stage- three restrictions, after 2,515 residents were tested for the coronavirus and a total of 158 tested positive. The 33 Alfred Street estate in North Melbourne, where 53 cases of COVID-19 have been detected, will remain under a hard lockdown for another nine days, although residents will be allowed outside for supervised exercise. The 105 residents in six towers who tested positive will be given the option of hotel quarantine. No coronavirus cases have been detected at two of the high-rise towers.

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ACTU boss opposes tax cut for workers

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 10-Jul-20

ACTU secretary Sally McManus has urged the federal government to extend the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme for an additional six months. It is slated to end in late September, but McManus says the union movement will not support an extension of temporary changes to workplace laws unless the scheme is extended for all eligible workers. McManus also opposes bringing forward personal income tax cuts, arguing that it will lead to less money being spent on essential services. She adds that company tax cuts should not be considered until tax loopholes and rorts have been addressed.

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ACTU

Virus slowdown: call to waive penalty rates

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 9-Jul-20

The Master Builders Association and the Housing Industry Association want the Fair Work Commission to make temporary changes to the construction industry award in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union opposes any move to vary the award so construction workers do not receive penalty rates for working outside their regular hours. Richard Crookes Constructions is among the building firms that have expressed support for temporary changes to the award.

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MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, RICHARD CROOKES CONSTRUCTIONS PTY LTD