O75 Public Administration

The Government’s HomeBuilder scheme offers $25k for home renovations – but not everyone will qualify

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Original article by Jordan Heyne
abc.net au – Page: Online : 5-Jun-20

People wanting to apply for grants of $25,000 to build a new home or renovate an existing one under the federal government’s HomeBuilder scheme must meet a range of criteria. They income thresholds and limits on the value of homes to be newly built, including the land. Contracts for new homes or renovations must be entered into before the end of 2020, and construction must begin within three months of the contract date. People wanting to use the money for a renovation must spend at least $150,000 of their own funds, and the home being renovated must be worth less than $1.5 million prior to the renovation. Investment properties do not qualify for the scheme.

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2.09 million Australians unemployed in May, down 69,000 on April

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Jun-20

In May 14.8% of the workforce (2.09 million Australians) were unemployed and 9.7% (1.37 million) were under-employed. This is a total of 3.46 million (24.5%) unemployed or under-employed as Australia begins to open up, according to the latest Roy Morgan employment estimates – obviously an under-estimation as 3.5 million are currently subsidised on JobKeeper. Michele Levine, CEO Roy Morgan, says: "Australia has entered its first recession for three decades and a quarter of the Australian workforce is unemployed or under-employed. To emerge from recession quickly businesses and unions must work together to forge sensible and equitable solutions that encourage employers to hire new workers. A Roy Morgan survey this week showed the Federal Court decision to award extra entitlements to certain casual employees will effect up to 794,000 Australian businesses. 567,000 businesses say they will be deterred from hiring casual employees and 123,000 say the decision will ‘force them to close’. This shows if businesses and unions don’t work together hundreds of thousands of Australians will struggle to find new jobs."

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Cost of beating virus: recession

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Original article by Patrick Commins,Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 4-Jun-20

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has confirmed that the Australian economy is in recession for the first time in 29 years. GDP data shows that the economy contracted by 0.3 per cent in the March quarter, while economic growth slowed from 2.2 per cent to 1.4 per cent in the year to March. Frydenberg has also warned that the economic contraction in the June quarter will be much worse; economists expect GDP growth to fall by 6-9 per cent as the full impact of the coronavirus lockdown restrictions took effect. Meanwhile, the federal government has delayed its mini-budget until 23 July, which will allow it to assess how the economy fares after lockdown restrictions are fully lifted.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Bearish start to IR reform talks

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 4-Jun-20

Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter held the first meeting with representatives of the union movement and employers’ groups on 3 June, as part of a collaborative approach to workplace reforms. He said that both groups appreciate the need for change. Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott said employers and unions must be prepared to make compromises, while ACTU secretary Sally McManus said unions are open to changing the ‘better off overall test’. Meanwhile, the Treasury warned that it could take 5-7 years for the economy to recover from the pandemic, and that the unemployment rate could be 8-9 per cent by 2021.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, SKILLS, SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS,BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA,ACTU

Federal Court’s ruling on casual employees set to have impact on hundreds of thousands of businesses says Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine

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Original article by Michele Levine
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Jun-20

The business community and union movement must come together and reach an equitable solution about how to handle the implications of the decision in the interests of a healthy Australian jobs market. The biggest direct impact is that businesses will be deterred from hiring casual employees. Businesses mentioned ‘double-dipping’ and that ‘casual workers already get a 25% loading for sick pay and annual leave’. In addition as many as 123,000 businesses say they will be ‘forced to close’. The reluctance to hire casual employees is a troubling development in an economy which has experienced over a million job losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has flagged working with unions and businesses to re-boot the Australian economy after the pandemic, but the impetus must be driven by business and union leaders to succeed.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED,AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Australia recession: Graph that rings economists’ alarm bells

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Original article by Samantha Maiden
News.com.au – Page: Online : 4-Jun-20

The national accounts data shows that Australia’s household saving rate rose slightly to 5.5 per cent in the March quarter, its highest level since the September 2016 quarter. Callam Pickering, the chief economist at Indeed, says data indicating that people are earning less and saving more is often the cause of a recession. He adds that encouraging households and businesses to return to pre-coronavirus spending levels will be a major challenge as lockdown restrictions are lifted. The official data also show that total consumption fell by 1.1 per cent in the three months to March, which is the biggest quarterly decline in more than three decades.

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INDEED INCORPORATED,AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

CFMEU deal a threat to post-virus recovery

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 3-Jun-20

More than 100 subcontractors have signed up to the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union’s new pattern agreement in New South Wales. Master Builders Australia’s NSW executive director Brian Seidler claims that subcontractors agreed to the deal under duress, and he has warned that it will result in a big rise in labour costs. The pattern agreement includes a pay rise of five per cent and a rostered day off every second Monday. The CFMMEU’s NSW secretary Darren Greenfield argues that construction industry workers deserve the pay rise as they kept working during the coronavirus lockdown.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Universities on brink of ground zero

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Tim Dodd
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 3-Jun-20

The University of Sydney’s vice-chancellor Michael Spence has warned that the higher education sector’s loss of fee revenue from international students will jeopardise its future research capabilities. Australian National University vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt has expressed similar concerns, noting the economic benefits of university-based research. The nation’s universities are lobbying the federal government for increased funding to offset the loss of revenue due to the pandemic, but Education Minister Dan Tehan says their focus should shift to local students and online learning. Some universities have already laid off employees.

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UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Near $1bn boost for building kicks off targeted stimulus

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 3-Jun-20

The federal government is expected to release details of its coronavirus stimulus package for the construction industry on 4 June. It is tipped to include cash grants of between $20,000 and $50,000 for people buying a new home, in order to avert a decline in construction activity towards the end of 2020. The government is also expected to provide cash grants for home renovations. A stimulus package for the arts and entertainment is also said to be on the government’s agenda.

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Depth of downturn less than expected

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 2 : 3-Jun-20

Australia has recorded a trade surplus of $19.2bn for the March quarter, and a current account surplus of $8.4bn. The result was driven by strong growth in export volumes and a fall in imports due to the impact of the pandemic. Meanwhile, the median forecast of economists is for GDP growth to have contracted by 0.4 per cent in the quarter, with official data to be released on 3 June. Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has suggested that the coronavirus-induced economic downturn may prove be less severe than initially expected.

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA