O75 Public Administration

Green lawfare hits projects worth $65bn

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Original article by Dennis Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 6-Mar-20

The Institute of Public Affairs claims that 28 projects between 2000 and 2019 were delayed as a result of action by activist groups using section 487 of the federal Environment Protection Act. The IPA claims that these projects have a combined value of more than $65 billion. They include Adani’s $16.5 billion coalmine in Queensland, a $140 million port in the Northern Territory and a $30 million salmon farm in Tasmania. Kurt Wallace from the IPA claims that 94 per cent of the cases instigated by activists under s 487 failed to bring about any significant change to the original project.

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INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS LIMITED, ADANI MINING PTY LTD

Trade figures underscore economy’s reliance on mining and China

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Original article by Euan Black
The New Daily – Page: Online : 6-Mar-20

Official data shows that Australia’s trade surplus fell by three per cent to $5.2bn in January, although this was better than economists had expected. The value of iron ore exports was 17.4 per cent lower than the peak in July, while coal exports were down 25 per cent from a May peak. The data also shows that the total value of the nation’s exports to China was 12 per cent lower than the peak recorded in June. This is despite the fact that China accounted for 38 per cent of exports in January. Indeed economist Callam Pickering says the figures demonstrate the Australian economy’s dependence on the mining sector and trade with China.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, INDEED INCORPORATED

Jobs subsidy plan to bust recession

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 6-Mar-20

Treasury expects the impact of the coronavirus to reduce economic growth by at least 0.5 per cent in the March quarter, while the recent bushfires will cut growth by a further 0.2 per cent. The federal government’s stimulus package will aim to prevent economic growth from also being negative in the June quarter; it will include wage subsidies, a business investment allowance and tax breaks to assist with cash flow. Greens leader Adam Bandt says the stimulus package should also include an increase in unemployment benefits and financial assistance for workers who are not entitled to paid sick leave.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Unions urge paid leave for quarantined staff

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 5-Mar-20

The federal government has advised workers who have recently been overseas to undertake self-quarantine for 14 days. Victorian Trades Hall secretary Luke Hilakari contends that workers should not be penalised if they are ordered to stay at home and do not have the option of telecommuting. He says they should receive full pay and not be required to use their annual or personal leave. ACTU secretary Sally McManus has urged the federal government to provide financial support to casual workers and contractors who are not entitled to paid leave.

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VICTORIAN TRADES HALL COUNCIL, ACTU

Billions in stimulus to stop slump

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 5-Mar-20

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has warned that the coronavirus will have a "material impact" on Australia’s economic growth in the first half of 2020. Amid growing concern that the nation could go into recession for the first time since 1990-91, the federal government is set to announce a stimulus package that will hit the Budget bottom line. The package will focus on jobs, small business cash flow and capital investment; it is expected to include a business investment allowance that was to have been announced in the May Budget. The stimulus package is likely to result in a deficit for 2019-20.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Hunt accused of passing the buck as staff walk

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Original article by Yoni Bashan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 5-Mar-20

The global death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 3,252, with Australia recording its second fatality. NSW Health has confirmed that a 95-year-old woman who died on 4 March has tested positive for the virus. More than 95,000 people worldwide have now been diagnosed with the coronavirus, including 52 in Australia. Meanwhile, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has criticised the "convoluted" process for securing emergency funding from the federal government, after NSW Health was forced to provide staff to an aged-care home whose employees failed to turn up for work following a coronavirus outbreak at the facility. The deceased woman was a resident of the aged-care home.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. MINISTRY OF HEALTH

Australia’s economy beats expectations ahead of bushfire, coronavirus impacts

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Original article by Michael Janda
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 5-Mar-20

Official data shows that the Australian economy grew by 0.5 per cent in the December quarter and 2.2 per cent year-on-year. The general consensus of economists was for quarterly growth of 0.3-0.4 per cent and annual growth of two per cent. However, the full impact of the bushfires and the coronavirus outbreak will not be felt until GDP data for the first quarter of 2020 is released. Meanwhile, overall domestic demand increased by just 0.1 per cent in the December quarter, while business investment and resident construction fell. Sarah Hunter of BIS Oxford Economics says the economy is likely to contract in the March quarter, adding that the risk of a recession has increased.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, BIS OXFORD ECONOMICS PTY LTD

CFMEU slugged $486k for blockade

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 3-Mar-20

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union has been fined $404,500 for organising an unlawful blockade at the Barangaroo project in Sydney. The Federal Circuit has also ordered five current and former union officials to pay fines ranging from $7,500 to $22,500. The industrial action was aimed at forcing concreting firm De Martin & Gasparini to sign an enterprise agreement. The CFMMEU and its officials have now been fined $9.62m in total since the Australian Building & Construction Commission was reinstated in 2016.

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CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA, DE MARTIN AND GASPARINI PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Doctor caught in coronavirus firing line

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Original article by Yoni Bashan, Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 3-Mar-20

The global death toll from the coronavirus outbreak has risen to 3,087, with the US reporting its sixth death; more than 90,000 people worldwide have now been diagnosed with the illness. The number of people in Australia who have contracted the virus has risen to 33; a doctor is among two people who have been infected via person-to-person transmission within the local community rather than while they were overseas. Health Minister Greg Hunt and Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy have warned that it is now impossible to contain the virus.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER

Australia most exposed to virus: Trump adviser

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 2-Mar-20

Kevin Hassett, the former chairman of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, has forecast that the Chinese economy will contract by 10 per cent in the March 2020 quarter. He adds that China’s economic growth will return to normal if the coronavirus outbreak is quickly contained, but he warns that Australia faces the prospect of a recession if the outbreak is not brought under control by the start of the northern hemisphere’s summer. The US has introduced new travel restrictions on people who have recently visited Iran, while the nation has reported its first confirmed death from the virus.

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