O75 Public Administration

World is approaching coronavirus tipping point, experts say

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Original article by Angela Giuffrida, Patrick Wintour, Sam Jones
The Guardian – Page: Online : 24-Feb-20

The global death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 2,470, and more than 78,000 people worldwide have been diagnosed with the respiratory illness. There have been 2,444 confirmed deaths in China, while the number of fatalities in other countries is rising; there have now been eight deaths in Iran, six in South Korea and three in Italy. South Korea has raised its alert on the coronavirus to the highest level, while coronavirus expert Paul Hunter of the University of East Anglia has warned that time is running out to avert a global pandemic.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA

Lifting super punishes women on low incomes

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 17 & 19 : 24-Feb-20

The National Foundation for Australian Women has used its submission to a review of the retirement income system to argue against progressively increasing the superannuation guarantee. Professor Helen Hodgson of the NFAW says the legislated increase from 9.5 to 12 per cent by 2024 will reduce the take-home pay of low-income earners, and women in particular. However, Women In Super contends that the increase in the super guarantee should be brought forward.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR AUSTRALIAN WOMEN LIMITED, WOMEN IN SUPER

Wage theft: Employer calls to reform award system are a bare-faced con job

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Original article by Martijn Boersma
The New Daily – Page: Online : 23-Feb-20

PwC has estimated that Australian workers are underpaid $1.35 billion each year, with 13 per cent of the workforce impacted. In certain sectors, the figure increases to 21 per cent of workers. Companies that have been found to have underpaid staff are tending to blame the award system for the problem, contending that it is overly complicated. Employers and employer groups say that the system needs to be simplified, but what they are really want is to reduce the role of governments and unions in wage determination.

CORPORATES
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, SUPER RETAIL GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUL, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW

Practical focus for fire inquiry

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Rachel Baxendale, David Ross, Sarah Elks, Yoni Bashan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 21-Feb-20

The federal government has released the terms of reference for its bushfires royal commission, which will be headed by former defence force chief Mark Binskin. The six-month inquiry’s focus will be on natural disaster management and improving Australia’s resilience to natural disasters. Labor and the Greens have criticised the government for excluding policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions from the inquiry’s terms of reference.

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

Negligent profits at workers’ expense

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 8 : 21-Feb-20

Super Retail Group has advised that the extent of its wage underpayment scandal is worse than initially thought. The retailer says employees have been underpaid by $61.2m, compared with a previous estimate of $53m. Meanwhile, Professor Andrew Stewart from the University of Adelaide suggests that some employers have been negligent by shifting staff to annualised salaries while failing to determine if they have been working additional hours.

CORPORATES
SUPER RETAIL GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUL, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

First coronavirus deaths among Diamond Princess passengers and in South Korea; health experts warn of mounting cases beyond China

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Original article by Gerry Shih, Rick Noack, Lateshia Beachum, Teo Armus
The Washington Post – Page: Online : 21-Feb-20

The death toll from the coronavirus in mainland China has risen to 2,118; some 74,546 people across the nation have now contracted the respiratory illness. Meanwhile, media reports in Japan have confirmed that two elderly passengers on the quarantined cruise ship ‘Diamond Princess’ have died from the coronavirus, while the first death from the virus has been reported in South Korea. World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that the number of coronavirus infections outside of China could rise.

CORPORATES
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

Canberra needs to act to fix slowing economy

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 21-Feb-20

Private domestic demand contracted in the year to 30 September, according to a chart published in the Reserve Bank’s latest ‘Statement of Monetary Policy’. This means the Australian domestic private economy was effectively in recession even before the negative impact of the bushfires and the coronavirus. With the cash rate at just 0.75 per cent, the RBA cannot do much more to stimulate the economy, so it is essentially up to the federal government to do so. This could include reforms to workplace relations, tax and competition, along with ongoing infrastructure spending and maintenance.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

The real scandal behind wage theft

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Original article by Jennifer Hewett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 21-Feb-20

The Fair Work Commission is about to impose onerous new rules concerning the recording and reconciliation of hours being worked by salaried staff. They are being imposed at a time when technological advances are blurring the distinction between work and home, making the traditional 40-hour week seem an illusion. There has been a lot of controversy recently about employees not getting paid for all the hours they have worked, but there are often good reasons why people choose to work extra hours, including a desire to develop their career. Most cases of underpayment are unlikely to have been deliberate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL

Labor backs net-zero emissions, won’t use Kyoto credits

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 4 : 21-Feb-20

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese will use a speech on 21 February to commit Labor to a target of net zero carbons emissions by 2050. It will replace Labor’s previous target of reducing emissions by 45 per cent by 2030, which was rejected by voters at the May 2019 election. Albanese will also stress that Labor will not use Kyoto carry-over credits or provide any financial support for the construction of coal-fired power stations.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Roy Morgan January unemployment predicted the increase seen yesterday with the ABS results

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 21-Feb-20

The Roy Morgan January unemployment and under-employment result released earlier this week showed an increase in real unemployment to 9.7% in January with over 1.36 million Australians now unemployed (an increase of 1% point from December) and a further 1.23 million (8.7% of the workforce) now under-employed – and now the ABS results have confirmed the upward trend in unemployment. The ABS figures show seasonally adjusted unemployment of 5.3% in January, up 0.2% points from December with 726,000 Australians now looking for a job according to the ABS. The ABS figures show an additional 8.6% of Australians are now under-employed. The latest Roy Morgan employment estimates show over 2.5 million Australians (18.4% of the workforce) are now looking for a job or looking for more work while the ABS claims a significantly lower figure of around 1.9 million (13.9%). These results suggest the ABS is continuing to under-estimate the level of true workforce labour under-utilisation in Australia.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS