O75 Public Administration

Labor launches Senate push to reverse IR changes

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 21-Apr-20

Shadow industrial relations minister Tony Burke has questioned the need for reforms which reduce the amount of time employees are given to vote on proposed changes to workplace agreements from seven days to just one. The reform was prompted by the pandemic, but Burke argues that any such changes to enterprise agreements will remain in place after the coronavirus abates and will need to be removed via another vote by employees. Labor will put a disallowance motion to the Senate when parliament resumes, and it intends to seek the support of crossbenchers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Ailing Virgin’s crash landing

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson, Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 21-Apr-20

Virgin Australia’s creditors are unlikely to recover much of the money they are owed after the struggling airline was placed into voluntary administration. Virgin’s international shareholders agreed to the move after the federal government rejected a request from the carrier for a $100m emergency grant. Private equity firm BGH is believed to be among two potential buyers of Virgin, which could be revived as a low-cost airline focusing on the domestic market. Labor and unions have urged the government to take a stake in Virgin to ensure that it survives.

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, BGH CAPITAL PTY LTD, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

Lowe: Business needs reforms to recover

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 21-Apr-20

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe has warned that the nation is facing a "very significant economic contraction" due to the coronavirus pandemic. He is expected to use a speech on 21 April to call for further policy reform, amid growing concern that business investment will not rebound when the crisis abates. Some economists are also of the view that economic reform will be necessary, arguing that fiscal and monetary stimulus will not be sufficient to boost business investment.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Bushfires freed two years’ worth of CO2

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Graham Lloyd
The Australian – Page: 7 : 21-Apr-20

The Bushfires Royal Commission has been told that the 2019-20 bushfires released 830 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, the extra emissions will not be counted towards Australia’s 2020 Kyoto and 2030 Paris emission reduction targets, as it is assumed that the CO2 will be reabsorbed by trees as they regrow. The federal Environment Department has told the royal commission that 96 per cent of emissions from the 2002-03 Canberra bushfires have been reabsorbed, while the amount of CO2 released by the 2019-20 bushfires was almost double Australia’s annual emissions from energy, industry and transportation.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Jobless blow will be worst since 1930s

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

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

A report from the Grattan Institute has forecast that jobs in the hospitality, arts and recreation, retail and education sectors will be hardest hit by the coronavirus and the measures that have been deployed to contain it. The public policy think tank estimates that 14-26 per cent of Australian workers will soon be out of work, or up to 3.4 million people. In addition, the Grattan Institute warns that the JobKeeper scheme will not prevent the unemployment rate from rising to 10-15 per cent.

CORPORATES
GRATTAN INSTITUTE

Coalition pressure to rescue Virgin

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson, Sarah Elks
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 20-Apr-20

It is understood that Virgin Australia could be placed into voluntary administration within days unless the federal government steps in to save the airline or it can be rescued by the private sector. Former Queensland premier Peter Beattie, who gave Virgin $10 million to base its headquarters in Brisbane in 2000, says the tourism sector would be "devastated" if the airline goes under. Federal Liberal MP Jason ­Falinski believes that Virgin needs to be kept afloat, and that the federal government and taxpayers may end up being the "buyer of last resort".

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

BCA plan aims to accelerate recovery

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 20-Apr-20

The Business Council of Australia has developed a three-tier plan for restarting the domestic economy when coronavirus lockdown restrictions start to be eased. Amongst other things, the discussion paper proposes a gradual resumption of office-based work, with appropriate health and safety measures to protect workers. The BCA has also called for regulatory and industrial relations reforms to boost economic activity, while it says the focus of government assistance should shift to accelerating the economy rather than keeping it on ‘life support’.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Bipartisan call to investigate China’s role in spread of virus

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 20-Apr-20

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has called for an independent investigation into how China and the World Health Organization handled the first stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the role of China’s wet markets in the virus’s creation. Shadow health minister Chris Bowen says Labor would support such an investigation, while Peter Jennings from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute says the G20 might be an appropriate body to conduct the type of investigation that the federal government is calling for.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE LIMITED, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20)

Big tech made to pay for news

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 20-Apr-20

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has been directed to set up a mandatory code of conduct under which Google and Facebook will be required to pay news publishers for using their content. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says it is only reasonable that those who create content are rewarded for it. Facebook and Google had initially been directed to set up a voluntary code of conduct for content payment by November, but the two technology companies had been accused by media firms of not genuinely engaging in negotiations on the issue. Nine Entertainment CEO Hugh Marks has praised the government for taking "taking swift and decisive action" on the issue.

CORPORATES
FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Royal commission begins into harrowing black summer of bushfires

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Bellinda Kontominas
The New Daily – Page: Online : 17-Apr-20

The royal commission into Australia’s deadly 2019/20 bushfire season has been formally opened via an online hearing on 16 April. The commission has already held 17 community forums in bushfire-affected areas, but all future hearings will be conducted online, due to the impact of COVID-19 and social distancing restrictions. Thirty-three people lost their lives during the fires, while over 10 million hectares were burnt, and 3,000 homes and 7,000 outbuildings were destroyed. The commission hopes to release its findings before the start of the next bushfire season.

CORPORATES