O75 Public Administration

Nat leader will stay for poll, says Joyce

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 4 : 17-Feb-20

National Party leader Michael McCormack has downplayed suggestions that he will step aside before the next federal election. McCormack says he has the full support of Prime Minister Scott Morrison and will lead the Nationals into the election. Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce also says McCormack will still be leader at the election, adding that he accepts the partyroom’s decision to reject his recent bid for a spill.

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NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

ClubsNSW whistleblower reveals the alarming scale of money laundering in pokies rooms at local clubs and pubs

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Original article by Steve Cannane, Kyle Taylor, Clare Blumer
abc.net au – Page: Online : 14-Feb-20

Independent federal MP Andrew Wilkie has claimed that up to 95 per cent of clubs in New South Wales are not complying with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance laws. He says this means they are operating illegally, and that he got this information from a ClubsNSW document that was provided to him by a whistleblower. Troy Stolz, a former ClubsNSW AML/CTF compliance auditor, claims that he was the source of the document. He says that money laundering through poker machines is rife in pubs and clubs across Australia. A ClubsNSW spokesperson has accused Wilkie of "anti-club hysteria".

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CLUBS NSW PTY LTD

Bali tourist tests positive to coronavirus as more than 14,000 new cases confirmed

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Original article by
The New Daily – Page: Online : 14-Feb-20

The global death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 1,369; Japan has reported its first death from the respiratory illness, and more than 60,000 people worldwide have now been infected. An additional 14,840 cases of the virus have been reported in the Chinese province of Hubei, after health officials changed the methodology for diagnosing the illness. Meanwhile, a Chinese national who has returned to Shanghai after holidaying in Bali recently tested positive to the disease.

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Scorched land safe from fires for years

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Original article by Kieran Gair
The Australian – Page: 2 : 14-Feb-20

The CSIRO estimates that some 10 million hectares of land has been razed during the 2019-20 bushfire season. This exceeds the combined area burnt in the 2009 Black Saturday and 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires. Landscape ecologist Grant Williamson says the massive destruction of plant life in the bushfire zones means there will be no danger of fires in these areas for at least four years, as there is nothing left to burn. Meanwhile, the Rural Fire Service has confirmed that all bushfires in New South Wales have been contained.

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CSIRO, UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA, NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE

Coalition seeks to sidestep high court ruling that Aboriginal non-citizens can’t be deported

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Original article by Paul Karp, Calla Wahlquist
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 13-Feb-20

Attorney-General Christian Porter has indicated that the federal government may legislate to override the High Court’s majority decision that non-citizens of indigenous descent cannot be deported. Porter says the High Court ruling has implications for the government’s policy of deporting people who are convicted of serious crimes while in Australia on a visa. Legal experts have stated that it is too soon to determine the broader implications of the judgment.

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AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Age Pension for all beats hike in super

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 2 : 13-Feb-20

Mercer has used a submission to the federal government’s review of the retirement income system to call for the superannuation guarantee to remain at 9.5 per cent and to abolish means-testing for the age pension. The super guarantee is legislated to be progressively increase to 12 per cent by 2025, and some Coalition MPs have also called for the increase to be scrapped. Michael Littlewood, who helped design New Zealand’s retirement system, says there are major problems with Australia’s retirement system.

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MERCER INVESTMENTS PTY LTD

Travel bans set to knock $6bn from economy

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Original article by Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 7 : 13-Feb-20

Investment bank UBS expects Australia to record negative GDP growth in the March quarter, due to the introduction of travel bans in response to the coronavirus. UBS economist George Tharenou warns that annual growth could fall by about 0.9 per cent, which equates to a $6bn economic hit. The federal government’s national security committee will shortly decide whether to extend the ban on people travelling to Australia from mainland China; the ban has affected sectors such as education, tourism and retailing.

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UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Virus may rank among worst

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Original article by Natasha Robinson
The Australian – Page: 7 : 13-Feb-20

The death toll from the coronavirus in mainland China has risen to 1,113, and more than 44,000 people across the nation have been diagnosed with the respiratory illness. Meanwhile, epidemiologists at the Imperial College London have estimated that the new virus will kill one per cent of people who contract it. In contrast, World Health Organization figures show that seasonal influenza kills about 0.13 per cent of sufferers. Professor Neil Ferguson of the Imperial College says the coronavirus may prove to be as bad as the major influenza pandemics of the 20th century

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IMPERIAL COLLEGE, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence down a touch to 107.8

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Feb-20

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence fell 0.6% to 107.8 in the week ended 9 February. Current financial conditions fell 3%, while future financial conditions rose 3.8%. In a similar pattern, the 4.1% fall in current economic conditions did not quite offset the 5.3% rise in future economic conditions. The ‘Time to buy a major household item’ subindex fell 5%, to its lowest level since mid- December. The four-week moving average of inflation expectations was unchanged at 4.1%.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Housing boom to lift economy

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 12-Feb-20

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that there was 4.4 per cent growth in new home loan approvals in December. This was the biggest monthly increase since September 2016, and well above economists’ expectations of 1.6 per cent growth. Mortgage approvals increased by 14 per cent year-on-year. Factors such as the three official interest rate cuts in 2019 and a relaxation of lending restrictions in April have contributed to increased demand for home loans, with owner-occupiers accounting for much of the growth.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS