O75 Public Administration

Employers push for Fair Work review

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 3-Feb-20

The Australian Mines & Metals Association has called for a review of the Fair Work Commission, as well as the appointment of seven new commissioners over the next year. AMMA CEO Steve Knott has outlined a number of concerns about the FWC in a letter to Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter. They include the lengthy delays in approving workplace agreements and claims that the allocation of full bench cases tends to favour Labor appointees.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, SKILLS, SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Virus crisis could cost nation $13bn

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 3-Feb-20

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has conceded that events that are beyond the federal government’s control will have a significant impact on the domestic economy. Some estimates suggest that the coronavirus could potentially reduce economic activity by up to $13bn in the first half of 2020, with the tourism and education export sectors to be particularly hard hit. The coronavirus could also jeopardise the government’s revenue projections in its mid-year Budget update, due to its potential effect on the prices of commodities such as iron ore and coal.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Joyce circles after minister quits

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Original article by Greg Brown, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 3-Feb-20

Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie has resigned from the portfolio and as deputy leader of the National Party, after an investigation by top bureaucrat Phil ­Gaetjens found that she had breached the ministerial code of conduct. Gaetjens concluded that sports grants had not been improperly allocated during McKenzie’s previous role as sports minister; however, he found that McKenzie’s failure to declare her membership of a gun club that received a grant constituted a breach of the ministerial code. Some Nationals MPs are believed to have approached Barnaby Joyce about challenging Nationals leader Michael McCormack at a partyroom meeting on 4 February, when they will elect a new deputy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Coronavirus: First victim dies outside China

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Original article by Jonathan Cheng, Feliz Solomon
The Australian – Page: 6 : 3-Feb-20

Chinese authorities have confirmed that the nation’s death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 304, while 14,380 people have been diagnosed with the virus. Meanwhile, the Philippines government has advised that a 44-year-old man has died from the coronavirus at a hospital in Manila. He is one of two people in the Philippines who have contracted the illness; both had arrived in the country from Wuhan on 21 January. At least 150 people in 24 countries have now fallen ill with the coronavirus, including 12 in Australia.

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Coronavirus: foreign arrivals from mainland China will not be allowed into Australia, Scott Morrison says

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Original article by
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 3-Feb-20

The federal government has raised its travel advice warning for mainland China to level four, recommending that Australians should not travel to the country due to the coronavirus outbreak. The government has also announced that it will not allow anybody travelling from China to enter Australia unless they are Australian citizens or permanent residents. Meanwhile, Qantas will suspend all direct flights to mainland China from 9 February until 29 March, while the Trump administration will temporarily ban entry to the US by any foreign national who has travelled to China in the last 14 days.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

UK open for quick trade talks

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 31-Jan-20

Britain is set to formally exit the European Union on 31 January, after the European Parliament approved the Brexit deal. Australia’s Trade Minister Simon Birmingham is optimistic that a free-trade agreement with the UK can be finalised by the start of 2021, when the 11-month Brexit transition period ends; he notes that the two nations have already struck some deals that will take effect at that time. Former trade minister Andrew Robb says ensuring that Australian farmers have better access to the British market will be crucial to a trade deal.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

Agent of interference: How Labor’s top lawyer steered bureaucrats against ex-PM

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 31-Jan-20

Andrew Cooper, the Australian organiser of the 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference, was asked to register under the federal government’s Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme. The request was made by the Attorney General’s Department. According to documents released under freedom of information laws, Labor frontbencher Mark Dreyfus encouraged department officials to investigate whether the CPAC would trigger registration requirements under the scheme at a meeting in July. The Department also asked former prime minister Tony Abbott to register under the scheme as he was to speak at the event; both Cooper and Abbott rejected the requests. A spokesperson for Dreyfus says the opposition cannot tell public servants to do anything.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

PM strikes $2b gas deal with NSW

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 31-Jan-20

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian will release details of a $2 billion energy deal on 31 January. Under the agreement, NSW must find an extra 70 petajoules of gas per year for the east coast market, in return for the federal government underwriting new non-coal power generation, constructing new interconnectors and making funding available for carbon emissions reduction projects. The most likely way in which the NSW government will make available the extra 70 petajoules of gas is by approving Santos’s Narrabri coal seam gas project.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO

Virus evac deal with Beijing close

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Original article by Charlie Peel, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 31-Jan-20

The federal government is believed to be close to securing a deal with its Chinese counterpart to evacuate Australian citizens from Wuhan. The government intends to place evacuees in quarantine on Christmas Island for 14 days and require them to pay up to $1,000 for their flight. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says it is ‘normal procedure’ for evacuees to pay their costs. Meanwhile, a ninth case of the coronavirus has been confirmed in Australia; the virus has now claimed 170 lives and infected more than 7,700 people globally.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS

Pressure grows on Premier to act on CityLink tolling threat

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Original article by Timna Jacks, Benjamin Preiss
The Age – Page: Online : 31-Jan-20

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says he could re-examine Transurban’s City Link tolling deal as a result of the West Gate Tunnel dispute. Project builders CPB Contractors and John Holland have threatened to walk away from the project if Transurban does not come up with more money to deal with contaminated soil. As part of the funding agreement for the project, Andrews agreed that tolling for CityLink would be extended for a further 10 years to 2045, with tolls to rise by 4.25 per cent each year.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL, CPB CONTRACTORS PTY LTD, JOHN HOLLAND PTY LTD