O75 Public Administration

Homes not built to survive worst fires

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Original article by Olivia Caisley
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 24-Jan-20

More than 2,800 homes have been lost across Australia during the current bushfire season, including 49 in Queensland. The state government has been urged to review the building standards for homes in bushfire-prone areas; the state has a fire danger index rating of just 40 for such homes, compared with an FDI-100 rating in Victoria and most parts of New South Wales. Professor Grahame Douglas, a fire danger expert from the University of Western Sydney, says Queensland should look at upgrading to an FDI-100 rating for areas that are at risk from bushfires.

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UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN SYDNEY

Rate cut odds sink with jobless fall

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 2 : 24-Jan-20

Official data shows that Australia’s unemployment rate fell to 5.1 per cent in December, its lowest level since April. The economy shed 300 full-time jobs, although this was offset by the creation of 29,200 part-time jobs. The underemployment rate was steady at 8.3 per cent; the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ chief economist Bruce Hockman notes that underemployment has remained unchanged over the last year. Financial markets have responded to the latest jobs data by pricing in a 25 per cent chance that the Reserve Bank will reduce the cash rate in February.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

FWC ruling a win for casual workers

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 24-Jan-20

The full bench of the Fair Work Commission has ruled that a casual sales assistant at Bed Bath N’ Table is entitled to pursue an unfair dismissal claim against the retailer. FWC deputy president Amanda Man­sini had previously ruled that the employee was not covered by unfair dismissal laws, as her employment was not regular and systematic. However, the full bench rejected Mansini’s reasoning and ruled that the case can proceed.

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AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, BED BATH AND TABLE

Turmoil as Nats split on rorts deputy

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 24-Jan-20

The future of Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie remains under scrutiny in the wake of the so-called ‘sports rorts’ scandal. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated that he will take appropriate action when an investigation by top bureaucrat Philip Gaetjens is completed. However, National Party leader Michael McCormack has expressed support for his embattled deputy, although some Nationals MPs believe that McKenzie’s position is untenable. She was sports minister when the grants for community sports groups were allocated.

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

Industry group wants climate policy on agenda in wake of bushfires

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Original article by Mike Foley
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 23-Jan-20

Energy Minister Angus Taylor will hold a roundtable meeting with representatives of the nation’s power companies on 23 January. They will discuss the industry’s response to the bushfires crisis. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says the meeting should also address the issue of climate change. Craig Memery of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre says the agenda should include strategies to make the energy grid more resilient while avoiding a significant impost on consumers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, PUBLIC INTEREST ADVOCACY CENTRE

ABCC defends focus on pursuing unions

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 23-Jan-20

Labor senator Tony Sheldon has accused the Australian Building & Construction Commission of unfairly targeting unions, while failing to give sufficient attention to the unlawful conduct of employers. Data from the ABCC shows that it has spent $3.179m on legal proceedings against unions, officials and employees since 2016, and just $164,336 on legal action against employers. The ABCC has successfully prosecuted the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy some 86 times over this period.

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AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

PM orders probe into McKenzie

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Olivia Caisley
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 23-Jan-20

The so-called ‘sports rorts’ scandal that has embroiled Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie has been referred to Philip Gaetjens, the secretary of the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet. He will investigate whether McKenzie breached ministerial standards with regard to the allocation of sports grants in her previous role as sports minister. McKenzie has also been accused of a conflict of interests in giving a $35,000 grant to a clay target club of which she was a member. Labor contends that she may be in contempt of the Senate.

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

‘Incredibly traumatised’: Small businesses facing bushfire insurance maze

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Original article by Emma Koehn
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 23-Jan-20

David Keane of Solve My Claim says some small businesses are likely to find that their insurance policy has limited coverage for some bushfire-related losses. He notes that many business owners do not know exactly what adverse events their policy covers, noting that many policies only cover profits rather than loss of revenue. Meanwhile, Australian Small Business & Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell says insurers should be "reasonable" when assessing claims from customers who were not directly affected by the fires.

CORPORATES
SOLVE MY CLAIM, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS AND FAMILY ENTERPRISE OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL COMPLAINTS AUTHORITY

Malcolm Turnbull slams PM’s response to climate change and bushfires

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Original article by Bevan Shields
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 23-Jan-20

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has used a BBC interview to criticise his successor Scott Morrison over his handling of the bushfires crisis. Amongst other things, Turnbull has accused Morrison of misleading the public by downplaying the impact of climate change on the bushfires. He has also questioned why Morrison had ignored warnings from fire experts about the likely severity of the bushfire season. Turnbull has also called US President Donald Trump the world’s "leading climate denier" and doubled down on his criticism of News Corp’s stance on climate change.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Tourism’s $6.5bn pain: our worst summer ever

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Original article by Emily Ritchie, Lisa Allen
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 23-Jan-20

Tourism Australia will launch a new domestic marketing campaign to bolster the local tourism industry in the wake of the bushfires crisis. Industry executives have estimated that the bushfires have cost the sector about $2bn to date; this takes into account factors such as lost revenue, cancelled bookings, and facilities that have been damaged or destroyed. It is also forecast that the impact of cancelled bookings by international tourists could potentially cost the economy an additional $4.5bn over the next 12 months.

CORPORATES
TOURISM AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN TOURISM INDUSTRY COUNCIL