O75 Public Administration

PM stumps up for fire crisis

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 6-Jan-20

The federal government has appointed former Australian Federal Police commissioner Andrew ­Colvin to head its national bushfire recovery agency. It will finance the reconstruction of critical infrastructure that has been damaged or destroyed, as well as providing income and mental health support for people who have been affected by the disaster. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ruled out asking the states to match the federal government’s funding. Natural Disaster and Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud has stressed the need to ensure that government support is tailored to each community that has been affected by the bushfires.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, VICTORIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE

Morrison won’t rule out bushfires royal commission

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 6-Jan-20

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the federal government is open to holding a royal commission into the bushfire crisis. Morrison says there is broad agreement on the need for a review of factors that contributed to the devastating bushfire season and the response to the disaster, but he stresses that now is not the right time to apportion blame for the crisis. Issues such as land clearing and hazard reduction will be on the agenda for the next Council of Australian Governments meeting in March.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE

Woman dies from bushfire smoke in Canberra after exiting plane

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Original article by
news.com.au – Page: Online : 3-Jan-20

An elderly woman has died after apparently going into respiratory distress after disembarking from a Qantas plane onto the tarmac at Canberra Airport on 2 January. Canberra is being blanketed by smoke from the New South Wales bushfires, and its air quality is currently worse than Delhi, Mumbai and Beijing. A Qantas spokesperson has said it had received no reports of passengers being unwell on the flight, with the plane having come from Brisbane.

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QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian declares state of emergency, as thousands flee South Coast ahead of horror fire weekend

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Original article by Kevin Nyugen, Emma Elsworthy
abc.net au – Page: Online : 3-Jan-20

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has declared a seven-day state of emergency for NSW as from 9am on 3 January, due to the state’s ongoing bushfires. NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons says conditions on 4 January are likely to be worse than those on New Year’s Eve; temperatures are predicted to reach 41 degrees Celsius on the South Coast. A ‘tourist leave zone’ has been declared by the RFS for a 14,000-square-kilometre area between Nowra and the edge of the Victorian border. The RFS has revealed 382 homes were destroyed by fires on the South Coast on New Year’s Eve, bringing to 1,298 the number of homes lost during the current bushfire season.

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE

Bushfires prompt Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to declare state of disaster as blazes bring unprecedented risk

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Original article by Brad Ryan
abc.net au – Page: Online : 3-Jan-20

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has declared a State of Disaster for six local government areas and three alpine resorts as the state’s bushfire crisis threatens to get worse. The six LGAs include the Mansfield Shire and the East Gippsland Shire, while Mt Buller is one of the three alpine resorts. The State of Disaster declaration, which applies for a week, was one of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires. In making his announcement, Andrews stated a second person had died during the current bushfires, but declined to give any further details, while 17 people remain missing. Over 780,000 hectares have been burnt so far in Victoria, while there are currently 50 ongoing fires.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Melbourne to be Australia’s biggest city in next six years

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Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 2-Jan-20

Melbourne’s population is tipped to grow 28 per cent faster than Sydney’s over the next six years, according to McCrindle Research. Both cities are tipped to have a population of around six million in mid-2026, but Melbourne’s population will pass Sydney’s by the end of that year. Mark McCrindle of McCrindle Research says Melbourne’s rising population will help to boost its national political power, as well as helping it to attract more companies, along with sporting and cultural events.

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MCCRINDLE RESEARCH

Perhaps workers should share in the executive pay bonanza

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: Online : 30-Dec-19

Restoring income growth for the majority of Australians is one of the key political and economic challenges for 2020. Median disposable income in 2017 was less than it was in 2009, according to the Melbourne Institute’s Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. The HILDA figures for 2019 are not available as yet, but private sector wages have increased by around one per cent in real terms since late 2017. One way to increase higher disposable incomes could involve governments changing corporate rules so that companies pay higher wages and invest more, rather than buy back shares and pay executive bonuses. It could be made a requirement that big companies have a certain number of employee representatives on their boards. Interviewing for the HILDA survey is conducted by Roy Morgan.

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UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Death toll from New Year’s fires up to eight, and rising

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Original article by Bo Seo, James Fernyhough, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 2-Jan-20

Seven people have died in the New South Wales bushfires since 31 December, while a man in Gippsland in Victoria has also been reported as having died in the fires there. The NSW Rural Fire Service has advised over 175 homes have burned down on the NSW south coast since 30 December, while over 150 fires continue to burn in NSW and Victoria. Total insured losses from the current bushfire season are approaching $300 million, while the Insurance Council of Australia has stated the NSW government’s ’emergency services levy’ is a deterrent to people and businesses taking out insurance. Western Australia had six fires burning at alert level on the afternoon of 1 January, South Australia was dealing with 52 incidents, while six fires were burning at ‘watch and act’ level in Tasmania.

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NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE

Bushfires: firefighters in scramble to control blazes before heat soars again

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Original article by Stephen Lunn, Kieran Gair, Lachlan Moffet Gray
The Australian – Page: Online : 2-Jan-20

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service has declared much of the NSW south coast a ‘Tourist Leave Zone’ on 4 January. The RFS says people staying there should leave by then, while anyone planning to visit the area should not come. RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons says fires in the area could be worse than those on 31 December, while NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says people living in the area should prepare for more fatalities. Temperatures in parts of southeast NSW and East Gippsland in Victoria are tipped to exceed 40C on 4 and 5 January, and Victorian Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp says 4 January is likely to be another high-risk day for Victoria

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NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE

Pumped hydro next on Morrison’s energy list

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Original article by Greg Brown, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 4 : 24-Dec-19

The federal government has given in-principle approval for the construction of two new gas-fired power plants under its Underwriting New Generation Investments. APA Group will build a 220MW gas plant in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong; the government will also underwrite a 132MW gas plant in the Queensland town of Gatton. The government is also expected to underwrite at least one of three proposed pumped-hydro projects in South Australia that were short-listed for the scheme.

CORPORATES
APA GROUP – ASX APA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY