O75 Public Administration

China tourist ban to bite

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Original article by Michael Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 28-Jan-20

The deepening coronavirus crisis has prompted the Chinese government to ban travel operators from taking tour groups overseas for at least two months. The blanket ban will particularly impact on Australia’s tourism industry, given that about 1.4 million Chinese tourists visit the nation each year and inject some $12bn into the domestic economy. Chinese travel companies have indicated that they have requested refunds for trips that have already been booked with Australian airlines and hotels.

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PM’s welfare shake-up to deliver $2bn saving

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 28-Jan-20

The federal government will legislate to ensure that welfare recipients are not overpaid, in a move that is projected to save some $2.1bn over four years. The proposed reform will affect about 1.2 million welfare recipients who also have income from a job, with changes to how they report gross earnings to Centrelink. Social Services Minister Anne Ruston says the current system for calculating earnings can be confusing and result in misreporting. The cost savings will help offset the impact of the bushfires on the federal Budget.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF SOCIAL SERVICES

Doctors call for a national centre for disease control, as coronavirus outbreak spreads

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Original article by Cait Kelly
The New Daily – Page: Online : 28-Jan-20

The Australian Medical Association has argued for years that the nation needs a national centre for disease control, and the coronavirus outbreak has led it to repeat its call. AMA president Tony Bartone says having a CDC offers a number of benefits, while he claims that all other OECD member nations have a national CDC. The coronavirus has resulted in at least 80 deaths and infected 2,744 people in China, while it has spread to a number of other countries. The World Health Organization has stated that it is too soon to declare the coronavirus a global health emergency.

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AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

Today 26% of Australian businesses have been affected by bushfires – Australia needs to support businesses in the Accommodation and Food services industries with Visitors and Tourists

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Jan-20

A special Roy Morgan Snap SMS Survey shows that 26% of Australian businesses have been affected either ‘A great deal’ (7%), ‘Somewhat’ (10%) or ‘A little’ (9%) by the bushfires. Some 74% of businesses have been unaffected by the bushfire. A deeper analysis of the industries most heavily impacted shows that over a third of businesses in the Accommodation and Food services sector, which includes travel and tourism, say they have been affected ‘A great deal’ – higher than any other industry. Businesses in Queensland and NSW have been the hardest hit, with 12% of Queensland businesses and 11% of NSW businesses affected ‘A great deal’ by the bushfires – far higher than any other State. In general businesses in NSW are the most likely to have been impacted, with 35% affected in some way, compared to around a quarter of businesses in Queensland (25%) and Victoria (24%). In contrast, only 16% of businesses in WA and 11% in Tasmania have been affected at all. These findings are based on an SMS survey of 1,308 Australian businesses.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Health authorities brace for coronavirus’ spread from China

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Original article by Eryk Bagshaw
The Age – Page: Online : 24-Jan-20

Australia’s chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, says health authorities are developing a one-step test for the pneumonia-like coronavirus. Chinese officials are preparing to seal off Wuhan, a city with 11 million people, in an attempt to contain the spread of coronavirus, with the last flight out of Wuhan to Australia arriving in Sydney on 23 January. Murphy says that if any passengers on the flight were infected, it could be weeks before they display any symptoms. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged Australians not to be too concerned; he noted that there have been no confirmed cases of the disease in Australia.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Australia among 21 nations where perceived corruption has worsened

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Original article by Christopher Knaus
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 24-Jan-20

Australia has received a rating of 77 out 100 in Transparency International’s latest corruption perceptions index. This is unchanged from 2019, although the nation has risen from 13th position to 12th in terms of the world’s least corrupt nations. Australia has also been identified as one of 21 countries in which perceived corruption has significantly declined since 2012. Transparency International Australia CEO Serena Lillywhite says the nation’s ranking and trust in the government will continue to decline unless a proposed federal anti-corruption agency is established.

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TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL, TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA

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.

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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.

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