Photos of captive Aussie at Iranian uni

Original article by Mark Schliebs
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 20-Sep-19

University of Melbourne academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who has dual Australian-British citizenship, has been accused of "spying for another country" by Iranian authorities. News of her detention in Iran has only recently been made public, but it is understood she was arrested not long after she completed a course on Shia studies at the University of Religions and Denomination at Qom in Iran in August in 2018, and that she has been held in solitary confinement for about a year. Pictures taken of Moore-Gilbert just before she was arrested were used by the university in promotional materials.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

Civil war erupts in CFMEU over Setka

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 20-Sep-19

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union’s mining and energy division has attacked John Setka’s Victorian construction division over its poaching of members from the CFMMEU’s manufacturing division. The manufacturing division is headed up by Michael O’Connor, who is also the CFMMEU’s national secretary. The relationship between O’Connor and Setka is understood to have become strained over O’Connor’s failure to publicly support Setka, after the ACTU called on Setka to stand down after he was convicted for harassing his wife.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

After decade of deficits, budget ‘back to balance’, says Frydenberg

Original article by Adam Creighton, Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 20-Sep-19

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg unveiled a budget deficit of $700 million for the 2018-19 financial year on 19 September. Frydenberg noted that the federal government had kept spending under the long-run average of 24.7 per cent of GDP for the second year running, while he said the creation of 300,000 jobs in 2018-19 had meant increased tax collections and reduced welfare expenses. The $700 million deficit was a $14 billion improvement on what had been predicted in May 2018, while a budget surplus is likely for 2019-20 if high commodity prices and strong employment growth continue to boost the government’s tax coffers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Measuring Australia’s digital divide – The Australian Digital Inclusion Index 2019

Original article by
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Sep-19

The 2019 edition of the Digital Inclusion Index has been released, with the Index looking at the online participation of Australians through three measures – affordability, access and digital ability. The Index is developed and produced by RMIT University’s Digital Ethnography Research Centre and the Centre for Social Impact at Swinburne University in partnership with Telstra and Roy Morgan. The 2019 Index reveals there was marginal improvement in digital ability, and that access continued to improve. The share of total household budgets spent on internet services increased in 2019, while the affordability gap between high and low-income households remains at the same level as in 2014. Affordability is unlikely to improve unless household income rises for those in low-income brackets or a low-cost NBN product becomes available.

CORPORATES
RMIT UNIVERSITY, SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Plan to modernise gritty Queen Vic Market sparks fears

Original article by Jewel Topsfield
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 18-Sep-19

Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp says new modernisation plans for that city’s historic Queen Victoria Market will enable it to keep operating successfully for another 100 years. The new plans include increased refrigeration for fresh produce stall holders and centralised waste and recycling facilities. However, Friends of Queen Victoria Market president Mary-Lou Howie says the market would lose its ‘gritty’ appeal under the proposed plans, which she contends are the work of ‘neatniks’. She says the main concern of traders remains the proposed replacement of the market’s open-air park with a public space.

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CITY OF MELBOURNE

Some women lie about domestic violence: Hanson

Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 19-Sep-19

Labor plans to oppose an inquiry into the family law system, with the inquiry to be headed up by Kevin Andrews, with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson as deputy chair. Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese claims Prime Minister Scott Morrison went back on a promise to consult Labor about the proposed inquiry, accusing him of acting unilaterally to do a deal with Hanson. Hanson has campaigned for years for changes to the Family Court and for the rights of men to be better heard in family breakdown cases. She angered Labor, the Greens and domestic violence campaigners on 18 September when she alleged some women lie about domestic violence in order to "game the courts".

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

No point building new dams: minister

Original article by Ean Higgins
The Australian – Page: 2 : 19-Sep-19

Victorian Water Minister Lisa Neville has ruled out building any more dams for that state, citing a forecast that water in the state’s rivers will halve by 2065. Neville says Victoria’s existing dams are in the best locations for capturing water, although she notes the Thomson Dam, which was intended to ‘drought proof’ Melbourne, has only filled three times in its history, with the last time being in 1996. Neville says that rather than the federal government offering Victoria money for more dams, it should give it funds to expand its desalination plant.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT, LAND, WATER AND PLANNING

ALP poll review team: let’s air laundry in public

Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 5 : 19-Sep-19

Jay Weatherill and Craig Emerson’s review of Labor’s election campaign is expected to be handed to its national executive in early November. It is understood that Weatherill and Emerson have asked their full report be made public, although this could cause embarrassment to Bill Shorten and expose shortcomings regarding his campaign. It is likely that the report will be released, but that elements that might suggest future campaign strategies would be withheld. Meanwhile, Shorten said on 18 September that he had no regrets about his use of ‘class warfare’ language during the campaign.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Push for tougher terror laws

Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 19-Sep-19

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is due to table tougher national security legislation in the House of Representatives on 19 September, with the legislation giving him expanded powers to strip the citizenship of dual national terrorists. The Australian Citizenship Amendment (Citizenship Cessation) Bill 2019 includes a new threshold for terror-related conduct, as well as targeting terror offences committed as long ago as 2003. Fourteen dual national terrorists have had their citizenship revoked under existing laws, but that number is tipped to increase under the revised legislation.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS

Inflation Expectations down to 3.9% in August

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 19-Sep-19

In August, Australians expected annual inflation of 3.9% over the next two years. This is down 0.2% on July and down 0.4% on a year ago in August 2018. Inflation Expectations decreased in August after the ABS reported Australia experienced its slowest GDP growth since the GFC in the year to June 2019 of only 1.4%. Analysing Inflation Expectations by gender and age compared to a year ago shows the biggest declines have been for women of all ages. Despite this, women continue to have higher Inflation Expectations than men across all age groups, while Analysis of Inflation Expectations by State shows decreases in Australia’s two largest states and a significant decline in Western Australia drove the index down in August. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey which is based on in-depth personal interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 Australians per annum in their own homes. Inflation Expectations in August are based on personally interviewing a nationwide representative sample of 3,988 Australians aged 14+.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED