O75 Public Administration

Union activities may breach building codes

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 30-Sep-19

The Australian Building & Construction Commission has warned that the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union’s draft pattern agreement includes clauses that breach the federal building code. Amongst other things, the New South Wales agreement allows union flags to be displayed on building sites and provides for workers to be paid for attending union meetings during bargaining. Master Builders Australia says the agreement as the most restrictive it has seen.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Costs balloon in NDIS surge

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 30-Sep-19

Annual expenditure on the National Disability Insurance Scheme blew out to $11.9bn in 2018-19, with more than 117,000 new participants joining the NDIS during the financial year. Data from the National Disability Insurance Agency also shows that there has been a sharp rise in costs associated with external consultants and service providers, including recruitment firms, call centres and law firms. An NDIA spokeswoman says that spending on contractors and consultants is expected to account for 1.6 per cent of the NDIS’s total costs in 2019-20, compared with 2.6 per cent in 2017-18.

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AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL DISABILITY INSURANCE AGENCY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Giant loss nets Seven worst grand final rating in 18 years

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 23 & 25 : 30-Sep-19

Data from OzTAM shows that the Seven Network’s broadcast of the 2019 AFL Grand Final boasted a metropolitan audience of 2.197 million viewers, compared with 2.601 million in 2018. The nationwide audience fell from 3.378 million in 2018 to just 2.939 million. Richmond’s 89-point victory over the Greater Western Sydney Giants was the third-biggest winning margin in AFL/VFL history.

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AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, RICHMOND FOOTBALL CLUB, GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY FOOTBALL CLUB, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, OZTAM PTY LTD, STREEM PTY LTD, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

NSW Premier doesn’t turn up to final vote on abortion

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Original article by Aaron Patrick
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 27-Sep-19

The New South Wales Lower House approved the Abortion Law Reform Act on 26 September via a verbal vote known as "on the voices". The Act had been approved in the NSW Upper House by 26-11 on the previous day. Anti-abortion groups attacked the passage of the legislation, while its passage was welcomed by pro-abortion bodies and feminists. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, whose handling of the controversial legislation has seen her come under fire from many Liberal MPs, was not present in the Lower House when verbal consent was given to its passage.

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

$100m for farmers as dams fast-tracked

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Original article by Ean Higgins Olivia Caisley
The Australian – Page: 6 : 27-Sep-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will travel to the Queensland town of Dalby upon his return from the US on 27 September. Once in Dalby, he will announce that an additional 13 local government areas are to be eligible for drought assistance from the federal government. Meanwhile, with the New South Wales government being the most vocal of the states when it comes to complaining about new dam proposals being hampered by environmental roadblocks, federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley says she is working with the NSW government to make more efficient the review of dam projects under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

‘One-sided and unfair’: China hardens rhetoric against Scott Morrison

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 27-Sep-19

China’s embassy in Canberra has rejected suggestions by Prime Minister Scott Morrison that China should be regarded as a ‘developed’ nation for World Trade Organisation purposes. The embassy noted that China’s GDP per capita is 17 per cent of Australia’s GDP per capita, while the gap between its rich and poor is too great for it to lose the trade concessions it currently enjoys as a ‘developing’ nation under WTO rules. The embassy claimed Morrison was essentially repeating US grievances about China and trade.

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WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Fall in job vacancies lifts rates pressure

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 27-Sep-19

Job vacancies in Australia declined by 1.9 per cent over the year to August, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Private sector vacancies fell by 2.6 per cent over the period, while public sector vacancies surged 10.8 per cent. Callum Pickering from job site Indeed says there are now three people unemployed for every job vacancy, while ABS chief economist Bruce Hockman says the decline in job vacancies in the year to August was the biggest fall since February 2014. The figures increase the likelihood that the Reserve Bank will cut interest rates when it meets on 1 October.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Lockouts to go but NSW festival laws fail

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Original article by Andrew Clennell
The Australian – Page: Online : 27-Sep-19

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has slammed Labor, Greens and crossbench MPs after they moved to disallow regulations governing the safety of music festivals in NSW. The Upper House move comes as a cross-parliamentary committee is expected to recommend on 30 September that lockout laws and late-night drink restrictions in Sydney’s CBD be repealed, but that restrictions in Kings Cross remain in place. Berejiklian claims the actions of the NSW Upper House MPs have put "thousands of lives at risk".

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Fighting furies from Tigerland take on the Mighty Giants

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 27-Sep-19

This weekend’s AFL Grand Final pits traditional Victorian powerhouse Richmond against the GWS Giants, a club that only entered the competition in 2012. Roy Morgan’s latest AFL supporter data shows the Tigers clearly have the edge in support over the Giants, with over 450,000 supporters set to cheer on the ‘Yellow and Black’ on 28 September, compared to the Giants’ supporter base of just 190,000. A look at the supporters of the two clubs shows Richmond have a more even gender split than GWS, while both clubs have managed to attract young supporters; however, Richmond does better when it comes to attracting supporters over the age of 50. 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 each year in their own homes.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Setka forks out $40k of members’ funds on ad

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 26-Sep-19

Embattled Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union official John Setka has criticised senator Jacqui Lambie in a full-page advertisement in the ‘Herald Sun’. Lambie has signalled that she will support the federal government’s Ensuring Integrity Bill unless Setka steps down as Victorian secretary of the CFMMEU. Setka has accused her of attempting to blackmail himself and the union’s members. A spokesman for Setka says the ad was "union business", so it was funded by the CFMMEU rather than Setka.

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