O75 Public Administration

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

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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

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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

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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.

CORPORATES
CITY OF MELBOURNE

Some women lie about domestic violence: Hanson

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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".

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

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

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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

No point building new dams: minister

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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.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT, LAND, WATER AND PLANNING

Push for tougher terror laws

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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.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS

Inflation Expectations down to 3.9% in August

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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

Another inquiry on family law mess

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Original article by Nicola Berkovic, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 18-Sep-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on 17 September that a joint select committee will conduct an inquiry into the family law system. The inquiry will be headed up by former social services minister Kevin Andrews and is expected to take a year to run. Morrison told the Coalition party room that the family law system is "an awful human mess’, while Law Council of Australia president Arthur Moses says the system is plagued by "systemic failures". Issues that the inquiry will look at include the system’s impact on children and the powers of judges to compel litigants to be truthful.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Albo to dump class war and try to charm business

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 6 : 18-Sep-19

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese will speak at the Business Council of Australia annual forum at Parliament House on 18 September. It will be his first major speech to big business since he replaced Bill Shorten as Labor leader. His speech will indicate a desire by Albanese to work with big business, and will see him dump Shorten’s anti-corporate rhetoric. Albanese will also defend the right of big business to speak out on social issues, despite recent calls by the federal government for corporate Australia to "stick to its knitting".

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY