O75 Public Administration

Victoria risk of blackouts as grid wilts

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith, Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 22-Aug-19

The Australian Energy Market Operator has warned that there is a significant risk that Victoria will face electricity blackouts during the 2019-20 summer. It has released a report which notes that the state will not meet the required standard for electricity supply reliability during the coming summer months, citing factors such as unplanned outages at AGL Energy’s Loy Yang power station and Origin Energy’s Mortlake gas plant. AEMO also says there is a high risk of blackouts in Victoria over the next decade unless there is increased power generation.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

PM expects Pell to be stripped of his honours

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Original article by Liz Main, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 22-Aug-19

Cardinal George Pell may seek special leave to appeal to the High Court after Victoria’s Court of Appeal rejected his bid to have his conviction on historical child abuse charges overturned. The court ruled 2-1 against Pell’s appeal, and legal experts say the dissenting judgment by Justice Mark Weinberg may increase the chances of special leave being granted. Justice Weinberg ruled that Pell’s conviction should have been overturned. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Pell could be stripped of his Order of Australia. Pell was jailed for a minimum of three years and eight months in March.

CORPORATES
COURT OF APPEAL (VICTORIA), HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL

Chinese trade pullback could cost $25bn

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 17 & 27 : 22-Aug-19

Andrew Boak of Goldman Sachs warns that the fallout from the US-China trade war could eventually hit Australia. He says growing tensions between Australia and China could potentially result in a sharp fall in Chinese demand for key Australian exports, including education and commodities such as iron ore and coal. Goldman Sachs suggests that in a worst-case scenario, lower Chinese demand could reduce Australia’s GDP growth rate by 130 basis points in 2020.

CORPORATES
GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY LIMITED, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Shorten’s union faces probe over inflated figures

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Original article by Brad Norington
The Australian – Page: 4 : 22-Aug-19

The Australian Worker’s Union is under scrutiny over its membership data, with the issue being the subject of long-running correspondence between the union and the Registered Organisations Commission. The ROC asked the AWU to undertake an internal audit of its membership numbers in 2018, amid concerns that the numbers may have been overstated. A preliminary analysis shows that the AWU had 69,786 members in 2017, compared with 139,329 in 2012. Former Labor leader Bill Shorten headed the AWU prior to entering parliament in 2007.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, GETUP LIMITED

PM commits warship, planes to Gulf mission

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Simon Benson, Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 22-Aug-19

The federal government will join a US-led coalition that aims to protect oil tankers when passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The national security committee approved Australia’s participation on 19 August; the nation’s contribution to the coalition will include a frigate, a surveillance aircraft and 187 personnel. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has stressed the need to safeguard the nation’s oil supplies and to protect global sea lanes. He notes that 30 per cent of Australia’s refined oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF STATE, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, GROUP OF SEVEN (G-7), AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Push to include family home in pension test

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 21-Aug-19

The Actuaries Institute has published a discussion paper which examines a range of options for overhauling Australia’s retirement income system. The authors argue amongst other things that the federal government should consider measures such as including the family home in the pension assets test, the abolition part-pensions and the introduction of death duties. The paper also warns that Australia’s ageing population will put the federal Budget under growing pressure unless action is taken. The report was written by David Knox, Anthony Asher and Michael Rice.

CORPORATES
ACTUARIES INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, GRATTAN INSTITUTE

Government flags heavy-handed crackdown on black economy

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Original article by Mike Bruce
The New Daily – Page: Online : 21-Aug-19

Gary Pflugrath of CPA Australia says the federal government should reconsider proposed legislation to restrict cash payments between businesses and individuals to no more than $10,000. It was one of the recommendations of the government’s Black Economy Taskforce, but Pflugrath contends that there are sufficient "checks and balances" to counter criminal activity. Kurt Wallace from the Institute of Public Affairs says restricting cash payments would have little impact on the cash economy, while reducing the freedoms of ordinary Australians. Individuals could face big fines and imprisonment for breaching the proposed laws.

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CPA AUSTRALIA, INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS LIMITED, H&R BLOCK LIMITED, ONE NATION PARTY, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

Australians should get used to US-China trade war as superpowers tussle for supremacy

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Original article by
News.com.au – Page: Online : 21-Aug-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned that the trade war between the US and China may continue for some, while noting that the ongoing trade tensions could create opportunities for Australia. Morrison has also told the Seven Network that due to its economic success, China must abide by the same rules as other nations. Morrison will shortly attend the Group of Seven leaders’ summit in France.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GROUP OF SEVEN (G-7)

Dramatic fall in enterprise agreement delays

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 21-Aug-19

Data from the Fair Work Commission shows that it took an average of 35 days to approve enterprise bargaining agreements in the last six months, and an average of just 30 days in the 2018-19 financial year. The FWC has previously attracted criticism from the Australian Mines & Metals Association, which claimed that the average time it takes to approve an EBA had blown out to 76 days. AMMA CEO Steve Knott says delays in approving EBAs are being exacerbated by the way the FWC applies the ‘better-off-overall test’.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, SKILLS, SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS

Your data at risk in takeovers

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 21-Aug-19

Foreign Investment Review Board chairman David Irvine has stressed the need to closely scrutinise foreign bids for companies that own data centres or hold Australians’ personal data. Irvine has used an Australia China Business Council speech to argue that data must be afforded the same level of protection as critical infrastructure such as ports, water supply and the power sector. He added that the FIRB’s tougher stance on the issue of data security has not attracted much concern among foreign investors.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIA CHINA BUSINESS COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, AUSTRALIAN SECRET INTELLIGENCE SERVICE, AUSTRALIA. CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR, SIRTEX MEDICAL LIMITED, NATURE’S CARE, LIFE-SPACE GROUP, HEALIUS LIMITED – ASX HLS, JANGHO GROUP, AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE LIMITED