O75 Public Administration

Morrison pledges $500m climate funds for Pacific

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 2 : 13-Aug-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is to announce a climate change package when he meets with leaders at the upcoming Pacific Island Forum. The package will provide $500 million over five years from 2020, with the money to be used on climate and disaster resilience and on renewable energy investment. The package announcement comes amid growing criticism of Australia’s domestic emission policies by Pacific leaders, with Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama saying on 12 August that Australia needs to quickly end its reliance on coal.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Billions for big projects must roll on

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 13-Aug-19

Infrastructure Australia’s latest audit has stated that the current boom in infrastructure spending needs to be maintained over the next 15 years if living standards are to be maintained. Infrastructure Australia states the annual cost of road congestion is tipped to grow by $18.9 billion to $38.8 billion in just over a decade without additional investment, while it states energy prices have risen 50 per cent since its last audit, which was undertaken in 2015. Australia’s population is expected to increase to 31.4 million over the next 15 years, but Infrastructure Australia says spending in major cities like Sydney and Brisbane is not keeping pace with population growth, particularly in outer suburbs.

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INFRASTRUCTURE AUSTRALIA

Unionist in bogus safety campaign

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 13-Aug-19

A CFMEU official has been found to have engaged in unorganised unlawful industrial action, coercion and adverse action against crane company Red Cranes. Federal Circuit Court judge Robert Cameron has found that Tony Sloane orchestrated a sham safety campaign against the company after it terminated the employment of a union delegate after he suffered a series of knee injuries that Red Cranes felt posed a safety risk. Cameron’s findings against Sloane followed legal action by the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

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CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA, RED CRANES, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Fast-track visas for world’s best

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 13-Aug-19

Federal Immigration Minister David Coleman is to release details of a new migrant program on 13 August, with visas for 5,000 high-skilled people from around the world to be fast-tracked each year. Coleman says the Global Talent Independent Program will focus on no more than five or six sectors, with fintech, quantum computing and agtech some of the sectors to be targeted. The 5,000 migrants to be targeted under the Global Talent Independent Program will be included in the current annual skilled migration cap of 70,000.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS

Unemployment matters: At the Federal Election the L-NP picked up four marginal seats with total unemployment and under-employment over 25%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 13-Aug-19

The latest data for the Roy Morgan employment series shows that in July 1.19 million Australians were unemployed (8.7% of the workforce) with an additional 1.3 million (9.6%) now underemployed. Employment was up 361,000 to 12,382,000 in July, while unemployment was down 147,000 on a year ago to 1,182,000 Australians, with the unemployment rate having fallen by 1.3% to 8.7%. However, the underemployment rate has risen 1% to 9.6% over the past year. Roy Morgan’s real unemployment figure of 8.7% for July is significantly higher than the current ABS estimate for June of 5.2%, although Roy Morgan’s underemployment estimate of 9.6% is comparable to the current ABS underemployment estimate of 8.2%. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says unemployment and underemployment played a decisive role in the recent federal election, with the L-NP Government picking up four marginal seats from the ALP which have total unemployment and underemployment of over 20%.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Backbench push unfair dismissal

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 12-Aug-19

The business sector is calling for changes to industrial relations laws, and Coalition backbenchers are also pressuring the federal government for action in this area. The Business Council of Australia has called for the replacement of the ‘better off overall test’ with a new test that would only require each class of employee, rather than each individual employee, not to be worse off when the Fair Work Commission is asked to approve an enterprise agreement. Meanwhile, Liberal National party senator Amanda Stoker claims unfair dismissal laws as they apply to small and medium businesses represent a "block to growth", while she also says the modern award system is too complicated.

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BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND

Government accused of censoring Parliament over inquiry into China ties

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Original article by Samantha Maiden
The New Daily – Page: Online : 12-Aug-19

Centre Alliance Senator Rex Patrick has accused the federal government of effectively censoring Parliament over its refusal to support an inquiry into Australia’s relationship with China. Patrick is the co-sponsor of the proposed inquiry, along with Labor Senator Kimberly Kitching. He claims the government is worried about how China might react to such an inquiry, but Patrick says it is not intended to be inflammatory. Labor frontbencher Richard Marles notes Australia’s relationship with China "is a very complex question".

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CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Union campaign forgot voters

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 9-Aug-19

Former Labor executive Evan Moorhead has undertaken a review of the ACTU’s ‘Change the Rules’ campaign, which is estimated to have cost about $10m. The confidential review has concluded that the campaign did not resonate with voters because its policy objectives were too complex and it was ‘swamped’ by competing messages from the Coalition, Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party and Labor’s own election campaign. Moorhead also found that many union organisers did not fully embrace the ACTU campaign due to complacency that Labor would win the election.

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ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED AUSTRALIA PARTY

US-China trade war to rage for decades

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal, Rosie Lewis, Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 9-Aug-19

The Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet’s secretary Martin Parkinson says the US-China trade war is unlikely to be resolved in the near-term, and it could last for decades. He has also used an Asia Society briefing to note that the trade tensions have already undermined confidence in the rules-based trade system. Meanwhile, Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott says that handling the trade war requires a delicate balancing act, given that the US is Australia’s biggest ally and China is the nation’s largest trading partner.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, JOHN CURTIN RESEARCH CENTRE

Costello defies PM, urges super debate

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 4 : 8-Aug-19

The legislated increase in the superannuation guarantee continues to attract scrutiny, with former treasurer Peter Costello calling for the issue to be "thoroughly debated" in the Coalition’s partyroom. He says increasing the guarantee from 9.5 per cent at present to 12 per cent by mid-2025 will have "very significant ramifications", although he has stopped short of declaring his own position on the issue. A number of Coalition backbenchers oppose increasing the super guarantee.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, GRATTAN INSTITUTE