O75 Public Administration

Bosses demand clause ban on CFMEU

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 8-Oct-24

The CEOs of four construction-related employers’ groups have joined forces to urge the federal government to remove certain clauses from enterprise agreements. The clauses in question includes ones that give the CFMEU a right of veto over the use of subcontractors and require subcontractors to be paid the same as those engaged by the head contractor. Amongst other things, the letter to Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt calls on the government to ban the Fair Work Commission from approving any enterprise agreements that include the clauses.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

100,000 migrant overshoot

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Original article by Jack Quail
The Australian – Page: 6 : 8-Oct-24

The federal government’s budget papers in May had forecast that the net migrant intake would be just 395,000 in 2023-24, compared with 518,000 in 2022-23. However, former bureaucrat Abul Rizvi expects the final figure for 2023-24 to be around 450,000; he adds that it could potentially be as high as 475,000. Saul Eslake from Corinna Economic Advisory has emphasised the need to focus on quality rather than just quantity with regard to the migration intake. Meanwhile, Rizvi says the government’s net migrant target of just 260,000 for 2024-25 is also likely to be exceeded unless there is a significant downturn in the labour market.

CORPORATES
CORINNA ECONOMIC ADVISORY PTY LTD

Roy Morgan Poll: Federal voting intention tied in early October: Coalition 50% cf. ALP 50%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Oct-24

If a Federal Election were held now the result would be ‘too close to call’ with the ALP 50% (up 1%) tied with the Coalition 50% (down 1%) on a two-party preferred basis, the latest Roy Morgan survey finds. Neither major party has held a decisive election-winning lead above 52% two-party preferred since the first week of June. ALP primary vote support increased 1.5% points to 31.5% while Coalition dropped 0.5% points to 37.5%. Support for the Greens was down 1% to 12.5% while One Nation increased 1% to 5.5%. Support for Other Parties dropped 0.5% to 4% and support for Independents was down 0.5% to 9%.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

Qatar Airways to match Qantas for repatriation flights

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 4 : 8-Oct-24

Qatar Airway has agreed to a request from the federal government to operate two repatriation flights to bring home Australians who are stranded in Lebanon. The proposed flights would go from Cyprus to Sydney via Doha, with Qatar Airways CEO Badr Mohammed Al Meer saying it is committed to providing support to Australian passengers and ensuring their safe return home. Qantas is also operating two repatriation flights from Cyprus at the request of the federal government, with the request from the federal government for Qatar Airways for assistance coming as it assesses a possible investment in Virgin Australia by Qatar Airways.

CORPORATES
QATAR AIRWAYS, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED

Jeers for Albanese and cheers for Dutton as leaders join Jewish communities to mark 7 October atrocities

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Original article by Benita Kolovos, Daisy Dumas
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 8-Oct-24

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attended a vigil in Melbourne on Monday to mark the one year anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel. Walking alongside rabbi Gabi Kaltmann, Albanese was met with some jeers, while he did not speak at the event. Opposition leader Peter Dutton spoke at a Sydney commemoration organised by the Zionist Council of NSW and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, with Dutton receiving a loud cheer when he walked on to the stage. He claimed there had been a "vacuum of leadership" and "moral fog" in Australia since the 7 October attack, while he said he wanted to make it very clear that he believed that Israel has every right to defend its territory

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ZIONIST COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, NEW SOUTH WALES JEWISH BOARD OF DEPUTIES INCORPORATED

Albanese targets grocery shrinkflation in battle to curb cost-of-living poll risk

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 3-Oct-24

The federal government has indicated that it will review the Unit Pricing Code of Conduct, and potentially expand its coverage to include more retailers. The government has been targeting supermarket pricing ahead of the federal election, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says that addressing the problem of ‘shrinkflation’ is part of its strategy to "get a better deal" for consumers. It is a common practice for manufacturers of packaged food and groceries to downsize their products while leaving the prices unchanged or even increasing them.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

The sensitive data of Australia’s security personnel is at risk of being on-sold to foreign actors

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Original article by Ange Lavoipierre
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 3-Oct-24

Research undertaken by the Irish Council For Civil Liberties highlights the national security implications of the Real Time Bidding system used by digital platforms to personalise online advertisements. The report notes that Google and Microsoft both send RTB data on Australian internet users to companies in China, which are required by law to share such information with the central government if they are asked to do so. The report’s author Dr Johnny Ryan says the RTB system is a "goldmine" for intelligence gathering, and could be exploited by foreign powers. The Coalition has urged the federal government to take urgent action to address the issue.

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IRISH COUNCIL FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, MICROSOFT CORPORATION

ACTU takes sledgehammer to economy

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 3-Oct-24

Business Council of Australia CEO Bran Black has urged the federal government to reject the ACTU’s push for further changes to industrial relations laws. They include abolishing junior pay rates, extending the minimum standards for gig-economy workers to freelancers and scrapping non-compete clauses. Black says businesses are still contending with the most recent tranche of IR reforms, and any further changes would boost inflation and stall economic growth if they are not linked to productivity.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU

Exploitation of children and young people strong contributor to toxic levels of distrust in social media

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 3-Oct-24

As the Federal government prepares to introduce legislation that would ban social media for young Australians, analysis of six years of data from the Roy Morgan Risk Monitor shows that Australians have long distrusted social media companies, and their perceived exploitation of children is a major reason. Key themes underlying Australia’s mistrust of social media include the lack of regulation, the negative effect on self-esteem, targeting of content towards children, and the addictive nature of the platforms. The Roy Morgan Risk Monitor contains hundreds of thousands of verbatim comments from more than 130,000 Australians about why they trust or distrust brands they nominate top-of-mind. A snap poll conducted by Roy Morgan in July 2022 showed that less than three in 10 (29%) Australians agreed that ‘social media solves more problems than it creates’. These results were in contrast to public opinion on the internet in general, which showed that almost two thirds (64%) of Australians agreed that ‘the internet solves more problems than it creates’.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Double dissolution election threat is serious, says Labor

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 3-Oct-24

The Greens recently blocked the federal government’s Help to Buy legislation in the Senate, forcing a vote on the bill to be delayed until November. However, Housing Minister Claire O’Neil has confirmed that Labor intends to reintroduce the bill for a shared equity scheme to the lower house when parliament resumes next week. The bill could potentially be used as a trigger for a double dissolution election, and O’Neil says this remains a "live option". The window for a double dissolution election is very narrow, and the government is likely to stick to the regular election cycle.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF SOCIAL SERVICES