Free-trade deal with India a big step closer

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Original article by Ben Packham, Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 2 : 7-Sep-21

Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Peter Dutton will shortly travel to India for discussions with their counterparts, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar views this as a positive sign that Australia is keen to secure a free-trade agreement with his nation, and he is optimistic that a deal will proceed. Negotiations for a free-trade deal have stalled for some years, but Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has signalled the importance of India as a trading partner as exporters seek to reduce their reliance on China.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, INDIA. MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

LNG exports, prices surge to record levels as iron slumps

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Original article by Perry Williams, David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 7-Sep-21

The price of iron ore has fallen by more than 40 per cent since reaching a record high of $US233 per tonne in May. Federal Resources Minister Keith Pitt says strong growth in the price of both LNG and coal is helping to offset the slump in the price of iron ore. The LNG price in Asia has risen to nearly $US20 a gigajoule, while the price of Newcastle coal recently reached a record high of $US173 a tonne. Queensland’s LNG export projects have ramped up shipments in response to the surge in prices.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE, ENERGY AND RESOURCES

Net zero pledges soar after earnings season

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Original article by Richard Henderson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 7-Sep-21

Macquarie Group data indicates that 34 companies in the S&P/ASX 300 have made a commitment to net zero emissions in the first eight months of 2021, compared to 38 for the whole of 2020. Companies that have made net zero emission pledges so far in 2021 include Boral, Ampol and JB Hi-Fi. Their commitments follow a recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which concluded that temperatures could exceed the 1.5 degree increase above pre-industrialised levels within 10 years.

CORPORATES
JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, AMPOL LIMITED – ALD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Big tech faces tough new laws in ACCC plan

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Original article by John Davidson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 & 22 : 7-Sep-21

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is looking at what is known as ‘ex ante’ regulation as part of its plans to clamp down on the anti-competitive behaviour of big technology companies like Google and Apple. ‘Ex ante’ regulation involves banning certain anti-competitive behaviour before it happens, rather than after the event, and it already exists in the telecommunications and electricity sectors. The US, Britain and Japan are among a number of jurisdictions looking at ‘ex ante’ regulation of large technology companies, while Jacqueline Downes from law firm Allens says laws banning certain tech industry practices would be easier and quicker to enforce than current competition laws, which she says can be slow to prosecute.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, APPLE INCORPORATED, ALLENS

ABC says sorry for Bernardi episode

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 6 : 7-Sep-21

The ABC has apologised to Sky News host and former senator Cory Bernardi for the airing of allegations against him in an episode of the four-part series ‘Ms Represented’. The allegations against Bernadi were made by Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, with Bernardi having strongly denied them. In acknowledging Bernardi’s letter of complaint, the ABC conceded that it failed to give him the opportunity to respond to the allegations, and that the program breached its editorial standards

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Australian miners brace for fallout after Guinea coup

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 & 19 : 7-Sep-21

Alcoa of Australia has advised that it is monitoring the situation in Guinea, amid reports of a coup in the West African nation. Alumina, Alcoa and Rio Tinto have bauxite mining interests in Guinea, while Rio has two iron ore mining leases. Merriden Varrall from KPMG has warned of growing geopolitical stability in many nations, and that West African nations are becoming increasingly vulnerable to terrorism. However, Perseus Mining MD Jeff Quartermain says not all nations in the region are beset with problems, with Perseus operating gold mines in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. He notes that it has enjoyed a record year on the back of its operations in the two countries.

CORPORATES
ALCOA OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ALCOA INCORPORATED, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, PERSEUS MINING LIMITED – ASX PRU, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

NSW hospitals prepare emergency plans for ICU operations to reach overwhelming status

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Original article by Alexandra Smith, Lucy Cormack, Mary Ward
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 7-Sep-21

New South Wales has recorded 1,281 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases and six additional deaths in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, modelling undertaken by the Burnet Institute on behalf of the state government suggest that case numbers in the 12 local government areas at the epicentre of the current outbreak could soon top 2,000 per day. The modelling also forecasts that the number of people in NSW in intensive care will rise to 947 in October, including 560 cases that are directly attributable to COVID-19. Premier Gladys Berejiklian has been criticised for only realising the modelling that relates to the LGAs of most concern. There are 177 people with COVID-19 in intensive care statewide, including four children under the age of 12.

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, THE MACFARLANE BURNET INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH LIMITED

Sky News Australia denies broadcasting Covid misinformation, saying YouTube is totalitarian

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Original article by Amanda Meade
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 7-Sep-21

Sky News Australia CEO Paul Whittaker says he does not accept the suggestion that it "directly or indirectly" promoted misinformation about COVID-19. Whittaker was appearing before the Senate’s media diversity inquiry, and was responding to a question by Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. Commenting on the decision by YouTube to remove 23 Sky News videos on the grounds that they breached its medical misinformation policies, Whittaker accused YouTube of being "totalitarian".

CORPORATES
SKY NEWS, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED

Australian unemployment drops to 9.5% in August – as lockdowns force contractions in key workforce estimates

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Sep-21

The latest Roy Morgan employment series data shows that 1.36 million Australians were unemployed in August, down 60,000 on July, for an unemployment rate of 9.5%. Driving the fall was far fewer more people looking for full-time work (down 127,000 to 492,000) while there was an increase in people looking for part-time work (up 67,000 to 870,000). Some 1.18 million Australians (8.2% of the workforce) were under-employed – working part-time but looking for more work, a drop of 159,000 (down 0.9% points) from July. In total, 2.54 million Australians (17.7% of the workforce) were either unemployed or under-employed in August, a drop of 220,000 on July. The drop was driven by the contracting workforce during lockdowns as both unemployment and under-employment fell from a month ago. Meanwhile, employment was down by 157,000 to 13,041,000 in August, including 8,654,000 workers employed full-time, a drop of 111,000 from July. There was also a decrease in part-time employment, down by 46,000 to 4,387,000. Roy Morgan’s unemployment figure of 9.5% for August is nearly 5% points higher than the current ABS estimate for July 2021 of 4.6%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Angus Taylor and Keith Pitt asked by Senate inquiry chair to explain dealings with firm awarded Beetaloo gas grants

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Original article by Christopher Knaus
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 2-Sep-21

Two federal government ministers are under scrutiny over the decision to award $21m in grants for gas exploration in the Beetaloo Basin to Empire Energy, which has close links with the Liberal Party. It has been revealed that the company enquired about the eligibility criteria and application process for the grants some time before the guidelines for the program were released in March. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says Energy Minister Angus Taylor and Resources Minister Keith Pitt must disclose whether they had any communications with Empire Energy prior to this date.

CORPORATES
EMPIRE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX EEG, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE, WATER AND THE ENVIRONMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE, ENERGY AND RESOURCES, AUSTRALIAN GREENS