ALP’s workaround to cope with a new political climate

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Original article by Greg Brown, Colin Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 22-Jan-25

US President Donald Trump signed a number of climate-related executive orders on the first day of his second term in office. They included the formal withdrawal of the US from the Paris climate agreement, the abolition of electric vehicle subsidies and an expansion of the fossil fuel sector. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would not offer a "running commentary" on Trump’s domestic policy agenda; he added that Australia will not make any major policy changes in response to Trump’s election, including on climate change. However, the government has flagged the possibility of working directly with US states that are controlled by the Democrats regarding climate initiatives.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Support for National-led Government increases in December with National, ACT and NZ First all up

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Jan-25

Roy Morgan’s New Zealand Poll for December 2024 shows the National-led Government (National, ACT & NZ First) on 51.5% (up 7.5% points), clearly ahead of the Labour-Greens-Maori Party Parliamentary Opposition on 44% (down 6.5% points). For the National-led Government there were increases for all three coalition parties led by National, up 2.5% points to 31% and joined by ACT (up 4% points to 13%) and NZ First (up 1% point to 7.5%). This is the highest level of support for ACT since the 2023 New Zealand Election. For the Parliamentary Opposition, support for Labour was down 2% points to 26%, support for the Greens was unchanged at 13.5% and support for the Maori Party was down 3.5% points to 5.5%. A further 3.5% (down 2% points) of electors supported a minor party outside Parliament. The survey results for December would lead to 64 seats (down 4 seats from the election) being won by the National/ ACT/ NZ First governing coalition, compared to 56 seats (up 1 seat) being won by the current Labour/ Greens/ Maori Party Opposition. This New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll on voting intention was conducted by telephone – both landline and mobile – with a New Zealand-wide cross-section of 885 electors from 25 November to 15 December. Meanwhile, the Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating dropped 21.5pts to 82.5 in December, the lowest rating for this indicator since March 2024.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, NATIONAL PARTY OF NEW ZEALAND, ACT NEW ZEALAND, NEW ZEALAND FIRST PARTY, LABOUR PARTY (NEW ZEALAND), GREEN PARTY OF AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND, THE MAORI PARTY

Cops suspect foreign actors paying crims for anti-Semitic attacks

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Alexi Demetriadi
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 22-Jan-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese belatedly convened a meeting of the national cabinet on Tuesday to discuss the growing incidence of anti-Semitism in Australia. The virtual meeting with state and territory leaders was held in the wake of the latest anti-Semitic attack, in which a Sydney childcare centre was firebombed and daubed with an anti-Semitic message; the facility is not directly linked to the Jewish community, but it is located just 200 metres from the Maroubra synagogue. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw has raised the possibility that ‘overseas actors’ may be using encrypted devices to hire ocal criminals to carry out anti-Semitic attacks and paying them with cryptocurrency.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE

Union demands action over bank branch closures

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Original article by David Ross
The Australian – Page: 14 : 22-Jan-25

The Finance Sector Union’s national secretary Julia Angrisano has urged federal government intervention to ensure that consumers still have access to bank branches. Data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority shows that 2,334 branches have been closed nationwide over the last seven years. The Bank of Queensland recently advised that it will close another 14 branches, in addition to several that were already slated to close. Agrisano says the government has failed respond to a review of banking in regional areas, where many people no longer have access to branch banks.

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FINANCE SECTOR UNION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ

All the executive orders signed by Trump on day one of his second US presidency

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Original article by Serena Seyfort, April Glover
9News – Page: Online : 22-Jan-25

US President Donald Trump has moved swiftly to wind back the legacy of his White House predecessor, Joe Biden. Trump began signing executive orders shortly after his second inauguration. They included withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization and the Paris climate agreement, allowing TikTok to keep operating in the US for another 90 days, and requiring all federal government communications and policies to recognise only two genders. Other executive order included issuing pardons to 1,500 participants in the Capitol Building riots on 6 January 2021, designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organisations, directing all federal workers to return to working in the office full-time and formally changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

ANZ probed on account interest

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis, David Ross
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 22-Jan-25

The ANZ Bank is believed to be under renewed scrutiny by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, in the wake of recent claims that it deducted fees from the accounts of customers who had died. ANZ has now been accused of incorrectly calculating the interest on a range of savings and deposit accounts, including bonus interest rates. ANZ was embroiled in a similar scandal in 2015, when it was forced to compensate customers regarding the bonus interest they received over a seven-year period.

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AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Coal miner set to move fast after court win

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Original article by Mackenzie Scott
The Australian – Page: 6 : 22-Jan-25

New Hope Corporation will ramp up work on the much-delayed stage three expansion of its New Acland thermal coal mine in Queensland. There are currently about 280 workers at the site, but New Acland Coal’s general manager Dave O’Dwyer says this will increase to 400 over the next year. New Hope’s initial application to expand the mine was submitted more than 15 years ago, but the project has been delayed by ongoing legal challenges. However, the Oakey Coal Action Alliance recently withdrew its appeal against the state government’s 2022 decision to grant a water licence for the project.

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NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, NEW ACLAND COAL PTY LTD, OAKEY COAL ACTION ALLIANCE

Faltering dollar unlikely to sway Reserve Bank rates call

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Original article by Cameron Micallef
The Australian – Page: 19 : 22-Jan-25

The Australian dollar fell sharply on Tuesday, after US President Donald Trump signalled that a tariff of 25 per cent could be imposed on imports from Canada and Mexico from the start of February. However, AMP’s chief economist Shane Oliver says the recent downturn in the value of the currency is unlikely to influence the Reserve Bank’s interest rate decision in February. Oliver contends that quarterly inflation data to be released in late January will be the key factor that the central bank will take into account.

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AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Innocents for terrorists: the price of freedom

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Original article by Jacquelin Magnay
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 21-Jan-25

Should the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas remain intact over the next 42 days, it will see the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Over 230 of those prisoners are serving life sentences for conducting or taking part in deadly attacks against Israel, and who will be permanently exiled in either Qatar or Egypt. The other prisoners to be released include a further 500 Palestinian prisoners who are serving sentences for ‘security crimes’, along with almost 1,000 others who have been detained since the 7 October attacks by Hamas.

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Dutton pledges mandatory sentences for terror

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Original article by Rhiannon Down, Ellie Dudley
The Australian – Page: 4 : 21-Jan-25

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to convene a meeting of the national cabinet to address the growing problem of anti-Semitism and extremism. Dutton has also committed to introducing a minimum mandatory sentence of six years for terrorism offences and 1-5 years for displaying Nazi symbols and those of prohibited terrorist organisations. However, Law Council of Australia president Juliana Warner and Australian Lawyers Alliance spokesman Greg Barns have criticised Dutton’s push for mandatory sentencing for such crimes.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LAWYERS ALLIANCE