AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Work visa sweetener for uni students

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Original article by Tim Dodd, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 7-Jul-20

Australian universities and state governments had been hoping to start bringing international students back into the country from the end of July. However, the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Victoria has put these plans on hold. In an attempt to help Australian universities to remain competitive with rivals in Canada and Britain, it is believed that the federal government will grant post-study visas to foreign students who are enrolled in Australian universities but have had to return to their home countries and study online. Currently, only overseas students who study in Australia are awarded graduate work rights.

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JobSeeker’s $200 boost could cost $4 billion for six months

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Original article by Shane Wright
The Age – Page: Online : 3-Jul-20

The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre’s director, Alan Duncan, says the JobSeeker payment should be increased when the coronavirus supplement ends in September. Duncan contends that the unemployment benefit was insufficient prior to the pandemic, and he has suggested that it could be increased by $200 a fortnight; he estimates that this would cost about $3.8bn over six months. Duncan adds that the JobSeeker payment must be scaled back in order to provide people with an incentive to seek work.

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BANKWEST CURTIN ECONOMICS CENTRE

‘A national security scandal’: Kevin Rudd names three gaps in defence strategy

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Original article by Anthony Galloway
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 3-Jul-20

The federal government’s new defence strategy includes expenditure of $270 billion over the next 10 years on boosting the Australian Defence Force. However, former prime minister Kevin Rudd contends there are three major gaps in the strategy: failing to build up Australia’s cyber defences with sufficient speed; insufficient spending in the Pacific region, and delays in the delivery of new submarines. Rudd noted his government’s 2009 Defence White Policy had called for a doubling of Australia’s submarine fleet, and he claims the submarine project has been "comprehensively botched".

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AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE

Australian visa fast track for HK nationals fleeing strife

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Original article by Simon Benson, Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 3-Jul-20

Tensions with China may increase after the federal government advised that it will consider options for allowing Hong Kong nationals to migrate to Australia. The skilled migrant visa program is expected to be the government’s preferred option when cabinet discusses the issue on 8 July. However, part of the annual refugee intake could potentially be allocated to Hong Kong nationals who are at risk of persecution under the Chinese government’s national security laws for the former British colony. China has criticised the UK’s decision to offer citizenship to more than three million Hong Kong nationals.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Australia to spend $270bn building larger military to prepare for poorer, more dangerous world

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Original article by Jade Macmillan, Andrew Greene
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 1-Jul-20

The federal government will shift the focus of its defence policy to the Indo-Pacific, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison warning of a heightened risk of conflict in the region in the post-coronavirus environment. The government will increase its defence budget by $270bn over the next 10 years. Amongst other things, it is expected to spent about $800m on long-range anti-ship missiles from the US which have a much larger range than Australia’s current generation of missiles. About 800 additional Australian Defence Force members are expected to be recruited over the next decade, while the defence R&D budget will include research into hypersonic weapons.

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AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Twenty years on, burning platform is here for GST reform: Ken Henry

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 36 : 29-Jun-20

Former Treasury secretary Ken Henry has called for an overhaul of Australia’s tax system in response to the coronavirus-induced recession. Henry was a top tax adviser to the Howard government when it introduced the goods and services tax. Former federal treasurer Peter Costello says Australia’s tax system has become increasingly complex since the GST was introduced two decades ago, arguing that it needs to be simplified. He concedes that the GST base should have been broader with fewer exemptions; however, he is cautious about expanding it now, arguing that ‘populist politics’ in the Senate could result in even more exemptions than at present.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

L-NP (50.5%) holds narrow lead over ALP (49.5%) a week before the Eden-Monaro by-election

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Original article by Michele Levine
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Jun-20

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says "The L-NP Government (50.5%) has a narrow two-party preferred lead over the ALP (49.5%) ahead of next week’s Eden-Monaro by-election. Playing on the minds of local electors will be the response of PM Scott Morrison and the L-NP to the twin crises of 2020 – devastating bushfires in the summer and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Both have had a huge impact on Eden-Monaro with the destruction of forests and property and also halting tourism to the region for months. Morrison was widely criticised for his handling of the bushfires but has redeemed himself and the Government in response to the pandemic shown by the surge in the Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating which has recovered from a record low of 80 during the bushfires and is now at a very high 124 in mid-June."

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Qantas job shock sparks airline help

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 26-Jun-20

The federal government is set to provide a coronavirus assistance package for the nation’s airlines in the wake of plans by Qantas to retrench 6,000 employees. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it is clear that the sector will continue to require government assistance when the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme ends in late September. He has flagged the possibility of extending JobKeeper or providing an industry-specific support package. Morrison has previously rejected a request from Virgin Australia to extend the JobKeeper scheme.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH

Cash warns banks to reduce tap and go fees

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 26-Jun-20

The Minister for Small and Family Business, Michaelia Cash, says retailers have complained that banks are not offering to send ‘tap and go’ payments down the cheapest payment network. Previous research has indicated that retailers could be paying up to $550 million in extra transaction fees a year because banks are sending payments through the more expensive networks operated by Visa and Mastercard than via the cheaper Eftpos network. Cash has called on the banks to offer ‘least cost routing’ to retailers, whereby transactions are automatically processed through the network that charges the lowest fee.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, SKILLS, SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS

Anthony Albanese vows to set new medium-term emissions reduction target

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Original article by Katharine Murphy, Adam Morton
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 25-Jun-20

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has used a National Press Club speech to call for a bipartisan approach to energy policy. He has also indicated that Labor will set a new medium-term carbon emissions reduction target prior to the next federal election. Labor has a long-term target of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, and Albanese says the medium-term target will be based on scientific advice. Employers’ groups such as the Business Council of Australia have expressed support for Labor’s stance.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA