AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

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.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Moody’s sticks to AAA rating

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Original article by John Kehoe, Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 24-Jun-20

Moody’s Investors Service expects the Australian economy to contract by five per cent in 2020 due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Moody’s notes that the fall in GDP growth will be lower than many other developed nations, and it expects Australia to return to positive growth in 2021. Moody’s has also affirmed Australia’s AAA credit rating; rivals S&P Global Ratings and Fitch have previously placed the nation’s credit rating on negative outlook, but Australia is only one of 10 nations that have an AAA rating from all three agencies. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has described this as an "expression of confidence" in the federal government’s handling of the health crisis.

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MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS, FITCH RATINGS LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Third media report in a year

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 22-Jun-20

The federal government has issued a tender for an independent report on the media industry. The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development & Communication will pay up $220,000 for the report, which will examine both the existing business models for the media sector and the regulatory regimes in other countries. The government previously received two separate reports on the regional broadcasting sector in late 2019 and early 2020, although this will not be a specific focus of the new report.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

Australia very unlikely to allow foreign tourists this year

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Original article by Hans van Leeuwen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 18-Jun-20

Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham has conceded that Australia’s borders are likely to remain closed to international visitors for the rest of 2020. He says the nation’s strict border controls have contributed to its success in containing the coronavirus’s spread. Recent data shows that there was a 99.7 per cent downturn in international arrivals in April as lockdown restrictions took effect. The federal government hopes travel between Australia and New Zealand can resume before the end of the year.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

Explosive text messages of a political assassin

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Original article by John Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 18-Jun-20

The crisis over Victorian Labor’s branch-stacking crisis has deepened, after details of text messages that federal MP Anthony Byrne sent to Adem Somyurek over several years were disclosed. The recordings that led to Somyurek’s downfall were made in Byrne’s electoral office; the two were once close allies, and friends of Somyurek say he cannot understand why Byrne turned against him. Amongst other things, the text messages that Byrne sent to Somyurek include derogatory comments about Labor colleagues.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Albanese takes over state ALP

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Original article by Greg Brown, Geoff Chambers, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 17-Jun-20

The Australian Labor Party’s national executive has appointed Steve Bracks and Jenny Macklin as administrators of the party’s troubled Victorian branch. Federal Labor will take control of Victorian Labor for three years in the wake of the branch-stacking scandal, which resulted in Adem Somyurek being expelled from the party and the resignation of frontbenchers Robin Scott and Marlene Kairouz. Bracks and Macklin will audit all 16,000 members of Victorian Labor, amid concerns within the party that up to 4,000 members may have been ‘stacked’ in recent years.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Push for national integrity commission to restart after Somyurek fall

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Original article by David Crowe
The Age – Page: Online : 17-Jun-20

Federal crossbench MPs say the branch-stacking scandal in Victoria has highlighted the need for a national anti-corruption commission. The federal government revealed plans to establish the Commonwealth Integrity Commission in 2018, although progress on the issue has since stalled amid claims that its powers would not be sufficient. Attorney-General Christian Porter has indicated that he will seek to resume negotiations with crossbenchers to establish the CIC.

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AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

JobKeeper cash needed for schools and hospitals

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 2 : 16-Jun-20

Restaurant & Catering Australia CEO Wes Lambert has urged the federal government to retain the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme until at least the end of 2020. However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has argued that retaining coronavirus stimulus measures beyond the scheduled expiration date of late September would result in less funding for essential services such as health and education. The government may introduce stimulus measures that target sectors which have been hardest hit by the economic downturn.

CORPORATES
RESTAURANT AND CATERING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Porter cuts fast-track rule on new work deals

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 12-Jun-20

Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter has advised that a temporary change to workplace laws in response to the coronavirus has been repealed. The notice period for changes to enterprise agreements was reduced from seven days to just 24 hours in April, prompting unions to warn that it could be open to abuse. Porter says a review found no evidence that the regulation had been misused, and he stresses that the change was always intended to be temporary and is no longer needed. The Federal Court was scheduled to rule on the regulation’s validity on 12 June, following a legal challenge by the construction union.

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

Rip up the China deal

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Original article by Tom Minear, Clare Armstrong
Herald Sun – Page: 15 : 12-Jun-20

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has weighed into the controversy over the Victorian Government’s decision to sign up for China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Morrison has urged Premier Daniel Andrews to withdraw the state’s support for the infrastructure plan; he says the federal government does not believe that it is in Australia’s national interests, adding that the states and territories should not take actions that are inconsistent with the federal government’s foreign policy. Andrews says his government is fully committed to the Belt and Road Initiative.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET