AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Turmoil as Nats split on rorts deputy

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 24-Jan-20

The future of Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie remains under scrutiny in the wake of the so-called ‘sports rorts’ scandal. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated that he will take appropriate action when an investigation by top bureaucrat Philip Gaetjens is completed. However, National Party leader Michael McCormack has expressed support for his embattled deputy, although some Nationals MPs believe that McKenzie’s position is untenable. She was sports minister when the grants for community sports groups were allocated.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

PM orders probe into McKenzie

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Olivia Caisley
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 23-Jan-20

The so-called ‘sports rorts’ scandal that has embroiled Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie has been referred to Philip Gaetjens, the secretary of the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet. He will investigate whether McKenzie breached ministerial standards with regard to the allocation of sports grants in her previous role as sports minister. McKenzie has also been accused of a conflict of interests in giving a $35,000 grant to a clay target club of which she was a member. Labor contends that she may be in contempt of the Senate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Industry group wants climate policy on agenda in wake of bushfires

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Original article by Mike Foley
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 23-Jan-20

Energy Minister Angus Taylor will hold a roundtable meeting with representatives of the nation’s power companies on 23 January. They will discuss the industry’s response to the bushfires crisis. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says the meeting should also address the issue of climate change. Craig Memery of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre says the agenda should include strategies to make the energy grid more resilient while avoiding a significant impost on consumers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, PUBLIC INTEREST ADVOCACY CENTRE

PM: cut fire fuel, not just emissions

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 22-Jan-20

Prime Minister Scott Morrison argues that undertaking bushfire hazard-reduction burns is just as important as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, he notes that unlike carbon emissions, there is no national system for reporting progress on reducing fuel loads in national parks and forests. The issue of prescribed burning has come under scrutiny in the wake of the bushfires crisis, which has claimed 29 lives to date. Labor leader Anthony Albanese claims that climate change has contributed to the intensity of the bushfires and the length of the bushfire season.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Bushfire loans, grants should be easier to get, small businesses say

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Original article by Nick Bonyhady
The Age – Page: Online : 22-Jan-20

Small business owners in bushfire-affected areas have criticised the excessive amount of paperwork required to apply for the federal government’s concessional loans and grants. Shadow small business minister Brendan O’Connor says the government needs to provide greater clarity as to eligibility for the grants and loans, and when businesses will begin to receive financial assistance. The government will also make 10 financial counsellors available, but O’Connor says this is clearly inadequate given that the bushfires have affected about 200,000 small businesses.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Big business, blazes put heat on surplus

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 21-Jan-20

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has stressed that it is too soon to estimate the likely impact of the bushfires crisis on the economy and the federal government’s projected Budget surplus for 2019-20. He is believed to be considering whether to include new tax incentives for the business sector in the May Budget. However, Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says the government should introduce an investment allowance immediately in order to stimulate the economy. The Business Council of Australia also recently called for a new investment allowance.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

$100m sport grants biased

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 16-Jan-20

Auditor-General Grant Hehir has released a report which shows that marginal seats held by the Coalition were among the biggest recipients of grants to ‘grassroots’ sporting groups ahead of the May 2019 federal election. Former sports minister Bridget McKenzie approved the grants, and Hehir found that she failed to take into consideration the recommendations of Sport Australia when allocating the money. The report notes that the grants also favoured seats that the Coalition believed that it could win at the election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE, SPORT AUSTRALIA

Morrison doubles family aid payments

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Original article by Olivia Caisley
The Australian – Page: 4 : 16-Jan-20

The federal government has announced changes to its family assistance payments for bushfire victims. Families have already received a disaster recovery payment of $400 per child; Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated that they will shortly receive an additional $400 for each child, at a cost of $7.9m. The government will also relax the paperwork requirements of volunteer firefighters who claim compensation for loss of income while serving on the bushfires frontline.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

No more carbon cuts, PM warned

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 16-Jan-20

Some Coalition MPs say that the federal government must not make significant changes to its carbon emission reduction targets in response to the bushfires crisis. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated that the nation will exceed its 2030 target of reducing emissions by 26-28 per cent; he has also emphasised that a range of measures in response to climate change are needed, rather than simply reducing emissions. Former National Party leader Barnaby has called for the construction of nuclear power plants in Australia, as well as clean-coal power stations. Sources within the government have suggested that reviving the national energy guarantee policy is unlikely.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

State review not in conflict with PM’s

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 4 : 15-Jan-20

The Victorian government has advised that its bushfires inquiry will be headed by Tony Pearce, the state’s Inspector General for Emergency Management. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says this inquiry will have no impact on the federal government’s plans for a bushfires royal commission, stating that he had always expected the states to undertake their own bushfire reviews. Premier Daniel Andrews says he recently held talks with Morrison with regard to the proposed federal inquiry.

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