AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

PM rebuffs claims of asylum deal

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 5-Dec-19

A bill to repeal the controversial medivac laws was passed by the Senate 37-35 on 4 December, after independent senator Jacqui Lambie sided with the federal government. Prime Minister Scott Morrison had held talks with Lambie several times in recent weeks, but he has refuted suggestions that the Coalition cut a deal to secure her support. Lambie in turn has declined to reveal the nature of the proposals she had put to the government, citing national security concerns.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS

Economy lifts but spending at GFC levels

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 4 : 5-Dec-19

Australia’s GDP growth for the September quarter was slightly below economists’ forecasts at 0.4 per cent, while the economy grew by 1.7 per cent year-on-year. The national accounts data also shows that consumer spending increased by just 0.1 per cent during the quarter, which is its lowest rate of growth since the global financial crisis. Meanwhile, the household savings rate rose from 2.7 per cent to 4.8 per cent. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has welcomed the GDP data, but shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers has renewed Labor’s call for economic stimulus.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Climate plan no barrier to trade deal

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 4 : 4-Dec-19

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham says the federal government will seek a free-trade agreement with the European Union that is in Australia’s best interests overall. The EU’s ambassador to Australia, Michael Pulch, has indicated that Australia’s climate change policies will not affect negotiations for a free-trade deal. Paris Agreement signatories will review their carbon emissions reduction commitments in 2023, and Pulch hopes Australia will use this opportunity to increase its reduction targets.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

Coalition manoeuvres to keep union bill alive

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 4-Dec-19

The federal government will reintroduce the Ensuring Integrity Bill to the lower house on 4 December, after it was recently voted down in the Senate. The bill includes the amendments that were requested by Centre Alliance and One Nation, and Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter has indicated that the government may be open to further changes in order to secure the bill’s support in the Senate. Porter has rejected suggestions that the bill would enable unions to be deregistered for minor breaches of workplace laws, such as administrative errors.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, SKILLS, SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS, CENTRE ALLIANCE, ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Coalition wary of content tax on tech giants

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Original article by Leo Shanahan, David Swan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 4-Dec-19

Facebook says it supports 15 of the 29 recommendations in the final report of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s digital platforms inquiry. Facebook also rejects suggestions that it has hired lobbyists to influence the federal government’s response to the report, and states that the ACCC’s proposed code of conduct would "unfairly shield" media companies. Meanwhile, the government is said to be concerned that requiring digital players to pay media companies for the use of their content could be perceived as a new tax, which could in turn prompt digital companies to relocate offshore.

CORPORATES
FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Hastie helped spy find an ASIO haven

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 29-Nov-19

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie has been linked to Wang Liqiang, who claims to have been a Chinese spy and is now seeking asylum in Australia. It has been revealed that Hastie was contacted by an associate of Wang via an encrypted telephone app in early October. Hastie, who chairs the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security, then contacted ASIO about Wang’s allegations regarding Chinese intelligence operations in Australia. The Chinese government maintains that Wang is a fraudster rather than a spy.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE LIMITED

Be ready for sanctions on China: Abbott

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Original article by Bo Seo, Angus Grigg
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 29-Nov-19

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has used a Lowy Institute speech to warn that the crisis in Hong Kong may require targeted sanctions to be imposed on China. He also argued that Australia’s strategy to deal with the growing power of China should include an increase in military spending, which is currently set at two per cent of GDP. Abbott also said Australia needs to establish closer relations with India. He added that it might be time for Australia to undertake freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea.

CORPORATES
LOWY INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL POLICY

Hanson blindside kills anti-thug law

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 29-Nov-19

The federal government will put its Ensuring Integrity Bill before the Senate again in 2020 after a vote was tied at 34 votes apiece on 28 November. The bill was defeated after One Nation joined with Labor and the Greens to vote against it, even though the government had agreed to the minor party’s proposed amendments. Independent senator Jacqui Lambie also voted against the bill. Labor leader Anthony Albanese has described the bill’s defea­t as a "win for workers", but Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says it is a "win for union thug­gery".

CORPORATES
ONE NATION PARTY, CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, ACTU, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED)

Porter rejects Lambie’s call to alter union bill

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 28-Nov-19

The federal government remains hopeful that One Nation will support its Ensuring Integrity Bill, with the minor party’s two votes being crucial to its passage through the Senate. Meanwhile, independent senator Jacqui Lambie has proposed a number of last-minute amendments to the bill in return for her support; they include a provision that unprotected industrial action cannot be used as grounds for disqualifying a union official. Attorney-General Christian Porter has ruled out supporting the amendments, arguing that they are unworkable.

CORPORATES
ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, CENTRE ALLIANCE, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Infrastructure spending set to take a dive

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 6 : 28-Nov-19

The Parliamentary Budget Office has forecast that Australia’s net infrastructure investment will peak at $38bn in 2019-20, before falling over the next three years. This is primarily due to expectations that the net debt of the state governments will blow out to around $156bn by 2022. This would constitute the states’ highest share of public debt in two decades.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE