AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

PM strong-arms union busting bill into Senate

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Olivia Caisley
The Australian – Page: 7 : 6-Dec-19

The House of Representatives voted 75-65 to pass the Ensuring Integrity Bill on 5 December, after the federal government used its numbers to get the legislation through the lower house without any debate. The move was criticised by Labor leader Anthony Albanese, who accused the government of attempting to avoid scrutiny. The bill will return to the Senate when parliament resumes in 2020, after having been voted down by the upper house in late November.

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

Services won’t improve, says union

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 6 : 6-Dec-19

The Community & Public Sector Union has criticised the federal government’s decision to streamline the bureaucracy. CPSU national secretary Melissa Donnelly warns that reducing the number of government departments will do nothing to improve the provision of government services. Donnelly notes that the Coalition has axed 18,908 public service jobs since it gained office in 2013, and she has urged the government to lift the average staffing level cap.

CORPORATES
COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Get lean: PM wields the axe

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Original article by Simon Benson, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 6-Dec-19

The Coalition has reduced the number of federal government departments from 18 to 14 as part of a broader overhaul of the public service. Amongst other things, the Department of Communications will be merged with the infrastructure portfolio, while the energy and resources portfolio will be folded into the industry and science portfolio. Five departmental secretaries will be retrenched as a result of the overhaul, while sources have indicated that the Coalition also intends to slash the number of government agencies.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION

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.

CORPORATES
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