AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Russia’s base instinct: shadow of Putin hangs over election campaign

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Original article by Amanda Hodge
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 16-Apr-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his government is seeking clarification from its Indonesian counterpart regarding a formal request from Russia to base military aircraft in the province of Papua. The government has stated that Indonesia’s Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin has dismissed reports in a defence publication that Russian aircraft may operate out of Indonesia, and just 1,300km from the Australian mainland. Opposition leader Peter Dutton has warned that a Russian military presence in the Indo-Pacific region would be "deeply destabilising" and says the federal government must disclose whether it had been aware of Russia’s request before it was made public.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, INDONESIA. MINISTRY OF DEFENCE, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Coalition scores just 1/100 points for environment and climate policies from conservation organisation

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Original article by Petra Stock
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 15-Apr-25

The Greens have performed best in the Australian Conservation Foundation’s pre-election scorecard, receiving a rating of 98 per cent for its environment and climate change policies. The federal government in turn has been given a rating of 54 per cent, with ACF CEO Kelly O’Shanassy praising policies such as its commitment to renewable energy and a continued ban on nuclear power; however, she says Labor was marked down over policies such as environmental protection laws and approvals for new coal and gas projects. Meanwhile, O’Shanassy says the Coalition has "failed every single test", resulting in a rating of just one per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Roy Morgan Poll: ALP increases election-winning two-party preferred lead to 54.5% cf. 45.5% L-NP – as President Donald Trump sparks market upheaval and Coalition backflips on Federal Public Servants working from home

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-Apr-25

If a Federal Election were held now the ALP would be returned to Government with an increased majority with the ALP on 54.5% (up 1% point from a week ago) ahead of the L-NP Coalition on 45.5% (down 1%) on a two-party preferred basis, the latest Roy Morgan survey finds. In a good sign for the Albanese Government, Roy Morgan Government Confidence increased 5pts to 86 – its highest since September 2023. Primary support for the major parties was little changed with the Coalition up 0.5% to 33.5% and the ALP down 0.5% to 32%. Importantly for the Government, support for the Greens was up 1% to 14.5%, One Nation was at 6%, Other Parties down 2% to 4% and Independents up 1% to 10%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

SA businesses back Labor over climate summit

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Original article by Ryan Cropp
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 15-Apr-25

Australia and Turkey are competing to host the COP31 climate summit in 2026, with a decision set to be made in coming months. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has publicly backed the South Australian government’s push for Adelaide to be the host city. Premier Peter Malinauskas says COP31 would give his state a major economic boost, and the SA Business Chamber’s CEO Andrew Kay says its members support the government’s bid. However, the federal Coalition intends to withdraw Australia’s bid for COP31 if it wins the election on 3 May; Opposition Leader Peter Dutton recently contended that hosting the event is not appropriate during a cost-of-living crisis.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

China’s rare earths move highlights need for stockpile

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 15-Apr-25

Resources Minister Madeleine King says the federal government will reveal more details regarding its proposed strategic reserve of critical minerals prior to the election on 3 May. King adds that China’s decision to impose export controls on rare earths such as dysprosium and terbium has underlined the federal government’s decision to establish a strategic reserve. King says the export restrictions are concerning but not surprising, given that China has imposed similar bans in the past. The latest export restrictions were in response to the Trump administration’s reciprocal tariffs regime, but are not limited to the US.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE AND RESOURCES

Marles stays mum on US role in port U-turn

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Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 8-Apr-25

The federal government continues to attract scrutiny over its decision to terminate a Chinese company’s 99-year on the Port of Darwin if it wins the 3 May election. A review of the lease in 2023 had concluded that it was not necessary to vary or cancel Landbridge’s lease. Defence Minister Richard Marles addressed a press conference on Monday, but he declined to elaborate on why Labor’s position on the port lease has changed. Marles said the government has had discussions with US regarding the lease, and also decline to comment on whether this contributed to Labor’s new stance. Labor pre-empted Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s own announcement on cancelling Landbridge’s lease.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LANDBRIDGE GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, PORT OF DARWIN, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Dutton playing Donald Trump anti-migration card in plan to slash international students, higher education peak body says

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Original article by Caitlin Cassidy
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 8-Apr-25

International Education Association of Australia CEO, Phil Honeywood says the Coalition did not consult with the sector on its proposal to cap new international student numbers at 240,000 a year. This is skewed towards TAFE and private vocational education and training providers, rather than the nation’s public universities. Honeywood notes that the Coalition has traditionally been more inclined to support independent providers over their public counterparts. Former immigration bureaucrat Abul Rizvi in turn notes that the private VET sector has a history of "rorts and dodgy qualifications".

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

Unions warn Coalition’s job cuts could exceed 41,000

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 8-Apr-25

Opposition leader Peter Dutton is under scrutiny over his backdown over plans to slash federal public service numbers. The Community & Public Sector Union’s national secretary Melissa Donnelly says the Coalition’s new policy of reducing the public service via natural attrition and hiring freezes over five years could result in the loss of much more than the 41,000 jobs that Dutton had initially flagged. ACTU secretary Sally McManus in turn has criticised Dutton’s backdown on a return-to-office mandate for public servants; she says legal advice suggests that Dutton could not enforce this without legislative changes that would also remove working-from-home rights for all workers.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, ACTU

Crash-test dummies without a budget buffer

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Matthew Cranston
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 8-Apr-25

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has released new modelling on the likely impact of the Trump administration’s tariffs regime on the Australian economy. It suggests that the baseline tariff of 10 per cent and the 25 per cent tariff on steel, aluminium and automotive products would be largely neutral for inflation in Australia. Treasury’s ‘best-case’ scenario is that the nation’s real GDP will decline by 0.1 per cent in 2025 and inflation will rise by 0.2 per cent. Meanwhile, the pre-election fiscal outlook shows that the budget deficit is forecast to total $179.5bn over the next four years, while federal government debt is projected to rise to $1.2tn. The nation’s deteriorating fiscal position comes amid fears of a global recession and a $190m fall in the ASX’s market capitalisation since the tariffs were announced last week.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Roy Morgan Poll: ALP increases election-winning lead as President Trump announces Liberation Day and imposes worldwide tariffs

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Apr-25

If a Federal Election were held now the ALP would be returned to Government with an increased majority with the ALP on 53.5% (up 0.5% points from a week ago) ahead of the L-NP Coalition on 46.5% (down 0.5%) on a two-party preferred basis, the latest Roy Morgan survey finds. Roy Morgan Government Confidence was virtually unchanged at 81 with 33% (up 1%) of Australians saying the country is ‘going in the right direction’ compared to 52% (up 0.5%) that say the country is ‘going in the wrong direction’. Primary support for the ALP increased at the expense of the Coalition, with support for the ALP up 0.5% to 32.5% while Coalition support dropped 2% to 33% – this is the closest the two parties have been on primary vote support since mid-October 2023. Support for the Greens increased 0.5% to 13.5%, One Nation was up 0.5% to 6%, support for Other Parties increased 2% to 6% (Note: Clive Palmer’s new Trump of Patriots party received 1.5% support – its best result so far), while support for Independents dropped 1.5% to 9%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY, TRUMPET OF PATRIOTS