AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Coalition outlines vapes plan

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Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 26-Jun-24

Shadow health minister Anne Ruston has outlined details of the Coalition’s policy on vaping products, following the federal government’s decision to weaken its own vaping regulations. The Coalition proposes to subject vapes to a similar regulatory regime as cigarettes, which would allow flavoured vapes to be legally sold at outlets such as supermarkets, service stations and convenience stores. In contrast, Labor intends to restrict sales of vapes to pharmacies, while people over the age of 18 will not require a doctor’s prescription to buy these products. The Coalition will also impose an excise tax on vapes and ramp up investment in a crackdown on organised crime.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

CFMEU condemns ALP’s demerge laws

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 25-Jun-24

Federal government legislation that will allow the CFMEU’s manufacturing division to demerge is expected to be passed by the Senate with the Coalition’s support. Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke says many members of the division do not feel properly represented by the CFMEU, including workers in female-dominated industries such as textiles. However, the CFMEU’s national secretary Zach Smith has doubled down on his warning that the proposed laws would set a dangerous precedent that could be used by a future government to break up unions.

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CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

Vapes to be sold behind the counter under watered-down ban

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Original article by Paul Sakkal, Natassia Chrysanthos
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 25-Jun-24

The federal government has been criticised for abandoning its plans to make e-cigarettes available only with a doctor’s prescription. Labor has agreed to the Greens’ proposed amendments to its legislation on nicotine vaping products, which will now be available to buy at pharmacies without a prescription. Health Minister Mark Butler says the new laws will protect young Australians and the broader community from the harms of recreational vaping. However, the Coalition has described the amendments as a "backdown", while the Pharmacy Guild of Australia has urged the Senate to reject the revised legislation.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH AND AGED CARE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE PHARMACY GUILD OF AUSTRALIA

New governor-general’s $200k pay rise slammed as indefensible

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Original article by Rhiannon Down, Greg Brown, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 25-Jun-24

Sam Mostyn will be officially sworn in as Australia’s 28th governor-general on 1 July. The federal government has revealed that Mostyn will receive an annual salary of $709,000 in her new role. Outgoing Governor-General David Hurley has been paid just $495,000 annually, although his salary was reduced because he also received a military pension during his five-year term. However, National Party MP Keith Pitt says the big pay rise for Mostyn is inappropriate during a cost-of-living crisis.

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AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Coalition fury as former Liberal minister and new climate chair rejects nuclear power

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Original article by David Crowe
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 25-Jun-24

The federal government is under scrutiny after advising that Matt Kean will succeed Grant King as chairman of the Climate Change Authority. Kean is a former NSW Liberal treasurer and energy minister, who has expressed opposition to adding nuclear power to Australia’s energy mix. Kean says nuclear energy would have bankrupted his state due to the cost and length of time to build nuclear power stations. The federal Opposition is yet to disclose the likely cost of the seven nuclear power plants that it plans to build if it wins the next election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. CLIMATE CHANGE AUTHORITY, LIBERAL PARTY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Roy Morgan Poll: ALP edges ahead of Coalition on two-party preferred: ALP 51% cf. L-NP 49%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-Jun-24

The ALP Government is now ahead of the Coalition on two-party preferred after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton put nuclear energy at the centre of the Coalition’s policies for the Federal election.: ALP 51% (up 1%) cf. L-NP 49% (down 1%). If a Federal Election were held now the result would be a hung parliament with the ALP likely to form a minority government with the support of minor parties and independents, the latest Roy Morgan survey shows. The swing to the ALP was strongest in NSW (ALP: +3.5%), WA (ALP: +4.5%) and SA (ALP: +5%). There was no swing to either party in Victoria while in Queensland the LNP gained a swing of 3.5% against the national trend. Primary support for the Coalition was down 1% to 37% this week while the ALP closed the gap, up 2% to 31.5%. Support for the Greens was down 0.5% to 13%, support for One Nation increased 1% to 6%, support for Other Parties was down 1.5% to 4% and support for Independents was unchanged at 8.5%.

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

Andrew Giles released four people from immigration detention without strictest conditions

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 25-Jun-24

Documents obtained under freedom of information laws have revealed that Immigration Minister Andrew Giles released at least four people from immigration detention on visas without the strictest conditions, with Giles using his personal powers to do so. In doing so, Giles bypassed an independent board despite the people in question likely to be impacted by the High Court’s ruling on indefinite detention; non-citizens who have been released as a result of that ruling receive bridging visas R, which attract new strict conditions of curfews and electronic monitoring.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Nuclear debate could undermine AUKUS

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 5 : 25-Jun-24

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese does not expect the nation’s current debate on nuclear energy to have any impact on bipartisan support for the AUKUS alliance. However, Peter Dean from the United States Studies Centre has emphasised the need for a factually informed, evidence-based discussion on the issue of nuclear power. He adds that the alliance is not based on Australia having a civil nuclear industry, and that the scale and size of the reactors in the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines is very different to a civil nuclear power industry. Professor Dean was the lead author of the federal government’s Defence Strategic Review.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. UNITED STATES STUDIES CENTRE

Labor moves to break up CFMEU after Setka stoush

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Jun-24

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke will introduce a bill to parliament next week to enable the CFMEU’s manufacturing division to demerge. The proposed legislation will allow the division to apply to the Fair Work Commission to leave the construction-dominated CFMEU. The federal government has been prompted to push ahead with the bill in response to demands from the CFMEU’s Victorian state secretary John Setka for the AFL to sack its head of umpiring due to his former role as head of the defunct Australian Building & Construction Commission. The CFMEU’s mining division has previously demerged to form its own union.

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CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Coalition MPs meet to sign off on proposed nuclear reactor locations

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Original article by Clare Armstrong, Jade Gailberger
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 19-Jun-24

A number of Coalition MPs have stated that they expect Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to unveil its nuclear policy on Wednesday. The policy – and the likely location of nuclear power stations – was discussed at a shadow cabinet meeting on Tuesday night; it will then be put to a full party room meeting ahead of an official announcement. A Coalition source has indicated that the Callide and Tarong coal-fired power stations in Queensland have been identified as future sites for nuclear reactors, while Victoria’s LaTrobe Valley is said to have been ruled out.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA