AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Lidia Thorpe withdraws accusation made in parliament of sexual assault against Liberal senator

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Original article by Josh Butler, Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 15-Jun-23

Controversial independent senator Lidia Thorpe has used the protection of parliamentary privilege to allege that she had been sexually assaulted by Liberal senator David Van. Thorpe interjected while Van was making a speech regarding the Brittany Higgins rape case; Thorpe stated that she feels "really uncomfortable" when a ‘perpetrator’ is speaking about violence, and accused him of sexual assault and harassment. He immediately denied her allegations. Thorpe subsequently withdraw her allegations in order to comply with Senate standing orders, but indicated that she will have more to say on the matter on Thursday.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Secret compo: Higgins’ 40 years of lost wages

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Original article by Janet Albrechtsen, Ellie Dudley, Rhiannon Down
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 15-Jun-23

Details of the former Coalition government’s settlement with Brittany Higgins’ remain confidential, although some media reports have sugggested that her payout was up to $3m. Higgins’ draft statement of claim shows that she had sought more than $2.5m in compensation. The document stated that she had been diagnosed as medically unfit for ­employment and had little prospect of future employment. She was therefore seeking damages for economic loss, including 40 years of foregone income, as well as the loss of a potential future career in politics. Chantille Khoury from Law Partners Personal Injury Lawyers says Higgins’ payout seems "unusually high". Higgins has held several jobs since her alleged rape at Parliament House, including media adviser for the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria.

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LAW PARTNERS PERSONAL INJURY LAWYERS

Morrison, Gallagher deny misleading parliament over Higgins rape allegation

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Original article by James Massola, Paul Sakkal
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 14-Jun-23

The Brittany Higgins rape case came under scrutiny in federal parliament on Tuesday. Finance Minister Katy Gallagher admitted to the Senate that she had been given information about Higgins’ allegation several days before it was reported in the media; however, Gallagher said she had been asked to keep that information to herself and did so. Gallagher also rejected suggestions that she had misled the Senate about when she had been informed of Higgins’ allegation. Meanwhile, former prime minister Scott Morrison also denied misleading parliament over his handling of the rape allegation. Bruce Lehrmann has consistently denied that he had raped Higgins.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

BHP seeks to lift nuclear barriers

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Original article by Geoff Carmody
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 7-Jun-23

It has been revealed that BHP used its pre-budget submission to urge the federal government to include nuclear power in the nation’s energy mix in order to help achieve its climate targets. BHP’s chief technical officer Laura Tyler had previously told a forum in 2022 that nuclear energy needs to be "part of the conversation" and that uranium should be considered as a source of baseload power. The International Energy Agency has also stated that nuclear power can play an important role in the energy transition, while Opposition leader Peter Dutton used his budget reply speech in May to argue the case for small modular nuclear reactors.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

PwC behind 15 schemes to help companies sidestep tax: ATO

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Original article by Neil Chenoweth, Edmund Tadros
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 31-May-23

Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan appeared before a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday, where he discussed the ongoing PwC tax leaks scandal. Jordan revealed that the Australian Taxation Office had become aware in late 2017 that PwC partner Peter Collins had used confidential Treasury information to develop a large number of schemes to help multinational companies to evade new tax laws. However, he said that outdated secrecy laws had prevented the ATO from informing the Treasury. Jordan also disclosed that the ATO had told the Australian Federal Police about the leaks in 2018. The Treasury recently referred the tax leaks scandal to the AFP.

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AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE

Same job, same pay IR reforms could hit public service

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 31-May-23

The federal government continues to come under scrutiny over its proposed ‘same job, same pay’ policy for labour hire workers. Natalie James, the head of the Department of Employment & Workplace Relations, has told a senate estimates hearing that these laws are likely to cover the public sector. Analysis of AusTender contracts shows that the government has become a major user of labour hire firms, spending more than $1.2bn on such contracts since the federal election in May.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

New IR laws won’t hurt tradies, minister vows

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 25-May-23

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has emphasised that tradespersons and subcontractors in the construction industry will not be significantly affected by the federal government’s second tranche of industrial relations reforms. Burke says the new minimum standards for ’employee-like’ independent contractors will apply only to gig economy workers. His comments have been welcomed by Master Builders Australia’s acting CEO Shaun Schmitke; however, he says the government should make it explicitly clear that the legislation will be limited to gig-economy workers and provide an undertaking to exclude other industries before the legislation is introduced.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Morrison government paid corrupt businessman millions for offshore processing on Nauru

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Original article by Ben Doherty, Rafqa Touma
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 25-May-23

The former Coalition government is under scrutiny over its awarding of contracts to provide offshore processing facilities for asylum-seekers on Nauru. The Senate estimates committee has queried why the Coalition had failed to disclose that it had renewed a contract with Mozammil Gulamabbas Bhojani’s Radiance International group after the businessman had been convicted of bribing two Nauru government officials. Radiance’s contract was worth $17.5m, and continued to be paid until May 2022, nearly two years after Bhojani was given a suspended jail sentence. Its initial contract in 2016 was worth $2.5m, and had been disclosed on the AusTender website.

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RADIANCE INTERNATIONAL

ASIO: Voice campaign may trigger violence

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Original article by Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 2 : 24-May-23

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s director-general Mike Burgess has raised concern about the national security implications of the referendum on an Indigenous Voice to parliament. He has told a Senate estimates hearing that the referendum may lead to some protests and counter-protests, and that this could result in "spontaneous violence". Burgess also said that there is currently no evidence at present to suggest the potential for a terrorist attack or foreign interference in the referendum process, but cautions that such risks cannot be ruled out.

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AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION

BCA pushes against same job, same pay law

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 17-May-23

The Business Council of Australia contends that the federal government’s proposed ‘same job, same pay’ laws for labour hire firms are not necessary. The BCA has used its submission to a consultation paper on the reforms to argue that they could have unintended consequences, such as the increased use of casual labour and fewer enterprise agreements. The BCA also says the reforms should be restricted to traditional labour hire firms rather than including in-house ones such as BHP’s Operations Services division. The labour hire changes will be a key part of the government’s second tranche of industrial relations reforms.

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BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA