AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Labor to boost whistleblower protections in last sitting fortnight of parliamentary year

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 16-Nov-22

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will address the Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference in Sydney on Wednesday. He will reveal plans to pursue amendments to the Public Interest Disclosure Act which aim to provide increased protection for whistleblowers. Cabinet has approved the draft legislation, which will be introduced to parliament before it rises for the year. The federal government will pursue "priority amendments" to the Act, ahead of a fuller review in 2023. It wants stronger whistleblower protections to be in place before the National Anti-Corruption Commission becomes operational in mid-2023.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Bowen signs up to global offshore wind club

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Original article by Hans van Leeuwen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 16-Nov-22

The federal government will seek to accelerate the development of Australia’s nascent offshore wind power industry. Onshore wind farms account for about 10 per cent of the nation’s electricity generation capacity at present, and the government has announced that Australia will join the Global Offshore Wind Alliance. Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen, who is attending the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, says Australia’s offshore wind farm industry is starting from scratch, and the nation will benefit from being a member of the alliance.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER, GLOBAL OFFSHORE WIND ALLIANCE

Qantas on IR: flight routes will die

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Original article by Simon Benson, Sarah Ison, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 16-Nov-22

Qantas is the latest company to express concerns about the federal government’s Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill. The national carrier told the Senate committee that is reviewing the bill that multi-employer bargaining would effectively become industry-wide agreements that would reverse Labor’s economic reforms of the 1980s. Qantas also said the proposed industrial relations reforms would give too much power to trade unions and the Fair Work Commission. Qantas added that the reforms would increase the cost of air travel and reduce demand for flights, which could result in less profitable routes and services being discontinued. Clubs Australia in turn has warned that multi-employer bargaining could force many small clubs to close.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, CLUBS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND INCORPORATED

Review into ABC and SBS financial stability

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: Online : 16-Nov-22

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has advised that her department has commenced a review of the ABC and SBS that will examine measures to support the stability and independence of the public broadcasters. Rowland disclosed details of review while attending a function organised by ABC Friends, which is not affiliated with the ABC. She emphasised that the review will not consider issues such as funding of the ABC and SBS or proposals to merge them. The review will include public consultation in 2023.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS)

First step in long China thaw

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Original article by Ben Packham, Amanda Hodge, Will Glasgow
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 16-Nov-22

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described his brief meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 leaders’ summit as an important step to moving forward in the bilateral relationship between the two nations. Albanese and Xi talked for 32 minutes on the sidelines of the Bali summit, with the latter praising Albanese for handling relations between the two countries in a "mature manner". Albanese raised a number of issues during the meeting, including China’s trade bans on Australian imports and Australia’s concerns about alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang province. He also urged Xi to release two Australian citizens who have been detained in China on espionage charges and to use his influence with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20)

PM breaks ice with China

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Original article by Ben Packham, Amanda Hodge
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 14-Nov-22

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese briefly spoke with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the East Asia Summit’s gala dinner on Saturday night. It was the first face-to-face meeting between leaders of the two nations in three years, and Albanese says the four-minute conversation focused on the upcoming 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Australia and China. Albanese also had an unscheduled 40-minute meeting with US President Joe Biden on the final day of the summit on Sunday; they discussed issues such as the AUKUS alliance and climate change, and Albanese invited Biden to address a joint sitting of parliament in 2023 when he visits Australia for a meeting of Quadrilateral Security Dialogue nations. Albanese hopes to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 leaders’ summit in Bali.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, EAST ASIA SUMMIT, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20)

Call for energy ministers to agree to gas price cap at 30% of current market offers

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Original article by Peter Hannam
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 28-Oct-22

Federal and state energy minister will meet in Melbourne on Friday, in the wake of the budget forecast of big increases in electricity and gas prices. Energy Users Association of Australia CEO Andrew Richards has called for gas prices to be capped in response to the energy crisis that has been driven by the invasion of Ukraine. He notes that some industrial users are being offered contracts for gas at about $35 per gigajoule. This compares with about $10 per gigajoule just over a year ago, and Richards contends that capping prices at around this level would be "pretty fair and reasonable" for manufacturers and gas producers alike.

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ENERGY USERS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

Right to strike law risks jobs

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman, Phillip Coorey, Carrie LaFrenz
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 28-Oct-22

The federal government tabled its Secure Jobs, Better Pay bill in parliament on Thursday. A Senate inquiry into the proposed legislation will report on 17 November, after a push by independent senator David Pocock to delay it until February was rejected. Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has indicated that he is open to making changes to the multi-­employer bargaining provisions of the bill, which will allow unions to undertake industry-wide industrial action for the first time. Business leaders have expressed concern about the proposed reforms; Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says they will result in more strikes and fewer jobs, while Minerals Council of Australia CEO Tania Constable warns that expanding multi-employer bargaining will "unleash industrial chaos" on the mining sector.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Future dark under ALP: Dutton

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 28-Oct-22

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has used his budget-reply speech to criticise the federal government’s stance on a range of issues, including industrial relations, energy policy, housing and taxation. Dutton described Labor’s push for multi-employer bargaining as a "throwback to the 1980s" that will reduce productivity and result in strike action across the country. Dutton also contended that the government’s first budget will leave the average family about $2,000 worse off by Christmas, given that it will result in a rise in power prices, the cost of living, taxes, interest rates, unemployment and the deficit. Dutton said the government has already broken its election promise to reduce energy bills by $275 within three years, and he claimed that Labor is "laying the groundwork to break" its promise on the stage-three tax cuts. He also backed the Coalition’s proposal to allow people to use superannuation savings to buy their first home, contending that Labor’s budget plan to encourage super funds and other institutional investors to fund one million new homes is unrealistic.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Labor scraps pay secrecy clauses

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 19-Oct-22

Federal cabinet has approved the Secure Jobs Better Pay bill, which will be put before parliament on 27 October. Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke says that helping to close the gender pay gap is a key objective of the bill. Amongst other things, the legislation will ban the use of pay secrecy clauses in employment contracts, while gender equity will be become a central objective of the Fair Work Act. The bill will also broaden the scope of multi-employer bargaining, simplify the ‘better-off-overall test’ and abolish the Australian Building & Construction Commission. A second tranche of industrial reforms in 2023 will include increased workplace rights for gig economy workers and ‘same job, same pay’ rules for labour hire workers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS