AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

PM: Christmas trips likely

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 25-Aug-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison contends that Australians should be able to travel interstate to spend Christmas with family and friends once 70-80 per cent of the adult population has been fully vaccinated. Morrison has again urged the states and territories to back his government’s four-stage plan for reopening the economy, reiterating that lockdowns will do more harm than good when the vaccination target rate has been achieved. Meanwhile, employers’ groups have urged the federal government to relax the restrictions on travelling overseas for business purposes, arguing that people who have been vaccinated should be allowed to do so and quarantine at home upon their return.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Federal government errors contributed to Ruby Princess disaster, report finds

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Original article by Daniella White
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 25-Aug-21

The Inspector-General of Biosecurity, Rob Delane, has completed a review of the COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney that was caused by the arrival of the Ruby Princess cruise ship in March 2020. His report concluded that the federal Department of Agriculture’s failure to properly enforce biosecurity rules had contributed to the outbreak; amongst other things, biosecurity staff had not screened Ruby Princess passengers who were sick, and they were allowed to leave the ship after it arrived in Sydney. More than 663 passengers and crew subsequently tested positive for COVID-19, while 28 passengers died.

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AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF BIOSECURITY

PM’s blast for slow-jab states

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Aug-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged state leaders to support the federal government’s four-stage plan for reopening the economy. He has reiterated that restrictions must be eased when 70-80 per cent of the nation’s population has been fully vaccinated, while he has warned that Australians must live with COVID-19. However, there are concerns that some states are falling behind in meeting the vaccination threshold targets; based on current figures, Western Australia is unlikely to achieve a full vaccination rate of 80 per cent until late November, while Queensland will not do so until late December.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Doherty target risks death of 25,000 people

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Original article by Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 24-Aug-21

The federal government’s plan to reopen the economy once 80 per cent of Australians aged 16+ have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 is based on advice from the Doherty Institute. However, a group of economists and medical researchers has warned that this threshold is too low; they contend that the government should instead aim to fully vaccinate 90 per cent of Australians, including children. Australian National University economics professor Quentin Grafton says that retaining the 80 per cent threshold could potentially result in 25,000 deaths from COVID-19 and some 270,000 cases of so-called ‘long Covid’.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. PETER DOHERTY INSTITUTE FOR INFECTION AND IMMUNITY, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

Australia to resettle thousands upon thousands of Afghans

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Original article by Rob Harris
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 24-Aug-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated that the federal government will look to resettle "thousands upon thousands" of Afghans, in recognition of their efforts in standing with Australian forces in Afghanistan over the past 20 years. He said the national security committee of cabinet is meeting daily to discuss the issue in Afghanistan, and that the government’s priority is to get Australian citizens, permanent residents and visa holders safely out of the country.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Australian government urged to expand refugee intake as Afghans seek to flee Taliban rule

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Original article by Ben Doherty, Daniel Hurst
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 20-Aug-21

Australia has set a figure of 13,750 humanitarian visas for the current financial year, with 3,000 of that number to be set aside for Afghan nationals fleeing the Taliban regime. However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has stated that the 3,000 figure is a "a floor, not a ceiling" and that "we can think we can achieve more". It is possible that the allocation of 13,750 humanitarian visas may not actually be met, as COVID-19 travel limitations are particularly restrictive on humanitarian visa holders.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

ALP (54%) increases lead over L-NP (46%) – as Melbourne and Sydney lockdowns continue

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 19-Aug-21

ALP support is at 54% (up 0.5% points since early August) cf. L-NP on 46% (down 0.5% points) on a two-party preferred basis after Melbourne’s sixth lockdown was extended, Sydney’s lockdown was extended to the whole State of NSW and the ACT entered lockdown for the first time in over a year. This is the largest two-party preferred lead for the ALP since the bushfires crisis of early 2020. If a Federal Election were held now the ALP would be elected with the largest share of the vote since the 1977 Federal Election won by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser with 54.6% of the vote. Voting analysis by State shows the ALP leading on a two-party preferred basis in Australia’s two largest States of Victoria and NSW and also holding leads in WA, SA and Tasmania. The LNP leads only in Queensland. Interviewing for the Roy Morgan Poll was conducted over the weekends of August 7/8 & 14/15, with a nationally representative cross-section of 2,747 Australian electors using a combination of telephone and online interviews.

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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

‘No place to hide’: pressure on Australia to end support for new fossil fuel projects after IPCC report

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Original article by Adam Morton, Graham Readfearn
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 11-Aug-21

Environmentalists have called for the federal government to halt all new fossil fuel projects in the wake of a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Kirsty Howey from the Environment Centre Northern Territory says development of gas resources in the Beetaloo basin must not proceed in the wake of the IPCC report; the federal government is providing up to $50 million in funding for exploration in the basin. Andy Paine of Frontline Action on Coal has also urged an immediate halt to fossil fuel projects, including the Carmichael coal mine in Queensland.

CORPORATES
INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENT CENTRE (NT) INCORPORATED, FRONTLINE ACTION ON COAL

Big carbon nations must cut too: PM

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Original article by Greg Brown, Dennis Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 11-Aug-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the federal government will update its 2030 emissions projections ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in November. He adds that the update will show that Australia is on track to exceed its Paris climate agreement targets. Morrison also contends that ‘catastrophic’ climate change will only be avoided if China, India and other developing nations take action to reduce their carbon emissions. China and India are regarded as developing nations, so they are not required to cut emissions immediately under the Paris agreement. Morrison is of the view that his government’s focus on reducing carbon emissions via technology rather than taxes will help to boost clean energy uptake in developing nations.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED NATIONS

Morrison refuses to say if he saw list of marginal seats to get car park funding

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Original article by Katina Curtis, Shane Wright
The Age – Page: Online : 6-Aug-21

The federal government’s $660 million commuter car park grants program has come under severe criticism from the Auditor-General. Only three of the 47 car parks promised in early 2019 have been built, and the Auditor-General has found that there was no criteria for assessing the merit of projects and that 77 per cent of those that were initially funded were in marginal Coalition seats. The Auditor-General has claimed that a list of "top 20 marginal seats" was used as the basis for deciding which projects to finance. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has refused to say if he saw such a list.

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AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET