AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

A culture of dependency has taken root

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 23-Jul-25

Research by the Centre for Independent Studies shows that more than 50 per cent of Australian voters now rely on federal or state governments for most of their income. This includes public sector workers, welfare recipients and people who receive subsidies of some kind. Robert Carling from the think tank says this dependence presents a major challenge for politicians who might attempt to reduce government spending. Analysis shows that total federal and state government spending has increased to 39 per cent of GDP; this is its highest level since the end of the second world war, and compares with about 35 per cent of GDP prior to the global financial crisis in 2008.

CORPORATES
THE CENTRE FOR INDEPENDENT STUDIES LIMITED

‘Stronger together’: Congress pushes AUKUS before Morrison hearing

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Original article by Jessica Gardner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 23-Jul-25

Australia’s former prime minister Scott Morrison will shortly appear before the US House of Representatives’ Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Morrison will testify about China’s use of "economic coercion", amid the Pentagon’s ongoing review of the AUKUS alliance. The committee is headed by Republican John Moolenaar and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, who have stated that all three members of the alliance are stronger because of it. They also contend that AUKUS will be vital to containing China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region.

CORPORATES
REPUBLICAN PARTY (UNITED STATES), DEMOCRATIC PARTY (UNITED STATES)

ALP ups its attack on Israel over Gaza

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 23-Jul-25

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has defended the federal government’s decision to issue a joint statement with 27 other nations urging Israel to end the war in Gaza. Amongst other things, the statement contended that Israel’s "drip feeding" of aid into Gaza is "dangerous and unacceptable", and that the suffering of civilians in Gaza has "reached new depths". Burke had described Israel’s conduct in Gaza as "indefensible", but acknowledges that Hamas must release its remaining hostages. The joint statement has in turn been criticised by Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, who says it is "disconnected from reality" and "sends the wrong message to Hamas".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS

Non-market job boom a drag on productivity

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 16-Jul-25

The Department of Employment & Workplace Relations has warned that a rapidly expanding ‘non-market sector’ presents a challenge for the federal government. The department’s briefing for incoming Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth also notes that overall productivity growth has been impacted by the non-market sector’s increasing share of the economy. This sector includes the health care and social assistance, education and training and public administration and safety industries; it includes both public and private service providers that receive government funding. Four out of five jobs created in the last two years have been in this sector, including the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

Back to future on carbon with Rio

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Original article by Greg Brown, Noah Yim
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 16-Jul-25

Rio Tinto has used its submission to the Productivity Commission’s so-called ‘five pillars’ review to call for Australia to introduce a market-based price on carbon. The resources group contends that this is the most effective way to encourage the private sector to make low-carbon investments and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, Rio Tinto has also argued that further government subsidies will be needed, as a carbon price alone will not be enough to reduce heavy industries’ emissions while allowing them to remain globally competitive.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

Xi defiant on navy drills in talks with Albanese

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Original article by Ben Packham, Will Glasgow
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 16-Jul-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed a range of issues during their meeting in Beijing on Tuesday, including the Chinese navy’s live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea earlier this year. Albanese acknowledged that the Chinese vessels had been operating in international waters when they carried out the drills and subsequently circumnavigated Australia; however, he asked China to provide more notice of future drills near Australian waters. Xi responded by stating that China’s naval forces will conduct exercises "wherever they want" in international waters. Albanese also agreed to a review of the China-Australia free-trade agreement, which took effect a decade ago. Landbridge Group’s lease over the Port of Darwin and Australia’s ban on Chinese investment in critical infrastructure were not raised.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

PM ready for the fight against anti-Semitism

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Original article by Richard Ferguson, Noah Yim, Rhiannon Down
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 9-Jul-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says anti-Semitism is a "scourge" that has no place in Australia. He adds that the federal government will continue to engage constructively with the Jewish community to ensure that it gets the support that it needs. Albanese has also advised that the government’s special envoy Jillian Segal is working on a new strategy to combat anti-Semitism in the wake of the recent attacks on a synagogue and a Jewish-owned restaurant in Melbourne. It is expected to adopt some of the proposals outlined in a 15-point plan released by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry in February. However, Albanese has rejected Opposition leader Sussan Ley’s proposal to convene an emergency meeting of the national cabinet.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN JEWRY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Roundtable revolt on super

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 2-Jul-25

The federal government’s economic reform roundtable is set to be inundated with submissions from business leaders, the union movement and special interest groups. Many of these submissions are likely to propose alternatives to Labor’s superannuation tax reforms, particularly the controversial plan to tax the unrealised capital gains of super funds. Critics of this provision of the reforms contend that at the very least the $3m threshold should be indexed to inflation. Financial services industry veteran Geoff Wilson has previously warned that taxing unrealised gains will have a negative impact on productivity.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

PM’s $16m team: it’s time to earn it

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 2-Jul-25

The Australian Public Service had 193,503 ongoing and non-ongoing employees at the end of 2024, but the federal government’s March 2025 budget papers had forecast that this will rise to about 213,000 in 2025-26. Meanwhile, analysis shows that the combined remuneration of the 17 highest-ranking federal public servants will be around $16.3m in 2025-26. They received a salary increase on 1 July, following a recent ruling of the Remuneration Tribunal. Steven Kennedy, who heads the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet, is the nation’s highest-paid bureaucrat, with total remuneration of $1,035,690.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

China, critical minerals dominate Quad agenda

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 2-Jul-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese still hopes to have his first face-to-face meeting with US President Donald Trump at the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue leaders’ meeting later this year. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s executive director Justin Bassi say the Quad meeting must address issues such as China’s "coercive conduct" in the Indo-Pacific region and the nation’s dominance of global critical minerals supply. These issues are also expected to be discussed at this week’s Quad foreign ministers’ meeting in Washington DC.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE LIMITED