AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

ALP cries JobTaker as wage subsidy gets over the line

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 12-Nov-20

The Senate has voted 30-28 to pass the federal government’s JobMaker bill without any amendments, after One Nation and Centre Alliance agreed to back the legislation. One Nation had previously indicated that it would support an amendment proposed by Labor that was designed to prevent employers from sacking existing staff and hiring younger workers in order to qualify for the subsidy. One Nation has rejected suggestions that it made a ‘side deal’ with the government.

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ONE NATION PARTY, CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

March target to vaccinate five million

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Original article by Natasha Robinson
The Australian – Page: 5 : 12-Nov-20

Health Minister Greg Hunt says the federal government aims to begin distributing COVID-19 vaccines in March. The government has agreed to purchase 10 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine, which would enable five million Australians to be inoculated. The Therapeutic Goods Administration has granted a provisional determination for both the Pfizer vaccine candidate and one being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. The TGA hopes to approve the vaccines for use in Australia in January.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, PFIZER INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. THERAPEUTIC GOODS ADMINISTRATION, ASTRAZENECA PLC, OXFORD UNIVERSITY

Union roasting for Labor: you are out of step

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 4 : 12-Nov-20

The fallout from Joel Fitzgibbon’s resignation from federal Labor’s frontbench over the party’s stance on climate change is continuing. Labor MP Mark Dreyfus has accused Fitzgibbon of being "out of step" with regional Australians on environmental policy; however, former ACTU president Jennie George contends that the only people who are out of step are Labor MPs who have failed to note the outcome of the 2019 election, which saw voters reject Labor’s climate policies. Peter Jordan of the construction union says Fitzgibbon has merely been trying to get Labor back in touch with its traditional supporter base.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Labor looks to amend JobMaker subsidy over concerns older workers could be sacked

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Original article by Katharine Murphy
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 9-Nov-20

Labor has yet to decide whether to support the federal government’s JobMaker hiring credit scheme, which will be debated in the Senate on 9 November. However, senior Labor sources have indicated that the Opposition will seek amendments to the draft legislation to ensure that employers cannot sack older staff and replace them with workers under the age of 35 in order to qualify for the subsidy. The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union has called for labour hire firms to be excluded from the scheme, arguing that they could exploit loopholes in the draft legislation.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION

Australia warned it could be isolated over climate inaction after Joe Biden victory

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Original article by Adam Morton
The Guardian – Page: Online : 9-Nov-20

President-elect Joe Biden has set a net zero emissions for the US of no later than 2050, while he has committed to rejoining the Paris climate agreement. Howard Bamsey, Australia’s former special envoy on climate change, suspects the topic will come up in Biden’s first or second conversation with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, while former Australian diplomat to the UN Dean Bialek says Australia risks being further isolated as a "climate laggard" if it adheres to its current inaction.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Scott Morrison congratulates Joe Biden on US election win and flags Australian visit in 2021

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Original article by Katharine Murphy
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 9-Nov-20

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison says his government looks forward to working with president-elect Joe Biden and his administration in addressing issues such as COVID-19 and climate change. Morrison adds that his government will continue to work with the Trump administration until Biden’s inauguration on 20 January, noting that the Australia-US alliance has become stronger under Trump. Morrison also says that he will invite Biden to visit Australia to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the ANZUS treaty in 2021.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Find another market other than China, exporters warned

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Original article by Will Glasgow, Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 6 : 6-Nov-20

Federal Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has asked the Chinese government to clarify whether it does intend to impose new bans on Australian imports, after media reports in China appeared to confirm this. Meanwhile, federal government officials have discussed the potential ban during a telephone briefing with representatives from the agricultural industry, one of the sectors that would be amongst the hardest hit by such a ban. Participants in the briefing say they were advised to find alternative export markets.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

Shipton likely to follow Crennan in ASIC exit ‘by year’s end’

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 27-Oct-20

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission’s deputy chairman Daniel Crennan maintains that he had received advice that his expense claims had been line with the corporate regulator’s policy. Crennan formally resigned on 26 October in the wake of the expenses scandal that has embroiled himself and chairman James Shipton; Crennan indicated that he had intended to retire from ASIC in mid-2021 anyway. Meanwhile, former Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Allan Fels expects Shipton to resign before the end of 2020. Fels says ASIC has had a "very poor record over many years".

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AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

ASIC overhaul as chair faces exit

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 26-Oct-20

An independent review into the expenses of Australian Securities & Investments Commission chairman James Shipton is expected to be completed before the end of 2020. Shipton has stepped aside pending the outcome of the review, but sources have suggested that he is unlikely to remain in the role. ASIC’s acting chair Karen Chester is tipped to succeed Shipton, who has agreed to repay the expenses he incurred in relocating from the US to Australia. ASIC’s deputy chair Daniel Crennan will also repay expenses associated with moving from Melbourne to Sydney.

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AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Dutton attacks Facebook’s death star

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 23-Oct-20

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has expressed concern about Facebook’s proposal to introduce end-to-end encryption across its messaging platforms. Dutton has warned that fully encrypting Messenger and Instagram will facilitate the activities of terrorists and paedophiles. Dutton is seeking to introduce new laws aimed at cracking down on the so-called ‘dark web’; he contends that under current legislation it is almost impossible to investigate and identify people who use the dark web. Facebook-owned WhatsApp already uses end-to-end encryption.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED