AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Covid strategy clarion call

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Greg Brown, Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 13-Jul-20

Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott says the nation cannot afford to maintain a ‘stop-start’ approach to re-opening the economy. She stresses that Australia needs to learn to live with the coronavirus, as it may be two years before a vaccine is available. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox has expressed similar sentiments, arguing that the nation’s response to the pandemic must be "proportionate and logical", rather than "hysterical and irrational". Flight Centre CEO Graham Turner has called for a nationally consistent strategy in dealing with the pandemic.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT

Morrison: Stay course on reopening economy

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tom McIlroy, Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 10-Jul-20

The national cabinet meeting on 10 July will discuss issues such as Victoria’s new coronavirus outbreak, the hotel quarantine system and border controls. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will argue the need for the other states and territories to open their borders. South Australia will impose a mandatory testing and quarantine regime on all residents who are returning from Victoria, while Western Australia will ban entry to anybody who has been to Victoria in the last two weeks.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

China’s fury at HK haven

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Andrew Tillett, Michael Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 9 : 10-Jul-20

Australia has suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong in response to China’s imposition of new national security laws on the former British colony. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the new laws undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy, while he has offered a ‘pathway to permanent residency’ in Australia to more than 12,000 resident of Hong Kong. The Chinese embassy in Canberra has attacked the federal government over its actions, as has China’s foreign ministry; Australian government officials expect the federal government’s actions to result in trade retaliation by China.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

ACTU boss opposes tax cut for workers

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 10-Jul-20

ACTU secretary Sally McManus has urged the federal government to extend the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme for an additional six months. It is slated to end in late September, but McManus says the union movement will not support an extension of temporary changes to workplace laws unless the scheme is extended for all eligible workers. McManus also opposes bringing forward personal income tax cuts, arguing that it will lead to less money being spent on essential services. She adds that company tax cuts should not be considered until tax loopholes and rorts have been addressed.

CORPORATES
ACTU

PM vows to break Victoria’s fall

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matthew Cranston, Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 9-Jul-20

Victoria recorded 134 new coronavirus cases on 8 July, as metropolitan Melbourne prepared to go into lockdown for six weeks. The virus outbreak in Victoria is set to dominate the national cabinet’s agenda when it meets on 10 July, while Prime Minister Scott Morrison has flagged extending the JobKeeper wage subsidy beyond late September. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in turn says the federal government will look at bringing forward legislated personal income tax cuts in order to stimulate the economy. The government is also considering measures such as providing greater incentives for business investment.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Beware Beijing’s ‘arbitrary detention’: DFAT

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Olivia Caisley, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 8-Jul-20

The growing tensions between Australia and China have prompted the federal government to upgrade its travel advice. The Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade has warned that Chinese authorities have detailed foreign travellers on the grounds of ‘endangering national security’, adding that Australians may be at risk of detention. DFAT also recently advised caution about travelling to Hong Kong after China introduced new national security laws for the former British colony. DFAT recommends that Australian defer all overseas travel due to the coronavirus.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

Work visa sweetener for uni students

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tim Dodd, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 7-Jul-20

Australian universities and state governments had been hoping to start bringing international students back into the country from the end of July. However, the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Victoria has put these plans on hold. In an attempt to help Australian universities to remain competitive with rivals in Canada and Britain, it is believed that the federal government will grant post-study visas to foreign students who are enrolled in Australian universities but have had to return to their home countries and study online. Currently, only overseas students who study in Australia are awarded graduate work rights.

CORPORATES

JobSeeker’s $200 boost could cost $4 billion for six months

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Shane Wright
The Age – Page: Online : 3-Jul-20

The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre’s director, Alan Duncan, says the JobSeeker payment should be increased when the coronavirus supplement ends in September. Duncan contends that the unemployment benefit was insufficient prior to the pandemic, and he has suggested that it could be increased by $200 a fortnight; he estimates that this would cost about $3.8bn over six months. Duncan adds that the JobSeeker payment must be scaled back in order to provide people with an incentive to seek work.

CORPORATES
BANKWEST CURTIN ECONOMICS CENTRE

‘A national security scandal’: Kevin Rudd names three gaps in defence strategy

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Anthony Galloway
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 3-Jul-20

The federal government’s new defence strategy includes expenditure of $270 billion over the next 10 years on boosting the Australian Defence Force. However, former prime minister Kevin Rudd contends there are three major gaps in the strategy: failing to build up Australia’s cyber defences with sufficient speed; insufficient spending in the Pacific region, and delays in the delivery of new submarines. Rudd noted his government’s 2009 Defence White Policy had called for a doubling of Australia’s submarine fleet, and he claims the submarine project has been "comprehensively botched".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE

Australian visa fast track for HK nationals fleeing strife

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson, Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 3-Jul-20

Tensions with China may increase after the federal government advised that it will consider options for allowing Hong Kong nationals to migrate to Australia. The skilled migrant visa program is expected to be the government’s preferred option when cabinet discusses the issue on 8 July. However, part of the annual refugee intake could potentially be allocated to Hong Kong nationals who are at risk of persecution under the Chinese government’s national security laws for the former British colony. China has criticised the UK’s decision to offer citizenship to more than three million Hong Kong nationals.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET