GOVERNMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS – AUSTRALIA

Telcos accused of Triple-Zero death cover-up

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Original article by Jenny Wiggins, Nicola Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 10-Dec-25

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has accused the nation’s telecommunications companies of a "cover-up" during the second hearing of an inquiry into Optus’s triple-zero outage, which has been linked to several deaths. She was responding to the revelation that a person had died after an outdated Samsung mobile phone was used to call triple-zero; the device defaulted to Vodafone’s decommissioned 3G network. This incident had been reported six days after the Optus outage on 24 September, but it was not publicly disclosed. Communications Minister Anika Wells was also criticised over her handling of the Optus outage; she had been in New York at the time, promoting the government’s social media age restrictions.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

‘The enemy within’: Royal commission damns Defence for needless deaths

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Original article by Matthew Knott
The Age – Page: Online : 10-Sep-24

The royal commission into veterans’ suicide released its final report on Monday, making 122 recommendations. The commission found that current and former service personnel were 20 times more likely to die by suicide than in combat, with commissioner Peggy Brown saying it found that the "enemy is often within the Australian Defence Force" rather than an external adversary. The commission’s 122 recommendations include the creation of a national register of suicides among current and former ADF personnel, along with urgent action to stamp out bullying and sexual assault within the armed forces.

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‘Simply walking away’: Banks face branch closure crackdown as Senate probe exposes failures

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Original article by Matthew Elmas
The New Daily – Page: Online : 28-May-24

The Senate committee on regional affairs has released a report into bank closures in regional Australia, with the committee making a number of recommendations aimed at protecting regional communities from further branch closures. They include that access to cash should be considered an essential service and that the federal government should consider a new publicly owned bank that could service regional communities indefinitely, with Council of the Ageing chief executive Patricia Sparrow urging the government to "immediately action" the essential services call

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COUNCIL ON THE AGEING

Australia’s major supermarkets accused of purchasing properties to turf out independent stores

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Original article by Jonathan Barrett
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 12-Apr-24

The Senate inquiry into supermarket prices has been told that grocery giants Coles and Woolworths engage in land-banking to prevent smaller rivals from opening a store near their supermarkets. Grant Ramage, the CEO of Metcash’s food division, said the duopoly is also prepared to pay inflated prices to buy out rivals in order to stifle competition, while they have been known to buy retail properties that are tenanted by independent supermarkets and subsequently not renew their lease. Aldi Australia’s CEO Anna McGrath has told the inquiry that rival supermarket chains often reduce their prices when the Germany-based company opens a new store near their existing outlets.

CORPORATES
METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD

Emerson to keep supermarkets in check

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 3 : 10-Jan-24

The federal government has appointed former Labor trade minister Craig Emerson to head a review of the food and grocery code of conduct. The government will consider a range of options to ensure that businesses are passing on lower costs to consumers, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says supermarkets have a duty to ensure that they are providing affordable options for all Australians. Agriculture Minister Murray Watt says major retailers do not have to wait until the review is ­completed to lower their prices.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY

Immunity for mates: PM’s Covid cop-out

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 22-Sep-23

The federal government has been widely criticised over the limited scope of its commission of inquiry into the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay has questioned why the actions of state and territory governments during the pandemic will be excluded from the inquiry. She argues that this will make it harder to prepare for future pandemics. Opposition leader Peter Dutton has accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of prioritising the interests of Labor premiers over those of the general public. Dutton wants the inquiry to be given the powers of a royal commission, including the ability to compel people to give evidence.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Turnbull says cabinet was told robo-debt was legal

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Original article by Tom Burton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 7-Mar-23

The royal commission into the robodebt scheme heard evidence from former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull on Monday. Cabinet agreed to the controversial scheme in 2015, prior to Turnbull becoming prime minister; he said cabinet was told that the scheme was lawful, and he was therefore focused on the accuracy and fairness of the scheme rather than its legality. Turnbull also revealed that he recommended in early 2017 that the Digital Transformation Agency should be tasked with improving the scheme, but said that this did not occur.

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AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO THE ROBODEBT SCHEME

Robodebt question minister can’t answer

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Original article by Catie McLeod
The Australian – Page: 2 : 14-Dec-22

Former human services minister Marise Payne appeared before the royal commission into the robodebt scheme on Tuesday. The inquiry has been told that former social security minister Scott Morrison had been advised in late February 2015 that policy and legislative changes would be required in order to implement the scheme. However, Payne has told the inquiry that she was unable to explain how this advice had "disappeared" by the time the expenditure review committee met to discuss the robodebt scheme in late March of that year.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO THE ROBODEBT SCHEME

‘Disappointing’: Big four banks to skip financial crime inquiry

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Original article by Charlotte Grieve
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 8-Nov-21

Labor Senator Deb O’Neill says it is "disappointing" that none of the big four banks have taken up an invitation to appear before a Senate inquiry into the effectiveness of Australia’s anti-money laundering regime. O’Neill was the instigator of the inquiry, which is looking at issues such as expanding the AML regime to cover professions such as lawyers and accountants, along with the effectiveness of the Australian Transaction Reports & Analysis Centre, which is the regulator of the AML regime. The big four banks – the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, the ANZ and the National Australia Bank – will instead be represented at the inquiry by the Australian Banking Association.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Final tranche of Hayne reforms a milestone

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 28-Oct-21

The federal government will legislate to implement a further six recommendations arising from the Hayne royal commission on 28 October. The last tranche of legislation includes a bill to replace the Banking Executive Accountability Regime with the broader-based Financial Accountability Regime, which will also apply to the insurance and superannuation sectors. The government will also establish the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort, which will eventually be fully funded via an industry level. Kenneth Hayne released his final report in February 2019.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY