LEGISLATIVE BODIES – COMMITTEES

RBA’s Lowe faces grilling over cheap money

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 8-Aug-19

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe will appear before a parliamentary committee on 9 August. His testimony is likely to attract increased scrutiny after the central bank’s New Zealand counterpart reduced official interest rates by 50 basis points. The House of Representatives’ economics committee is chaired by Liberal MP Tim Wilson. He says the RBA’s dual rate cuts in June and July and how it expects to eventually begin tightening monetary policy when household debt is rising are among the issues that will come under scrutiny.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, RESERVE BANK OF NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Home Affairs fights to restrict media

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Original article by Mark Schliebs
The Australian – Page: 6 : 7-Aug-19

The Department of Home Affairs has used its submission to a parliamentary inquiry into press freedom to argue that the existing rules governing police search warrants are adequate. The Right to Know Coalition recently told the inquiry that the media industry should have the right to challenge warrants that are used to gather evidence against journalists. Home Affairs has contended that there is the potential for material evidence to be destroyed if there is advance notice that a warrant is to be issued. The ABC has rejected this suggestion, arguing that the destruction of ­evidence is a criminal offence under existing laws.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY JOINT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY, AUSTRALIA’S RIGHT TO KNOW COALITION OF MEDIA COMPANIES, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Media coalition seeks right to fight warrants

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Original article by Leo Shanahan
The Weekend Australian – Page: 8 : 3-Aug-19

The Right to Know Coalition has used its submission to a parliamentary inquiry into freedom of the press to call for changes to the rules governing the issuance of police warrants. The coalition, which comprises 14 media companies and organisations, argued amongst other things that the media industry should have the right to challenge warrants that are used to gather evidence against journalists, and that all such applications should be put to an independent judge in open court. The inquiry was commissioned in response to the recent media raids.

CORPORATES
RIGHT TO KNOW COALITION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS

Back door to access data deliberately left open

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Original article by Mark Schliebs
The Australian – Page: 4 : 1-Aug-19

The federal government’s Telecommunication Interception and Access Act is under growing scrutiny amid revelations that a wide range of agencies are bypassing it to access Australians’ metadata. The data retention laws authorise 21 government agencies to access metadata without a warrant, but many other agencies are doing so via the Telecommunications Act. The Department of Home Affairs has indicated that this loophole was intentional, and that non-authorised agencies can access metadata on grounds other than law enforcement and national security.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, COMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY JOINT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY

Data snooping free-for-all

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Original article by Mark Schliebs
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 31-Jul-19

The Telecommunication Interception and Access Act identifies just 22 agencies that are entitled to access Australians’ metadata. However, a parliamentary committee that is reviewing the data retention laws has been told that at least 87 agencies have applied to access metadata without a warrant since the legislation took effect in 2015. Telstra has told the committee that many agencies are bypassing the data retention regime by seeking access to metadata via the Telecommunications Act. This is often to investigate minor legal breaches rather than serious criminal activity or issues concerning ­national security.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY JOINT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, COMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE LIMITED, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN COMMISSION FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT INTEGRITY, AUSTRALIAN CRIMINAL INTELLIGENCE COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Super, insurance chiefs to face MPs

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 26-Jul-19

The CEOs of insurance companies and superannuation funds will be required to appear before federal parliament’s Standing Committee on Economics at least once a year. Bank CEOs have had to front the committee regularly since 2016, and the heads of industry groups such as the Australian Banking Association will now also be asked to do so. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended the government’s slow response to implementing the Hayne royal commission’s recommendations, stressing the need to proceed with caution to avoid any unintended consequences.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Greens, Labor urge Senate to dig deeper into press freedom

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 2 : 24-Jul-19

The Senate’s communications committee will hold its own inquiry into the issue of press freedom. The inquiry will have a broader scope than the one that is being undertaken by the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security. Labor’s Katy Gallagher says the second inquiry is necessary because unlike the PJCIS, the communications committee is not controlled by the Coalition. The inquiries come in the wake of controversial police raids on the ABC’s Sydney office and the home of a News Corp Australia journalist.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT, COMMUNICATIONS, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY JOINT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE

Media bosses in dark on charges

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 4 : 4-Jul-19

Attorney-General Christian Porter and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher held talks with media industry representatives on 3 July. The meeting failed to ease the media sector’s concerns about Australian Federal Police raids on the ABC’s Sydney office and the home of a News Corp Australia journalist in early June, and whether journalists will face prosecution as a result of the raids. Media executives have also expressed reservations about the government’s plans for the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security to hold an inquiry into press freedom.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY JOINT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CENTRE ALLIANCE

Press freedom probe backed

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 2 : 3-Jul-19

The parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security will undertake an inquiry into the impact of police and intelligence agencies’ powers on freedom of the press. The inquiry was approved by federal cabinet on 2 July, and follows the recent police raids on the ABC’s offices and the home of a News Corp Australia journalist. Labor proposes to establish a separate inquiry into press freedom and the public’s right to know, while media companies advocate changes to laws affecting freedom of the press rather than a parliamentary inquiry.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY JOINT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Taxpayers’ $830k legal bill for ROC hearings

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 21-Feb-19

Mark Bielecki, the head of the Registered Organisations Commission, has told a Senate estimates hearing that the legal costs arising from raids on Australian Workers’ Union offices have topped $550,000. This is in addition to the $288,000 that Small Business Minister Michaelia Cash has spent on legal representation. Cash came under scrutiny by Labor members of the committee over the evidence she gave to the Australian Federal Police after details of the raids were leaked to the media.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA