SYDNEY — Fearful of growing foreign interference and other hazards, the government wants to impose new obligations on industry and open doors to federal intervention across all critical infrastructure. Already covering specific electricity, gas, water and ports assets, the proposed laws would bring 11 other sectors of the economy into the mix, including communications. Australia’s telecommunications firms informally share information with security and intelligence agencies without triggering notification thresholds or federal intervention and want that to continue. A “security uplift” could be achieved through a regime rolled out three years ago, not new blanket laws, Telstra informed a parliamentary inquiry on…
Author: zenger.news
BRISBANE, Australia — Adapting to climate change will be a crucial part of Australia’s new plan to protect threatened species, with at least 100 priority plants and animals on an initial focus list. Environment Minister Sussan Ley has on May 21 announced a new decade-long strategy, which will be made up of two five-year action plans and helped with AU$57 million ($44 million) in funds. Priority areas are mitigating new and established threats, conserving habitat, emergency preparedness and response, as well as climate change adaption and resilience. “Our human footprint, feral pests and weeds, our changing climate, and biosecurity hazards present an enormous…
SYDNEY — The Queensland government says it will back an AU$373 million ($289 million) wind farm denied a loan by a federal government “hopelessly conflicted on renewable energy.” Keith Pitt earlier this month used his ministerial veto power to stop an AU$280 million ($217 million) loan to the Kaban Green Power Hub for a 157-megawatt wind farm and 100-megawatt battery. The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) had recommended the far north Queensland project receive the financing. Queensland Energy, Renewables, and Hydrogen Minister Mick de Brenni claim that the state will invest AU$40 million ($31 million) in upgrading transmission lines to support the Kaban project. The investment will help…
MELBOURNE, Australia — Lobby groups have slammed the Victorian government’s plan to tax Australian businesses to help pay for an overhaul of the state’s mental health system. The Mental Health and Wellbeing Levy, unveiled by Treasurer Tim Pallas on May 20, will hit businesses that pay more than AU$ 10 million ($7.76 million) in national wages with a 0.5 percent increase. Businesses with national payrolls above AU$100 million ($77.6 million) will pay one percent. The tax was a main mental health royal commission recommendation and will affect less than five per cent of employers, Pallas said. It will begin on January…
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s health and economic recovery won’t be secured while the vaccine rollout stalls and the community receives mixed messages, union boss Sally McManus says. The Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary’s comment came amid concerns about side effects from the AstraZeneca vaccine — the mainstay of the vaccination program — and calls for a better-targeted communication campaign. While the national jobless rate hit 5.5 percent in April, overall employment fell by 30,600 in the month, mainly due to a sharp 64,400 drop in part-time workers. “We will never be in a position where we can have certainty about the…
MELBOURNE, Australia — They might not be able to vote, but children of Australia’s south-eastern state of Victoria are big targets in the 2021/22 state budget. Through education, mental health, and the justice system, there is a pointed attempt at benefiting children, families, and women in this year’s financial plan. Under the state’s mental health overhaul, prompted by the royal commission into the sector, about AU$842 million ($638 million) is being directed to support children and young people. Two streams of care will be established, one for infants, children, and their families and another for people aged 12 to 25. Among…
ADELAIDE, Australia — A crackdown on the use of Covid-19 Quick Response (QR) codes across South Australia has resulted in a big increase in compliance. In a week-long operation, police used plainclothes officers to monitor people checking in at various venues including retail outlets, cafes, and restaurants. It resulted in a daily increase in the number of check-ins of between 500,000 and 600,000 to a high of 1.78 million on May 15. Police also issued 563 cautions and one expiation notice to individuals and 83 cautions to businesses. Operation Trace was prompted by a dramatic fall in the use of Quick…
CANBERRA, Australia — Economists expect retail spending has grown with consumers buoyed by substantial employment, rising housing prices, and ultra-low interest rates. A monthly gauge of consumer confidence struck a 12-year high in April, pointing forward to household spending. However, as Australian life returns to some normality, people’s spending habits are switching back to services like hospitality and domestic tourism, which are not captured by official statistics. As such, while economists are forecasting the Australian Bureau of Statistics’s preliminary retail spending figures to show a 0.5 percent rise in April, it will be slower than the 1.3 percent growth recorded in March. “This…
CANBERRA, Australia — Australian students will voice their anger at the federal government’s cheques for the gas industry by taking to the streets to strike. May 21 marks the first “School Strike 4 Climate” in Australia since the coronavirus pandemic. The students have long called for a plan for net-zero emissions and more renewable energy in Australia’s power system. Still, they are now turning their attention to the Morrison government’s recent budget. Last week’s federal budget put more than AU$ 58 million ($44.92 million) towards expanding the gas industry, with the coalition this week also announcing AU$ 600 million ($464.69 million) of taxpayer…
When President Joseph R. Biden Jr. welcomes South Korean President Moon Jae-In to the White House Friday, one question will take center stage: What’s the plan for North Korea? In the weeks leading up to the’s meeting — only Biden’s second White House summit with a foreign leader, following Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s visit last month — administration officials have only hinted in very broad terms that Biden wants to pursue a novel approach to dealing with Pyongyang, its hereditary Communist dictator, Kim Jong Un and his aggressive nuclear missiles program. Yet many experts say there aren’t many options…