RECORD LOW FOR TRAVEL; WAGES RISE
Record low for international departures
Australia registered a record-low number of departures from the country in September, due to ongoing lockdowns in the two largest states. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were only 30,330 departures from the country and 18,840 arrivals. Provisional figures for October indicated a slight rise in departures but a continued decline in arrivals, ahead of an expected jump in November as borders started to re-open. Before Covid-19, Australia was recording more than two million in both arrivals and departures per month.
RBA head again plays down inflation, interest rate fears
Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe has again sought to quell anxiety over rising global inflation. In a speech this week, Dr Lowe said that while headline inflation rates were rising in many advanced economies – such as six per cent in the United States – he was confident that inflation would settle around two per cent in 2022. Dr Lowe said a surge in post-Covid household spending had led to supply constraints, and higher prices. He repeated his stance that the latest data and forecasts did not warrant an increase in the cash rate (to curb inflation) in 2022.
Wages edging up again
Wages rose 2.2 per cent in the year to the end of September, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The ABS’s Wage Price Index shows that wages increased 0.6 per cent through the September quarter. Over the full year to September, private sector wages rose 2.4 per cent, with employers in some industries paying larger increases to attract and retain experienced staff. Public sector wages increased by 1.7 per cent – the first full-year rise since March 2020. Pre-Covid-19, annual wages in both private and public sectors consistently rose by more than two per cent.
Quantum leap for critical technologies
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has released the Federal Government’s Blueprint and Action Plan for Critical Technologies, which outlines priority areas for critical technologies. Highlighting one priority area, the PM said the Government would invest $111 million to secure Australia’s quantum technology future, with a strong focus on commercialisation of research. The blueprint nominates as critical technologies in the national interest to be: advanced materials and manufacturing; transportation, robotics and space; artificial intelligence, computing and communications; biotechnology, gene technology and vaccines; energy and environment; sensing, timing and navigating; and quantum.
Australia, US join to promote critical minerals
Meanwhile, Trade, Tourism and Investment Minister Dan Tehan and US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo have reaffirmed their commitment to collaborate on supply chains, especially in critical minerals. Meeting in Singapore, Mr Tehan and Ms Raimondo expressed their appreciation for Australian firms investing in the US, particularly in supplying rare earths for electric vehicles. The two nations also committed to engage with extractive, processing and end-user firms, and to explore opportunities to finance projects through the critical minerals value chain.
New guidelines for universities to counter foreign interference
As international students prepare to return to Australia, the Federal Government has issued guidelines to help protect universities against the risk of foreign interference. Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews and Education and Youth Minister Alan Tudge said the updated guidelines would protect universities, students and researchers from hostile foreign actors and intelligence services. Foreign interference included the targeting of sensitive research, muzzling of debate and intimidation of foreign students. The ministers said the guidelines would assist universities to better identify and respond to the risk of foreign interference.