LABOR PLEDGE ON EMISSIONS; FUNDING LIFT

Labor pledges cheaper renewable energy

Federal Labor has raised the stakes in the pre-election debate over energy policy, pledging to reduce Australian emissions by 43 per cent by 2030. Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said Labor’s Powering Australia policy would cut electricity bills for families and businesses by $275 a year for homes by 2025, while creating more than 600,000 jobs, predominantly in regional areas. Focusing on boosting cheaper renewable energy supply, Labor has promised cheaper electric vehicles, plus the installation of 85 solar banks and 400 community batteries. The Coalition has projected to reduce emissions by 26-28 per cent by 2030.

Taylor steps up fund incentives for manufacturing

Industry Minister Angus Taylor has announced a new round of funding for manufacturers, under the integration and translation streams of the Federal Government’s Modern Manufacturing Initiative. Mr Taylor said $280 million in matched funding was on offer for businesses in the six priority areas of space, medical products, resources technology and critical minerals processing, food and beverage, recycling and clean energy, and defence. The funding support is designed to help manufacturers break into new markets and translate research into commercial outcomes.

ASIC releases JobKeeper details

Australia’s corporate regulator has moved to increase public transparency of the JobKeeper scheme, by publishing on its website details of the wage subsidy program paid to listed companies. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission requires listed entities to disclose the number of individuals for whom the entity (or its subsidiaries) received JobKeeper payments, and the total of payments received. Listed entities must also disclose whether they made voluntary repayments of JobKeeper payments, and if so, the total amount repaid.

Delta wave sweeps through hospitality, arts sectors

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics have underlined the severity of the Delta Covid-19 wave on the employment market. In the September quarter, in seasonally-adjusted terms, the total number of filled jobs fell 2.6 per cent to 14 million, the hours worked fell 4.7 per cent and the number of employed people decreased 2.3 per cent to 13.2 million. As in the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, the effect was felt greatest in accommodation and food services, and in the arts and recreational services industries, with both sectors registering falls in filled jobs of more than 12 per cent in the quarter. Meanwhile, the ABS has reported a flattening in the rise in the number of payroll jobs in the first two weeks of November, rising just 0.2 per cent after increasing by 1.5 per cent in the last two weeks of October.

Queensland brings forward border re-opening

Queensland will re-open its interstate borders from next Monday, 13 December, four days earlier than originally planned, to coincide with an advanced rate of full vaccination. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said travellers from interstate hotspots must be fully vaccinated and provide a negative test in the previous 72 hours. Quarantine will not be required for fully vaccinated interstate travellers, but international arrivals must go into home or hotel quarantine for 14 days.

Proposed reforms to update electronic surveillance laws

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews has released for public comment proposed reforms to modernise Australia’s electronic surveillance laws and arrangements. As part of a move to streamline national security legislation, the Minister said the proposed reforms would better protect individuals’ information and data, as well as ensuring that enforcement agencies had the powers to investigate serious crimes and threats to security. She said a review to government had concluded that the existing laws governing electronic surveillance were overly complex, inconsistent and had been outpaced by rapidly-evolving technology.