Overseas trips on horizon, EU trade hope

International travel on the horizon

Federal Trade and Tourism Minister Dan Tehan confirmed this week that outbound travel would open up once states reached 80 per cent vaccination rates. Mr Tehan told the National Press Club that ‘travel bubbles’ with specific countries would allow returning travellers to avoid the 14-day quarantine arrangement. By Christmas this year, it was hoped that fully-vaccinated returned Australians could quarantine at home, potentially for a shorter period, with a trial of home quarantine underway in South Australia. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was hoped to receive fully-vaccinated skilled migrants and students later this year, with the Government in talks with NSW, as the first state with the opportunity to receive foreign travellers.

Tehan confident of EU trade deal

Meanwhile, Dan Tehan remains confident that Australia and the European Union will strike a free trade agreement, despite the announcement to cancel the French submarines contract. Mr Tehan said he believed that both Australia and the EU understood that such a free trade deal was in their mutual interest. He said discussions had taken place for three years, and hoped that the agreement could be finalised in 12 to 18 months.

Hydrogen industrial investment moving ahead

Australia is to step up its investment in hydrogen production, announcing seven priority sites across the nation to commercialise technology and build on the resources of regional areas. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor said a total $1.35 billion would be provided for the Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hubs, designed to provide cheap and clean hydrogen for industrial activity. Sites for hydrogen production have been nominated in all six states, plus in the Northern Territory.

Critical minerals on agenda at Quad talks

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has talked up Australia’s role as a supplier of critical minerals and rare earths for the development of new energy technologies in the Indo-Pacific region. Ahead of a meeting of the leaders of Quad security dialogue nations (US, India, Japan and Australia) in the US on September 24, the PM said the supply chains of the new energy economy presented important opportunities for domestically-sourced critical minerals and rare earths.

Payroll job numbers slump in SE Australia

Extended Covid-19 restrictions continue to take their toll on the employment market, with the number of payroll jobs falling 1.7 per cent nationally in the first four weeks of August. The Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded a fall of 7.6 per cent in payroll job numbers in the ACT, with NSW and Victoria recording falls of 2.6 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively. South Australia, however, registered a 2.5 per cent rise in payroll jobs, and Western Australia, a 0.2 per cent increase.