TASMANIA POLL DEADLOCK; MIGRANT SURGE
Tasmania faces post-poll parliamentary deadlock
Voters in Tasmania have delivered a hung parliament, with the final outcome of Saturday’s State Election still to be decided. Early counting has Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s Liberals as the party with the most seats, but still well short of the 18 seats required for a majority in the enlarged 35-seat Tasmanian House of Assembly. Seeking a fourth term after 10 years in office, the Liberal Party will be forced to govern in minority with Independents and/or minor parties, including the Jacquie Lambie Network. Labor has conceded that it would be unlikely to be in a position to form government.
Migrant surge drives population jump
Australia’s population soared by 2.5 per cent or almost 660,000 people, to 26.8 million, in the year to the end of September 2023, as the post-Covid level of overseas net migration rebounded. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that net overseas migration jumped 60 per cent to almost 550,000 people, or by 206,500 on the previous year. Annual natural increase was just 111,000. Western Australia recorded the fastest growth of 3.3 per cent, while Tasmania recorded the lowest, at 0.3 per cent. New South Wales is comfortably Australia’s most populous state, with 8.3 million people, ahead of Victoria, at 6.8 million, and Queensland 5.4 million.
Crackdown on international student visa breaches
Coinciding with a surge in migration levels, the Albanese Government has announced a tightening of visa provisions for international students in Australia. Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said English language requirements for student and graduate visas would be increased to improve the quality of student education experience and to reduce potential workplace exploitation. She said powers would be increased to suspend high-risk education providers – so-called ghost colleges and visa factories – from recruiting international students. The Minister said that a new ‘genuine student test’ would be introduced to further crack down on international students looking to come to Australia primarily to work, rather than study.
Surprise fall in unemployment rate
After rising for five consecutive months, Australia’s monthly rate of unemployment fell sharply in February, from 4.1 per cent to 3.7 per cent seasonally adjusted. The ABS figures indicate sustained strength in the economy, with underemployment – those seeking to work more hours – staying static at 6.6 per cent. South Australia recorded the lowest seasonally-adjusted rate of unemployment, at 3.2 per cent, while Tasmania recorded the highest jobless rate, at 4.5 per cent. The rate of unemployment bottomed out at 3.5 per cent in June 2023.
Chalmers pushes for 15 per cent corporate tax for multinationals
Multinational companies operating in Australia will be required to pay a global and domestic minimum corporate tax rate of 15 per cent, under draft legislation released by the Albanese Government. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the draft legislation was part of a global effort to prevent a race to the bottom on corporate income tax. Dr Chalmers said the 2023-24 Federal Budget foreshadowed the 15 per cent global minimum tax and domestic minimum tax for multinational companies with annual global revenue of EUR 750 million (about A$1.2 billion). The draft legislation would build on current legislation to stop multinationals claiming excessive debt deductions to wipe out or reduce tax in Australia.
Fast-track for vendors to AUKUS supply chains
Australia’s role in the AUKUS defence partnership has taken a major step, with the announcement of sovereign submarine build and sustainment partners and the development of domestic supply chains. Defence Minister Richard Marles said the Defence Industry Vendor Qualification Program would reduce barriers to industry and accelerate entry of Australian products into UK and US supply chains. Under the initial phase, the program was working with 26 companies to qualify supplies across four product families to meet US supply chain requirements. Mr Marles said the next wave of the program would qualify suppliers into both the US and UK supply chains, and would start in mid-2024.