Treasurer Josh Frydenberg unveiled the full picture of the Morrison government’s 2021 budget tonight, following a series of headline announcements over recent weeks. Among the key details of a Coalition government that previously sought to hammer the Labor opposition over its deficit budgets during the GFC a decade earlier was the fact that the budget… Read more »
After 20 years of rhetoric from both sides of politics focusing on getting back to surplus, this year’s budget continues pandemic spending in the hope of getting the economy back on track as the pandemic starts to settle. The projected deficit is $161 billion for 2021-22, but rather than tackling this in the next four… Read more »
Australia is coming back. In the face of a once‑in‑a‑century pandemic, the Australian spirit has shone through. Doctors and nurses on the front line. Teachers and students in the virtual classroom. Businesses, big and small, keeping the economy moving. ‘Team Australia’ at its best. A nation to be proud of. We have come so far… Read more »
The federal government revealed some of its budget plans this week with prime minister Scott Morrison and treasurer Josh Frydenberg announcing a $1.2 billion Digital Economy Strategy. The headline figure is not as impressive as it initially sounds, with that figure spread out over six years rather than the usual budget stretch of four. And… Read more »
More than $500 million of a $1.2 billion digital economy strategy in Tuesday’s budget will be spent on overhauling the federal government’s myGov and My Health Record sites. The initiatives, to be announced by Scott Morrison on Thursday, include $200.1 million for myGov, which is the main portal for people to access government services online.… Read more »
The government-owned NBN Co has taken on a fresh $US2 billion (~$A2.6bn) in debt via a bond issue in the US as it seeks to wean itself off federal government funding. The issue was made up of a five-year bond of $US750m and a 10-year bond of $US1.25 billion. The five-year bond will mature in… Read more »
Anthony Albanese will promise a Labor government would deliver a discount to cut the cost of electric cars and install community batteries, in modest initiatives costing $400 million over several years. The announcement, to be made Wednesday, comes as Labor debates its platform at a “virtual” national conference involving some 400 participants. At present only… Read more »
Facebook’s hostage standoff with Australian government and media will end in the next few days after the company struck a deal with the Morrison government over its controversial News Media Bargaining Code. Intense negotiations with the government in the wake of Facebook blocking hundreds of media sites on its platform last Thursday, saw the warring… Read more »
In case you haven’t heard, Australia is proposing a new law that will force Facebook and Google to pay news orgs for linking to their content. In response, Facebook has stopped allowing the sharing of links to Australian news sites. As one would imagine, the response has been shock and horror at the power and… Read more »
Executives from Google and Facebook recently told a Senate committee they are prepared to take drastic action if Australia’s news media bargaining code, which would force the internet giants to pay news publishers for linking to their sites, comes into force. Google would have “no real choice” but to cut Australian users off entirely from… Read more »
Anthony Albanese will risk a backlash from employers when he releases an industrial relations policy promising a Labor government would substantially increase the legal rights and protections for Australians in insecure work. Wednesday’s policy unveiling will ensure industrial relations is a major political battleground in coming months, with the opposition already declaring it will vote… Read more »
The Morrison government on Friday released a plan to reduce carbon emissions from Australia’s road transport sector. Controversially, it ruled out consumer incentives to encourage electric vehicle uptake. The disappointing document is not the electric vehicle jump-start the country sorely needs. In contrast, the United States has recently gone all-in on electric vehicles. Like leaders… Read more »
Over the past few weeks, Google and Facebook have engaged in desperate attempts to avoid regulation under the Australian government’s proposed mandatory news media bargaining code. Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg even appealed to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher personally last week, hoping to shift the government’s hard stance. Both platforms’ strategies… Read more »
The inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, has raised concerns that Australia’s proposed News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code could fundamentally break the internet as we know it. His concerns are valid. However, they could be addressed through minor changes to the proposed code. How could the code break the web?… Read more »
The South Australian and Victorian governments have announced, and New South Wales is considering, road user charges on electric vehicles. This policy has drawn scorn from environmental advocates and motor vehicle lobbyists who fear it will slow the uptake of less-polluting vehicles. But, from a longer-term transport policy perspective, a distance-based road user charge on… Read more »
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