N-WASTE PLAN DUMPED; TRADE DEALS PROBE
Federal Government dumps plans for radioactive waste facility
Plans for a national radioactive waste management facility in South Australia have been abandoned, after the Federal Government declared it would not proceed. Resources Minister Madeleine King told Parliament that the Government would not appeal a decision by the Federal Court in July to set aside a declaration to establish the facility near Kimba, SA. Ms King said her department would begin work on alternative proposals for the storage and disposal of the Commonwealth’s civilian low-level and immediate-level radioactive waste. The Coalition government declared in November 2021 that the radioactive waste facility would be established at the Napandee site, near Kimba, on the Eyre Peninsula. Ms King said that plans for the facility had divided the Kimba community, leading to a judicial review of the proposal for the site.
Trade agreement process to face parliamentary scrutiny
Federal Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth will examine the Australian Government’s approach to negotiating international trade and investment agreements. Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell has referred the inquiry, which will examine a wide range of factors, including how economic, social and environmental impacts of an agreement are considered and acted upon. The inquiry will also assess how the priorities of state and territory governments, businesses and workers are considered, as well as the role of, and impact on, Australia’s cultural interests and First Nations people.
Marles open to greater transparency on war commitments
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the Federal Government welcomed a parliamentary committee’s recommendation that decisions regarding armed conflict were fundamentally a prerogative of the Executive, or Cabinet. Mr Marles said the Government agreed, agreed-in-principle or broadly agreed with the seven recommendations of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. He said the Government was committed to improving openness and accountability, and in ensuring that Parliament had effective mechanisms to examine and debate decisions to send armed forces into conflict. One recommendation was to establish via legislation a new Joint Statutory Defence Committee, modelled on the Parliamentary Joint Committee for Intelligence and Security. The committee would be able to receive classified information to improve parliamentary scrutiny of defence strategy, policy, capability development acquisition and sustainment, contingency planning, and major operations.
Wong announces new aid, investment commitments to Indo-Pacific
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has announced a new development policy designed to shore up Australia’s presence and drive its aid investments in the Indo-Pacific region. Ms Wong and Pat Conroy, Minister for International Development and the Pacific, said Australia would invest more in locally-led solutions to create jobs and economic opportunities. The program would include targets for gender equality and climate action. The Federal Government has also accepted all eight recommendations of the Development Finance Review, conducted by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. One recommendation of the review is to establish Australian Development Investments, a new vehicle to provide up to $250 million as a catalyst for private impact investment in the Indo-Pacific.
Services price rises, low productivity imperilling inflation goal, says Lowe
Outgoing Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe has warned that the rising price of services and below-par productivity threatened the push to lower inflation. In his final address to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, Dr Lowe said that if high inflation – which peaked at 7.8 per cent – became ingrained in people’s expectations, the end result would be even higher interest rates and even greater unemployment to bring it down. Dr Lowe said that higher interest payments were squeezing household budgets, while rents and electricity prices were increasing, and consumer confidence was low. CPI-measured inflation, now at six per cent, was forecast to fall to around 3.25 per cent by the end of 2024, and back within the 2-3 per cent inflation range by late 2025, Dr Lowe said.
Payroll jobs fall a sign for employment market
Australia’s jobs market may be starting to slow, after a 0.2 per cent fall in the number of payroll jobs was recorded in early July. The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures went against the trend of job growth for the previous 12 months, during which the nation recorded average annual jobs growth of 3.7 per cent. Annual job growth varied widely across Australia, ranging from 6.3 per cent in the Northern Territory to 3.2 per cent in New South Wales.