This week’s political news was dominated by the shock resignation of Daniel Andrews, just ten months into his third term as Victoria’s Premier. It leaves Queensland’s Annastacia Palaszczuk as the longest-serving current Australian Premier, just weeks after she hosed down resignation rumours.
Elsewhere, there were some major policy announcements from the federal government, and find out why one NFL franchise is making millions out of Taylor Swift’s latest romance.
What’s making headlines?
- Andrews’ successor Jacinta Allan gets to work amid speculation over her party room support
- Defence grounds Taipan helicopters permanently after fatal chopper crash
- Yes campaigners say it’s ‘not too late’ for the referendum to claw back support
- Michael Gambon aka Albus Dumbledore dies
- Disability royal commission report released more than four years after the inquiry began
- Australian rugby at all time low after embarrassing World Cup campaign ends in tears
- China’s ambassador to Australia warns MPs not to travel to Taiwan
Politics
Qatar flights inquiry heats up
The continuing drama that is the Qatar flights debacle was back on the front pages this week as a Senate inquiry set up to probe the decision called key stakeholders Qantas and Virgin.
New Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson and Board Chair Richard Goyder fronted the inquiry on Wednesday, faced with a barrage of hostile questions from the committee over its role in the government’s decision making. Former CEO Alan Joyce, who is overseas, will be summonsed by the committee on his return as Hudson and Goyder denied knowledge of any direct conversations Joyce had with the Albanese Government.
Virgin CEO Jayne Hrdlicka, who was supportive of the airline’s bid for extra flights, told the committee Transport Minister Catherine King appeared to change her mind over the granting of additional flights after speaking with the former Qantas CEO.
Advice provided to the government by the minister’s department, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, won’t be provided to the committee after the government claimed it was subject to a ‘public interest immunity’ order.
Unfortunately for the government, the controversy is showing no signs of going away.
Privacy reforms announced
The Albanese Government has released its long-awaited response to a review of the Privacy Act, which was initiated by former Attorney-General Christian Porter under the Morrison Government.
The biggest changes to our nation’s privacy laws since the 80s, the new laws will force small businesses to comply with onerous new privacy obligations when the small business exemption is scrapped.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said his department will consult widely with the sector over the coming months and is open to considering a support package and transitional arrangements for businesses.
Other big changes will prevent tech companies from targeting advertising to children and give individuals the right to sue organisations for serious breaches of privacy.
The government didn’t accept a recommendation to remove an exemption for political parties, angering teal independents who had argued it allowed the major parties to harvest voter information too freely.
Legislation will be developed and introduced into Parliament next year, which will likely trigger another lengthy review process.
Employment White Paper
This week the federal government released Working Future: The Australian Government’s White Paper on Jobs and Opportunities, which it said was a roadmap for Australia’s labour market.
The paper follows last year’s Jobs and Skills Summit that brought together trade unions and business leaders to discuss the challenges facing Australia’s future labour market. At the time, there was some criticism of the summit only including supporters of the government and ignoring the needs of small businesses.
There are five objectives included in the white paper:
- Delivering sustained and inclusive full employment
- Promoting job security and strong sustainable wage growth
- Reigniting productivity growth
- Filling skills needs and building our future workforce
- Overcoming barriers to employment and broadening opportunity
Australia is suffering a major skills shortage across a number of industries and is in desperate need of intervention. The hospitality industry is one of the most impacted industries with cafes, restaurants and hotels still having to limit their trade due to lack of staff.
The government has committed to increase skilled migration and allocated additional funding for TAFE, but they aren’t immediate solutions. Investment and incentives for retraining and upskilling is desperately needed.
Global
Republican candidates face off in second debate
The overwhelming winner out of the second Republican primary debate was Donald Trump – and he didn’t even show up.
Candidates battled it out in a shouty debate, with no one landing any serious blows on the former President, looking increasingly likely to take out the nomination without an obvious contender.
Political newbie Vivek Ramaswamy’s line summed up the night, at one point exclaiming “Thank you for speaking while I’m interrupting” during a particularly painful exchange.
Meanwhile, Trump was in Michigan – a crucial swing state he lost in 2020 – making his pitch to working class America in the midst of rolling autoworker strikes.
The Republican debates without Trump are becoming almost farcical, and commentators pointed out this week it felt more like a vice-presidential debate than a debate among contenders for the Republican’s White House nominee.
An ABC-Washington Post poll released this week showed Trump ten points ahead of Joe Biden, as the President faces an increasing focus on his age and fitness for the top job.
The 2024 election race has a long way to run but it is shaping up as one of the most unusual and – for those of us watching on around the world! – fascinating.
Human cost of Azerbaijan’s assault on Nagorno-Karabakh deepens
More than a week after Azerbaijan seized control of Nagorno-Karabakh, 70,000 of the estimated 120,000 ethnic Armenians living in the disputed region have fled to neighbouring Armenia.
Widely recognised internationally as part of Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh is claimed and ruled by ethnic Armenians as the Republic of Artsakh. Conflict has existed in the region for decades, with the last significant escalation occurring in 2020.
Azerbaijan has maintained an effective blockade of a key supply route into the enclave since December 2022, and Nagorno-Karabakh relied heavily on the presence of Russian peacekeeping troops to maintain access and defuse tensions.
But with the Russian troop presence depleted due to their ongoing war against Ukraine, the conflict escalated and Azerbaijan’s blockade intensified, preventing supply of food, medicine and fuel.
On September 20, the territory was seized by Azerbaijan when local forces surrendered after intense fighting in the region. More than half of the region’s population has now fled to Armenia, and ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh have said that from 1 January next year, the Republic of Artsakh will cease to exist.
The swiftness with which the end of Nagorno-Karabakh arrived has shocked locals and global onlookers alike. For the thousands of people who felt they had no choice but to flee their homes, it is devastating.
Tourism set to rebound
Tourism Minister Don Farrell announced the recommencement of Approved Destination Status (ADS) visitor visas for Chinese group travellers which will enable tourism numbers and spend to return to pre-pandemic levels. The visa allows Chinese tourists to visit Australia in guided groups.
Pre-covid, China was Australia’s largest and most valuable international tourism market with 1.4 million Chinese visitors spending over $12.4 billion in Australia in 2019. To put this in perspective, while only accounting for 14 percent of the total number of international visitors, they contribute more than 25 percent of total international spend. Therefore making them Australia’s most valuable tourism market.
To help attract visitors from this lucrative market, Tourism Australia is now rolling-out the global Come and Say G’Day campaign to remind potential Chinese travellers that there is Nothing Like Australia. This campaign has been active in other global markets since October 2022, but with travel restrictions only recently easing with China, the campaign hadn’t been running in China.
Australian tourism businesses celebrated the return of the ADS visas as they know it means economic prosperity. Australian Tourism Exchange Commission (ATEC) said, “The inbound tourism industry is excited to be welcoming back the group leisure market from China and working with Austrade and our member inbound tourism operators to grow this important segment”.
Sport and Pop Culture
Footy fever takes over
This weekend Queensland has the chance to claim victory in both the AFL and NRL Grand Finals.
On Saturday, the Brisbane Lions will be trying to upset minor premiers Collingwood. This is no easy task with the game held at Collingwood home ground, the MCG. It is a record-setting third time that the Lions will face Collingwood in the GF – last time Lions were victors in both 2002 and 2003.
While over in the NRL on Sunday, the Brisbane Broncos have made the trek south to Sydney to take on the Penrith Panthers who are trying to make history with three back-to-back grand final wins. This grand final will also create a new record with both teams having a father and son as coach and player.
Interesting fact – in both the NRL and AFL the number one and two teams on the premiership ladder are facing each other in the GF.
As Queenslanders ourselves, we will be hoping for a double Queensland victory.
Hollywood writers return to work – but the strike isn’t over
Hollywood writers have reached a deal with the studios including minimum pay and healthcare standards, and a bonus for viewership residuals on streaming. As such, the writers strike, which began on 2 May, has now ended and writers can head back to work.
During the four-month period, many programs were shutdown, especially late-night talk shows, and there was growing concern about the impact on much-loved sitcoms due to return after the summer break.
Drew Barrymore attempted to bring back her show The Drew Barrymore Show during the strike, but eventually caved to public criticism and pressure.
Unfortunately, many actors are still on the picket-line as no deal has been reached in that action. The screen actors union has been on strike since 14 July over similar issues to the writers, including compensation in the era of streaming and the use of artificial intelligence.
Streaming services have undoubtedly changed the entertainment industry in a variety of ways and now those in the industry, as well as lawmakers, are scrambling to get the operating environment right. Here in Australia the federal government is looking at local content obligations for streaming services, as well as reviewing the future of sports broadcast in the streaming era.
One thing is for sure, streaming services are here to stay and policies will need to catch up.
Swift debuts latest romance at NFL game
Overshadowing Kim Kardashian’s announcement that Usher will play the 2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show, Taylor Swift confirmed dating rumours when she showed up to a Kansas City Chiefs game with star Travis Kelce’s mum last weekend.
The confirmation that Kelce and Swift were dating had an immediate and stunning impact, proving the economic impact of the world’s biggest pop star is seemingly never ending.
Kelce’s jersey immediately outsold quarterback Patrick Mahomes’, representing a 400 per cent increase in merchandise sales for the Chiefs. Players receive a percentage of the revenue from jersey sales, so his relationship is already proving financially beneficial for Kelce.
A representative from ticket reseller StubHub said since Swift’s appearance at the Chiefs game on Sunday, “the Jets have sold more tickets for their game against the Chiefs in a single day since the season started — by more than double”.
Last week’s Chiefs game was the most-watched game of the round (nearly 25 million viewers for a game against an average opponent) and increased its female viewership by 63 per cent.
The podcast Kelce hosts with his brother – also a well-known NFL star – shot up to number one on Apple and number two on Spotify, and he gained a handy 300,000 Instagram followers overnight.
It is a dream come true for the NFL, and all eyes will be on MetLife Stadium in New York on Sunday night to see if Swift will be a regular in the Kelce box.