Online Press review 8 August 2014

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FRONT PAGE

 Russians food embargo has ‘serious consequences’ for Australian dairy (AUS) Sue Neales RUSSIA has introduced a “full embargo” on most food imports from Australia, the EU, US and other Western countries that imposed sanctions against Moscow over its policy on Ukraine.  Looks like we wasted the mining boom after all (AUS/Comment) Judith Sloan THE problem with a slowly deteriorating labour market is that there generally is nothing much to see from month to month. But as the months and years pass, all of a sudden the unemployment rate no longer has a four in front of it, or a five, but a six.  Thai crackdown strands surrogacy couples (AUS) Peter Alford, Paige Taylor HUNDREDS of Australians with infants newly born or being carried by pregnant Thai surrogates are in limbo after Thailand moved to outlaw commercial surrogacy.  Islamic leaders deny silence on local jihadists (AUS) Natasha Robinson, Anthony Klan AUSTRALIA’S Grand Mufti has called on “all fair-minded Australians” to support a campaign by Muslims against the federal government’s proposed new suite of anti-terrorism laws as Islamic leaders reject accusations they have been silent in the face of a home-grown jihadist movement.  Pass the budget to save jobs, says Joe Hockey (AUS) David Crowe, Adam Creighton A SURPRISE spike in unemployment has sparked a new fight over the federal budget as Joe Hockey holds out the promise of tax cuts in the future to lift growth and create more jobs.  Leaving Malcolm Turnbull out of the loop a bad call (AUS) Dennis Shanahan MALCOLM Turnbull’s “blow up” in cabinet on Tuesday over mandatory retention of telephone and computer records was seen by some in the Coalition as a “hissy fit” and “Malcolm being Malcolm”. Others saw it as “sage advice” that should have been tapped into before the decision was made.  Labor pondered its own data retention security policy (AUS) David Crowe ONLY two years ago, Labor contemplated a similar proposal to ’s controversial plan to give security agencies better access to the phone and internet records of millions of Australians.  Jobless rate jumps to 6.4pc (AFR) Jacob Greber Not since 2002, before the China-driven resources boom began roaring, has Australia’s jobless rate been as high as the 6.4 per cent recorded for last month.  Political blame flies as jobless rate rises (SMH) Heath Aston, Gareth Hutchens, Max Mason Unemployment has shot to its highest in 12 years, sparking a political brawl over whether the federal budget has hurt business confidence or whether ''obstructionist'' tactics of the opposition and crossbench in the Senate contributed to the unexpected spike.  ACT unemployment rises to almost 4 per cent in July (CAN) Ben Westcott, Henry Belot The ACT unemployment rate rose from 3.8 to 3.9 per cent in July as business figures warned that the full impact of Commonwealth job cuts were still to be felt in the territory.  Corrupt official ran $3m racket (CAN) Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker A corrupt Immigration Department official and her husband helped run a $3 million criminal migration racket that involved making more than 1000 fraudulent visa applications.

Ambassade de France en Australie – Service de Presse et Information Site : http://www.ambafrance-au.org/ Tél. : 61 (02) 6216 0150 Email : [email protected] DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

POLITICS  Ditch the dodgy policies, Tony (AUS/Opinion) Graham Richardson THERE are times in politics when you just can’t win. Federal Attorney-General George Brandis discovered that this week. The controversy around section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act had him mired in the kind of argument you should never start.  Joe Hockey a ‘whinger’ say Liberal Party insiders (AFR) Phillip Coorey, Jacob Greber Treasurer Joe Hockey’s budget hard sell is going from bad to worse with another Senate crossbencher spurning his advances, while business leaders and the Treasurer’s own colleagues have urged him to stop complaining.

ECONOMY  Jobless rate hits 10-year high (AUS) Adam Creighton THE government’s promise to create one million jobs in five years has taken a major beating, as the unemployment rate rose to its highest level in more than a decade.  Bill Shorten says CV deluge will cost small business $2.1b (AFR) Laura Tingle The federal government’s plan to force the unemployed to apply for 40 jobs a month will cost the small business sector $700 million a year, according to Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.  Jobless data puts the heat on budget (SMH/Analysis) Michael Gordon The bad news in the latest jobless statistics is not that it is the biggest monthly figure since the global financial crisis, or that Australia now has a higher unemployment rate than the US.

TERROR LEGISLATION  Jihadist watch to cost $8m a suspect (AUS) Cameron Stewart IT will cost taxpayers $8 million a year to have a single Australian jihadist monitored around the clock by security agencies once they return from a Middle East war zone.  Metadata ‘essential’ for war on terror (AUS) Simon King LABOR’s former independent national security adviser says the collection of so-called metadata is essential to put a stop to “those plotting to hurt us”.  Making a mess of metadata (AUS/Opinion) David Crowe BARRISTERS are often advised to ask a question in court only when they already know the answer.  Brandis put the nation's security at risk: Shorten (SMH) James Massola, Latika Bourke Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has launched an extraordinary political attack on Attorney- General George Brandis, accusing him of putting proposed changes to race hate laws ahead of national security and Australians' safety.

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION  A pity about 18c but there will be other free speech battles (AUS/Opinion) Michael Sexton THE federal government’s decision to renege on its promise to repeal section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act is certainly disappointing to anyone who believes in freedom of speech. This is, after all, a law that makes it unlawful to express opinions that are offensive or insulting to some groups in the community. Sometimes these kinds of views can be extremely unattractive but that is no reason they should be made unlawful.  Liberal Party cuts 18C loose rather than get dragged under (AFR/Opinion) Laura Tingle There came a moment in the life of the Howard government when it all got too much for people in the wider Liberal Party.

IMMIGRATION  doubts rort claims (AUS) Stefanie Balogh IMMIGRATION Minister Scott Morrison is sceptical about claims the skilled migration program is riddled with fraud, rejecting assertions that stopping asylum boats was distracting the department from ensuring the integrity of its visa system.  Morrison promises blitz on visa rorts (AFR) Joanna Mather, Angela Macdonald-Smith Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has vowed zero tolerance on visa rorts after evidence of widespread fraud within the skilled-migration system.

Ambassade de France en Australie – Service de Presse et Information Site : http://www.ambafrance-au.org/ Tél. : 61 (02) 6216 0150 Email : [email protected]  Company 'rorts system' to hire foreign workers (CAN+SMH) Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker Some of Australia's biggest mining and infrastructure projects are using workers who have gained skilled migrant visas or permanent residency by misleading the government about their employment status.  Scott Morrison demands urgent report from Immigration Department about claims of widespread visa fraud and migration crime (CAN) James Massola Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has demanded an urgent report from his department about allegations of widespread visa fraud and migration crime uncovered by a Fairfax Media investigation.

EDUCATION/SCIENCE  ‘A nation of degree holders who can’t find a plumber’ (AFR) Tim Dodd Australia risks being a nation of degree holders who can’t find a plumber, says University of vice-chancellor Stephen Parker, backing the Business Council of Australia’s call to cut university student numbers and build vocational education.  Christopher Pyne's speech on higher education reform a missed opportunity (CAN/Opinion) Stephen Parker Christopher Pyne's National Press Club speech on Wednesday was an opportunity for the Education Minister to show an open mind and recognise there could be valid and genuinely held alternative views on a package of higher education changes that will transform the sector completely and irreversibly.

INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS  Indigenous public service applicants left in limbo as employment numbers fall (CAN) Noel Towell Hundreds of young indigenous graduates trying to get a start in the Australian public service have been languishing for months in employment limbo, waiting for the Abbott Government to allow departments to offer them jobs

MEDIA  Reporting on Gaza ‘behind attack spike’ (AUS) Christian Kerr WESTERN Australia’s tight-knit Jewish community has fallen victim to anti-Semitic violence in the wake of the latest strife in Gaza, with a school vandalised and a visiting religious leader threatened and abused at a suburban shopping centre.

QANTAS  Qantas predicts another airline will buy in now restrictions are looser (SMH) Jamie Freed Qantas Airways expects another airline will buy a stake in the Australian carrier over the longer term now that some foreign investment restrictions have been lifted, says chief financial officer Gareth Evans.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

FOREIGN POLICY  Asia looks down under for a ‘quiet leader’ (AUS) Rowan Callick AUSTRALIA is becoming “a quiet leader” in the formation of new middle-power security coalitions in Asia in response to “China’s rising assertiveness and uncertainty about America’s response”, says a new Lowy Institute report.

ECONOMY  Down under: too dear and too far for Japanese (AUS) Rosie Lewis TRAVEL to Australia has become too expensive and too difficult for many Japanese tourists, causing a plunge in annual visitor numbers over the past decade.

Ambassade de France en Australie – Service de Presse et Information Site : http://www.ambafrance-au.org/ Tél. : 61 (02) 6216 0150 Email : [email protected] WORLD

 Caliphate won’t last but its legacy may (AUS/Opinion) Daniel Pipes AFTER an absence of 90 years, the ancient institution of the caliphate roared back into existence on the first day of Ramadan in the year 1435 of the Hegira, equivalent to June 29, 2014. This astonishing revival symbolically culminates the Islamist surge that began 40 years ago. A Western analogy might be declaring the restoration of the Hapsburg Empire, which traced its legitimacy to ancient Rome.  Both sides in Gaza are fighting for their political survival (AFR/Opinion) Amin Saikal Israel and Hamas are finally in the midst of a temporary truce, which may or may not lead to an extended one, depending on the progress of talks in Cairo. Whatever the outcome, it is clear that both sides want to come out of the conflict with some credibility.

EDITORIALS

The Australian  Budget pitch needs recasting THE only good that could come from the shock jump in the unemployment rate to 6.4 per cent, the highest in 12 years, would be an epiphany among Australia’s senators, many of whom appear hellbent on chaining the government and country to ever larger government and higher taxation. Our unemployment rate is now higher than the US’s and poised to overtake Britain’s — both countries suffered deep recessions and financial crises — and higher than New Zealand’s, whose modest dairy boom was dwarfed by our iron ore and coal variety. The only way to create lasting jobs is to reduce income and company tax rates and prune the unnecessary thicket of regulation that stifles industry and enterprise. And the only way to reduce tax, which is already budgeted to rise every year even if government passed its budget in full, is to curb public spending. It is a simple equation sadly lost in the distracting debates about fairness that have been fuelled by the Coalition’s political ineptitude.  A structural flaw holding back Abbott’s government AFTER the tribal bloodletting and madnesses of the Labor years, Tony Abbott vowed to lead a grown-up, no surprises government. The other day, trying to parry away an interviewer’s questions, the Prime Minister said: “You’re trying to say that nothing is certain, nothing is constant, that all is flux, that the current government is as bad as the Gillard government — we’re not.” That’s a low bar indeed and a comparison some voters no doubt will be making on their own terms.

The Australian Financial Review  Treasurer’s school of government Who would be Treasurer? “It’s brutal”, and “it’s bloody hard”, Joe Hockey told a conference on Wednesday. As he battles onward to sell a diet of tax increases and budget cuts, he grumbled the electorate is complacent or hostile, his natural allies in business are too soft-voiced to be heard, and the media is too easily diverted into trivia and away from serious economic reform.

CAPTIONS & CIRCULATION

AUS = The Australian (News Limited); Circulation WK: 126,901, Sat.: 277,386; Digital WK: 31,240, Digital SAT: 31,381. AFR = The Australian Financial Review (Fairfax Media Ltd); Circulation WK: 68,425, Sat.: 69,012. SMH = The Sydney morning Herald (Fairfax Media Ltd); Circulation WK: 161,169, Sat.: 265,457; Digital WK: 56,559, Digital SAT: 56,113. CAN = The Canberra Times (Fairfax Media Ltd); Circulation WK: 30,420, Sat.: 49,965, Sun.: 31,308.

Ambassade de France en Australie – Service de Presse et Information Site : http://www.ambafrance-au.org/ Tél. : 61 (02) 6216 0150 Email : [email protected]