Online Press review 11 March 2015

The articles in purple are not available online. Please contact the Press and Information Department.

FRONT PAGE

 Fact check: privatisation is definitely better for electricity bills (AUS) Hepworth AUSTRALIANS who live in states with privatised electricity supplies have faced smaller price rises over the past two decades than their counterparts in other states.  Oil, rates, dollar: three reasons to grin again (AUS) Uren HOUSE construction is on a tear in Sydney and Melbourne, fuelled in part by record low interest rates. And, with the falling dollar, more locals and overseas visitors will be spending their tourist dollars in Australia, particularly in .  UN lacking the proof to cry ‘torture’ (AUS) Taylor, Merritt THE UN “didn’t even bother” to get a proper response from the government before releasing a report claiming Australia exposes asylum-seekers to torture or inhumane treatment, has claimed.  Minister Ian Macfarlane weaves between lanes on car help (AUS) Martin JUST $105 million of almost $1 billion of funds earmarked for the car industry will make its way to the ailing sector before vehicle manufacturing ends in Australia.  Tony Abbott’s Janus act just isn’t working (AUS) Crowe THE is trying so hard to head in two directions at once that it risks looking like it is going nowhere.  Welfare to work drive has zero gain (AUS) Sid Maher WELFARE-to-work programs promoted by federal governments over the past decade have failed to have any substantial effect on the pool of about one million Australians not in work.  Car makers likely to stay until 2017 after government backdown (AFR) Coorey, Evans The Abbott government's decision to abandon a $500 million cut to automotive assistance was designed to prevent a premature collapse of the industry, something that would have risked tens of thousands of job losses in Adelaide and Melbourne in a federal election year.  Public service hiring restrictions may ease as Abbott government reaches job loss target early (CAN) Mannheim The Abbott government has already shed most of the public service jobs it said it would remove, more than two years ahead of schedule.

DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

POLITICS  Liberal MPs seek softer pension stand (AUS) Crowe PENSION reforms would be •delayed to spare older Australians from unpopular changes in the next two years, under proposals aired by Liberal MPs to soften a $22.8 billion budget saving that is blocked in the Senate.

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

 Still waiting on the PM’s ‘stunning’ return (AUS) van Onselen I COULDN’T find much good news at all for Tony Abbott or the government in the latest .  Joe Hockey’s super for housing idea splits (AUS) Kelly, Creighton FORMER assistant treasurer has warned a plan floated by Joe Hockey allowing Australians to use superannuation to buy their first home will risk the erosion of retirement incomes.  On cars, Tony Abbott takes craven politics to a whole new level (AFR/Comment) Tingle Craven politics has long gone hand in hand with the car industry.  Australian Public Service jobs slashed 'ahead of schedule' with 11,000 cut last year (AFR) Hannan The Abbott government slashed 11,000 public sector jobs last year, the biggest annual cut to the federal bureaucracy since 's first term.  The rocky path to reform (AFR/Opinion) Mitchell On its first day in office, the Gillard government received an important warning from the Treasury.  'This is an own goal': Ian Macfarlane accused of bungling car industry assistance announcement (CAN+SMH) Massola, Bourke The federal government's attempt to capitalise on a decision to keep $500 million in assistance for the car industry has backfired spectacularly, with senior colleagues of Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane accusing of him of bungling the announcement and scoring a political own goal.  Bill Shorten slams government decisions that 'will drain $980b from super pool by 2055' (SMH) Hutchens Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is warning that two decisions by the Abbott government will drain Australia's superannuation savings pool of more than $980 billion by 2055, putting pressure on pension system in direct opposition to stated policy.  Australia has reached 'small government' already (CAN/Opinion) Waterford The dilemma for modern government, it is said, is that Australians expect more and more high quality services, of a type that will become more expensive as the population ages, while demanding lower taxes and smaller government. This is the dilemma supposedly at the heart of the debt and deficit "crisis" brought on by Labor profligacy, and the reason why all Australians must get used to tightening their belts.

SECURITY/TERRORISM  Judge Tony Abbott’s security response on merit, not politics (AUS/Opinion) Kelly AUSTRALIA has passed a new social and security threshold — like other Western nations it has experienced a number of Islamist terrorist events with warnings from the government and intelligence agencies the threat will only intensify.

RET  AWU demands RET deal now to safeguard jobs (AUS) Maher THE powerful Australian Workers Union is demanding an immediate deal on the Renewable Energy Target, warning the livelihoods of thousands of workers •depend on it.

CLIMATE CHANGE  Australia has a plan to adapt to warming (AUS/Opinion) Switkowsk CLIMATE scientists from the British Met Office have looked at the flatlining of global surface •temperatures for the past 17 years and published the outcomes of their probabilistic modelling in Nature last month. US scientists published similar findings at the same time in Science.

EDUCATION/SCIENCE  Low-skilled teachers ‘a crime’, says (AUS) Bita EDUCATION Minister Christopher Pyne has declared it “a crime” that some young teachers have poor literacy and numeracy skills.

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

 Greg Craven undermines Labor attack on university fees (AUS) Hare, Loussikian ONE of the most vocal supporters of the federal government’s ­university reform agenda has vowed not to increase fees if the government adopts a progressive tax on higher prices, under a •compromise proposed by HECS architect Bruce Chapman.  How to achieve university deregulation without fee grabs or cuts (AUS/Opinion) Craven AS an incurable romantic, I always had a clear vision of Sir Lancelot, all-purpose saviour of imperilled causes: tall, handsome and bloodthirsty.  Vice-chancellors blast 'dumb' decision to axe research funding if uni fee laws don't pass (SMH) Knott The vice-chancellors of Australia's most prestigious universities have taken out advertisements blasting the Abbott government's "dumb" decision to axe funding for world-renowned research facilities if the Senate does not pass fee deregulation.

ENVIRONMENT  Murray-Darling basin water plan slammed by science group (AUS) Maher THE Coalition has drawn fire from scientists but the backing of farmers after announcing it would introduce legislation to cap buybacks in the Murray-Darling Basin Plan at 1500 billion litres.

INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS  Remote communities a lifestyle choice: Tony Abbott (AUS) Martin, Owens INDIGENOUS leader Noel Pearson has slammed the Prime Minister’s suggestion indigenous Australians were making “lifestyle choices” to live in remote communities, labelling it a “thought bubble’’.

MEDIA  Fairfax ran campaign against me: Joe Hockey (AUS) Shanahan JOE Hockey has had to defend his reputation amid intense questioning of his role in the Liberal fundraising body the North Sydney Forum, saying Fairfax newspapers were running a “relentless campaign” against him.  I don't instruct or control North Sydney Forum, says Hockey (AFR) Papadakis Treasurer Joe Hockey said he had "no control" over the North Sydney Forum and did not instruct the Liberal Party fundraising group to return a donation from Australian Water Holdings, the Federal Court has heard.  dismisses Joe Hockey claims as 'conspiracy theory' (SMH) Hall, Whitbourn Lawyers for Fairfax Media have dismissed as an extraordinary "conspiracy theory" claims that it was motivated to investigate Treasurer Joe Hockey's links with a Liberal Party fundraising body in revenge for having to publish an earlier correction and apology.  Joe Hockey defamation trial: Words are bullets, says the Treasurer (SMH) Feneley "Words are bullets," Joe Hockey told Matthew Collins, QC. As if to confirm his point, the federal Treasurer engaged in a marathon verbal shootout on Tuesday with Dr Collins, the barrister defending Fairfax Media against Mr Hockey, who claims its publications vengefully cast him as a corrupt minister who let businesses and lobbyists influence his decisions in return for bribes in the form of political donations.  Hockey defamation trial: Invitation to donate was 'clearly misleading' (SMH) Hall, Whitbourn Treasurer Joe Hockey has told a defamation trial that it was "clearly misleading" for a Liberal fundraising body to invite people to "donate to assist Joe Hockey".

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

BALI 9  Bali backlash triggers PNG rethink on death penalty (AUS) Taylor PAPUA New Guinea is looking at abandoning the death penalty, wary of a growing international backlash against the use of capital punishment in neighbouring Indonesia, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said yesterday.

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

 Hope for Bali pair dashed (AFR) Kerin Prime Minister Tony Abbott has conceded he may not get another phone call with Indonesian president Joko Widodo to plead the case of two Australians on death row.  Bali nine executions: Indonesian minister threatens to release 'human tsunami' of asylum seekers (CAN+SMH) Topsfield Indonesia could release 10,000 asylum seekers to Australia if Canberra continues to antagonise the republic over the execution of the Bali nine duo, an Indonesian minister has warned.

ECONOMY  International expert casts doubt on food origin labelling (AUS) Maher AN international expert in food labelling has raised doubts about whether proposed new country of origin legislation would have any benefits for consumers and warns it could be detrimental to small and medium-sized enterprises.  Peak in iron ore shipments to China may have arrived five years early (AFR) Grigg, Greber Chinese government and private sector analysts say demand for Australian iron ore could fall by up to 10 per cent this year, raising the prospect that production from iron ore mines in West Australia's Pilbara may be nearing a peak.

IMMIGRATION  Tony Abbott is a bully over UN Convention Against Torture (SMH/Opinion) Burnside A United Nations report says Australia is in breach of the UN Convention Against Torture because of aspects of its treatment of refugees held in detention on Nauru and Manus Island.

FRANCE

 French sport stars killed in chopper collision in Argentina (AUS) AFP FRENCH sports stars, including an Olympic champion swimmer and one of the world’s best sailors, were among 10 people killed in a helicopter crash while filming a •reality TV show in Argentina.  Argentina helicopter crash kills three French sports personalities, TV production crew (CAN) Tan Three French sports stars were among 10 people killed when two helicopters collided in Argentina on Monday during the filming of a reality TV show.  Four detained over links to Paris jihadist (CAN+SMH) AFP Four people have been detained over their connections to one for the jihadist who carried out the Paris attacks in January, a judicial source said.  Canberra's restaurants go French for worldwide Gout de France 2015 dinner (CAN) Rudra The French want the world to sit down to dinner with them on March 19. That's when more than 1300 restaurants across 150 countries put on a special dinner for "Gout de France", or a taste of France.

WORLD

 For China, the Party is a long way from over (AFR/Opinion) Raby Chinese Communist Party delegates to the country's current parliamentary "twin sessions" may have been reminded of Mark Twain's quip "Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated" if they saw the op ed in last Saturday's Wall Street Journal by respected China expert David Shambaugh.

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

EDITORIALS

The Australian  US economy gives cause for optimism IT was another “taper tantrum”, a petulant dumping of shares by investors determined to squeeze every last pip out of the US Federal Reserve’s ultra-easy monetary policy. US stocks plunged last week after the Bureau of Labour Statistics revealed the US unemployment rate had fallen to 5.5 per cent, the lowest level in almost seven years, prompting a similar sharemarket correction here. Investors are worried the Fed may start to increase its official target interest rate from below 0.25 per cent within months. That would begin to undermine the borrow-and-speculate strategies that had artificially inflated equity markets worldwide since central bank balance sheets ballooned and interest rates plummeted in the wake of the GFC.  Tortuous processes blight UN ASYLUM-SEEKERS seem to matter a whole lot more to some people when the Coalition governs in Canberra than when there is a Labor-Greens alliance. The latest missive from the UN, tainting Australia with the smear of torture, is all of a piece with Australian Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs’s delayed inquiry into children in detention. Suffice to say that when the UN’s so-called “Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” handed down his 100-page report two years ago there was no mention of Australia. At that time there were 6580 people held in detention, including 1111 children, while hundreds more were being added each month. Yet this year Juan Mendez singles us out for ignominy at a time no asylum-seekers are going into centres and overall numbers have been cut to about 3500, including 200 children.

The Australian Financial Review  Australia must wake up to the risks It's a funny world when the good news is that Reserve Bank modelling of double-digit jobless rate and a 25 per cent slump in housing and sharemarket prices suggests that the big banks wouldn't be wiped out. That's supposedly because much of the rise in household debt, from 40 per cent of household income in the 1980s to 150 per cent now, has been concentrated in wealthier borrowers. In truth, however, this hard-landing scenario also would blow out Canberra's budget deficit to $90 billion or more, as Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens has warned.

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]