PM appoints two new High Court Justices 28/10/2020 (See Translation in Arabic section) Canberra - M E Times Int'l: Prime Minister Scott Morrison has held a press conference with the Attorney General to announce the appointment of NSW Judge Jacqueline Gleeson and Melbourne Jurist Simon Steward as Justices to the High Court of Australia. The two new Justices will fill the vacancies left by two retiring Justices currently on the High Court. Mr Morrison said the government underwent an “exhaustive” process before making the final appointments. Justice Steward completed a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) in 1990 and a Masters of Law in 2000, at the University of Melbourne. He was admitted to practice as a legal practitioner of the Supreme Court of Victoria in 1992 and signed the High Court Roll in the same year. Justice Gleeson graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts in 1986 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1989. She began practising at the New South Wales Bar in 1991. She left the Bar in late 2000 to practise as a solicitor, with the Australian Broadcasting Authority then the Australian Government Solicitor, before she returned to the Bar in 2007.
New campaign to encourage mathematics Sydney: Students and their parents are being encouraged to embrace mathematics with a new campaign to shift attitudes towards the subject. The campaign is part of the broader NSW mathematics strategy to support schools and students. Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the strategy sets a vision for mathematics education in NSW. 
"We are encouraging our parents and students to embrace mathematics at school to build solid foundations for life," she said. The new campaign will feature a campaign and resource hub, Everyday Maths, a NSW-first, aimed at involving parents and carers in their children's mathematics learning, and supporting them. Ms Mitchell said the strategy incorporates priorities to employ 100 specialist primary school mathematics teachers over five years, and award up to 320 scholarships to STEM undergraduates and career changers for a Master in Teaching (mathematics) degree. The new resource hub, Everyday Maths, is available at www.education.nsw.gov.au/everyday-maths
Bowen says federal government is lying about PBS listings Canberra: SHADOW Minister for Health Chris Bowen has attacked the Federal Government over its Medicines Funding Guarantee, describing it as a “new low”. “Minister (Greg) Hunt said ‘the (Federal) Budget creates a landmark PBS New Medicines Funding Guarantee (which) provides new funding for the listing of new medicines’. That is not true.” Mr Bowen said that at a Senate Estimates meeting, he heard from the Health Department that there was no guarantee of funding in the Budget. “The money is not in the Budget. Either the Budget is a lie or the guarantee is a lie. Both things can’t be true.” Mr Bowen claimed that the federal government had announced a guarantee with no funding. “Worse, the cuts to the PBS that were announced in the Budget are actually in the Budget -- $250 million worth of cuts to the PBS but no new funding at all.” Mr Bowen also attacked a Twitter statement by Prime Minister Scott Morrison who wrote “when the experts recommend a new drug be listed, we list it”. “That’s not true. Sufferers around Australia know it’s not true. More recently, sufferers of breast cancer know that the drug Faslodex, which was recommended to be listed, has not been listed … the company has announced they are walking away from negotiations on the listing because it is not viable. It’s the government’s job to ensure good value for money for taxpayers, but it’s also the government’s job to list these drugs.
Transport union slams Aust, Qatar over treatment of women Sydney: The Transport Workers’ Union remains angry at the treatment of Australian women by Qatari authorities. NSW TWU secretary Richard Olsen said regardless of what occurred at Doha airport no woman should be forced to undergo the experience they endured. “The Australian and Qatari governments failed in their duty of care to all Australians who were on board the Qatar Airways flights,” he said. “The actions of the authorities in Qatar provided these women no choice, no guidance on their rights and no chance to consent to the invasive examinations they were subjected to in the back of an ambulance. “We utterly condemn the length of time the Federal Government took to get off its hands and act on this gross violation of Australian Citizens,” Mr Olsen added. “The union will continue to press the Australian Government on the level of pressure they place on the Qatari Government.”
Reserve Bank indicates recession is over Sydney: The Reserve Bank of Australia says its “best guess” is Australia’s economy will grow in the September quarter, ending the recession. At senate estimates on Tuesday, RBA deputy governor Guy Debelle said Victoria’s 12-week lockdown would not hinder the nation’s recovery from its first economic recession in over three decades. “Our best guess is it looks like the September quarter for the country recorded positive growth rather than slightly negative,” Dr Debelle said. “As best as we can tell, the growth elsewhere in the country was more than the drag from Victoria, and possibly the drag from Victoria was a little less than what we guessed back in August.” The RBA is expecting gross domestic product (GDP) for the September quarter will track positive, following its steep fall in the previous quarter by 7 per cent. A technical recession is two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. Dr Debelle said government spending would need to continue until unemployment levels were “comfortably” below 6 per cent, noting a premature tapering of economic aid would hinder recovery efforts. The RBA is expected to reveal at its board meeting next Tuesday if it will further cut interest rates to alleviate pressures facing the economy.
NSW residents urged to remain vigilant as state hits 3 million tests Sydney: AS the state marks three million COVID-19 tests since January, the NSW Government is calling on the community to continue to work together. Premier Gladys Berejiklian said reaching three million tests was a major milestone in the state’s fight against COVID-19. “I want to thank everyone in NSW who has come forward to be tested …,” Ms Berejiklian said. “As we ease restrictions, it is critical that we maintain our high rates of testing which has been central to our success in limiting the spread of the virus and keeping NSW open.” Health Minister Brad Hazzard warned that while recent easing of restrictions is very welcome, it comes with risks and it is critical everyone keeps getting tested. NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said it was critical that people continue to come forward for testing and practise COVID-safe behaviours when out or catching up with family and friends.
Failed witch-hunt against AWU cost $344,881 of public money: Tony Burke Canberra: THE federal government has spent $344,881 of taxpayers’ money on a “botched” witch-hunt against the Australian Workers Union, says Shadow Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke. The Registered Organisations Commission (ROC) spent more than $1.3 million on its pursuit of the AWU, according to evidence at Senate Estimates. And it’s already planning to waste more – signalling a possible High Court appeal if its current appeal fails, Mr Burke said. A year ago the Federal Court quashed the ROC’s investigation into the AWU, finding there were no “reasonable grounds” for it and the Commissioner acted “based on a suspicion”. The ROC was fatally compromised by this ruling,” Mr Burke claimed. “It was their first major investigation and they botched it completely.” The Registered Organisations Commission was fatally compromised by this ruling
Australian property prices rebound from COVID slump Sydney: Homeowners in some parts of Australia are seeing the value of their properties jump significantly – after the pandemic saw housing prices in Sydney drop 2.9 per cent. Buyers are turning to large blocks of land and properties close to the coast, which are the areas with typically the highest profits, while they’re turning away from high-rises and properties close to the city. Coastal suburbs in Sydney’s northern beaches and lower north shore have shown profit margins of more than $500,000 even during an economic recession, according to a CoreLogic review of June quarter sales. Even though housing prices have fallen in Sydney, they are eight per cent higher than this time last year. This is fuelled by low interest rates which has ramped up competition and driven home prices upward.
New NSW Legal Services council team named Sydney: A new team of high-profile lawyers, including the current head of the NSW Law Reform Commission, has been chosen to lead the body that regulates lawyers in both NSW and Victoria. NSW Attorney General Mark Speakman and Victorian Attorney-General Jill Hennessy today welcomed the new appointees to the Legal Services Council including new chairman Alan Cameron. Mr Speakman thanked the inaugural members who have come to the end of their term. “The council worked hard to build the foundations for a national legal system since lawyers in both states started operating from the same rule book in 2015. The work of the council benefitted consumers by requiring high standards in the profession including professional conduct and legal costs,” he said. The other new appointees are Murray Baird, Elizabeth Harris, Noel Hutley SC and Juliana Warner. |
