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Biden nominates JFK's daughter Caroline Kennedy as Australian ambassador

Joe Biden has nominated American icon Caroline Bouvier Kennedy to be the next U.S ambassador to Australian. A successful diplomat in her own right, Caroline Kennedy has a background so rare, it's unique.

Until Biden, no president appears to have appointed an ambassador anywhere, let alone Australia, who has lived in the White House longer than he has.

Sure, Caroline Kennedy was only a little girl of preschool age for most of her time at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, before that time was tragically cut short by her father's assassination.

Even so, the years she spent growing up there in America's First Family with her father John, mother Jacqueline and brother John Jr defined her and tethered a connection with presidencies stretching over more than half a century.

Almost 60 years later, Biden's posting is an acknowledgement of the Kennedy family's enduring place in American history.

But Kennedy is more than JFK's daughter. 

The appointment reflects the key role she played in helping Biden make his breakout from the US Senate into the vice-presidency back in 2008.

A symbolic choice at a critical moment:

Symbolically, selecting a trusted figure from Democratic Party royalty is a statement of the value Joe Biden places on the Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS) as it enters its 71st year.

Practically, it promises some benefits for the battalions of professionals whose job is to daily manage the relationship between Washington and Canberra.

Although reserved — some might even say shy — Caroline Kennedy will have the same open line to Joe and Jill Biden from Canberra as she does when at home in New York or Massachusetts.

Her voice may be quiet, but she won't be ignored.

Despite the personal regard she's held in, it would be a mistake to believe Ambassador Kennedy could single-handedly get the Biden team to do things it wouldn't otherwise do for its ally.

In any case, this year's AUKUS security pact proves the current administration was already prepared to stretch the bounds of what it's prepared to do with Australia, long before the new nominee was even close to being announced.

Camelot stills evokes nostalgia for many:

JFK's daughter certainly has some understanding of the limits of her powers. 

She's a little more experienced now than she was in 2013, when Barack Obama sent her as his top envoy to Tokyo.

"My strongest qualifications were that I was close to the president and that I had a well-known name. But it turned out that those are the qualities that the Japanese most valued."

These may turn out to be the same qualities she puts to work in Australia too.

Tasmania jumping castle tragedy, 5th child dies

A small northern Tasmanian community has been left "Heartbroken" after five children died when a jumping castle took off in a gust of wind at an end-of-year primary school event.

Four other year 5 and 6 Hillcrest Primary School students are in hospital. 

According to eyewitness reports to police, a gust of wind picked up the jumping castle and threw it into the air, pulling the kids with it.

The children fell from a height of about 10 metres, landing on the school's sports oval.

(See full story on PortMac.News today)

Virus attack ! Sydney theatres on tenterhooks, music festival cancelled

The Guardian Australia - Page Online : 17 December 2021 - Original article by Elissa Blake - PortMac.News Summary

NSW Health has announced that the Lunar Electric music festival in Newcastle will be cancelled due to the high number of COVID-19 cases in the area.

The festival was due to start on 18 December, and its cancellation has sparked fears among the organisers of the Tamworth music festival that it might suffer the same fate.

It is due to start at around the time that the forecast spike in Omicron cases is due to peak in NSW in mid January.

Meanwhile, Sydney theatres are preparing for the possibility of a COVD-19 outbreak among their cast and crew. [Click to view full article here]

Tax cuts, spending fuel deficits

The Australian Financial Review - Page 1 & 4 : 17 December 2021 - Original article by Phillip Coorey - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government's mid-year economic and fiscal outlook shows that the deficit for 2021-22 is expected to be $99.2bn, down from the $106.6bn that had been forecast in the Budget.

The deficit for 2022-23 will also be slightly lower than forecast in May. Meanwhile, Australia's official unemployment rate is forecast to fall to 4.5% by mid-2022 and 4.25% the following year.

The official unemployment rate fell to 4.6 per cent in November, although the real unemployment rate as measured by Roy Morgan was well above the latest ABS estimate at 9.2% in November. Wages growth is in turn expected to be 2.25% in 2021-22, while the inflation rate is forecast to be 2.75%. However, wages growth is forecast to exceed inflation over the forward estimates period. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has not ruled out a further extension of the low- and middle-income tax offset.

Government bonds to hit $1.2trn in 2024-25

The Australian Financial Review - Page 6 : 17 December 2021 - Original article by Cecile Lefort - PortMac.News Summary

The mid-year budget update shows that the Australian Office of Financial Management is expected to have some $919bn worth of commonwealth government bonds on issuance by the end of 2021-22.

Bond issuance is slated to peak at $1.21trn in the 2024-25 financial year.

Meanwhile, Australia's net debt is expected to be $673.4bn by mid-2022, which equates to 30.6% of GDP; this is forecast to peak at 37.4% of GDP by mid-2025.

Good outlook for assets

The Australian - Page 21 : 17 December 2021 - Original article by Robert Gottliebsen - PortMac.News Summary

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has tipped an economic scenario over the next two to three years that sees growth occurring but with inflation not getting out of control.

His forecast outlook is good news for people who own shares and real estate. Factors that could hurt his forecast include higher than expected wages growth and the Omicron variant of COVID-19 impacting the economy more adversely than is currently predicted, while the federal government forecasts that US economic growth in 2023 will fall from 4.25% to 2.25%.

Lockdown blows NSW budget deficit to $20bn

The Australian - Page 5 : 17 December 2021 - Original article by Yoni Bashan - PortMac.News Summary

The New South Wales government's mid-year budget review shows that the state's deficit for 2021-22 is now expected to top $19.4bn.

This compares with expectations of just $8.6bn in the June budget, just prior to the outbreak of the Delta variant of COVID-19.

The deficit is slated to fall in the following two financial years, with a surplus of $449m expected in 2024-25.

Meanwhile, the sale of the government's 49% stake in the WestConnnex motorway will result in net debt falling to $58.1bn in 2021-22; this compares with expectations of $63.3bn in the June budget.

Tehan to sign historic UK FTA

The Australian - Page 1 & 2 : 17 December 2021 - Original article by Simon Benson - PortMac.News Summary

Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan and British Secretary for Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan will sign an historic free trade agreement between Australia and the UK on 17 December.

The agreement will be the first FTA signed by the UK since it left the European Union, and will abolish tariffs on 99% of goods worth almost $10 billion.

Other components of the FTA include increasing the age limit from 30 to 35 for a total working visa stay of up to three years in both countries and the lifting of $43 million in yearly custom duties on Australian wine entering the UK.

Morrison government to take action on 'Toxic culture'

The Guardian Australia - Page Online : 17 December 2021 - Original article by Katherine Murphy - PortMac.News Summary

Finance minister Simon Birmingham says the federal government plans to implement the first two recommendations of sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins' review into parliament's workforce culture before it resumes in February.

Her review was prompted by former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins' allegation that she was raped after hours in a ministerial office in March 2019, with Jenkins finding that one in three staffers interviewed had been sexually harassed.

Birmingham also says legislation governing the employment of political staff will be amended before the 2022 election.

Surprise ! ScoMo's office 'Can't find' sports rorts documents

The Guardian Australia - Page Online : 17 December 2021 - Original article by Christopher Knaus - PortMac.News Summary

Independent senator Rex Patrick has been fighting a lengthy battle with the attorney-general's office over a freedom of information request.

Patrick is seeking access to a letter sent by former attorney-general Christian Porter to the office of the prime minister regarding the community sport infrastructure program, with the office fighting to keep the document secret.

Patrick has now filed a similar freedom of information request with the prime minister's office, which has claimed that it cannot find the letter.

Its response has come a surprise to Patrick, as Porter's office had confirmed that it had sent the letter to the prime minister's office.

Government backs down on financial adviser education

The Australian Financial Review - Page Online : 17 December 2021 - Original article by Aleks Vickovich - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government appears to have reversed one of the main features of its controversial changes to financial planning education that it announced in 2017.

The then requirement that all financial planners must obtain a tertiary degree by 2026 prompted a number of experienced planners to leave the sector, reducing the supply of planners and pushing up the cost of financial advice.

A new policy paper indicates that planners with more than 10 years' experience will no longer have to obtain a university degree in order to keep working.

Fair Work chief gave final warning to anti-vax deputy

The Australian Financial Review - Page 12 : 17 December 2021 - Original article by David Marin-Guzman - PortMac.News Summary

It has been revealed that the Fair Work Commission's president Iain Ross has essentially given deputy president Lyndall Dean a final warning about her future with the FWC.

It follows his assessment of a dissenting decision that Dean gave in a case on the right of employers to mandate that staff must be vaccinated against COVID-19, in which she which labelled jab mandates as 'Medical apartheid'.

Ross concluded in his assessment that Dean had misused her statutory office. Dean was appointed to the FWC in 2016.

PM stops gas plan off Sydney's coast

The Australian Financial Review - Page 12 : 17 December 2021 - Original article by Andrew Tillett - PortMac.News Summary

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced that the federal government will not allow Petroleum Exploration Permit 11 to be rolled over.

PEP 11 covers more than 8,200 sq km from Newcastle to Wollongong off the coast of NSW.

Long-term permit holder Advent Energy has described the area covered by PEP 11 as a "Potential gas giant", but a well it drilled near Newcastle in 2010 did not find any gas.

The government's decision follows a community and environmental backlash against PEP 11 that could have put a half a dozen marginal Coalition seats at risk.

Treasury Wines will get cheaper loans if it meets its ESG targets

The Australian Financial Review - Page 19 : 17 December 2021 - Original article by Simon Evans - PortMac.News Summary

Treasury Wine Estates has struck a deal with BNP, HSBC and Westpac; the three banks will offer the wine producer a cheaper interest rate on $1.4 billion of its bank debt if the group meets its environmental, water and gender equity targets.

Treasury CFO Matt Young expects such loans to become standard over the next few years, while he says that savings from the cheaper loans will be redeployed to accelerate the group's sustainability activities.

Urea pain spreads crisis from trucks to fertiliser

The Australian Financial Review - Page 17 : 17 December 2021- Original article by Simon Evans - PortMac.News Summary

Elders CEO Mark Allison forecasts that the price of fertiliser will rise in the next few months, with the agribusiness company supplying around one million tonnes of fertiliser to Australian farmers each year.

A shortage of high-quality urea, which is causing a current crisis in the supply of diesel fuel additive AdBlue, is tipped to 'Flow through' to the wider agricultural market.

Urea is the most commonly used solid nitrogen fertiliser, and occurs naturally in urine and some fungi; it is also made synthetically.

Virgin 2.0 resumes international flights

The Australian Financial Review - Page 20 : 17 December 2021 - Original article by Lucas Baird - PortMac.News Summary

Virgin Australia's flight from Sydney to Nadi in Fiji on Thursday was its first international flight since the airline went into voluntary administration in 2020.

CEO Jayne Hrdlicka stated that the flight was a "Big milestone" for Virgin, although she noted that the emergence of the omicron strain of COVID-19 shows that nothing can be taken for granted.

There has been media speculation that Virgin's private equity owner Bain Capital might seek to re-list it on the Australian sharemarket as soon as mid-2022, but Hrdlicka told staff in a recent email that such speculation is "Best ignored".

Qantas flying with Airbus order

The Australian - Page 13 & 20 : 17 December 2021 - Original article by Robyn Ironside - PortMac.News Summary

Qantas has placed an order for 134 A320neo and A220 jets with European aircraft maker Airbus, with the planes to replace its current domestic fleet of Boeing 737s and 717s over the next decade.

The order is the largest ever in Australian aviation history, and comes as Qantas disclosed a forecast loss in excess of $1.1 billion for the first half of the 2022 financial year due to the crippling impact of COVID-19 on its operations.

Suppliers plead for end to cruise ship ban

The Australian - Page 6 : 17 December 2021 - Original article by Rhiannon Down - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government has extended the coronavirus-induced ban on cruise ships for another two months, a decision that has caused consternation among suppliers of goods and services to the $5 billion cruise industry.

Select Fresh Providores' group general manager Steven Biviano says the ban has cost his company $20 million a year, and he has called on the government to provide the industry with some clarity on when it might end.

Some providers to the cruise line sector are warning they may not be around when the sector is finally allowed to start operating again.

Streaming firms pour $600m into local content

The Australian Financial Review - Page 20 : 17 December 2021 - Original article by Miranda Ward - PortMac.News Summary

Subscription video-on-demand providers invested some $270m in Australian content in the 2020-21 financial year.

A new report from the Australian Communications & Media Authority is expected to show that SVOD providers such as Stan, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video will spend about $630m on local content in 2021-22.

The federal government is considering a proposal to introduce local content quotas for global streaming companies.

ASX CSL drags bourse into red zone

The Australian Financial Review - Page 28 : 17 December 2021 - Original article by William McInnes - PortMac.News Summary

The Australian sharemarket lost ground on 16 December, with the S&P/ASX 200 shedding 0.4% to close at 7,295.7 points.

The ANZ Bank eased 0.6% to end the session at $27.43 and CSL was down 8.2% at $273.

However, Fortescue Metals Group added 0.9% to finish at $18.80, Afterpay was up 1.7% at $89.50 and Mesoblast rose 10.9% to $1.48.