Lack of preparation blamed for aged care virus deaths
Lack of preparation blamed for aged care virus deaths
December 23, 2020 10.00pm
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The Age, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number.
AGED CARE
Lack of preparation blamed for virus deaths
The federal government failed to prepare the aged-care sector for the pandemic. In Victoria, 655 (82 per cent) of the 801 people who died during the second wave were residents in private aged care homes. The Prime Minister, Health Minister and the regulator need to explain to all of us exactly how this heart-breaking tragedy – which many of us predicted – occurred on their watch.
Unions try to cover up their role at Australia Post
Facing mounting discontent among postal workers, which erupted in two recent meetings at Sydney’s Alexandria delivery facility, the trade unions are desperately trying to rewrite their record of supporting and enforcing the hated Alternative Delivery Model (ADM) and Australia Post’s restructuring.
Australia Post parcel lockers in Sydney [Credit: Maksym Kozlenko, Wikimedia Commons]
As a result of the ADM, posties are often working 12-hour shifts and unable to complete their delivery rounds, known as beats. The use of casual and contract labour is increasing, and workers who have been on the job for decades are being forced out by over-work, resulting in the thousands of job cuts that management wants.
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Survival of the fittest: Media s toughest year in decades
Survival of the fittest: Media s toughest year in decades
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The Australian media sector entered 2020 already in a mild state of crisis. With traditional advertising models already smashed by the growth of the digital giants, only the most strategic and well-run players were looking forward to a prosperous year when the smoke of the summer fires started clearing in late January.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic ripped away huge swathes of revenue, forced overnight changes to the way newsrooms and production houses operated, and as the nation plunged into recession every media company made drastic changes to their cost bases and broader business structures. Plans for takeovers and mergers were quickly replaced by capital raisings and restructures for survival.