Politics by Matthew Killoran
Premium Content  Billionaire Clive Palmer was Australia s biggest political donor last year, giving a whopping $5.9 million to himself. Unions also flexed their muscles in Queensland with a combined $1.056 million pumped into the Queensland Labor Party s war chest, while businessman Anthony Pratt s Pratt Holdings gave $1.55 million, mostly to the Liberal party but also $250,000 to the Nationals. The donations were revealed in the political party annual returns for 2019-20 published by the Australian Electoral Commission on Monday. The Bob Brown Foundation, behind the infamous anti-Adani convoy just prior to this disclosed period, received $415,000 in donations and declared $213,000 on electoral expenditure.
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Uber Eats has overhauled its business model in Australia, requiring riders to hold ABNs and letting them transfer delivery jobs to others in a move that will make it harder for critics to claim its workers are employees rather than independent contractors.
The companyâs new contract with riders, seen by this masthead, marks a sea change for the delivery giant, which is abandoning its claim to merely be a matchmaker between restaurants and riders, akin to a dating service, and instead is directly contracting its riders.
Uber Eats is overhauling its contracts with riders from March.
Credit:James Brickwood
Two Coalition MPs urge further bailouts for Australia s Covid-hit tourism industry Paul Karp
Two Coalition MPs are calling for the Australian tourism industry to receive further bailouts after jobkeeper finishes in March because domestic holidaymakers can’t fill the void left by lost international revenue.
The assertion by Warren Entsch and Llew O’Brien is backed by the infrastructure department in its submission to a parliamentary inquiry on the future of aviation, which warned that domestic trips “tend to be shorter, lower yield and involve fewer activities”.
The submission also said the industry may suffer from fewer business trips and “a hesitation among holidaymakers and visiting friends and relatives to fly”.
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Thousands of travellers had their Christmas plans disrupted by flight cancellations over summer because of a shortage of credentialled ground staff, a problem the industry warns could result in months of cancellations and delays, even after borders reopen.
Ground handling staff require security and safety clearances that need to be regularly renewed, but after months stood down during the pandemic many have seen their certifications lapse, while thousands more have left the industry altogether.
The ground handling industry is warning it faces a shortfall of thousands of workers when borders reopen.
Credit:Louise Kennerley
The Sydney Morning Herald and
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January 22, 2021
Two years ago, Del. Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) and state Sen. Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) were the legislative equivalent of middle managers solid citizens with considerable responsibilities, but not at the center of leadership.
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Their campaign treasuries reflected that: Ferguson in January 2019 had $70,341 cash on hand; Jones reported $45,002 in the bank.
But then an earthquake struck the Maryland political world: On May Day of 2019, Jones became speaker of the House, and Ferguson was nominated to become Senate president that fall. He officially took over last January. Both succeeded record-setting leaders.
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Not surprisingly, the new presiding officers fundraising totals took off. Jones reported raising $758,999 between January 2019 and January 2020; Ferguson collected $794,198 over the same period.