The Australian Financial Review published an opinion piece by Rob Fitzpatrick, chief executive officer of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), highlighting new technologies like automation, artificial intelligence and virtual reality are already impacting industry and employment. Mr Fitzpatrick said previous experience with technological disruption, such as the rise of computerisation and the internet, have shown that rates of employment continue, despite apparent upheavals: jobs will disappear, and new jobs and new industries will emerge on the back of new technologies. He said that as a country, we need a workforce capable of filling new jobs and new industries.
More than 1000 gold industry members have gathered at a rally in Kalgoorlie to protest the McGowan Government’s proposed gold royalties increase, The West reported. The Labor Government has proposed an increase in the gold royalty rate from 2.5 per cent to 3.75 per cent, when the spot price eclipses $1200 per ounce ($US969.70/oz), as part of a raft of measures in its first State Budget meant to claw back revenue.
Residents in the Queensland town of Bowen have been angered by protesters and dozens of police who have congregated for a week of rallies against Adani’s $16.5 billion Carmichael coal project. The Australian reported about 70 extra police arrived in the Whitsunday town at the weekend, coinciding with the arrival of protesters from interstate as part of the rally organised by environmentalist groups Frontline Action on Coal and Reef Defenders.
The Federal Court fined the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union record penalties of more than $2.4 million over an unlawful blockade at Lendlease’s Barangaroo site, declaring that even maximum penalties were not enough to deter the militant union, The Australian Financial Review reported. In the scathing judgment, Justice Geoffrey Flick also referred CFMEU NSW secretary Brian Parker for possible criminal prosecution after considering he may have given false evidence in court.
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