
PM Announces Economic Roundtable to Deal With Inflation
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a new economic reform roundtable to be held in August, aiming to bring together key figures from business, unions and industry in what he describes as a 'streamlined dialogue' to boost productivity, wages, and economic resilience.
Speaking at the National Press Club on June 10, Albanese said he had tasked Treasurer Jim Chalmers with convening the forum to 'support and shape' the government's productivity agenda.

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4 hours ago
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'Partial tick': coalition cautious on PM's summit idea
The federal opposition has given the government a partial tick over its upcoming productivity summit, saying that at least Labor recognises there is a problem. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the plan on Tuesday, saying the gathering of business, union and other leaders in Canberra in August would focus on ways to lift economic output. "A round table. Yay!" shadow treasurer Ted O'Brien joked during an interview on Nine's Today program on Wednesday. "But look ... to be fair, at least they're recognising the problem ... so let's take that as a partial tick." Experts are concerned about Australia's lagging rate of productivity - a key economic measure of efficiency and long-term driver of improved living standards. Despite criticism that previous federal government economic summits were too slanted, Mr Albanese said this roundtable would be broad-based. He called for a mature discussion from all parties, noting it was in everyone's interest for productivity to improve. "We're a Labor government, we support unions existing ... but we will always respect both the role of business and the role of unions," he told the National Press Club on Tuesday. "There are common interests ... you don't get union members unless you've got successful employers. "It's the private sector that drives an economy. What the public sector should do is facilitate private sector activity and private sector investment." The Productivity Commissioner's most recent report showed labour productivity fell 0.1 per cent in the December quarter and dropped 1.2 per cent in the past year. The Business Council of Australia says productivity growth over the past decade has been the lowest in 60 years. Council chief executive Bran Black welcomed the roundtable, saying "lifting business investment is essential to boosting productivity, lifting real wages, creating jobs and ensuring more opportunity for more Australians". "We will continue to be very clear about policies that the business community believes will be counterproductive to improving productivity," he said. Mr Albanese said he wanted a boost to productivity, alongside other economic indicators as part of his second-term agenda. "We want to build an economy where growth, wages and productivity rise together," he said. ACTU secretary Sally McManus said working Australians must be at the centre of the roundtable. "We need to leave behind the idea that productivity is equated with cutting pay and making people work harder for less," she said. Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar said boosting productivity was essential for economic growth. "The business community looks forward to participating in the summit and contributing constructive and sensible ideas to address the problem," he said. Meanwhile, the World Bank has slashed its global growth forecast for 2025 by four-tenths of a percentage point to 2.3 per cent. The downgrade was driven by higher US tariffs on foreign imports and heightened uncertainty posed a "significant headwind" for nearly all economies. The World Bank is the latest body to cut its growth forecast as a result of President Donald Trump's erratic trade policies. But it stopped short of forecasting a recession, despite predicting global economic growth this year would be the weakest outside of a recession since 2008. with Reuters Effettua l'accesso per consultare il tuo portafoglio
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CNN correspondent and crew detained and escorted from Los Angeles protest zone
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police detained a CNN correspondent and crew reporting on protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles, calling into question whether law enforcement has been targeting journalists trying to cover the demonstrations after two other journalists were hit by rubber bullets. Video of the CNN crew's encounter broadcast by the network on Monday shows correspondent Jason Carroll and a colleague speaking to a Los Angeles police officer who explains that they must leave. The officer said they were not being arrested, given that they are members of the press, but that officers must remove them from the scene. He warned they would be arrested if they returned. The reporters are seen putting their hands behind their backs before officers escort them away. Carroll explained later that he was asked to put his hands behind his back. He said officers didn't put zip ties on him, but did grab both his hands as they escorted him from the area. Police asked for his name and other basic information. When he asked if he was being arrested, they said he was not, but he was being detained. Members of the press take some risks and this was low on that scale of risks, Carroll said. 'But it is something that I wasn't expecting, simply because we've been out here all day,' he said. The National Press Club called on Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell and Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna to stop targeting, detaining, or obstructing journalists, and to guarantee that journalists can safely report on the demonstrations. It also called on them to investigate and hold those responsible accountable. 'Police cannot pick and choose when the First Amendment applies. Journalists in Los Angeles were not caught in the crossfire — they were targeted,' National Press Club President Mike Balsamo said in a statement. Balsamo is law enforcement news editor for The Associated Press. On Sunday, Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was shot in the leg by a rubber bullet while reporting live, with a microphone in her hand, from protests in downtown Los Angeles. The shooting occurred after a tense afternoon in which the 9News correspondent and her crew were caught between riot police and protesters. Video of the event shows an officer behind Tomasi suddenly raising a firearm and firing a nonlethal round at close range. Tomasi cries out in pain and clutches her lower leg as she and her cameraman quickly move away from the police line. Speaking later to 9News, Tomasi confirmed she was safe and unharmed. 'I'm OK, my cameraman Jimmy and I are both safe. This is just one of the unfortunate realities of reporting on these kinds of incidents,' she said. Meanwhile, a British photographer remained hospitalized Monday after undergoing surgery for a similar strike to the thigh Saturday in Paramount, a city south of Los Angeles.