Australian Aged Care Top of Mind for Nation’s Leaders

Robust Democratic Institutions an ‘Antidote’ Against Beijing’s Infiltration: Expert

Australia’s democratic institutions have proven to be an “antidote” to Beijing’s extensive infiltration operations and a case study for countries on how to expose and repel the communist regime’s United Front Work Department. In 2014, Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s declared the influence activities of the United Front one of the regime’s “magic weapons.” A new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) found Australia’s free press, intelligence services, political will, along with lively public debate, worked in concert to expose and negate Xi’s “magic weapons.” Amy Searight, author of the report, says Australia is targeted as part of a grander scheme to undermine the United States’ regional dominance in the Pacific. As one of the United States’ closest allies, driving a wedge in the U.S.-Australia alliance would…

Aged care homes remain top of mind for the nation’s leaders as more Australians face travel restrictions because of COVID-19.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and state and territory leaders on Aug 7 agreed to ongoing audits of the aged care sector after recent deadly outbreaks in Melbourne nursing homes.

The audits will look at preparedness to cope with the disease, which has killed 181 aged care residents in Australia.

Victoria accounts for 150 of those, with seven of the latest 11 deaths reported on Friday as the national toll rose to 266.

Acting Chief Health Officer Paul Kelly said the audits would examine preventative measures and training to respond to outbreaks.

“Preparing for the worst, hoping for the best,” he said.

The stress testing is expected to aid a national aged care outbreak response plan in two weeks.

Queensland has closed its borders to NSW and ACT residents as of Saturday in a bid to prevent a second outbreak occurring in the Sunshine State.

Queenslanders returning home faced heavy traffic with delays of up to two hours at border crossings.

The Northern Territory has reopened its borders to all Queenslanders and residents from NSW’s Eurobodalla Shire and the Blue Mountains.

More workers and businesses will receive the government’s JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme when it scales back in September, after the eligibility requirements were eased.

The program will cost a further $15 billion and the changes are designed to cushion the blow of Victoria’s tough restrictions.

Rebecca Gredley in Canberra

 

Focus News: Australian Aged Care Top of Mind for Nation’s Leaders

Trump Orders Ban on Transactions With TikTok, WeChat Parent Companies

President Donald Trump on Thursday issued executive orders to ban transactions with popular video sharing app TikTok and social media app WeChat in 45 days. The executive orders also ban transactions with the two social media applications’ parent companies, Chinese-owned ByteDance and Tencent Holdings. The executive order for TikTok said that “any transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States” would be prohibited “with ByteDance Ltd. (a.k.a. Zìjié Tiàodòng), Beijing, China, or its subsidiaries,” in 45 days after the order, which is after Sept. 20. The executive order for WeChat said that “any transaction that is related to WeChat by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States” would be prohibited with its parent company “Tencent…