Author: roymorgansocial

End of subsidy will risk power bill cut

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Original article by Patrick Commins, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 20-Mar-24

The Australian Energy Regulator’s proposed changes to the default market offer could reduce household power bills by up to 7.1 per cent in 2024-25. Businesses in turn could see their electricity costs fall by up to 10 per cent. However, the AER’s proposed changes to the default market offer will be offset by a likely big increase in electricity bills for many households if the federal government does not renew its commitment to the energy bill relief fund in 2024-25, which is jointly funded by the states. It has provided energy subsidies to people on low incomes and small businsses.

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AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR

Axing the Olympics was never on cards

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Original article by Lydia Lynch
The Australian – Page: 7 : 20-Mar-24

The Queensland government has responded to media reports which claimed that it had sought advice on the potential costs associated with cancelling the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games. A spokeswoman from the office of Premier Steven Miles has stated that the government has not sought advice about cancelling the Games and it has never had any intention of not proceeding with the event. The media reports alleged that the government had been advised that it would have to pay $500m in compensation if the Games were cancelled, while it would also lose $3.5bn worth of infrastructure funding from the federal government.

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QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Australian unemployment increases in February; but under-employment drops to lowest since September 2023

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Mar-24

In February 2024, Australian ‘real’ unemployment was virtually unchanged at 1,436,000 (9.2% of the workforce) and an additional 1,501,000 (9.6%) were under-employed. In total, 2.94 million Australians (18.8%) were unemployed or under-employed in February. Although unemployment and under-employment remain high, there has been a surge in employment over the last year – up by 711,000 to 14,228,000. This is the first month in which total employment has exceeded 14.2 million. Employment increased by 78,000 in February; full-time employment drove the increase (up 154,000 to a new record high of 9,359,000), while part-time employment dropped 76,000 to 4,869,000. The workforce in February was 15,664,000 (up 132,000 from January, and up 626,000 from a year ago). Roy Morgan’s unemployment figure of 9.2% is more than double the ABS estimate of 4.1% for January, but is approaching the combined ABS unemployment and under-employment figure of 10.7%. The February Roy Morgan Unemployment estimates were obtained by surveying an Australia-wide cross-section of people aged 14+.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence virtually unchanged at 81.7 in mid-March before final pre-Budget meeting of RBA

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Mar-24

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 81.7 in the week to 17 March. However, the index has now spent a record 59 straight weeks below the mark of 85. Consumer Confidence is again 5.2 points above the same week a year ago (76.5), but 1.3 points below the 2024 weekly average of 83.0. Consumer Confidence was up in New South Wales and Queensland, but down in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia. Now 18% of Australians (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year (the lowest figure for this indicator so far this year), while 52% (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 32% (down 1 ppt) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 32% (up 2ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’. Now 10% (down 1ppt) of Australians now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 31% (unchanged) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 20% (unchanged) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 49% (also unchanged) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Royalties for offshore art resale

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Original article by Tim Douglas
The Australian – Page: 9 : 20-Mar-24

Arts Minister Tony Burke has advised that the federal government will expand its Resale Royalty Scheme to cover artworks that are sold abroad. The scheme currently only provides Australian artists with royalties if their artworks are resold in the domestic market. However, it will be broadened to include artworks that are resold in 17 countries; they include the UK, France, Germany and Spain. Reciprocal arrangements will be in place to provide artists from each of the 17 countries with royalties when their works are resold in Australia.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

Rate pause could lure home buyers back

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Original article by Nila Sweeney
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 20-Mar-24

Tim Lawless of CoreLogic says the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to leave the cash rate unchanged on Tuesday is likely to boost the confidence of prospective home buyers. He notes that there has tended to be a close relationship between consumer sentiment and the volume of home sales. Meanwhile, SQM Research MD Louis Christopher expects mortgage stress to continue to rise while interest rates remain high, while the number of distressed listings is also likely to rise.

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CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SQM RESEARCH PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

RBA keeps rate rise in reserve

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Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 20-Mar-24

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to leave the cash rate unchanged at 4.35 per cent on Tuesday had been widely expected. However, the RBA appears to have adopted a more neutral monetary policy stance in the statement it released after the two-day board meeting. It stated that the board is "not ruling anything in or out" with regard to the next interest rate move; in contrast, the RBA stated in February that a further increase in interest rates "cannot be ruled out". Financial markets have now fully priced in a 25 basis point reduction in the cash rate in September, as well as a strong chance of another rate cut in December.

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Rio bows to pressure on green steel spending

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 20-Mar-24

Iron ore accounted for nearly 70 per cent of Rio Tinto’s total scope 3 emissions of 578 million tonnes in 2023. The resources group has advised that it will provide increased disclosure of its expenditure on initiatives aimed at reducing scope 3 emissions, including ‘green’ steel projects. Rio Tinto has been under growing pressure from groups such as Fidelity International and the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors to improve its disclosures. Daniela Jaramillo from Fidelity says this has been a priority in talks with Rio in recent years.

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RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FIDELITY INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SUPERANNUATION INVESTORS INCORPORATED

Independents move to ban mega donations in far-reaching political transparency overhaul

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 19-Mar-24

Political donations of more than $1.5 million would be banned under the fair and transparent elections bill, which is being tabled by crossbench and independent MPs in both houses of federal parliament. The bill also calls for a ban on donations from socially harmful industries such as the fossil fuel sector and for ‘truth-in-political advertising’. It further calls for the donation disclosure threshold to be lowered to $1,000, but it does not support a recommendation from the electoral matters committee to cap spending on elections, due to concerns that this could effectively entrench the two major parties.

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Get tough with Meta: ex-insider

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Original article by Gus McCubbing
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Mar-24

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen says the federal government should engage directly with Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg regarding its decision to abandon revenue-sharing deals with local news publishers. Haugen says Zuckerberg controls the social media giant, and his opinion is the only one that matters. She adds that Meta could and should pay for news content, and she argues that Australia needs to play hardball with Meta, given that the nation led the way globally with its news media bargaining code. Haugen will address the Australian Cybersecurity Conference in Canberra next week.

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META PLATFORMS INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK