Author: roymorgansocial

‘Abusing his power’: Pauline Hanson accuses Anthony Albanese of acting like an emperor by refusing to allocate staff to One Nation

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Original article by Laurence Karacsony
News24 – Page: Online : 2-Sep-26

One Nation currently has two MPs and four senators, but the populist party has been allocated just four advisers. In contrast, the Greens’ 11 federal parliamentarians have been allocated a total of 17 advisers. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has been embroiled in a long-running dispute with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over the allocation of staffers; she has accused Albanese of "abusing his power" by understaffing One Nation, and contends that he is doing so to halt the party’s rise against Labor. Hanson says she has asked for a "fair allocation" of nine advisers, noting that this would still be less than the Greens’ ratio.

CORPORATES
ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Labor’s social media rules a belated patch-up: Reddit

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 2-Sep-26

Reddit recently launched a constitutional challenge to the federal government’s landmark ban on the use of social media platform by people under the age of 16. Amongst other things, Reddit has contended that the ban breaches the implied freedom of political communication, because social media is an important source of news and a platform for civic engagement. Reddit is one of the 10 social media platforms that are included in the ban; it has accused Communications Minister Anika Wells of rewriting the rules for the ban as a "patch-up job" to boost its defence of the policy in response to the legal challenge.

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

July 2026 mortgage stress up 2.2% points to 18-year high of 32.5%; after three RBA interest rate increases in 2026

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 3-Sep-26

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 32.5% of mortgage holders were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the three months to July 2026, up 2.2% points from May. This is equivalent to 1,786,000 people (up 180,000 on a month earlier), and the highest level of mortgage stress for 18 years. The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress is up 341,000 on a year ago, after the Reserve Bank cut interest rates to 3.85% in 2025) before raising them to 4.35% so far in 2026. The rising level of mortgage stress is due to a combination of the RBA’s interest rate increases in 2026 and pressure on the labour market; Roy Morgan’s July labour market report shows overall employment – and importantly full-time employment – are both down on highs reached earlier in the year, and the negative impacts on household incomes which have softened since earlier in the year. Meanwhile, the number of Australians who are considered to be ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 1,210,000 (22% of mortgage holders); this is significantly above the long-term average over the last two decades of 16.4%.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

More house price pain to come, warns nation’s biggest lender

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Original article by Shane Wright
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 2-Sep-26

House prices in Sydney have fallen by 6.7 per cent so far in 2026, while prices in Melbourne are down 6.3 per cent. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia anticipates a further downturn in the residential market; it now expects dwelling prices in Sydney to fall by 11 per cent in total for the year, and prices in Melbourne to be down 10 per cent. CBA expects dwelling prices to stop falling by April 2027, with a peak-to-trough downturn of 13 per cent forecast for Sydney and 11 per cent for Melbourne. Meanwhile, data from Cotality shows that national dwelling values fell for a fifth consecutive month in August.

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COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COTALITY

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence drops 2.6pts to 74.9 after higher-than-expected official inflation for July

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Sep-26

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 2.6pts to 74.9 in the week to 30 August; Consumer Confidence is now 13.1pts lower than a year ago (88.0), but it is 2.5pts above the 2026 weekly average of 72.4. Analysis by State shows that consumer confidence has decreased in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia, but it has increased slightly in Queensland. Now 18% of Australians (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 50% (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 23% (up 2ppts) of respondents expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 40% (up 3ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’. Only 7% (down 1ppt) of respondents expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 40% (up 5ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 20% (unchanged) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 43% (up 4ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

2030 World Cup to remain on SBS, the spiritual home of football

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Original article by Calum Jaspan
The Age – Page: Online : 2-Sep-26

SBS’s CEO Jane Palfreyman says the FIFA World Cup brings Australians together across cultures, languages, and communities. The public broadcaster’s coverage of the 2026 men’s World Cup attracted more than 18 million viewers, and Palfreyman says she is "thrilled" that SBS will be the tournament’s Australian broadcaster again in 2030. SBS is believed to have paid about $30m for the 2026 broadcasting rights, and sources have indicated that the cost of the next World Cup rights will exceed this. The 2030 World Cup will be jointly hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

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SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

‘Consequences’: China strongarms Pacific

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 2-Sep-26

Taiwan has had a presence at the annual Pacific Islands Forum summit since 1993 as a ‘development partner’, with the exception of last year’s summit. However, China’s warning that Taiwan’s participation in the 2026 summit in Palau will have "consequences" has prompted Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to state that "the Pacific Islands Forum determines what happens here, not any other country". Only three of the Forum’s 18 members recognise Taiwan as an independent country, while Papua New Guinea contends that Taiwan’s participation in the forum is "inappropriate". Meanwhile, the federal government is set to allocate $600m to target drug trafficking in the region.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM

One Nation’s win in the Secret Harbour by-election was foretold by Roy Morgan’s ongoing data tracking

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Original article by By Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Sep-26

The weekend’s One Nation victory in the Secret Harbour by-election which came as a surprise to many, was almost a foregone conclusion – Roy Morgan data showed Secret Harbour electors were ranked among the most likely to feel they ‘get a raw deal in life’ and ‘the core values of our society are under threat’. These people are part of the more than one million disaffected Australians Roy Morgan has been tracking for more than 2 years. Roy Morgan’s subscriber-only nationwide monthly research showed One Nation’s extraordinary rise in Secret Harbour from 10% in October 2025 to 19% by January, 26% by April, 36% by July, and 40% in August.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, ONE NATION PARTY

KIIS slumps after Kyle and Jackie O exit

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Original article by Joseph Carbone
The Australian – Page: 3 : 2-Sep-26

GfK’s fifth radio ratings survey for 2026 shows that KIIS FM’s audience share in Sydney’s breakfast slot has fallen another 0.2 percentage points to just 6.9 per cent. The cancellation of the ‘Kyle and Jackie O show’ earlier this year has weighed on KIIS FM’s ratings, with the long-running program’s audience share having peaked at 17.9 per cent in 2023. Meanwhile, 3AW’s breakfast show continues to dominate the timeslot in Melbourne, with an audience share of 19.5 per cent in the latest survey.

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GFK PTY LTD, KIIS1065, 3AW SOUTHERN CROSS RADIO PTY LTD

ASIC to take no action against Ellison, MinRes

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Original article by Mark Wembridge
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 2-Sep-26

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission launched an investigation into Mineral Resources and founder Chris Ellison in 2024. The probe had initially centred on the latter’s alleged tax avoidance scheme, but it was widened to include the trading of shares in lithium hopeful Kali Metals in the wake of its IPO. ASIC has advised that after assessing the available evidence, it has concluded that there is no need for any enforcement action. The Australian Taxation undertook a separate investigation into Ellison.

CORPORATES
MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE