O75 Public Administration

Coalition and One Nation’s plan to ditch net zero would not lower power prices, CSIRO report finds

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Original article by Graham Readfearn
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 15-Jul-26

The CSIRO’s annual GenCost report has found that renewables will continue to be the cheapest option for generating electricity in 2030. Both the Coalition and One Nation have advocated adding nuclear power to the nation’s energy mix, but the CSIRO has concluded that this would be the most expensive way to generate electricity among the current options. The report has also refuted claims by the Coalition and One Nation that scrapping Australia’s net-zero emissions target would result in lower electricity prices; it found that generation costs are likely to rise after 2030 regardless of Australia’s net zero policy, although prices are then likely to stabilise.

CORPORATES
CSIRO, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, ONE NATION PARTY

Politically engaged – but very much worried about buying a home: study reveals young Australians’ anxieties

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Original article by Dan Jervis-Bardy
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 15-Jul-26

The Growing Up in Australia study began in 2004, and it has tracked about 10,000 young people and their families every two years since childhood. The two groups in the cohort are now aged 19-20 and 23-24, and the latest survey results for 2023-24 comprises 4,168 respondents. Some 73 per cent stated that they are "quite a bit" or "very concerned" about being able to afford to buy a home, ahead of global economic problems (cited by 42 per cent of respondents) and climate change (41 per cent). The longitudinal study also found that just 15 per cent of respondents expressed a "lot of trust" or "some trust" in politicians and political parties. This study is conducted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies, in partnership with the Department of Social Services and Roy Morgan.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF FAMILY STUDIES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence up 0.6pts to 75.3 with more confidence about personal finances over the next year

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-Jul-26

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose 0.6pts to 75.3 in the week to 12 July; however, Consumer Confidence is 11.2pts lower than a year ago (86.5), but 3.6pts above the 2026 weekly average of 71.7. Analysis by State shows that Consumer Confidence increased marginally in Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia, was down in Queensland, and unchanged in New South Wales. Now 16% of Australians (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 51% (unchanged) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 24% (up 2ppts) of respondents expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 39% (down 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’. Only 6% (down 1ppt) of respondents expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 37% (down 3ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, just 19% (unchanged) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 43% (up 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

June Real Unemployment in Australia up 1% to 11.7%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-Jul-26

In June 2026, Australian ‘real’ unemployment rose 156,000 to 1,860,000 (11.7% of the workforce, up 1%), while under-employment fell 15,000 to 1,488,000 (down 0.1% to 9.4%). In total, 3.35 million Australians (21.1% of the workforce) were either unemployed or under-employed in June. Roy Morgan estimates the overall workforce size (which adds together the employed and unemployed) at 15,888,000 in June, up 28,000 on a month ago, and representing 67.7% of Australians aged 14+. Overall employment was down 128,000 to 14,028,000. The decline was driven by a fall in part-time employment (down 279,000 to 4,956,000, and equivalent to 35.3% of employed Australians). In contrast, full-time employment was up 151,000 to 9,072,000 (equivalent to 64.7% of employed Australians). The June Roy Morgan Unemployment estimates were obtained by surveying an Australia-wide cross section of people aged 14+.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Chalmers’ great tax cut conundrum

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Original article by Thomas Henry
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Jul-26

Analysis by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office has concluded that an eventual return to a budget surplus will be dependent on a number of factors. They include reining in the cost of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, a $336bn increase in personal income tax revenue, public service job cuts and the federal government’s changes to negative gearing, capital gains tax and trusts. The PBO has used its medium-term fiscal outlook to warn that the government will need to choose between providing income tax cuts and significant spending cuts if the budget is to be returned to surplus in the next decade.

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AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE

Right fright sees Labor go for woke

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Original article by Greg Brown, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 8-Jul-26

The Australian Labor Party’s draft national policy platform has been amended to include a commitment to an anti-racism strategy. The revised draft platforms states that Labor will continue to oppose people who "foster extremism, hatred, ethnic division or incitement to violence". Senior Labor sources have indicated that the move to include this in the draft platform is a direct response to growing concern within the party about rising levels of racism and the growing support for One Nation. The draft platform also formalises Labor’s support for Welcome to Country ceremonies, which were not mentioned in its 2023 national platform.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ONE NATION PARTY

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence down 1.2pts to 74.7 driven by more people concerned about the economy over the next year

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Jul-26

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 1.2pts to 74.7 in the first week of July; Consumer Confidence is now 13.9pts lower than a year ago (88.6), but 3.2pts above the 2026 weekly average of 71.5. Analysis by State shows that Consumer Confidence increased marginally in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, but fell in New South Wales and Western Australia. Now 15% of Australians (down 2ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 51% (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 22% (down 2ppts) of respondents expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 40% (up 1 ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’. Only 7% (up 1ppt) of respondents expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 40% (up 5ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, just 19% (unchanged) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 42% (down 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Recession off the cards but Australia faces dreary outlook, economists say

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 8-Jul-26

Tim Robinson from the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic & Social Research expects Australia’s economic growth to remain "quite weak" for the rest of 2026; he says this means a per capita recession is likely. The Commonwealth Bank’s head of Australian economics Belinda Allen also expects economic growth to remain weak in the near-term, but she is more upbeat about the outlook for 2027. Allen adds that she had never expected Australia to experience a recession, and notes that the impact of the Iran war on energy markets and the economy have not been as severe as the bank had anticipated. However, Allen believes that further increases in the cash rate are needed.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

$12m cancel-culture cost to expunge uni’s ties to Cook

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Original article by Natasha Bita
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 8-Jul-26

A spokesman for James Cook University has advised that the north Queensland higher education institution is not proposing a change to its name. However, JCU’s governing council has endorsed a report produced by an internal committee which concluded that Captain James Cook’s legacy is "complex", and that for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people his discovery of Australia’s east coast in 1770 was the beginning of colonisation. The report also estimated that changing the university’s name would cost between $4.8m and $12m and risk a backlash from donors. Rebranding JCU would require state parliament’s approval.

CORPORATES
JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY

In June Roy Morgan Business Confidence up slightly by 1.4 points to 77.5 – but still fourth lowest of all time

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Jul-26

In June 2026 Roy Morgan Business Confidence increased 1.4 points to 77.5, a slight recovery from the all-time record low in May of 76.1. However, Business Confidence during the June 2026 quarter was at a record low quarterly rating of only 76.7; this is 7.6 points below the previous quarterly low from the September 2020 quarter of 84.3. Business Confidence is also down 24.9 points from a year ago. Now 25.2% (up 1.2ppts) of respondents say their business is ‘better off’ financially than a year ago, while 44.9% (up 0.9ppts), say the business is ‘worse off’ (the highest figure for this indicator since December 2023). Just 26.1% of respondents (up 0.9ppts), said their business is ‘better off’ financially than a year ago, while 51.4% (up 6.5ppts), said the business is ‘worse off’ (the highest figure for this indicator since October 2020). Meanwhile, 33.4% (up 4.4ppts) of respondents expect the business to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 31.5% (down 2.6ppts) expect the business to be ‘worse off’.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED