O75 Public Administration

Strategy of the rebellion: Joyce to take on Chalmers

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Original article by Sarah Ison, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 17-Jun-26

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson will make her first National Press Club speech today, as the increasingly popular party prepares to allocate portfolios to its team of six MPs and senators. Former deputy prime minister and National Party defector Barnaby Joyce expects to be given the treasury portfolio; Joyce contends that he is best suited to take on Treasurer Jim Chalmers, given that he is a former accountant and served on the expenditure review committee when the Coalition was in office. Meanwhile, independent economist Saul Eslake has called for One Nation have its policies costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office; he says the party’s cost-of-living measures would not help to reduce the underlying inflation rate.

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ONE NATION PARTY, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA), NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE

Rate rise cycle not over yet: Bullock

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Original article by Matthew Cranston, Jack Quail
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 17-Jun-26

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has welcomed the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to leave the cash rate on hold at 4.35 per cent. Chalmers has attributed the monetary policy board’s unanimous decision to factors such as the federal government’s "responsible" budget and the US-Iran peace deal. However, RBA governor Michele Bullock has not ruled out further interest rate rises, noting that inflation remains high and the government’s budget tax reforms have resulted in increased uncertainty across the economy. Bullock adds that the RBA expects economic growth to slow but it is not forecasting a recession.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Pressure to stagger fuel excise increase

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Original article by Matthew Denholm
The Australian – Page: 5 : 17-Jun-26

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has indicated that the federal government will make a decision on extending the fuel excise reduction next week. The temporary halving of the excise to $0.263 per litre is slated to end on 30 June, and the Australian Trucking Association has called for the full tax to be phased in over three months to avoid a sudden spike in petrol prices. The Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association and the ServoPro industry body for independent service station operators also favour reinstating the full tax over a period of time.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN TRUCKING ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALASIAN CONVENIENCE AND PETROLEUM MARKETERS ASSOCIATION, SERVPRO

KPMG referred to national anti-Corruption watchdog

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Original article by David Ross
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 17-Jun-26

Greens senator Barbara Pocock has referred KPMG to the National Anti-Corruption Commission in response to the accounting firm’s audit scandal. Pocock is concerned that KPMG may have breached the Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct, while she contends that a temporary ban on new public contracts is inadequate. The three-month ban does not apply to extensions on existing contracts; KPMG holds some $653m worth of public contracts with the federal government. Pocock is a vocal critic of the nation’s four major accounting firms.

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KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence is virtually unchanged at 70.7 in mid-June

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 17-Jun-26

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 70.7 in mid-June, down 0.1pts from a week ago. However, Consumer Confidence is 14.7pts lower than a year ago (85.4), and just 0.4pts below the 2026 weekly average of 71.1. Analysis by State shows that Consumer Confidence increased in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, but was down in Queensland and Western Australia. Now just 17% of Australians (up 2ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 54% (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 21% (down 1ppt) of respondents expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 43% (unchanged) expect to be ‘worse off’. Only 6% (unchanged) of respondents expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 46% (up 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 19% (unchanged) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 44% (down 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Overall Australian unemployment and under-employment at over 3.2 million in May; Real Unemployment at 1.7 million

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 17-Jun-26

In May 2026, Australian ‘real’ unemployment rose 69,000 to 1,704,000 (10.7% of the workforce, up 0.6%), but under-employment dropped 136,000 to 1,503,000 (down 0.7% to 9.5%). In total, 3.21 million Australians (20.2% of the workforce) were either unemployed or under-employed in May. Roy Morgan estimates the overall workforce size (which adds together the employed and unemployed) at just under 15.9 million in May (15,860,000 to be exact, down 231,000 on a month ago, and representing 67.7% of Australians aged 14+). Employment was down 300,000 to 14,156,000 in May; this was driven by falls in both full-time employment (down 224,000 to 8,921,000) and part-time employment (down 76,000 to 5,235,000. Overall employment represents 60.4% of Australians aged 14+. The May Roy Morgan Unemployment estimates were obtained by surveying an Australia-wide cross section of people aged 14+.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Review puts top bureaucrats’ pay under spotlight

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Original article by Nicola Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 17-Jun-26

The independent Remuneration Tribunal is undertaking a 14-month review of senior federal public servants’ remuneration packages. It will assess the salaries of the top 26 bureaucrats, whose salaries range from $816,000 to $1,035,690 a year. The tribunal is seeking feedback from the public as to whether their salaries and benefits are "appropriate", and it recently completed the first public consultation phase of the review. Departmental secretaries are entitled to a range of benefits, including domestic airline lounge memberships, business-class airfares and relocation expenses if they do not live in Canberra.

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AUSTRALIA. REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL

Compo run for foreign criminals

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 11-Jun-26

The High Court has rejected the federal government’s argument that it should not be liable to pay compensation to people who were held in indefinite detention. The government had contended that it should have immunity from compensation claims arising from the court’s landmark 2023 ruling in the ‘NZYQ’ case that indefinite detention is unlawful. More than 300 foreign-born criminals were released into the community as a result of that ruling. Legal experts warn that in addition to this cohort, asylum-seekers and refugees who were held in detention could also be entitled to compensation.

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HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

One Nation’s incredibly sloppy financial reports reveal more than $1m in missing or worthless assets

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Original article by Sarah Martin
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 11-Jun-26

Professor Matthew Pinnuck from the University of Melbourne says the quality of One Nation’s financial statements is "very poor and unprofessional", and raises questions about the party’s fitness for government. Professor Pinnuck’s comments are based on his assessment of the financial returns that One Nation lodged with Queensland’s Office of Fair Trading from 2016 to 2022; he says the financial statements show that One Nation had been bought and sold substantial assets over this period, but they had not been recorded on the party’s balance sheet. One Nation has not filed annual returns with the Office of Fair Trading since 2022.

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ONE NATION PARTY, QUEENSLAND. OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence increased 2 points to 70.8 in early June – first time above 70 since early March

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Jun-26

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose 2 points to 70.8 in the week to 7 June; this is the first time the index has been above the mark of 70 for over two months. However, Consumer Confidence is 15.9pts lower than a year ago (86.7), and just 0.4pts below the 2026 weekly average of 71.2. Analysis by State shows that Consumer Confidence increased in New South Wales, and Queensland, but was down slightly in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia. Now just 15% of Australians (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 55% (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 22% (up 4ppts) of respondents expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 43% (unchanged) expect to be ‘worse off’. Only 6% (unchanged) of respondents expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 45% (up 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, just 19% (up 3ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 45% (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