O75 Public Administration

Coalition to tackle ATO over debt hits

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Thomas Henry
The Australian – Page: 4 : 28-Oct-26

The Australian Taxation Office’s automated system for recovering outstanding tax debts will come under scrutiny at a Senate estimates hearing today. Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson says small business owners are being targeted by the ATO’s "supercharged" automatic collection scheme and being threatened with fines of up up to 200 per cent plus interest charges, but with no evidence of misconduct. Data from Tax Ombudsman Ruth Owen shows that there was a 74 per cent increase in complaints about the ATO’s tax debt collection procedures in the six months to September, compared with the same period in 2025.

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AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

‘Worst place to do business’: BCA boss

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Original article by Anthony Galloway, Lily McCaffrey
The Australian – Page: 2 : 28-Oct-26

The Business Council of Australia’s fourth annual Regulation Rumble report has put Victoria under scrutiny ahead of next month’s state election. The report found that Victoria is the worst place to do business across all Australian jurisdictions, a distinction it has retained for a third consecutive year. The BCA’s CEO Bran Black notes amongst other things that Victoria has the nation’s highest unemployment rate in the nation, as well as high taxes and unnecessary regulation that makes it harder for businesses to invest, grow and create jobs. He adds that the same problems that were identified in the 2025 report still exist, citing issues such as payroll taxes, property taxes and business licensing.

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BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Dementia deaths surpass one in 10 to remain Australia’s leading cause of death

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Original article by Ahmed Yussuf
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 28-Oct-26

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that a total of 188,421 deaths were registered nationwide in 2025. Dementia – including Alzheimer’s disease – has been the leading cause of death in Australia since 2024, and it accounted for more than 19,000 registered deaths last year. The ABS’s head of mortality statistics Lauren Moran notes that it is the first time dementia has accounted for more than 10 per cent of all deaths in Australia. Ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular diseases, lung cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases were the other major causes of death in Australia during 2025.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Greens promise tax cuts for all – but not the resource sector

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Original article by Shane Wright
The Age – Page: Online : 28-Oct-26

Australian Greens leader David Shoebridge will use today’s National Press Club speech to call for income tax relief. He will propose increasing the tax-free threshold from $18,200 to $26,000; the cost of the tax cuts would be offset by making changes to resource rent taxes and imposing a tax of 25 per cent on gas exports. Shoebridg will contend that the majority of workers would receive a tax cut of about $1,000 each year, while the new taxes on gas and mining companies would raise some $45bn a year. Shoebridge will also propose increasing welfare payments by $1,000 a year.

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AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Victorian State Voting Intention: One Nation and L-NP Coalition set to win key seats of Bass, Hastings, Morwell and Pakenham

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Oct-26

A special Roy Morgan SMS Poll of 283 electors in four key seats in Eastern Victoria – Bass, Hastings, Morwell and Pakenham – shows that One Nation and the L-NP Coalition are set to win all four seats at next month’s state election. Bass, Hastings, and Pakenham are currently held by the ALP Government, and Morwell is held by the Nationals. The Liberal Party is expected win the seat of Bass, but One Nation is in prime position to win the seats of Hastings, Morwell, and Pakenham. The contest between the parties in outer suburban and regional areas – in which One Nation is performing strongly – will be key to determining the result of the election and whether there will be a majority or minority government. In many electorates the party finishing third is crucial to determining which of the top two parties go on to win the seat. The strong performance of One Nation in key regional seats like Hastings, Morwell, and Pakenham suggests the party can win many seats in regional and rural areas even if their state-wide primary vote falls below that of the Coalition and ALP.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF VICTORIA, ONE NATION PARTY

PM admits $6m Marrickville Golf Club grant is not for sewage fixes

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Original article by Jake Evans
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 28-Oct-26

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is under renewed scrutiny over a federal government grant of $6m for upgrades at the Marrickville Golf Club, which is in his electorate of Grayndler. Albanese had promised the grant during the 2025 election campaign, and he recently told parliament that the taxpayer funding was to stop raw sewage flooding into Cooks River. However, Infrastructure Department officials have told a Senate estimates hearing that the grant did not include any sewerage works, and will primarily be used to fund a major redevelopment of the clubhouse. Albanese subsequently told parliament that the NSW government will pay for the sewage remediation work.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, MARRICKVILLE GOLF CLUB, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence virtually unchanged at 67.9 in late October; fourth straight week below 70

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Oct-26

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 67.9 in the week to 25 October. However, Consumer Confidence is now 17.9pts lower than a year ago (85.8), and just 4pts below the 2026 weekly average of 71.9. Analysis by State shows that Consumer Confidence has increased slightly in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, but decreased slightly in Victoria. Now 16% of Australians (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 52% (down 4ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 19% (down 1ppt) of respondents expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 42% (down 2ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’. Only 5% (unchanged) of respondents expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next year, while 47% (down 2ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 14% (down 3ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 48% (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

Economic sadism if RBA hikes: union

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Original article by Greg Brown, Matthew Cranston
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Oct-26

Quarterly inflation data to be released today is likely to be a key factor in the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision on interest rates next week. The general consensus of economists is that the RBA’s preferred measure of underlying inflation rose by one per cent in the September quarter and 3.6 per cent in the year to September; the headline inflation rate is in turn forecast to have risen by 0.7 per cent in the quarter, with an annual rate of 4.2 per cent. The Health Services Union’s national secretary Dustin Halse contends that the cash rate should be left on hold. He says interest rates are a "blunt instrument" and the RBA has "misdiagnosed" the causes of inflation.

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, HEALTH SERVICES UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Chalmers faces $11b budget hole

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Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 21-Oct-26

The recent rise in bond yields will add to government borrowing costs, which was not factored into the federal or state budgets for 2026. The federal Treasury had already forecast a $64.1bn headline budget deficit for 2026-27 prior to the increase in bond yields, and the government will have to achieve some $11bn worth of spending cuts to prevent a much larger deficit. Treasurer Jim Chalmers recently advised that the upcoming mid-year budget update will include a savings package. HSBC’s chief economist Paul Bloxham says the government should consider reducing off-budget spending, which is forecast to exceed $32bn in 2026-27.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY,{STORE}HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Victorian spends like pandemic never went away

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Original article by Sumeyya Ilanbey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 21-Oct-26

The Victorian government’s spending as a proportion of gross state product has averaged 19.5 per cent annually since it peaked at 20.12 per cent in fiscal 2022. The 2026 budget papers show that this is not projected to fall to the pre-Covid average of 13.2 per cent over the forward estimates period; it will instead still be 16.9 per cent in four years’ time. Martin Codina, the executive director of economic advocacy group Amplify, warns that the state’s financial position will become even more precarious unless spending and the budget are returned to sustainable levels.

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AMPLIFY PTY LTD