O75 Public Administration

ALP increases lead Federally as the Albanese Government easily wins the Dunkley by-election

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Mar-24

Support for the ALP has increased 3.5% to 53.5% to put the party well ahead of the Coalition on 46.5% (down 3.5%) on a two-party preferred basis. If a Federal Election was held now the Albanese Government would be returned with an increased majority, the latest Roy Morgan survey shows. There was a swing to the ALP in all six States, with the biggest swings in NSW and Victoria, largely reversing the result of a week ago. The swing to the ALP came after the ABS announced lower than expected inflation in January of 3.4% last week – all but removing the chance of an interest rate rise in mid-March and a definite positive for the Government. The ALP also retained the seat of Dunkley despite a swing of 3.6% to the Coalition. Meanwhile, primary support for the Coalition was down 1.5% to 36.5%, while support for the ALP recovered (up 2.5% to 34%); also helping the ALP was an increase in Greens support, up 1.5% to 13.5% and a decrease in One Nation support, down 1.5% to 3.5%. Support for Independents & Other Parties was down 1% to 12.5%. The latest Roy Morgan survey is based on interviewing a representative cross-section of 1,679 Australian electors from February 26 – March 3. Further details will be released in Roy Morgan’s weekly video update presented by CEO Michele Levine.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

PM pledges $2b green energy fund

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 5 : 5-Mar-24

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will announce on Tuesday that the federal government will establish a $2 billion finance facility to help fund green energy and infrastructure investment in South-East Asia. The facility is one of five recommendations by special envoy to South-East Asia Nicholas Moore that the government will adopt and announce on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit. Moore told the summit on Monday that South-East Asia will need an estimated 454 gigawatts of additional generation capacity between 2021 and 2050; he said that much of the extra capacity will need to come from renewable energy sources.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH-EAST ASIAN NATIONS

Inflation Expectations in late February are at 5.1% – unchanged from the month of January (5.1%)

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Feb-24

The latest weekly Inflation Expectations are at 5.1% for the week of February 19-25, which is in line with the average so far this year of 5.1% and unchanged from the month of January. A look at the monthly Inflation Expectations for January 2024 shows the measure at 5.1% for the month, a decrease of 0.2% points on December 2023 (5.3%). In the month of January 2024 Australians expected inflation of 5.1% annually over the next two years – the lowest monthly figure for Inflation Expectations s since February 2022. Since January ended, Inflation Expectations have stabilised within a narrow band over the last few weeks. Inflation Expectations are following a similar trend as the broader official inflation measure. The latest ABS monthly CPI estimate for December 2023 of 3.4% is down 0.9% from November, and down 2.2% points since September (5.6%). The sharp drop in the official inflation readings has raised hopes the RBA will not undertake any further interest rate increases. The ABS will release the January monthly inflation readings later this week which will inform the RBA’s actions at its next meeting in mid-March. The data for the Inflation Expectations series is drawn from the Roy Morgan Single Source, which has interviewed an average of around 5,100 Australians aged 14+ per month over the last decade, and includes interviews with 6,032 Australians aged 14+ in January 2024.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Negative gearing change can win support: Greens

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 28-Feb-24

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told a meeting of Labor’s caucus that legislation to establish the Help to Buy shared equity scheme for home buyers is expected to be passed by the lower house this week. However, the said the bill is likely to be blocked in the Senate by the Liberal Party and the Greens. Meanwhile, the Greens have signalled that they are open to a compromise on negative gearing in return for supporting the Help to Buy scheme. The party has proposed restricting negative gearing to existing investment properties, and progressively scrapping the regime for people who buy additional properties.

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

Female-focused businesses among worst for pay equity

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Original article by Jenna Clarke, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 5 : 28-Feb-24

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s landmark report shows that there is a significant gender pay gap at some companies whose products are primarily targeted at women. The report shows that the national median gender pay gap is 14 per cent; however, the gender pay gap is 44.5 per cent at bikini brand Seafolly and 36.3 per cent at female-focused activewear label Lorna Jane. Likewise, the gender pay gap at jewellery retailer Lovisa is 26.4 per cent. Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley says it is unacceptable that some big-name brands make profits off the products they market to women while not having pay parity in their own workforces.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. WORKPLACE GENDER EQUALITY AGENCY, SEAFOLLY, LORNA JANE EXERCISE WEAR PTY LTD, LOVISA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LOV, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Vaccine ruling just tip of the iceberg

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Original article by Ellie Dudley, Lydia Lynch
The Australian – Page: 3 : 28-Feb-24

The Supreme Court of Queensland has ruled that the state government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for frontline workers such as police officers and paramedics was unlawful. More than 70 such workers pursued legal action against the government, contending amongst other things that requiring them to be vaccinated at the peak of the pandemic was a breach of their human rights. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says the frontline workers had been "vindicated", while legal experts believe that the Queensland ruling may set a precedent for similar cases in other states.

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SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND, ONE NATION PARTY

‘Every taxpayer wins’: PM hails stage three victory

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Feb-24

The federal government’s changes to the legislated stage-three personal income tax were passed by the Senate with bipartisan support on Tuesday night. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese contends that 84 per cent of Australians will get a bigger tax cut than they would have via the original version of the former Coalition government’s tax package. The government can be expected to capitalise on the stage-three changes in the final days of campaigning for the Dunkley by-election; Albanese says the changes are a win for "every single taxpayer" in the Melbourne electorate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence virtually unchanged at 83.2 in late February

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Feb-24

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 83.2 in the week to 25 February; the index has now spent a record 56 straight weeks below the mark of 85. Consumer Confidence is now 3.2 points above the same week a year ago (80.0), but 0.4 points below the 2024 weekly average of 83.6. Consumer Confidence was up in Victoria and Western Australia, down in Queensland and South Australia, and virtually unchanged in New South Wales. Now 20% of Australians (unchanged) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 53% (up 3ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 33% (unchanged) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 32% (down 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’. Now 10% (unchanged) of Australians now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 29% (down 2ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 20% (down 3ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 48% (down 2ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Keep lid on the minimum wage, business urges

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Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 27-Feb-24

Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO Andrew McKellar says the inflation outlook means it is likely to seek a lower increase in the minimum than the 3.5 per cent rise that it advocated in 2023. The Fair Work Commission increased the minimum wage and award rates by 5.75 per cent in 2023, which was the largest increase in more than a decade. Jarden’s chief economist Carlos Cacho says the minimum wage ruling could be a key factor in the outlook for wages in 2024.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, JARDEN AND COMPANY

Named: the big businesses with (very) large gender pay gaps

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Original article by Helen Trinca
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 27-Feb-24

Landmark data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency shows that the national total median remuneration gender pay gap is 19 per cent across private sector businesses with more than 100 employees. The base salary gap is in turn 14.5 per cent. However, the gender pay gap is more than 50 per cent at 37 companies, while women are paid 40-50 per cent less than their male colleagues at 107 companies. The data shows that Macquarie Group, Telstra and Woodside Energy are among the large companies that have a significant gender pay gap. WGEA CEO Mary Wooldridge says employers ignore gender gaps at their peril, while Minister for Women Katy Gallagher says the gender pay gap costs the economy $51.8bn a year. The WGEA’s gender pay gap data in 2025 will include public sector employers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. WORKPLACE GENDER EQUALITY AGENCY, MACQUARIE ADVANCED INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX WDS