O75 Public Administration

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence drops 3.2 points to 80.3 – the lowest so far this year

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

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 3.2 points to 80.3 in the week to 21 April, and the index has now spent a record 64 straight weeks below the mark of 85. Consumer Confidence is now only 2.3 points above the same week a year ago (78.0), and 2.5 points below the 2024 weekly average of 82.8. Consumer Confidence was down in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia, but up in Western Australia. Now 18% of Australians (down 4ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 51% (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 30% (down 3ppts) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year (the lowest figure for this indicator so far this year), while 35% (up 2ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’ (the highest figure for this indicator so far this year). Now just 9% (down 2ppts) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 35% (up 2ppts) expect ‘bad times’ (the highest figure for this indicator so far this year). Meanwhile, 23% (unchanged) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 47% (also unchanged) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Security chiefs to target tech giants

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 24-Apr-24

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s director-general Mike Burgess and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw will jointly address the National Press Club on Wednesday. They will urge technology companies to work with law enforcement and intelligence agenies to combat the use of their platforms by criminals and extremists. They are particularly concerned about the use of end-to-end encryption services such as Facebook Messenger and Telegram to disseminate racist and other harmful information and ideologies. Burgess has also warned that artificial intelligence technology will facilitate national security threats such as espionage, foreign interference and radicalisation.

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AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE

PM betraying Hawke reforms

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Apr-24

Former prime minister John Howard has criticised the federal government’s Future Made in Australia policy. Howard has likened the policy to the "new protectionism" that had been derided by former Labor prime minister Bob Hawke more than three decades ago, and describes it as a betrayal of the reforms undertaken by the Hawke and Keating governments. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described critics of the policy as "flat earthers", but Howard says Albanese "is a flat-earther with the best of them".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

‘Out of control’: Meta has Whitlam as our No.1 PM

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Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian – Page: 4 : 23-Apr-24

Shadow communications minister David Coleman has criticised Meta Platforms after it released the latest version of its artificial intelligence tool. When asked to rank Australia’s best prime ministers, the Meta tool listed Gough Whitlam first, despite the former Labor leader being the nation’s only prime minister to have been sacked by the governor-general. Malcolm Turnbull was the only Liberal prime minister in the AI tool’s list of the nation’s top five leaders. Coleman has accused Meta of either "deliberate bias or gross incompetence". Former Victorian Liberal Party president Michael Kroger says the results demonstrate a "strong left wing bias" at Meta, and show that technology companies should be regulated in the same way as conventional media.

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META PLATFORMS INCORPORATED, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

ALP regains two-party preferred lead as Coalition loses ground: ALP 52% cf. L-NP 48%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Apr-24

In a week that saw Israeli strikes on Iran which had the potential to set off a wider war in the Middle East, two knife attacks in Sydney, and the judgment handed down against Bruce Lehrmann, the Labor Government has regained the lead with support up 3% to 52% to be ahead of the Coalition on 48% (down 3%) on a two-party preferred basis. If a Federal Election were held now the ALP would be re-elected with a slim majority as they have now, the latest Roy Morgan survey shows. Primary support for the ALP increased 0.5% to 30.5% but is still behind the Coalition on 35.5%, down 3%. A look at the support by gender shows women’s support for the Coalition dropped significantly this week – by nearly 4% to only 32% after Justice Michael Lee handed down his judgment in the Lehrmann case. Men’s support for the Coalition was down 2.5% to 39%. Support for the Greens returned to, and marginally exceeded, its highs of two weeks ago, up 2.5% to 16% while One Nation was unchanged at 5.5%. Support for Independents was unchanged at 7.5% and support for Other Parties was unchanged at 5%. The latest Roy Morgan survey is based on interviewing a representative cross-section of 1,617 Australian electors from April 15-21, 2024. When comparing different polls it is always important to make sure to take note of the dates when the polls are conducted to undertake a proper comparison between two polls. Further details will be released in Roy Morgan’s weekly video update presented by CEO Michele Levine.

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

3pc wage rises may be new norm: NAB

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Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 23-Apr-24

Annual productivity growth averaged 1.2 per cent in the decade prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but National Australia Bank believes that productivity growth is likely to average 0.5 per in coming years. The mining investment boom was a major driver of pre-pandemic productivity growth, and NAB senior economist Taylor Nugent contends that returning to this level of growth would require a substantial rise in non-mining productivity. NAB warns that lower productivity growth means that workers should expect annual pay increases of no more than three per cent in coming years.

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NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Economy, rates in a holding pattern

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 15 : 23-Apr-24

Deloitte Access Economics has claimed that the Australian economy is in a "holding pattern", while it does not expect the Reserve Bank to move on interest rates until November. Deloitte states that inflation is beginning to recede, while it expects around 100,000 people will lose their jobs by the end of the year, lifting the unemployment rate to 4.6 per cent. It notes that the revamped stage three tax cuts will take effect in the second half of the year, boosting disposable income, but that the housing crisis remains a concern.

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DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

China rebuff in PM’s Anzac Day PNG push

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 23-Apr-24

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived in Port Moresby ahead of a week of Anzac Day commemorations, with Albanese and PNG Prime Minister James Marape to walk part of the Kokoda Trail during his visit. Speaking at PNG’s parliament, Albanese said that Pacific nations should be "free to pursue their own destiny and secure their own future", with his visit just days after China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticised jostling for regional influence, with Wang claiming that Pacific countries "are not the backyard" of any nation".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Anti-Israel ACTU stirs Jewish fury

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Original article by John Ferguson, Damon Johnston
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 23-Apr-24

The ACTU has called on the federal government to cease military trade with Israel, provide Gaza and the West Bank with a further $100 million in aid, and enforce targeted sanctions against Israeli government officials. It represents the ACTU’s strongest statement on the Israel-Hamas conflict since it began in October; its timing has angered the Jewish community, given that it has been issued on the eve of the holy festival of Passover. Commenting on the statement, Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler says the ACTU appears to be living in an ‘alternative reality’ that ignores the fact that the conflict was started by Hamas, and that it is still holding 130 hostages.

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ACTU, ZIONIST FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIA

PM calls for unity amid the unease

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 5 : 17-Apr-24

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened a meeting of cabinet’s National Security Committee on Tuesday morning in response to the stabbing of a Christian bishop, which has been designated a terrorist attack by NSW police. Albanese says the attack is being investigated by a joint counter-terrorism team. He has urged Australians to unite, and stressed that respect for each other must be maintained at all times. ASIO’s director-general Mike Burgess says the terrorist attack appears to be religiously motivated, but he adds that the 16-year-old perpetrator seems to have acted alone. Burgess also says Australia’s terrorism threat level remains at ‘possible’.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, asio see AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION