O75 Public Administration

Rates on hold, as RBA chief flags more rises

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 4 : 6-Dec-23

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock has reiterated that returning inflation to the target range of 2-3 per cent within a reasonable timeframe is still the RBA board’s priority. She added that the board will do whatever is necessary to achieve that outcome, raising the prospect that there may be further official interest rate increases in 2024. The RBA’s decision to leave the cash rate on hold at 4.35 per cent on Tuesday had been widely expected, after five interest rate increases during the calendar year. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has welcomed the decision, noting that Australians did not need another rate rise before Christmas. He adds that encouraging progress is being made in the fight against inflation.

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

More than 870 Australian federal public servants acted corruptly over six years, investigation finds

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Original article by Henry Belot
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 6-Dec-23

The Australian Public Service Commission’s latest ‘state of the service’ report has highlighted the extent of misconduct within the nation’s bureaucracy. An internal investigation by the APSC has found that more than 870 public servants had acted corruptly between 2017-18 and 2022-23. It also shows that 162 public servants had acted dishonestly or without integrity in the last 12 months. Meanwhile, the APSC has established a new team to investigate serious misconduct allegations in response to the former Coalition government’s ‘robo-debt’ scandal.

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AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

Australia Post to end daily letter deliveries in a bid to avoid losses

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 6-Dec-23

The federal government will announce changes to Australia Post’s community service obligations on Wednesday. The overhaul will result in ordinary letters and unaddressed mail being delivered every second business day in 2024, although parcels, express and priority mail will still be delivered each day. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland says Australia Post’s business structure must reflect the needs of modern consumers; she notes that Australians are receiving fewer letters and more parcels. Australia Post recently booked a loss of $200m for the 2022-23 financial year.

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AUSTRALIA POST, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

Deeming launches defamation case against Pesutto

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Original article by Rachel Eddie
The Age – Page: Online : 6-Dec-23

Former Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming has filed a statement of claim in her defamation case against Opposition Leader John Pesutto. Deeming had issued Pesutto with three defamation concerns notices following her expulsion from the party room earlier in 2023, alleging that Pesutto had compared her to a Nazi sympathiser. Deeming subsequently confirmed her intention to pursue a defamation case after mediation talks failed in November. The push to oust Deeming from the Liberal party room began after she attended a Let Women Speak rally that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF VICTORIA

Fall in coal, gas exports to crimp growth

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Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 6-Dec-23

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the nation recorded a current account deficit of $0.2bn for the September quarter. It is just the second quarterly current account deficit since 2019, and follows a sharp fall in coal and LNG export volumes. The ABS estimates that a downturn in net exports will reduce GDP growth for the September quarter by about 0.6 percentage points. Annual growth is tipped to have fallen to 1.9 per cent; this would be the first time this has been below two per cent since the onset of the pandemic in 2020. The quarterly national accounts data will be released on Wednesday.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Labor’s preventive detention regime passes Senate as third freed immigration detainee arrested

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 6-Dec-23

The Senate has passed the federal government’s preventative detention laws, which were introduced in response to the High Court’s landmark ruling on indefinite immigration detention. The bill was supported by the Coalition, which moved a motion for the Senate to immediately vote on the laws following revelations that a third former immigration detainee has been arrested and charged just weeks after being released. The convicted child sex offender faces three counts of having contact with a juvenile and using social media and a live chat facility in breach of his reporting obligations. The other two former detainees have respectively been charged with indecent assault and drug possession. The lower house will vote on the legislation on Thursday.

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ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence virtually unchanged at 76.4 this week before the RBA met for the final time in 2023

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Dec-23

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 76.4 in the week to 3 December, but it has now spent a record 44 straight weeks below the mark of 85. Consumer Confidence is now 6.3pts below the same week a year ago (82.7), and over 1 point below the 2023 weekly average of 77.8. Consumer Confidence was up in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, but down in New South Wales and Western Australia. Now 19% of Australians (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 57% (up 2ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Looking forward, 32% (up 5ppts) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 36% (down 4ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’. Only 8% (unchanged) of Australians now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 39% (down 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 20% (down 3ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 54% (up 5ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Roy Morgan Business Confidence dropped 4.6pts to 85.8 in November – after the RBA raised interest rates again to 4.35%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Dec-23

In November 2023, Roy Morgan Business Confidence was 85.8 (down 4.6pts since October). Business Confidence has now spent a record 10 consecutive months below the neutral level of 100, the longest stretch in negative territory in the history of the index dating back to 2010. Business Confidence is now 25.5pts below the long-term average of 111.3. Businesses are worried about the performance of the Australian economy, with 64% expecting ‘bad times’ for the economy over the next year and 61% expecting ‘bad times’ for the economy over the next five years. Nevertheless, businesses remain relatively positive about their own prospects over the next year; 37.1% say they will be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, compared to only 27.0% that say they will be ‘worse off’ – a positive net rating of 10.1% points and still the only index in positive territory. The Roy Morgan Business Confidence results for November are based on 1,519 detailed interviews with a cross-section of Australian businesses from each State and Territory.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

RBA poised to deliver pre-Christmas cheer to hard-pressed borrowers

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Original article by Shane Wright
The Age – Page: Online : 5-Dec-23

Financial markets and economists generally expect the Reserve Bank of Australia to leave the cash rate unchanged at 4.35 per cent on Tuesday. The central bank has increased official interest rates by 1.25 percentage points during calendar 2023, and an end-of-year pause will be welcomed by Australians with home loans. Meanwhile, data from the ANZ Bank and Indeed suggests that the series of rate rises is starting to impact on the labour market, with the number of job advertisements falling by 4.6 per cent in November. Separate data supports the view that inflation is easing; the average price of unleaded petrol recently fell to its lowest level since August.

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, INDEED INCORPORATED

Chalmers hints at cost-of-living relief

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Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 5-Dec-23

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says households should not expect significant cost-of-living relief in the federal government’s mid-year update. However, he adds that the government may be open to further measures in its May 2024 Budget, depending on factors such as economic conditions at that time. Meanwhile, the national accounts data for the September quarter will be released on Wednesday; Chalmers says the data is likely to reflect the impact on economic growth of 13 interest rate rises since May 2022. The general consensus of economists is that the economy expanded by 0.4 per cent in the quarter.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY