O75 Public Administration

Push for Cup public holiday alarms business

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 9-Aug-23

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox is among the business leaders who have expressed concern about a proposal for a public holiday if the Matildas win the FIFA Women’s World Cup. He says businesses will face additional costs at a time when the economy is already under pressure. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese intends to raise the issue of a public holiday at the national cabinet meeting next week, and is confident that state and territory leaders will support the proposal. The World Cup final will be held in Sydney on 20 August.

CORPORATES
FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, MATILDAS, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Voice ‘won’t fill heritage law void’

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Original article by Paige Taylor, Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 9-Aug-23

Western Australian Premier Roger Cook has apologised for his government’s ill-fated Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act, which will be repealed just five weeks after taking effect. He concedes that the controversial laws had "unintentionally caused stress, confusion and division in the community". Cook adds that the intent of the legislation was to "prevent another Juukan Gorge", but the government had got the balance wrong. WA will revert to the 1972 cultural heritage laws, which will be amended to include provisions such as giving traditional owners the right of appeal. Meanwhile, Indigenous leader Tom Calma says the proposed Voice to parliament will have a federal focus and will not advise on state cultural heritage issues unless a state approaches it for such advice.

CORPORATES
WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Labor’s left turn on Israel

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 9-Aug-23

The federal government has revealed a change in its official policy on Israel ahead of Labor’s upcoming national conference in Brisbane. A caucus meeting endorsed the policy change on Tuesday, with Labor to now recognise the West Bank and Gaza as ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’; Israeli settlements will in turn be described as ‘illegal’ under international law. Foreign Minister Penny Wong says the policy shift is in line with previous federal governments and UN Security Council resolutions, while she adds that Australia remains a "committed friend of Israel". Labor has previously reversed the former Coalition government’s decision to recognise West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence drops 3.4pts to 75.0 – as perceptions of personal finances deteriorate

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Aug-23

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 3.4pts to 75.0 in the week to 6 August, fully erasing the gains of the previous week. Consumer Confidence has now spent a record 23 straight weeks below the mark of 80, beating the all-time record of five months from September 1990 to January 1991 when the index was conducted on a monthly rather than a weekly basis. Consumer Confidence is now 5.3pts below the same week a year ago (80.3), and 3.2pts below the 2023 weekly average of 78.2. Consumer Confidence was down in all five mainland States. Now 17% of Australians (down 3ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while a new record high majority of 57% (up 4ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Some 28% (down 5ppts) of Australians now expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 38% (up 4ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Only 6% (down 1ppt) of Australians now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 38% (unchanged) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 19% (down 2ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 54% (unchanged) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Lowe: we are on way to taming inflation

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 2-Aug-23

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to leave the cash rate unchanged at 4.1 per cent on Tuesday will be a "welcome reprieve" for people who are "doing it tough". He adds that while inflation is falling, it is still too high. RBA governor Philip Lowe has also acknowledged that consumer price growth remains too high, but says the recent data is consistent with inflation returning to the target range of 2-3 per cent over time. Lowe adds that a second successive pause will give the RBA more time to assess the impact of the rate rises to date, as well as the economic outlook.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

New Zealand: National/Act NZ on 47.5% are set for a majority of seats at this year’s New Zealand election

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Aug-23

The latest Roy Morgan New Zealand Poll shows that support for the Labour/Greens coalition government fell 5% points to 35% in July. Support for Labour was down 4.5% points to 26% (the lowest level of support for Labour so far this year), while support for the Greens fell 0.5% points to 9% (the lowest support for the party since August 2022). Support for the National Party rose 3.5% points to 33.5%, while support for Act NZ was down 1% point to 14%. Support for a right-leaning potential National/Act NZ coalition was up 2.5% points at 47.5% in July. The results for July show further increases in support for minor parties outside the ‘big four’, up 2.5% points to 17.5% in total. This New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll on voting intention was conducted by telephone – both landline and mobile – with a New Zealand-wide cross-section of 955 electors during July. Meanwhile, the Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating fell 15.5pts to a record low of 68.5 in July.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, LABOUR PARTY (NEW ZEALAND), GREEN PARTY OF AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND, NATIONAL PARTY OF NEW ZEALAND, ACT NEW ZEALAND

‘Steps to treaty this term’: Labor’s actual agenda

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Original article by Sarah Ison, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 2-Aug-23

The federal government is under growing scrutiny over its policy agenda if the referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament succeeds. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently stated that the voice is not about a treaty with Indigenous Australians. However, Labor’s latest draft national policy platform states that the party supports all elements of the Uluru Statement from the Heart – including a Makarrata commission for agreement-making – in the current term of government. An earlier draft did not include any time frame or a specific reference to the Makarrata commission. Opposition leader Peter Dutton says Labor will have to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full, given that Albanese has committed to doing so at least 34 times.

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

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence jumps 3.2pts to 78.4 – biggest two week jump since April 2020 after inflation softens

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Aug-23

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose 3.2pts to 78.4 in the week to 30 July, to its highest since late April. However, Consumer Confidence has now spent 22 straight weeks below the mark of 80, equalling the all-time record from September 1990 to January 1991 when the index was conducted on a monthly rather than a weekly basis. Consumer Confidence is now 5.7pts below the same week a year ago (84.1), and just 0.1pts above the 2023 weekly average of 78.3. Consumer Confidence was up in NSW, Victoria and SA, but down slightly in Queensland and WA. Now 20% of Australians (unchanged) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 53% (also unchanged) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Some 33% (up 3ppts) of Australians now expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year (the highest figure for this indicator since February 2023), while 34% (down 2ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Only 7% (up 1ppt) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 38% (down 2ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 21% (up 3ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 54% (down 3ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Labor’s IR push driven by myths, slogans: AiGroup

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 2-Aug-23

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox contends that the federal government’s second tranche of industrial relations reforms will not help to boost productivity. He will use a National Press Club speech on Wednesday to argue that many of the proposed reforms are in fact "anti-productivity". Willox will also argue that the government’s IR agenda is focused on slogans such as ‘get wages moving’ and ‘same job, same pay’, when its priority should be to reduce the complexity of the IR system. Willox says a simpler and more transparent workplace system should be the goal.

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA)

No cost-benefit analysis done for $2b in legacy Games projects

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Original article by Rachel Eddie
The Age – Page: Online : 26-Jul-23

The Victorian government is under scrutiny over its plans to proceed with $2bn worth of Commonwealth Games-related infrastructure in regional areas. Premier Daniel Andrews has admitted that the government has not done a cost-benefit analysis of the expenditure on new social and affordable housing and upgraded sports facilities in regions that were to have hosted Games events. He contends that such an analysis is not necessary, as it is "common sense" that an increase in affordable housing is needed in regional Victoria. National Party senator Bridget McKenzie says she is shocked but not surprised that the state government has not undertaken a cost-benefit analysis, adding that the $2bn investment will not be sufficient to address problems in regional Victoria.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA