O75 Public Administration

Roy Morgan Federal voting intention poll is unchanged this week: ALP 51% cf. L-NP 49%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Dec-23

Roy Morgan’s latest Federal voting intention survey shows support for the ALP is unchanged at 51% on a two-party preferred basis; support for the Coalition is also unchanged at 49%. The ALP’s primary vote has fallen by 2% from a week ago to 30.5%, while the Coalition’s primary vote is down 0.5% to 37%. However, the Greens are up 1.5% to 14% and One Nation is unchanged on 5%. Support for Independents dropped 1% to 7.5%, but support for Other Parties increased by 2% to 6%. The latest Roy Morgan survey is based on interviewing a representative cross-section of 1,719 Australian electors from December 4-10. Further details will be released in Roy Morgan’s weekly video update presented by Roy Morgan 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

Family businesses face union delegate threat

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Original article by Robert Gottliebsen
The Australian – Page: 21 : 12-Dec-23

The elements of the Closing Loopholes Bill that were recently passed by federal parliament include provisions that will subject the majority of family businesses to compulsory union power. Any family business that employs a union member needs to be aware of these provisions, as they give the union the power to declare that employee as a union delegate; multiple delegates can also be appointed to the same business. The obligations of these union delegates will be determined by the Fair Work Commission, but they will almost certainly include the way the family business is conducted. Employers must not in any way restrict the delegate in carrying out his or her duties, and must ensure that they receive training in carrying out these duties.

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AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Overseas student numbers expected to drop by 100,000

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Original article by Julie Hare
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 12-Dec-23

Experts say the federal government’s new visa requirements on international students will help to ‘weed’ out people who are seeking to use the student visa system as a ‘back door’ to the Australian jobs market. Internal government estimates indicate that the new requirements could see the number of foreign students coming to Australia to study fall by around 70,000, while 38,000 graduates could find themselves being sent home for failing to meet English-language tests.

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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