O75 Public Administration

Wesfarmers warns on wages, jobs

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Original article by John Kehoe, Carrie LaFrenz, James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 31-May-23

Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy has told a Senate estimates hearing that there are no signs that a wage-price spiral is emerging in Australia. He added that it is usual for wages growth to accelerate during an upswing in the economic cycle. Meanwhile, Wesfarmers CEO Rob Scott has warned that increasing the minimum wage by more than five per cent would deter businesses from investing and taking on additional staff. He adds that other risks to the economy include the federal government’s second tranche of industrial relations reforms and the Victorian government’s payroll tax changes. The Fair Work Commission is slated to announce its decision on the minimum wage increase on Friday.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES

New Zealand: National/Act NZ on 45% are just ahead of Labour/Greens on 43% in May; but neither is set for a majority

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 31-May-23

The latest Roy Morgan New Zealand Poll shows that support for the Labour/Greens coalition government rose 1% points to 43% in May. Support for Labour was up 1% to 31%, while support for the Greens was unchanged at 12%. Support for the National Party was down 0.5% points to 31.5% (its lowest level of support since December 2021), while support for Act NZ was up 1% point to 13.5%. Support for a right-leaning potential National/Act NZ coalition rose 0.5% points to 45%. The results for May continue to show that the New Zealand Election later in 2023 is on a knife-edge, with the crossbench set to determine who will form the next Government. 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 952 electors during May. Meanwhile, the Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating was unchanged at 80 in May, equal to its lowest level since former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern resigned in January.

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

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence down 1.1pts to 76.2 – back to the level of two weeks ago in early May

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 31-May-23

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 1.1pts to 76.2 in the week to 28 May. Consumer Confidence has now spent 13 straight weeks below the mark of 80, the longest stretch below 80 since the index began being conducted on a weekly rather than a monthly basis in October 2008. Consumer Confidence is now 14.5pts below the same week a year ago (90.7), and 3.8pts below the 2023 weekly average of 80.0. Consumer Confidence reversed last week’s results and was down in Victoria, Queensland, WA and SA, but up in NSW. Now 18% of Australians (unchanged) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 53% (up 4ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Some 29% (down 1ppt) of Australians now expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 35% (down 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Only 7% (down 1ppt) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 40% (up 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 19% (up 2ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 54% (up 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

New IR laws won’t hurt tradies, minister vows

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 25-May-23

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has emphasised that tradespersons and subcontractors in the construction industry will not be significantly affected by the federal government’s second tranche of industrial relations reforms. Burke says the new minimum standards for ’employee-like’ independent contractors will apply only to gig economy workers. His comments have been welcomed by Master Builders Australia’s acting CEO Shaun Schmitke; however, he says the government should make it explicitly clear that the legislation will be limited to gig-economy workers and provide an undertaking to exclude other industries before the legislation is introduced.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Land tax changes won’t drive up rents: Andrews

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Original article by Broede Carmody, Rachel Eddie, Jim Malo
The Age – Page: Online : 25-May-23

The Victorian government continues to attract scrutiny over the Covid debt reduction measures in its 23 May budget, which include a land tax on residential investment properties. Premier Daniel Andrews contends that landlords will not seek to recoup the cost of the new tax by increasing their rent charges, although the Centre for Independent Studies’ chief economist Peter Tulip argues that many landlords have relatively thin margins and will need to increase their rents. Treasurer Tim Pallas has indicated that the state government may consider options such as capping rent increases, although he has ruled out a rent freeze. Family homes will be exempt from the land tax.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, VICTORIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, THE CENTRE FOR INDEPENDENT STUDIES LIMITED

Morrison government paid corrupt businessman millions for offshore processing on Nauru

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Original article by Ben Doherty, Rafqa Touma
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 25-May-23

The former Coalition government is under scrutiny over its awarding of contracts to provide offshore processing facilities for asylum-seekers on Nauru. The Senate estimates committee has queried why the Coalition had failed to disclose that it had renewed a contract with Mozammil Gulamabbas Bhojani’s Radiance International group after the businessman had been convicted of bribing two Nauru government officials. Radiance’s contract was worth $17.5m, and continued to be paid until May 2022, nearly two years after Bhojani was given a suspended jail sentence. Its initial contract in 2016 was worth $2.5m, and had been disclosed on the AusTender website.

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RADIANCE INTERNATIONAL

Underpayment rife among migrant workers

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Original article by Tom McIlroy, Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 24-May-23

Research from the Grattan Institute has concluded that up to 16 per cent of recent migrants to Australia are being paid less than the minimum wage. This equates to around 82,000 workers; the research also suggests that up to 42,000 recent migrants are being underpaid by at least $3 an hour. Migrant workers were found to be vulnerable to many forms of exploitation apart from wage underpayment, such as unpaid leave, superannuation and penalty rates, cash-back arrangements, racism and sexual harassment. The Institute has made 27 recommendations to protect workers from exploitation.

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GRATTAN INSTITUTE

ASIO: Voice campaign may trigger violence

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Original article by Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 2 : 24-May-23

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s director-general Mike Burgess has raised concern about the national security implications of the referendum on an Indigenous Voice to parliament. He has told a Senate estimates hearing that the referendum may lead to some protests and counter-protests, and that this could result in "spontaneous violence". Burgess also said that there is currently no evidence at present to suggest the potential for a terrorist attack or foreign interference in the referendum process, but cautions that such risks cannot be ruled out.

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AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION

Australia’s economy is in better shape than most: Fitch

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Original article by Cecile Lefort
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 24-May-23

Fitch Ratings expects the Australian economy to expand by just 1.5 per cent in 2023, slightly below the Reserve Bank’s forecast of 1.7 per cent growth. However, Fitch contends that the domestic economy is better-placed than most developed nations to cope with rising borrowing costs and slowing economic activity; this includes the other 10 nations that still have an AAA rating from the three major rating agencies. Fitch cites a number of factors in Australia’s favour, including a high level of household savings in the wake of the pandemic, exports to China and an increase in net overseas migration in coming years.

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FITCH RATINGS LIMITED

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence up 1.4pts to 77.3 – recovering some of the post-RBA interest rate increase slump

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

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose 1.4pts to 77.3 in the week to 21 May. The index has now spent 12 straight weeks below the mark of 80; the last time Consumer Confidence spent at least 12 weeks below the mark of 80 was during the 1990-91 recession, when the index was conducted on a monthly rather than a weekly basis. Consumer Confidence is now 13.5pts below the same week a year ago (90.8), and 2.9pts below the 2023 weekly average of 80.2. Consumer Confidence was up in Victoria, Queensland, WA and SA, but down in New South Wales. Now 18% of Australians (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 49% (down 7ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Some 30% (unchanged) of Australians now expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 36% (down 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Only 8% (up 2ppts) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 39% (up 2ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 17% (down 1ppt) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 53% (down 2ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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