O75 Public Administration

ANZ-Roy Morgan New Zealand Consumer Confidence down 3.6pts to 79.8 in February

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

ANZ-Roy Morgan New Zealand Consumer Confidence fell 3.6pts to 79.8 in February, to a level that is by any definition very subdued. Consumers’ net perceptions of their current personal financial situation fell 10 points to -30%, the lowest level since 2008. A net 7% of consumers expect to be better off this time next year, unchanged on a month ago. A net 35% think it is a bad time to buy a major household item, down 7 points. Meanwhile, net perceptions regarding the economic outlook in 12 months’ time fell 1 point to -41%. The 5-year-ahead measure eased from -1% to -3% on a net basis.

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

BHP asks govt to narrow gap on Biden’s bill

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Original article by Jacob Greber, Mark Ludlow, Peter Ker, James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 & 20 : 6-Mar-23

Allens partner Kate Axup says that Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has highlighted the need for the federal government to play a more active role in encouraging the development of an Australian hydrogen industry. BHP has used its pre-budget submission to urge Labor to adopt measures that will attract financing and boost local refining and manufacturing in the low-emissions technologies sector, while a spokeswoman for Energy Minister Chris Bowen has labelled the IRA as a "game-changer for climate action and for clean energy supply chains, including hydrogen".

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ALLENS, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER

NSW Voting Intention: ALP lead over the L-NP increases slightly in late February: ALP 52.5% cf. L-NP 47.5%

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

A special Roy Morgan SMS Poll on State voting intention in New South Wales shows the ALP on 52.5% (up 0.5% points since January) ahead of the Liberal-National Coalition on 47.5% (down 0.5% points) in late February, less than a month before the State Election. The ALP now has a slight primary vote lead on 33.5% (up 1% point since January), and is now just ahead of the Liberal-National Coalition on 32.5% (down 2.5% points). Meanwhile, 34% of electors say they will vote for minor parties and independents, up 1.5% points on January. The poll also shows that 54% of electors say that Opposition Leader Chris Minns is the ‘Better Premier’, compared to 46% that select incumbent Premier Dominic Perrottet. However, 53% of electors say they approve of the job Perrottet is doing, while 47% disapprove. This Roy Morgan SMS Poll on State voting intention was conducted via SMS with 981 New South Wales electors aged 18+ from February 24-28.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Australia a greater cyber-attack target

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Original article by Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 2 : 6-Mar-23

Former head of the US National Security Agency Mike Rogers claims the apparent improvement in relations between China and Australia will not see a reduction in the level of China’s cyber activity against Australia. Rogers says Australia’s involvement in alliances such as AUKUS and the Quad make it an increased target for cyber attacks, as does the automation of industries such as mining. He suggests that the strong response from both the government and the public to the cyber attacks on Optus and Medibank would serve as more of an incentive than a disincentive for future attacks.

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UNITED STATES. NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL

China launches $330bn arms race

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Original article by Will Glasgow
The Australian – Page: 1 & 9 : 6-Mar-23

Outgoing Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has told the National People’s Congress that the Chinese economy is staging a steady recovery after three years of tough ‘Covid-zero’ policies. The Chinese economy grew by just three per cent in 2022, compared to the government’s target of 5.5 per cent. Although China’s latest national budget has set modest targets for economic growth in 2023, defence spending is set to rise by 7.2 per cent to over $330 billion (1.55 trillion yuan), with the government citing "complex security challenges" as the reason for the significant increase.

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Super-sized broken promise

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 1-Mar-23

The federal government has announced that it will increase the concessional tax rate for superannuation balances of more than $3m from 15 per cent to 30 per cent. The tax reform will be included in the May budget and legislated during the current term of parliament; however, it will not take effect until 1 July 2025, after the next federal election. Labor had ruled out changes to the super tax regime during the 2022 election, and shadow treasurer Angus Taylor has described the backdown as another broken election promise. The super changes are expected to hit about 80,000 individuals, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has emphasised that 99.5 per cent of Australians will not be affected.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Indigenous voice adviser warns vote on knife edge as Liberals say referendum dead without conservatives

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Original article by Josh Butler
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 1-Mar-23

Ed Coper is a director of social change agency Populares and an expert on misinformation. He has warned that the proposed Indigenous Voice to parliament is "really susceptible to misinformation", given that many people now form their opinions based on information they read on social media. Coper argues that while social media companies have become better at removing disinformation, it has usually been widely disseminated by the time they are alerted to its presence on their platforms. Meanwhile, Liberal senator Andrew Bragg says the referendum is set to fail unless the pro-Voice campaign actively targets conservative voters. He notes that the campaign is largely focused on people who already intend to vote ‘yes’ in the referendum, but polls show that only 13 per cent of Liberal voters support the Voice.

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POPULARES, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence virtually unchanged at 80.0 in late February

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Mar-23

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 80.0 in the week to 26 February. However, Consumer Confidence is still 19.2pts below the same week a year ago (99.2) and 3.7pts below the 2023 weekly average of 83.7. Consumer Confidence was down in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, but up slightly in New South Wales. Consumer Confidence is now below 80 in Victoria and Queensland. Now 22% of Australians (unchanged) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 48% (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Some 32% (up 2ppts) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 35% (up 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Only 7% (up 1ppt) of Australians now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 38% (up 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 21% (up 1ppt) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 52% (up 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Trade surplus hits $41b

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Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 1-Mar-23

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the nation’s trade surplus rose to $40.9bn in the December quarter. The value of goods exported rose by 1.9 per cent overall, while the value of iron ore and metals exports increased by 6.8 per cent and 16.6 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, the current account surplus rose to $14.1bn, up from just $753m in the previous quarter. The trade figures are tipped to add about 1.1 percentage points to GDP growth data for the December quarter, which will be released on Wednesday.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

US in no state to save Taiwan from invasion

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Original article by Michael Evans
The Australian – Page: 8 : 28-Feb-23

The Pentagon has advised Congress that it lacks the stocks of long-range anti-ship missiles that would be needed to destroy Chinese warships in the event that China invades Taiwan. Its warning comes as a new book from US foreign policy research institute Pacific Forum concludes that the strategic implications of Taiwan falling into Beijing’s hands have not been properly evaluated in Washington, and that the impact on the US’s credibility around the world would be "devastating" if China seized Taiwan, with or without US military intervention.

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