O75 Public Administration

China accuses Australia of violent interference in Five Eyes response to Hong Kong election

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Original article by Daniel Hurst, Vincent Ni
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 22-Dec-21

Australia’s relationship with major trading partner China have become further strained in the wake of the recent election in Hong Kong. Australia and other members of the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence alliance issued a joint statement expressing concern about the outcome of the election, which will result in Hong Kong’s new legislature being dominated by pro-Beijing candidates. China has responded by strongly condemning the joint statement; it has also accused Australia of "violently" interfering in China’s internal affairs, while noting that Australia has in turn been highly critical of other countries for alleged foreign interference.

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Australia wrote to Naval Group noting progress on submarines a week before contract was cancelled

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Original article by Daniel Hurst
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 22-Dec-21

The federal government’s decision to terminate a contract to buy French-designed conventional submarines has attracted renewed scrutiny. It has been revealed that the Department of Defence sent a three-page letter to Naval Group in early September in which it noted the successful completion of one of the six conditions for the government to move to the next stage of the $90bn project. The letter was sent just eight days before the government cancelled Naval Group’s contract and agreed to buy nuclear-powered submarines under a new defence alliance with the US and the UK.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE, NAVAL GROUP

Call for calm: rampant Omicron not as severe

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Michael McKenna, Jess Malcolm
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 22-Dec-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ruled out the reintroduction of lockdowns to combat COVID-19, arguing that the nation must shift from a "culture of mandates" to a "culture of responsibility". The snap meeting of the national cabinet on Wednesday will receive updated modelling from the Doherty Institute; according to its worst-case scenario, about 200,000 people in Australia could become infected with the Omicron variant each day by late January unless action is taken to curb its spread. However, infectious diseases expert Peter Collignon says overseas evidence suggests that the new variant does not result in higher rates of hospitalisation or death than the Delta strain.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Over a third of Australians say 2022 will be a year of Economic difficulty while 19% expect Economic prosperity

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Dec-21

A special Roy Morgan web survey taken in late November shows that 37% Australians think 2022 will be a year of ‘Economic difficulty’. This is down 11% on a year ago when 48% of Australians predicted ‘Economic difficulty’ for 2021. For the second straight year only 19% of Australians think next year will be a year of ‘Economic prosperity’. Nearly half of all Australians think next year will either ‘Remain the same’ (37%) or don’t know (7%) how the economy will perform. Analysis by State shows that a plurality of people in the largest States think next year will be a year of ‘Economic difficulty’, led by Queensland (43%), Victoria (38%) and New South Wales (35%). However, in Western Australia (46%) and South Australia (45%), a clear plurality of people expect in economic terms next year will ‘Remain the same’. Australians are not as positive about next year’s economic prospects as they are about whether 2022 in a more general sense will be ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than 2021. As we revealed previously, despite being down on a year ago, 37% of Australians say 2022 will be ‘better’ than 2021 compared to only 23% that say it will be ‘worse’.

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ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence virtually unchanged at 108.4 in the leadup to the Holidays

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Dec-21

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 108.4 on 18/19 December. Consumer Confidence is in line with the 2021 weekly average of 108.1, and it is now 0.6 pts below the same week a year ago (109.0). Consumer Confidence this week was up in New South Wales (+4.8pts) and Victoria, but saw modest drops in the smaller states of Queensland, WA, SA and Tasmania. Now 32% (up 2 ppts) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 27% (down 2ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. In addition, 38% (up 1 ppt) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, and 16% (unchanged) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Some 19% (up 1ppt) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 20% (up 2ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 41% (down 2ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 30% (up 3ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Parliamentary inquiry to put behaviour of big tech under scrutiny

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Original article by Michelle Grattan
The Conversation – Page: Online : 1-Dec-21

The House of Representatives’ select committee on social media and online safety will hold an inquiry into large technology companies. Its terms of reference include examining the range of harms that Australians may be exposed to via online platforms such as social media and the risks associated with algorithm-driven content. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are among the technology giants that will be invited to appear before the inquiry, as will Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. The announcement of the inquiry will coincide with the release of an exposure draft of the federal government’s ‘anti-trolling’ bill.

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FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, TWITTER INCORPORATED, INSTAGRAM LLC

Morrison takes on the wharfies

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 1-Dec-21

The Maritime Union of Australia recently agreed to suspend industrial action against stevedoring firm Patrick until at least 10 December. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has signalled that the federal government may be prepared to intervene if the parties do not negotiate in good faith to end their long-running dispute. He has stressed that ports are critical to the nation’s economy, and contends that inefficient ports are a tax on all Australians. Morrison has also advised that the Productivity Commission will hold an inquiry into the nation’s ports; its findings are slated to be released in mid-2022.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, PATRICK TERMINALS, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

No lockdowns or border bans over Omicron

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Original article by Simon Benson, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 5 : 1-Dec-21

State and territory leaders have ruled out lockdowns and domestic border closures in response to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. A meeting of the national cabinet on Tuesday agreed to press ahead with the roadmap for reopening the remaining state borders, and backed the federal government’s decision to delay reopening the nation’s international borders to eligible visa holders by two weeks. Any returned travellers who have visited one of nine southern African countries that of concern will be required to go into hotel quarantine for 14 days, while other international arrivals must self-isolate at home for 72 hours. There are six confirmed cases of the Omicron strain in Australia; they are all said to either have mild symptoms or are ­asymptomatic.

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ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence drops 1.4pts to 106.0 as Omicron variant emerges in southern Africa

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Dec-21

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 1.4pts to 106.0 on 27/28 November; it is now below the 2021 weekly average of 108.1 and 1.5pts lower than the same week a year ago (107.5). Consumer Confidence this week was down in Victoria, Queensland and WA, while increasing slightly in NSW and SA. Now 27% (down 2ppts) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 29% (up 3ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. In addition, 37% (unchanged) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, and 17% (also unchanged) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Some 18% (unchanged) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 20% (also unchanged) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 42% (up 3ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items (the highest figure for this indicator since early July 2021), while 26% (down 2ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’ (the lowest figure for this indicator since early July).

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

Special Roy Morgan Micro Webinar on the September quarter rankings for Australia’s most TRUSTED & DISTRUSTED brands dives into the differences by investors, premium consumers and supporters of different political parties

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Dec-21

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine and social scientist Dr. Ross Honeywill present the latest QUARTERLY rankings of Australia’s most TRUSTED and DISTRUSTED brands for the year to September 2021, and for the first time this special 20-minute Micro Webinar dives deeply into the data to look at who is driving the TRUST and DISTRUST of key brands. TRUST is well-understood as a driver of decisions made by consumers every day, but it is DISTRUST that is often overlooked. DISTRUST is not just an absence of TRUST, it can be much more dangerous than that for brand health and relevance in the marketplace. As an example of the damage that can be done we must consider the ‘Arc of DISTRUST’ which has been on display recently with continuing protests in the streets of our Capital Cities concerning vaccine mandates and pandemic-related legislation. The webinar also highlights the Top 20 most TRUSTED brands which are led by supermarkets and retailers including Woolworths, Coles, Bunnings, ALDI and Kmart. One of the big improvers in the September quarter has been the ABC – now ranked 14th overall for Net Trust. As well as the most TRUSTED the webinar also highlights the Top 20 most DISTRUSTED brands in the September quarter, and the big movers include Harvey Norman (now in the Top 10 most DISTRUSTED brands), Google (which is now the third most DISTRUSTED brand) and oil companies Shell and BP – which are both now in the Top 20 most DISTRUSTED brands. The webinar also dives deeply into how investors, supporters of different political parties (ALP, Liberal and Greens supporters), and Premium consumers such as ‘NEOs’ view leading brands and companies for both TRUST and DISTRUST. To learn more about what drives these key consumer and investor segments

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED