O75 Public Administration

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence up 1.3pts to 81.7 while Inflation Expectations soar to highest since late March

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

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose 1.3pts to 81.7 in the week ended 19 June. Despite the increase, Consumer Confidence is still 30.7pts below the same week a year ago (112.4), and it is now 12.9pts below the weekly average of 94.6. On a State-based level Consumer Confidence was up in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, but dropped in Queensland and Western Australia. Now 21% (unchanged) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 42% (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. In addition, 27% (unchanged) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, and 33% (down 5ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Only 7% (down 1ppt) of Australians now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months (the lowest figure for this indicator since September 2020), while 38% (down 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, just 24% (up 1ppt) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items), while 48% (down 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Universities on workplace watchdog’s wage theft priority list

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Original article by Angus Thompson
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 22-Jun-22

Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker says wage underpayment has become a systemic issue in Australia’s tertiary education sector. The FWO is investigating 11 of the nation’s universities for potentially underpaying their staff. Parker says the high level of casual staff at universities is also a major concern. The National Tertiary Education Union’s president Alison Barnes says wage theft in universities is "out of control". Wage theft in the higher education sector will be one of the FWO’s priorities in 2022-23, along with the fast food, hospitality and agricultural industries.

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AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, NATIONAL TERTIARY EDUCATION INDUSTRY UNION

Wage hikes ‘risk economy’: Lowe

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 22-Jun-22

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe has downplayed the prospect of a recession, noting that the nation’s economic fundamentals are strong and the jobless rate is at a five-decade low. However, Lowe has warned of the need for wage restraint, arguing that across-the-board pay rises of five per cent or more could see high inflation become entrenched. He contends that wage increases of around 3.5 per cent are more appropriate and sustainable in the current environment. Lowe has also reiterated his view that inflation will peak at around seven per cent before falling in early 2023, but he cautions that it will not return to the RBA’s target range of 2-3 per cent for some time.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Russia blacklists 121 Australians indefinitely

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Original article by Merryn Johns, Zoe Smith, Nicole Madigan
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 17-Jun-22

The Kremlin has advised that 121 Australian citizens will be barred from entering Russia in retaliation for the federal government’s sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. The blacklist includes journalists and newspaper editors, ABC chair Ita Buttrose, mining magnate Gina Rinehart, property developer Harry Triguboff and Defence Force Chief General Angus Campbell. Russia has accused them of being part of a ‘Russophobic agenda’, and signalled that the blacklist may be expanded.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Cost of Australia’s aged care system to taxpayers could double, experts warn

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Original article by Christopher Knaus
The Guardian – Page: Online : 17-Jun-22

Australia’s aged care system costs taxpayers $27 billion a year, or roughly 1.2 per cent of GDP. However, a report by the University of Technology Sydney’s Ageing Research Collaborative claims its cost could rise to 2.1 per cent of GDP within 40 years. The report notes that additional government funding will be needed, but that more money is not the only solution to addressing the system’s problems. Work needs to be done on increasing the independence of older people in order to reduce demand, while government subsidies for aged care need to be used more effectively.

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UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY

Burke’s IR agenda: fix bargaining

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 17-Jun-22

Employment and Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke says legislating to include 10 days of paid family and domestic violence in the national employment standards will be his first priority when parliament resumes in July. He adds that overhauling the enterprise bargaining system is the key to addressing Australia’s "wages crisis", and he will consider every proposal that emerges from the government’s jobs summit with employers and unions in September. Burke is open to using a single bill to pursue his workplace reforms, which also including criminalising wage theft and equal pay for labour hire workers.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION, SKILLS AND EMPLOYMENT

Red-hot jobs market to push RBA harder on rates

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Original article by Michael Roddan, Cecile Lefort, David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 17-Jun-22

The latest labour force data has heightened expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia will continue to aggressively tighten monetary policy. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the economy added about 60,000 jobs in May, well above market expectations of 25,000. The official unemployment rate was steady at 3.9 per cent, and the underemployment rate was down 0.4 percentage points to 5.7 per cent. There is now widespread consensus among economists that the RBA will increase the cash rate by 50 basis points in July, and some economists anticipate that this will be followed by 50 basis point rises in both August and September.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Australian Medical Association calls for overhaul of national cabinet secrecy rules

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian – Page: Online : 17-Jun-22

National cabinet will meet for the first time since Anthony Albanese became Prime Minister on 17 June. Albanese was critical of its secrecy prior to Labor’s election, while he also said that local government should be added to it. Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid says Australians have a right to know what is being discussed by national cabinet, and that he disagreed with the practice of the previous Coalition government of exempting national cabinet documents from freedom of information laws.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION LIMITED

China feud helps push Australia down to 27th in peace index

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Original article by Latika Burke
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 17-Jun-22

Global peace has deteriorated for the third consecutive year in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and it has now fallen 11 times in the last 14 years. This is according to the latest Global Peace Index, which is compiled by the Sydney-based Institute for Economics & Peace. Australia’s decision to acquire nuclear-powered submarines and its combative relationship with China saw the nation fall nine places to 27th. Meanwhile, terrorism is at its lowest level globally in the 16-year history of the Index.

CORPORATES
INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMICS AND PEACE LIMITED

Albanese calls Greens’ bluff on emissions target

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 17-Jun-22

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has formally informed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that Labor intends to cut carbon emissions by 43 per cent over 2005 levels by 2030. He says legislation to implement that target will be introduced when Parliament resumes on 26 July, along with a target of net zero emissions by 2050. Albanese will need the support of the Greens to get his legislation through the Senate, as the Coalition opposes legislated targets. Albanese has ruled out negotiating a higher target with the Greens, claiming that business groups deserve investment certainty after more than a decade of "dysfunction".

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS