O75 Public Administration

Overall Australian unemployment and under-employment at 3.46 million in December – 13 months straight above 3 million

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 21-Jan-26

In December 2025, Australian ‘real’ unemployment increased by 41,000 to 1,669,000 (up 0.2%, to 10.4% of the workforce). More people were looking for full-time work in December (up 68,000 to 667,000), although there were fewer people looking for part-time work (down 27,000 to 1,002,000). In addition to the unemployed, a further 1.79 million Australians (11.1% of the workforce, up 0.4%) were under-employed, i.e. working part-time but looking for more work (up 78,000 from November). In total 3.46 million Australians (21.5% of the workforce) were either unemployed or under-employed in December. Meanwhile, employment increased by 89,000 to 14,428,000; Roy Morgan estimates the overall workforce size (which adds together the employed and unemployed) at 16,097,000 in December (up 130,000 on a month ago), and representing 69.2% of Australians aged 14+.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Labor’s hate speech laws pass Senate in late-night vote as Nationals split from Liberals to oppose bill

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Original article by Tom McIlroy, Dan Jervis-Bardy
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 21-Jan-26

The federal government’s hate speech bill has been passed by both houses of parliament, after Labor secured a deal with Opposition leader Sussan Ley regarding further changes to the legislation. Amongst other things, the legislation creates a new aggravated offence for religious or spiritual leaders who advocate violence, while people who join designated hate groups or provide them with funding could be jailed. The Senate voted 38-22 to pass the bill late on Tuesday night, despite the Nationals voting against it after all of their proposed amendments where rejected; the bill had been passed by the lower house earlier in the day. Meanwhile, the government’s legislation to establish a national gun buyback scheme has been passed with the support of the Greens.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Debt collector hired to chase unpaid taxes for the ATO pays zero corporate tax itself

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Original article by Jonathan Barrett
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 20-Jan-26

The Australian Taxation Office has awarded $42.8m worth of contracts to a company called Recoveriescorp since 2022, with the company paid to chase unpaid taxes for the ATO. However, it has been revealed that its parent company, Symbos Bidco, has not paid any corporate taxes in recent years, due to a series of annual losses. The losses were in spite of large income streams in its two most recent annual accounts, with it being the second company with major government contracts that has been identified by the media as running at a financial loss, with no tax payable.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, RECOVERIESCORP, SYMBOS BIDCO

Capital gains tax breaks in our sights

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian – Page: 2 : 20-Jan-26

The Greens are looking to reduce the capital gains tax discount, with the party to hold a Senate inquiry into the tax this year. With figures from Treasury showing that the top one per cent of taxpayers get more than 54 per cent of the benefits from the capital gains tax discount, Greens senator Nick McKim says the best way to address intergenerational inequity is to wind back the discount. He says that the Greens "have the CGT discount in our sights", and that it intends to use the Senate inquiry to show "how grossly unfair it is".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

IMF rebuke as inflation stays high

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Original article by Lea Jurkovic
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 20-Jan-26

The International Monetary Fund has used its latest World Economic Outlook update to note that Australia still has a problem with inflation. It commented that inflation has stayed above the Reserve Bank’s target range of 2 per cent to 3 per cent for some time, while it stated that the RBA should be cautious when it comes to setting interest rates. Commenting on the IMF’s report, Treasurer Jim Chalmers claimed that high inflation was not unique to Australia, while the IMF predicts global headline inflation will decline from 4.1 per cent in 2025 to 3.8 per cent in 2026, before falling to 3.4 per cent in 2027.

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Federal Voting Intention: ALP increases two-party preferred lead as One Nation surges (up 6%) at the expense of Coalition (down 6.5%)

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Jan-26

The Roy Morgan Poll from January 12-18, 2026 shows the ALP (53.5%, up 1.5% from a week ago) increasing its lead over the Coalition (46.5%, down 1.5%) on a two-party preferred basis. Primary support for the ALP fell 1.5% to 28.5%, the Coalition was down 6.5% to 24%, and One Nation surged 6% to 21% – a new record high for the party in the history of the Roy Morgan Poll. The Greens were unchanged on 13.5% while Independent/ Other Parties were up 2% to 13%. Only 52.5% of electors supported either the ALP or Coalition while 47.5% supported either One Nation, The Greens, or Independents/ Other Parties. The latest Roy Morgan Poll was surveyed with a representative cross-section of 1,630 Australians from Monday January 12 to Sunday January 18. Full details of this Roy Morgan Poll will be released later today.

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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

Albanese defends two-party politics

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Original article by Thomas Henry, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 20-Jan-26

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has responded to public opinion polls which show that support for One Nation is rising. Speaking on ABC Radio, Albanese said he does not want One Nation’s vote to exceed that of the Coalition, contending that Australia’s two-party system has "served the nation pretty well". He also argued that One Nation promotes division rather than social cohesion, adding that the party has been a divisive force ever since it was established. Meanwhile, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says the public is "fed up" with a lack of leadership from the major political parties and sees her as someone who wants to fight for them. Hanson added that "I stand up for what I believe in".

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ONE NATION PARTY

Queensland rejects gun buyback plan

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Original article by Brittney Levinson, Jesinta Burton, Sumeyya Ilanbey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 20-Jan-26

A Queensland government spokesman has advised that it will not support the proposed national gun buyback scheme, contending that the state will not be distracted from the core issue of anti-Semitism. The federal government’s gun buyback scheme will be jointly funded by the states and territories, although Tasmania and the Northern Territory oppose this aspect of the scheme. Shooting Industry Foundation of Australia CEO James Walsh says gun owners should receive "fair market value" for surrendering their firearms; he notes that unlike the 1996 gun buyback, the government’s proposed scheme does not guarantee fair compensation for gun owners and sellers.

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SHOOTING INDUSTRY FOUNDATION OF AUSTRALIA

Labor’s hate speech laws set to pass as Ley and Albanese cut deal on bill crafted in wake of Bondi terror attack

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Original article by Dan Jervis-Bardy, Tom McIlroy
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 20-Jan-26

The National Party will seek additional protections regarding the banning of hate groups when parliament debates the federal government’s hate speech laws today. However, sources within the Liberal Party say that the legislation is likely to be passed even without the Nationals’ support, after Liberal MPs agreed to vote in favour of the revised bill. Opposition leader Sussan Ley had described the previous omnibus bill as "pretty unsalvageable", but the Coalition agreed to back the hate speech provisions after Labor accepted the need to legislate gun control laws separately and make a number of changes to the hate speech bill. Legislation to establish a national gun buyback scheme is expected to be passed with the support of the Greens.

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NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Australia should reconsider alliance with fiercely unpredictable US, former foreign ministers say

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Original article by Krishani Dhanji, Josh Butler
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 13-Jan-26

Former Labor foreign minister Bob Carr says the US has become a "fiercely unpredictable" ally under Donald Trump, and that Australia should reconsider its alliance with it. Another former Labor foreign minister, Gareth Evans, said he was worried that the US had "zero respect" for international law or the interests of its allies, and that the Aukus pact should be reconsidered. With the US having recently seized Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and threatened to take over Greenland, Carr says it was wise for the federal government to "keep our head down and watch closely", adding it was unclear what Trump’s "burst of unilateralism" meant for the world.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY