O75 Public Administration

‘Abusing his power’: Pauline Hanson accuses Anthony Albanese of acting like an emperor by refusing to allocate staff to One Nation

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Original article by Laurence Karacsony
News24 – Page: Online : 2-Sep-26

One Nation currently has two MPs and four senators, but the populist party has been allocated just four advisers. In contrast, the Greens’ 11 federal parliamentarians have been allocated a total of 17 advisers. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has been embroiled in a long-running dispute with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over the allocation of staffers; she has accused Albanese of "abusing his power" by understaffing One Nation, and contends that he is doing so to halt the party’s rise against Labor. Hanson says she has asked for a "fair allocation" of nine advisers, noting that this would still be less than the Greens’ ratio.

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

Labor’s social media rules a belated patch-up: Reddit

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 2-Sep-26

Reddit recently launched a constitutional challenge to the federal government’s landmark ban on the use of social media platform by people under the age of 16. Amongst other things, Reddit has contended that the ban breaches the implied freedom of political communication, because social media is an important source of news and a platform for civic engagement. Reddit is one of the 10 social media platforms that are included in the ban; it has accused Communications Minister Anika Wells of rewriting the rules for the ban as a "patch-up job" to boost its defence of the policy in response to the legal challenge.

CORPORATES
REDDIT INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

July 2026 mortgage stress up 2.2% points to 18-year high of 32.5%; after three RBA interest rate increases in 2026

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 3-Sep-26

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 32.5% of mortgage holders were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the three months to July 2026, up 2.2% points from May. This is equivalent to 1,786,000 people (up 180,000 on a month earlier), and the highest level of mortgage stress for 18 years. The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress is up 341,000 on a year ago, after the Reserve Bank cut interest rates to 3.85% in 2025) before raising them to 4.35% so far in 2026. The rising level of mortgage stress is due to a combination of the RBA’s interest rate increases in 2026 and pressure on the labour market; Roy Morgan’s July labour market report shows overall employment – and importantly full-time employment – are both down on highs reached earlier in the year, and the negative impacts on household incomes which have softened since earlier in the year. Meanwhile, the number of Australians who are considered to be ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 1,210,000 (22% of mortgage holders); this is significantly above the long-term average over the last two decades of 16.4%.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence drops 2.6pts to 74.9 after higher-than-expected official inflation for July

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Sep-26

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 2.6pts to 74.9 in the week to 30 August; Consumer Confidence is now 13.1pts lower than a year ago (88.0), but it is 2.5pts above the 2026 weekly average of 72.4. Analysis by State shows that consumer confidence has decreased in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia, but it has increased slightly in Queensland. Now 18% of Australians (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 50% (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 23% (up 2ppts) of respondents expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 40% (up 3ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’. Only 7% (down 1ppt) of respondents expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 40% (up 5ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 20% (unchanged) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 43% (up 4ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

‘Consequences’: China strongarms Pacific

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 2-Sep-26

Taiwan has had a presence at the annual Pacific Islands Forum summit since 1993 as a ‘development partner’, with the exception of last year’s summit. However, China’s warning that Taiwan’s participation in the 2026 summit in Palau will have "consequences" has prompted Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to state that "the Pacific Islands Forum determines what happens here, not any other country". Only three of the Forum’s 18 members recognise Taiwan as an independent country, while Papua New Guinea contends that Taiwan’s participation in the forum is "inappropriate". Meanwhile, the federal government is set to allocate $600m to target drug trafficking in the region.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM

One Nation’s win in the Secret Harbour by-election was foretold by Roy Morgan’s ongoing data tracking

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Original article by By Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Sep-26

The weekend’s One Nation victory in the Secret Harbour by-election which came as a surprise to many, was almost a foregone conclusion – Roy Morgan data showed Secret Harbour electors were ranked among the most likely to feel they ‘get a raw deal in life’ and ‘the core values of our society are under threat’. These people are part of the more than one million disaffected Australians Roy Morgan has been tracking for more than 2 years. Roy Morgan’s subscriber-only nationwide monthly research showed One Nation’s extraordinary rise in Secret Harbour from 10% in October 2025 to 19% by January, 26% by April, 36% by July, and 40% in August.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, ONE NATION PARTY

Super tax puts SMSFs on red alert

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 5 : 26-Aug-26

The federal government is under growing pressure to make further changes to its tax reforms following revelations about their potential impact on superannuation funds that have exposure to managed investment trusts. The SMSF Association has warned that "hundreds of thousands" of self-managed super funds will face higher effective tax rates due to the new rules, which place restrictions on how managed investment trusts can offset capital gains and losses. CEO Peter Burgess notes that the latest data from the Australian Taxation Office shows that SMSFs allocated some $264bn to listed, unlisted and ‘other managed investments’ which could potentially be impacted by the tax changes.

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SMSF ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence up 1pt to 77.5 – highest rating since the Iran War began in late February

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

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose 1pt to 77.5 in the week to 23 August; Consumer Confidence is still 8.5pts lower than a year ago (86.5), but it is 5.2pts above the 2026 weekly average of 72.3. Analysis by State shows that consumer confidence is increasing in Western Australia and South Australia, but is virtually unchanged in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Now 17% of Australians (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 49% (unchanged) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 21% (down 4ppts) of respondents expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 37% (up 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’. Only 8% (up 2ppts) of respondents expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 35% (down 3ppts) expect ‘bad times’ (the best results for these indicators since before the Iran War in late February). Meanwhile, 20% (up 3ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 39% (down 2ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

ANZ-Roy Morgan Inflation Expectations were at 6.1% in late August – up 0.5% points from the month of July

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

The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan Inflation Expectations declined early in the month of July but have now increased for six out of the last seven weeks since mid-July, as cuts to the petrol and diesel fuel excises were wound back in early July and ended in early August. Inflation Expectations are now at 6.1% for the week of 17-23 August, up 0.5% points from the month of July. The latest weekly reading is just 0.1% points below the average of 6.2% for Inflation Expectations over the 26 weeks since the Iran War began. A look at monthly Inflation Expectations for July shows the measure at 5.6% for the month – down 0.4% points from June. Inflation Expectations hit a record monthly high of 7% for April 2026 following the US and Israel attack on Iran but then dropped rapidly. However, the recent standoff has sent Inflation Expectations back up for six of the last seven weeks. The data for the Inflation Expectations series is drawn from the Roy Morgan Single Source, which has interviewed an average of around 5,300 Australians aged 14+ per month over the last decade, and includes interviews with 4,113 Australians aged 14+ in June 2026.

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

Key costs that rose 50pc in five years

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Original article by Anthony Keane
The Australian – Page: 4 : 26-Aug-26

Analysis of official price data for the last five years shows that the cost of some household products and services has risen significantly more than the overall inflation increase of 24 per cent over this period. The cost of household gas has risen by 48 per cent since mid-2021, while the price of cooking oil and fats is up 47 per cent; meanwhile, the average household is paying 38 per cent more for electricity than five years ago, while the price of both milk and coffee has risen by 35 per cent. AMP’s chief economist Shane Oliver says inflation is likely to slow in coming months, but he warns that it will be "fairly painful" for households for at least the next year; he adds that the inflation outlook means the Reserve Bank is likely to increase the cash rate again by the end of 2026.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA