O75 Public Administration

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence plunges 5.7pts to 104.3 – its lowest since early November 2020 as lockdown extended in Sydney and Melbourne goes into fifth lockdown

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

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 5.7pts to 104.3 on July 17/18, after the Greater Sydney lockdown was extended until at least the end of July and Melbourne entered an unprecedented fifth lockdown late last week. Consumer Confidence is now sitting clearly below the 2021 weekly average of 110.9; however, it is still 13.6 points higher than the same week a year ago (90.7). Now 29% (up 2ppts) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 28% (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. In addition, 38% (down 1ppt) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, and 17% (up 3ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Some 15% (down 2ppts) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 24% (up 6ppts) expect ‘bad times’ (the highest figure for this indicator since late November 2020). Meanwhile, 36% (down 7ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 30% (up 6ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’ – an overall swing of 13ppts and the worst result for this question since early November 2020.

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

Victoria’s snap lockdown to be extended

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Original article by Jade Gailberger, John Dagge, Miles Proust
Herald Sun – Page: 7 : 19-Jul-21

Victoria has recorded 16 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, while a Mildura man will be added to the case numbers for 19 July. He tested positive after returning home from Melbourne, where he attended an AFL match at the MCG; it is the regional city’s first COVID-19 in more than a year. Meanwhile, the Victorian government is expected to extend the state-wide lockdown until Friday at the earliest, amid concern about a number of potential ‘super-spreading’ exposure sites. Premier Daniel Andrews has ruled out any changes to lockdown restrictions in regional areas, saying the Mildura case shows how quickly the coronavirus can spread. There are currently 60 active locally-acquired cases in Victoria.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Beijing’s second spy ship surprise

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 6 : 19-Jul-21

China has sent two intelligence-gathering ships to monitor military exercises in Queensland involving Australian and US forces. Defence Minister Peter Dutton said that the federal government had expected China to send one ship, but that the second ship was a bit of a surprise. He said he expects the Chinese to conduct themselves in accordance with the international rules of law, while a Defence spokesperson has stated that all participants in the Talisman Sabre exercises have taken appropriate steps to safeguard their information security.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE

Berejiklian relaxes Covid rules on south-west Sydney workers

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Original article by Graham Readfearn
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 19-Jul-21

New South Wales has recorded 105 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours; 66 of the cases are linked to known clusters, while 27 people were active in the community while they were infectious. Meanwhile, a woman in her 90s has become the fourth person to die in Sydney’s current outbreak. The state government has backed down on plans to restrict the movements of workers in the Fairfield, Liverpool and Canterbury-Bankstown local government areas, which are the epicentre of the outbreak. It had proposed that only health and emergency workers be permitted to leave these areas for work, but the list of authorised workers has now been expanded to include 35 occupational groups. All workers in these categories will be required to be tested for COVID-19 every three days.

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National cabinet ‘a dog’s breakfast’

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Original article by Dennis Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 19-Jul-21

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has criticised the national cabinet, arguing that it is really only a co-ordinating committee. He contends that the national cabinet is contributing to the lack of a clear delineation of responsibilities between the federal and state governments during the COVID-19 pandemic. The national cabinet has met 46 times so far, and it has attracted criticism from some state premiers as well as federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese. Meanwhile, Abbott says the economic liberalisation of China under former leader Deng Xiaoping has merely strengthened the Chinese Communist Party state and resulted in a new Cold War.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, COMMUNIST PARTY (CHINA)

Miners prefer casual jobs for loading

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 14-Jul-21

Representatives of labour hire firms have appeared before the Senate inquiry into job security. One Key Resources MD Ben Lewis said that less than one per cent of its workforce of about 900 asks to convert from casual to permanent employment each year, attributing this to the higher rate of pay when the casual loading is taken into account. He added that a similar proportion of workers opt to switch from permanent to casual employment. Chandler Macleod’s chief people officer Mark Graham also said that many of its casual workers have rejected an offer of permanent employment.

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ONE KEY RESOURCES PTY LTD, CHANDLER MACLEOD GROUP LIMITED

Victoria blasts Scott Morrison for double standard on Sydney COVID support

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Original article by Josh Butler
The New Daily – Page: Online : 14-Jul-21

The Victorian government has criticised its federal counterpart over the COVID-19 financial support package for New South Wales. A state government spokesman says Victoria had to "beg" for financial support during its recent outbreak of the Delta variant. A spokesman for Prime Minister Scott Morrison says both states received the same level of financial support during the first two weeks of their respective lockdowns, and Victoria would get the same support if it were forced into another lockdown of more than two weeks. Meanwhile, the ACTU and the federal Opposition contend that the support package is insufficient.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

NSW preparing for another four weeks of lockdown

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Original article by Alexandra Smith, Lucy Cormack
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 13-Jul-21

New South Wales has reported 89 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, including at least 21 who were active in the community while they were infectious. The federal and NSW governments have responded to the growing outbreak in Greater Sydney by agreeing to provide a combined $5.1bn in COVID-19 disaster payments for businesses and individuals who have been affected by the lockdown. The funding commitment is based on expectations that the lockdown will be extended by at least four weeks. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it is in the national interest to increase the financial support, given the severity of the Sydney outbreak, while Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the package will encourage compliance with lockdown rules.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Don’t trust Labor to cut high-income tax: Treasurer

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 14-Jul-21

Labor leader Anthony Albanese says the party will decide its stance on the stage-three income tax cuts at "an appropriate time". He adds that the COVID-19 pandemic is Labor’s top priority at present. Labor is expected to formally commit to retaining the legislated tax cuts if it wins the next federal election, after the issue was discussed by the party’s leadership group in recent days. However, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says Labor has consistently opposed the Coalition’s tax policy and it cannot be trusted to honour any commitment regarding the stage-three tax cuts.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence up 2.2pts to 110.0 after Government increases support to those in lockdown in NSW

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 14-Jul-21

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose 2.2pts to 110.0 on July 10/11, after the Federal Government announced an increase in support to those impacted by the lockdown in Sydney. Consumer Confidence is now sitting just below the 2021 weekly average of 111.2; however, it remains 18.4 points higher than the same week a year ago (91.6). Now 27% (unchanged) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 27% (also unchanged) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. In addition, 39% (up 2ppts) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, and 14% (down 1 ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Some 17% (up 1 ppt) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 18% (down 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 43% (up 2ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 24% (unchanged) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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