O75 Public Administration

Cost of living, unemployment & poverty big issues before Federal Budget

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Apr-18

Research by Roy Morgan has found that 32% of Australians believe the economy or some kind of economic issue to be the most important problem facing Australia in early 2018. This is 3% higher than in October 2017, although it is 3% lower than in March 2017. Economic issues were mentioned by more Australians than any other two themes combined; 14% mentioned Religion, Immigration and Human Rights issues and a further 14% mentioned Government, Politics and Leadership issues, while 13% mentioned Social issues and 11% mentioned Environmental issues. Within the group of Economic & Financial issues the most important issues are: Financial problems, economy and the cost of living (mentioned by nearly 10% of respondents); Unemployment (mentioned by over 7% of respondents); and Poverty and the gap between rich and poor (mentioned by 5% of respondents).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Employment at record high but over 2.5m looking for more work

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Apr-18

A Roy Morgan survey shows that 1.21 million Australians were unemployed (8.9% of the workforce) in March 2018, a decrease of 26,000 (down 0.4%) on a year ago. In addition, 1.36 million Australians (10.0% of the workforce) are now under-employed, working part-time and looking for more work, a rise of 258,000 in a year (up 1.6%). The figures also show that a record 12,374,000 Australians were employed in March – an increase of 399,000 over the last year. Roy Morgan’s real unemployment figure of 8.9% for March is substantially higher than the current ABS estimate for February 2018 of 5.6%. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says that given the large number of Australians directly, or even indirectly impacted, by unemployment and under-employment it is no surprise that issues relating to unemployment, job security and the search for jobs is one of the key issues Australians mention unprompted when asked about the biggest problem facing Australia in early in 2018.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Business Confidence down in March to 115.4

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Apr-18

In Australia, Business Confidence fell 4.6pts (-3.8%) to 115.4 in March 2018, according to the latest Roy Morgan Business Single Source survey. However, Business Confidence remains 1.6pts higher than a year ago and continues its best start to a year since 2014, averaging 119.3 in the first three months of 2018. Some 52.3% of businesses (down 1ppt) now expect "good times" for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 40.1% (up 1ppt) expect "bad times". Meanwhile, 51.2% (up 7.7ppts) say their own business will be "better off" financially this time next year, while 17.8% (up 0.7ppt) expect the business to be "worse off" this time next year.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Federal Election still too close to call: ALP 51% cf. L-NP 49%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 9-Apr-18

The latest Morgan Poll shows Federal support for the ALP unchanged at 51%, narrowly ahead of the L-NP on 49% on a two-party preferred basis. The Morgan Poll was conducted over the weekends of March 24/25 and March 31/April 1, 2018 with 1,477 electors. Primary support for the L-NP is at 38.5%, down 1.5% from the previous fortnight and just ahead of the ALP on 37.5%, up 2%. Support for the Greens dropped 1% to 11% while support for One Nation dropped 0.5% to 3%. Support for Independents/ Others was up 1% to 10% with 6% of electors undecided. The Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating is down 2.5pts to 103. Roy Morgan’s executive chairman Gary Morgan says that if an election were called today it would be too close to call, with the performance of the respective parties in the campaign the key to determining who would win.

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MORGAN POLL, ROY MORGAN LIMITED, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

ANZ-Roy Morgan New Zealand Consumer Confidence unchanged in March at 128.0

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Apr-18

The ANZ-Roy Morgan New Zealand Consumer Confidence Index rose marginally in March 2018, from 127.7 to 128.0. The index lifted from 125.3 to 126.8 on a seasonally-adjusted basis. The Current Conditions Index has lifted less than half a point, to 127.7, while the Future Conditions Index is all but unchanged at 128.2. Both are considerably higher than where they finished 2017. A net 16% of consumers feel financially better off than a year ago, and the proportion of those who reported being worse off remains historically quite low. Meanwhile, a net 35% of consumers expect to be better off financially this time next year (up 1 point).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Howard in warning on mega-union

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 6-Apr-18

Former prime minister John Howard says the Federal Government should press ahead with its Ensuring Integrity Bill, which would subject union mergers to a public interest test. The bill was recently shelved after it was not passed by Parliament prior to the formal completion of the merger between the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union and the Maritime Union of Australia. Howard is concerned that the merger will lead to an "ultra-­concentration" of union power. Chris Corrigan, the former CEO of stevedoring firm Patrick Corporation, has expressed similar concerns.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, PATRICK CORPORATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS

Docks strike not an anniversary walkout

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 8 : 5-Apr-18

The Maritime Union of Australia has defended its decision to launch industrial action at Melbourne’s Webb Dock. The MUA attributes the four-day strike to Qube’s refusal to reinstate a 2014 roster whereby employees worked for seven weeks and had one week off. Qube argues that this roster is uneconomic, and it wants the Fair Work Commission to terminates an existing enterprise agreement. The MUA has rejected suggestions that the strike is timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the 1998 waterfront dispute.

CORPORATES
MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, QUBE PORTS, QUBE HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX QUB, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Alinta’s $1bn bid for coal power station

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Original article by Ben Packham, Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 5-Apr-18

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison have urged AGL Energy to consider selling the Liddell power station, which is slated to close in 2022. Alinta Energy has advised that it is preparing to make an indicative offer of around $A1bn for the coal-fired power plant, and CEO Jeff Dimery is confident that his company can extend the ageing plant’s operational life at a significantly lower cost than AGL has estimated. AGL in turn has argued that it needs to retain Liddell as the site will be used to supply alternative sources of energy beyond the existing plant’s closure.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, MACQUARIE GENERATION, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, CS ENERGY LIMITED, DELTA ELECTRICITY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SHANDONG RUYI TECHNOLOGY GROUP COMPANY LIMITED

Aussies dare to splash the cash

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 2 : 5-Apr-18

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that retail sales increased by 0.6 per cent in February, while growth in sales for January has been upwardly revised to two per cent. Rahul Bajoria and Krishna Goradia of Barclays say that the February sales data may have been boosted by an increase in Chinese tourists for the lunar new year. Department stores recorded the strongest growth in sales during February, at 1.5 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, BARCLAYS BANK PLC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Greens’ income plan to cost extra $254bn a year

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 5-Apr-18

Economists have criticised a proposal by Australian Greens leader Richard Di ­Natale to introduce a universal basic income. This would replace all existing welfare payments, but some estimates suggest that the policy would increase federal government spending by 55 per cent a year, or $A254bn. Modelling by social researcher Ben Phillips also suggests that funding a UBI would require all marginal tax rates to be increased by 33 per cent. This in turn would be likely to significantly reduce the incentive to work for many people.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA), AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA