O75 Public Administration

Federal watch on assisted dying plan

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 7 : 9-Aug-17

Members of both major political parties in Victoria will be given a conscience vote on the State Government’s voluntary euthanasia bill, which is slated to be put to Parliament by the end of August. Meanwhile, the issue of euthanasia is not currently on the Federal Opposition’s policy agenda, according to shadow health minister Catherine King. However, King has indicated that she is in favour of doctor assisted-suicide under certain circumstances.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION LIMITED

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence drops to 113.7

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Aug-17

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence fell a sharp 4.0% to 113.7 in the week ended 6 August 2017, partially unwinding the gains over the previous two weeks. Although four out of five sub-indices posted declines, the fall in confidence was driven primarily by a sharp reversal of sentiment around economic conditions. Consumers’ views towards both current and future economic conditions eased considerably last week, largely unwinding the previous week’s gains. Sentiment around current and future conditions fell 10.7% and 7.3% respectively. In contrast, households’ views towards current financial conditions improved 2.8%, more than reversing the 1.2% fall in the previous week. Meanwhile, views towards future financial conditions fell 2.3%, its third consecutive fall.

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

Ferguson leads IR reform push

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 8-Aug-17

Martin Ferguson will advocate changes to the Fair Work Act on behalf of the Minerals Council of Australia. He will urge the Federal Government to introduce reforms that would allow workers to sign individual workplace agreements rather than an enterprise agreement if their income is above a certain threshold. Ferguson, a former Labor minister and ex-ACTU president, will argue that individual agreements are already widely used in the mining sector. Other workplace reforms to be proposed by the MCA include changes to the rules on unions’ right of entry and restrictions on adverse actions.

CORPORATES
MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, GLENCORE PLC, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

‘Zombie’ blockade to stymie PM’s agenda

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 5 : 8-Aug-17

The Australian Government is seeking to have 10 important measures passed by the Senate, but it is suggested that only two will get through because of a lack of cross-bench support. Changes to citizenship laws, higher education reforms, the same-sex marriage plebiscite and the media reform package are among the bills that are likely to be rejected. As a result, savings and revenue measures valued at some $A12 billion are at risk.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATIVES, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Coal-fired power trade-off for new clean energy target

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 7-Aug-17

With the Federal Government yet to take its amended energy policy to the Coalition partyroom, there are promising signs that gas prices are starting to come down. The Government has been able to get the Council of Australian Governments to agree to all but one of the Finkel energy review’s 50 recommendations, namely that of a clean energy target. It is believed that Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull are willing to give a commitment to investing in "clean coal"-fired power plants in order to get the partyroom to approve a CET.

CORPORATES
COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED

Leyonhjelm attacks anti-corruption bill

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 7-Aug-17

Liberal Democrats senator David Leyonhjelm has concerns about the Federal Government’s proposed union anti-corruption legislation. The legislation, which has been drawn up in response to the royal commission into union corruption, is due to be tabled in the Senate in the week beginning 7 August 2017. Leyonhjelm is worried that people who have made what they believe to be legitimate payments to a union could find themselves coming under the legislation, and could end up going to jail. He wants it amended to protect such situations.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT

Taskforce seeks tobacco blitz

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Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 7-Aug-17

The Black Economy Taskforce’s chairman Michael Andrew says he plans to urge the Australian Government to clamp down on the illegal tobacco industry. A spokesperson for cigarette and tobacco company Philip Morris estimates that the illegal tobacco industry costs governments almost $A4 billion a year in foregone tobacco excise. The spokesperson adds that greater co-ordination between law enforcement bodies and regulators is needed to tackle the problem.

CORPORATES
PHILIP MORRIS (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, AUSTRALASIAN ASSOCIATION OF CONVENIENCE STORES INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ATA INTERNATIONAL

Is truth the first victim of research automation?

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Aug-17

As artificial intelligence gets smarter, automated market research and survey programs are becoming ubiquitous. But is truth the first victim of automation. According to David Autor, an economist at MIT, this kind of automation is best applied to explicit, codifiable procedures where automation vastly exceeds human labour in speed, quality, accuracy and cost efficiency. Tasks that have proved most difficult to automate, he adds, are those that demand flexibility, judgment and common sense. Automated surveys are good at posing the questions and collecting, even organising the answers – that is a rational, codifiable procedure. But what about the analysis of oceans of data? That is where the human traits of flexibility, judgment and common sense come into play. According to the Roy Morgan Research Institute, trust and truth are treasures in a world of disposable, phoney information. The Australian Human Rights Commission trusted Roy Morgan’s human driven processes when it commissioned a study on sexual assault and harassment in Australian universities, while Roy Morgan has been trusted to manage the longitudinal data collection for the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey since 2009.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Business Confidence up in July to 117.0 driven by Agriculture, Construction, Information, Media & Telcos

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Aug-17

Business Confidence in Australia rose 5.2pts (+4.7%) to 117.0 in July, according to the Roy Morgan Business Single Source survey. The rise in Business Confidence was driven by strong increases in several industries including Agriculture, forestry and fishing, Construction, and Information, media and telecommunications. Business Confidence increased on the back of rising expectations of the Australian economy, with a majority of businesses now expecting "good times" for the economy in both the short-term – 52.7% (up 5.8ppts) and long-term – 51.2% (up 1.6ppts). Expectations for their own businesses have also increased, with 44.5% (up 5.8ppts) saying the business is "better off" financially than this time last year and 47.4% (up 3ppts) expecting the business to be "better off" financially this time next year. The rise in Business Confidence mirrors a strengthening weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating, which increased by 5.9pts (+5.2%) in the last two weeks of July to 118.4.

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

Australia’s real unemployment is 9.4% in July; down 1.1% from a year ago

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Aug-17

A Roy Morgan survey shows that 11,854,000 Australians were employed in July 2017, a substantial increase of 212,000 over the past year (with just under 20,000 jobs added per month). A total of 1.236 million Australians were unemployed in July (9.4% of the workforce). This is down 129,000 (1.1%) from a year ago. An additional 1.226 million Australians (9.4%) were under-employed (looking for work or looking for more work), which is up 55,000 (0.4%). A total of 2.462 million Australians (or 18.8%) were unemployed or under-employed in July. The Roy Morgan real unemployment figures are substantially higher than the current ABS estimate for June 2017 (5.6%). Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says that finding work for the 2.462 million Australians who are unemployed or under-employed is the Government’s largest challenge, despite what the media may talk about on a continual basis. This large cohort of Australians looking for new employment opportunities will ultimately judge the Government’s success or otherwise based on whether an improving economy is generating sufficient jobs.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS