Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan, says understanding how electors feel about issues is critical as Federal Election approaches

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 24-Jan-25

Australians are shifting their focus on what are the ‘Issues of most importance’ ahead of this year’s Federal Election. The rising focus on cost-of-living pressures – spanning day-to-day expenses, interest rates, and housing affordability – reflects a growing urgency among voters to address financial strain, making it the defining issue of this election cycle. Concern about ‘reducing crime’ has surged around Australia and for supporters of all major parties, especially in Queensland, doubling from 16% to 32%, in Victoria, with a rise from 14% to 26% and in the NT, up 13% to 33%. In Victoria, new State Liberal Leader Brad Battin faces his first electoral test in early February in the Labor Government-held seat of Werribee. Battin is a former policeman, like Federal Coalition Leader Peter Dutton, and will be hoping his tough reputation will add momentum to the Liberal Party’s campaign to win the seat.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, LIBERAL PARTY OF VICTORIA, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Coalition demands Labor hate speech crackdown explicitly outlaw threats and attacks on places of worship

Original article by Krishani Dhanji
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 24-Jan-25

Federal parliament will resume in February, with Labor’s proposed crackdown on hate speech set to be one of the major points of discussion. Tabled in September, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus contends that the legislation will act as a deterrent to anti-Semitism and other forms of hate speech and would protect places of worship, but the Coalition wants the legislation to explicitly outlaw threats and attacks against places of worship. For her part, independent MP Allegra Spender has called on the government to include a stronger vilification offence for hateful speech in the legislation. Her eastern Sydney electorate has a large Jewish community and LGBTQ+ community, who she said have both raised concerns about the proposed legislation not doing enough.

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AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Coalition will stay in Paris climate pact

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 24-Jan-25

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said on Thursday that he will not withdraw Australia from the Paris climate accord if he wins the upcoming election, despite pressure from the Conservative wing of the Coalition for such a move in the wake of Donald Trump taking the US out of it. The Coalition will set an emissions reduction target for 2035 if it does win the election, although its target is unlikely to be as ambitious as Labor, which is also yet to announce its 2035 target, given that 2035 would be before the proposed operation of the Coalition’s first nuclear reactor.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence drops 1.3pts to 85.8 as buying intentions drop for a second straight week

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Jan-25

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 1.3pts to 85.8 in the week to 19 January. However, Consumer Confidence is now 1.4 points above the same week a year ago (84.4), and 2.9 points above the 2024 weekly average of 82.9. A look at Consumer Confidence by State shows decreases in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, whilst remaining unchanged in Western Australia and South Australia. Now 21% of Australians (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 48% (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 34% (unchanged) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 31% (up 3ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’. Now 9% (down 1ppt) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 27% (down 2ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 25% (down 2ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 46% (unchanged) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Support for National-led Government increases in December with National, ACT and NZ First all up

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Jan-25

Roy Morgan’s New Zealand Poll for December 2024 shows the National-led Government (National, ACT & NZ First) on 51.5% (up 7.5% points), clearly ahead of the Labour-Greens-Maori Party Parliamentary Opposition on 44% (down 6.5% points). For the National-led Government there were increases for all three coalition parties led by National, up 2.5% points to 31% and joined by ACT (up 4% points to 13%) and NZ First (up 1% point to 7.5%). This is the highest level of support for ACT since the 2023 New Zealand Election. For the Parliamentary Opposition, support for Labour was down 2% points to 26%, support for the Greens was unchanged at 13.5% and support for the Maori Party was down 3.5% points to 5.5%. A further 3.5% (down 2% points) of electors supported a minor party outside Parliament. The survey results for December would lead to 64 seats (down 4 seats from the election) being won by the National/ ACT/ NZ First governing coalition, compared to 56 seats (up 1 seat) being won by the current Labour/ Greens/ Maori Party Opposition. This New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll on voting intention was conducted by telephone – both landline and mobile – with a New Zealand-wide cross-section of 885 electors from 25 November to 15 December. Meanwhile, the Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating dropped 21.5pts to 82.5 in December, the lowest rating for this indicator since March 2024.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, NATIONAL PARTY OF NEW ZEALAND, ACT NEW ZEALAND, NEW ZEALAND FIRST PARTY, LABOUR PARTY (NEW ZEALAND), GREEN PARTY OF AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND, THE MAORI PARTY

ALP’s workaround to cope with a new political climate

Original article by Greg Brown, Colin Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 22-Jan-25

US President Donald Trump signed a number of climate-related executive orders on the first day of his second term in office. They included the formal withdrawal of the US from the Paris climate agreement, the abolition of electric vehicle subsidies and an expansion of the fossil fuel sector. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would not offer a "running commentary" on Trump’s domestic policy agenda; he added that Australia will not make any major policy changes in response to Trump’s election, including on climate change. However, the government has flagged the possibility of working directly with US states that are controlled by the Democrats regarding climate initiatives.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Roy Morgan Business Confidence down by 1pt in December after RBA leaves interest rates unchanged again

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Jan-25

In December 2024, Roy Morgan Business Confidence was 105.9 (down 1pt from November 2024) after the Reserve Bank left interest rates unchanged at a 13-year high of 4.35%. Business Confidence is now 5.3pts below the long-term average of 111.2, although it is up 14.8pts from December 2023. Roy Morgan Business Confidence has also now had a positive rating above 100 for three months in a row – for the first time since the Albanese Government was elected in May 2022. Now 59.7% (up 1.1ppts) of businesses expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next year, while only 37.6% (unchanged) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 40.5% (down 6.9ppts) of businesses expect the business to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 21.1% (down 1.3ppts) expect the business to be ‘worse off’ financially. The latest Roy Morgan Business Confidence results for December are based on 1,533 detailed interviews with a cross-section of Australian businesses from each State and Territory.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Cops suspect foreign actors paying crims for anti-Semitic attacks

Original article by Geoff Chambers, Alexi Demetriadi
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 22-Jan-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese belatedly convened a meeting of the national cabinet on Tuesday to discuss the growing incidence of anti-Semitism in Australia. The virtual meeting with state and territory leaders was held in the wake of the latest anti-Semitic attack, in which a Sydney childcare centre was firebombed and daubed with an anti-Semitic message; the facility is not directly linked to the Jewish community, but it is located just 200 metres from the Maroubra synagogue. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw has raised the possibility that ‘overseas actors’ may be using encrypted devices to hire ocal criminals to carry out anti-Semitic attacks and paying them with cryptocurrency.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE

All the executive orders signed by Trump on day one of his second US presidency

Original article by Serena Seyfort, April Glover
9News – Page: Online : 22-Jan-25

US President Donald Trump has moved swiftly to wind back the legacy of his White House predecessor, Joe Biden. Trump began signing executive orders shortly after his second inauguration. They included withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization and the Paris climate agreement, allowing TikTok to keep operating in the US for another 90 days, and requiring all federal government communications and policies to recognise only two genders. Other executive order included issuing pardons to 1,500 participants in the Capitol Building riots on 6 January 2021, designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organisations, directing all federal workers to return to working in the office full-time and formally changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

Innocents for terrorists: the price of freedom

Original article by Jacquelin Magnay
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 21-Jan-25

Should the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas remain intact over the next 42 days, it will see the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Over 230 of those prisoners are serving life sentences for conducting or taking part in deadly attacks against Israel, and who will be permanently exiled in either Qatar or Egypt. The other prisoners to be released include a further 500 Palestinian prisoners who are serving sentences for ‘security crimes’, along with almost 1,000 others who have been detained since the 7 October attacks by Hamas.

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