O75 Public Administration

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence drops 3pts to 71.9 in early September, lowest rating since late July

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Sep-26

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 3pts to 71.9 in the week to 6 September; it was the second straight weekly fall after the ABS announced higher-than-expected official inflation for July. Consumer Confidence is now 17.4pts lower than a year ago (89.3), and 0.5pts below the 2026 weekly average of 72.4. Analysis by State shows that Consumer Confidence has decreased in New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia for a second straight week, while it is down in Queensland but up slightly in South Australia. Now just 14% of Australians (down 4ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 54% (up 4ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 22% (down 1ppt) of respondents expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 41% (up 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’. Only 5% (down 2ppts) of respondents expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 39% (down 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, only 16% (down 4ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 41% (down 2ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Roy Morgan Business Confidence up 3.1pts to 79.1; driven by a jump of 16.7pts in Victoria after Premier Allan resigns

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Sep-26

In August 2026, Roy Morgan Business Confidence increased by 3.1 points to 79.1; it was a record fifth straight month below the mark of 80, and just above the all-time record low reached in July. Business Confidence is down 19.5 points from a year ago; it fell in five out of the six States, and was below 80 in four States. The surprising exception was Victoria, with Business Confidence of 92.4pts in August – just three months before the State Election, and virtually unchanged on a year ago (up 0.2pts). Meanwhile, 27.2% (up 8.5ppts) of respondents say their business is ‘better off’ financially than a year ago, while 45.3% (down 3ppts) say the business is ‘worse off’. Only 33.2% (up 4.1ppts) of respondents expect the business to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 31.8% (down 1ppt) expect the business to be ‘worse off’. Some 31.8% (up 6.3ppts) of respondents say the next 12 months will be a ‘good time to invest’ in growing the business, while 48.2% (up 0.2ppts) say the next 12 months will be a ‘bad time to invest’.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Japan-China the ultimate flashpoint from Xi’s Taiwan ambitions

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Dennis Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 9-Sep-26

China’s President Xi Jinping has repeatedly made it clear that the reunification of Taiwan is a priority. However, former federal bureaucrat Michael Thawley says the key issue for both Australia and the US is not whether China will invade Taiwan but whether China will attack Japan if the latter decides to support Taiwan in the event of a conflict. Thawley was Australia’s ambassador to the US at the time of the 11 September terrorist attacks in 2001. Tom Schieffer, who was America’s ambassador to Australia at the time, says the two nations must prepare for an even more aggressive China. He adds that the AUKUS defence alliance will change the "strategic balance" in the Pacific region.

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‘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%.

CORPORATES
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.

CORPORATES
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.

CORPORATES
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.

CORPORATES
SMSF ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE