O75 Public Administration

NSW MPs push to ban pokies on Anzac Day

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Original article by Alexandra Smith
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 13-Aug-24

The NSW government recently announced that it will seek to ban all large retailers from trading on Anzac Day. Alex Greenwich, the independent MP for Sydney, contends that the ban should be expanded to include poker machines in pubs, clubs and Sydney’s casinos; he says Anzac Day is a solemn day of commemoration and reflection, and the government should force ‘pokies’ to be turned off for the day if it is serious about honouring the state’s war veterans. Greenwich says his proposed legislative amendment – which would not apply to the Anzac Day tradition of playing two-up – has the support of other crossbenchers.

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Roy Morgan Poll: ALP and Coalition are tied on 50% each two-party preferred in mid-August

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 13-Aug-24

If a Federal Election were held now the result would be ‘too close to call’ with the ALP on 50% (down 1.5%) tied with the Coalition on 50% (up 1.5%) on a two-party preferred basis, the latest Roy Morgan survey finds. Based on these results the ALP or Coalition would require the support of minor parties and independents to form a minority government. The result again highlights the importance of preference flows to determine the overall two-party preferred result. The Coalition primary vote increased 1% to 38%, ALP primary support was down 1% to 29.5%, support for the Greens increased 2% to 14% and support for One Nation was down 0.5% to 5%. Smaller parties and independents lost support this week. Support for Other Parties dropped 1% to 4% and support for Independents was down 0.5% to 9.5%.

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

Coalition eyes Labor’s IR laws to woo the west

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 13-Aug-24

The Coalition is developing a specific set of policies for Western Australia, where it lost four seats at the last federal election. They include winding back some of the federal government’s industrial relations laws that mining companies contend are hurting productivity, along with rethinking its initial opposition to the federal government’s proposal to provide production tax credits for extracting and processing critical minerals. The Coalition had dubbed the proposal as "tax cuts for billionaires", but that did not go down well with smaller mining companies who are trying to compete with cheaper Chinese-backed ventures overseas

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Greens, Libs to play tough on CFMEU

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 13-Aug-24

The Coalition contends that the federal government’s bill to appoint administrators to the CFMEU’s state construction divisions is "weak" and should be referred to a Senate committee. The Greens will in turn decide their position regarding the proposed legislation on Tuesday, and expressed concern that it overrides the court process. Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt argues that forcing the bill to be scrutinised by a Senate inquiry would demonstrate that the Coalition is not serious about addressing the "criminality, bullying and thuggery" within the CFMEU. The Coalition has committed to deregistering the union if it wins the next election, although Watt believes that administration is a more practical option.

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CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

AUKUS get-out clause for US, UK

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 13-Aug-24

Documents tabled in federal parliament on Monday have revealed new details of the AUKUS defence alliance. The documents, which include a revised AUKUS agreement, show that the US and the UK will be able to withdraw from the defence pact with only one years’ notice if the deal to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines is deemed to be an ‘unreasonable risk’ to their own military requirements. Meanwhile, Australia has agreed to indemnify its alliance partners for any liability, costs or injury resulting from the AUKUS program. International law expert Don Rothwell notes that the documents do not outline just how much the alliance will cost Australia.

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Centrepay report that found major failings ignored by successive Coalition governments, author says

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Original article by Christopher Knaus, Lorena Allam
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 7-Aug-24

The federal government recently launched a review of the controversial Centrepay system for welfare recipients. However, the previous Labor government had also commissioned a review of the debt recovery system in 2012. That review was undertaken by Anna Buduls, who says her report has been "mostly buried" by successive governments since it was delivered just before the Coalition took office in 2013. Her recommendations included establishing a code of conduct for approved Centrepay operators and a dedicated complaints telephone line.

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AUSTRALIA. SERVICES AUSTRALIA. CENTRELINK, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Labor taking sides in IR fight

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 4 : 7-Aug-24

The Mining & Energy Union recently filed an application with the Fair Work Commission to increase the wages of BHP’s labour hire workers at three coal mines in Queensland. The legal action may become a test case for the federal government’s ‘same job, same pay’ laws. Minerals Council of Australia CEO Tania Constable has accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanase of intervening in the FWC case. He told the NSW Labor conference in late July that the government will send taxpayer-funded lawyers to "back the workers and the unions" in the MEU’s case. The MCA contends that the government has not intervened in any other major FWC cases under its industrial relations reforms.

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MINING AND ENERGY UNION, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence down 1.8pts to 81.3 before the RBA meeting in early August

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Aug-24

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 1.8pts to 81.3 in the week to 4 August; the index has now spent a record 79 straight weeks below the mark of 85. However, Consumer Confidence is now 6.3 points above the same week a year ago (75.0), although it is 0.5 points below the 2024 weekly average of 81.8. A look at Consumer Confidence by State shows there were mixed results, with small increases in New South Wales and Victoria, virtually unchanged in South Australia and significant decreases in Queensland and Western Australia. Now 21% of Australians (unchanged) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 51% (up 2ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 30% (down 2ppts) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 34% (up 3ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’. Now 8% (down 1ppt) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 34% (down 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 22% (down 1ppt) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 46% (down 2ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’ (the lowest figure for this indicator since January 2023).

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

Labor’s attempts to tie gambling harm advocates into ridiculous secret agreements rejected

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Original article by Melissa Davey, Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 7-Aug-24

The Alliance for Gambling Reform is one of the organisations that have been invited to the federal government’s briefing on its proposed gambling advertising reforms. However, attendance at the briefing on Friday is conditional on signing a 12-page non-disclosure agreement. The Alliance’s chief advocate Tim Costello says his organisation will not sign the agreement, and he has questioned why it is necessary given that details of the reforms have been leaked to the media. The government has previously attracted scrutiny over its use of non-disclosure agreements in consultations over its legislative reforms.

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ALLIANCE FOR GAMBLING REFORM

No rate cuts before Christmas

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Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 7-Aug-24

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s governor Michele Bullock says it gave "very serious consideration" to increasing the cash rate on Tuesday. However, the RBA’s board was of the view that the benefits of leaving official interest rates at 4.35 per cent outweighed the risk to the job market of an increase. Bullock emphasised that recent financial market volatility did not influence the monetary policy decision, contending that Monday’s sharemarket rout was an "overreaction" to one poor jobs report in the US. She also indicated that the RBA now expects interest rates to remain on hold until at least the end of 2024. Meanwhile, the RBA has advised that inflation is unlikely to return sustainably to its target range of 2-3 per cent before late 2026.

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA