O75 Public Administration

Victoria to set life terms for kids as young as 14

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Original article by Anthony Galloway
The Australian – Page: 3 : 12-Nov-25

The Victorian government has belatedly responded to the state’s youth crime crisis by announcing plans to implement ‘adult crime, adult time’ laws. Premier Jacinta Allan is set to announce that children aged 14+ who commit a range of offences will automatically have their case heard by the Country Court rather than the Children’s Court; these offences include aggravated home invasion and aggravated carjacking. The County Court can presently impose a maximum penalty of 25 years for aggravated home invasion and aggravated carjacking; however, the government will legislate to increase the maximum penalty to life imprisonment for offenders aged 14+.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA, CHILDREN’S COURT

Victoria hits back at worst for business ranking

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Original article by Marcus de Blonk Smith
The Australian – Page: 4 : 12-Nov-25

The Victorian government has responded to the Business Council of Australia’s finding that the state is the nation’s worst place to do business for a second consecutive year. The government contends that investment in Victoria has been "the strongest among all states" over the last decade, growing by 53 per cent over this period. A government spokesman also contends that Victoria continues to rank first in terms of home approvals and home completions, adding that the government has also reduced or scrapped taxes 65 times. The BCA has again ranked South Australia as the best place to do business.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Roy Morgan Business Confidence virtually unchanged at 101.7 after the RBA leaves interest rates at 3.6%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Nov-25

In October 2025, Roy Morgan Business Confidence was virtually unchanged at 101.7. The result followed the Reserve Bank’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged in late September at 3.6%. Business Confidence is now 8.2pts below the long-term average of 109.9, and down 5pts from October 2024. Now 30.6% (down 2.8ppts) of businesses says their business is ‘better off’ financially than this time a year ago, while 34.1% (down 0.5ppts) say the business is ‘worse off’. Meanwhile, 42.2% (up 2.6ppts) of respondents expect the business will be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 22.3% (up 2.3ppts) expect the business will be ‘worse off’. Some 37.4% (down 1.9ppts) respondents say the next 12 months will be a ‘good time to invest’ in growing the business, while 34.9% (up 5.4ppts) say it will be a ‘bad time to invest’.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

States attack federal Labor’s tobacco policy

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Original article by Mohammad Alfares, Lachlan Leeming
The Australian – Page: 6 : 12-Nov-25

The federal government is attracting growing criticism over its tobacco policy, including its refusal to reduce excise tax in order to combat the burgeoning black market. Tasmania’s Police Minister Felix Ellis says the federal government’s response to the illegal tobacco trade has been one of the "worst public policy disasters" in the world at present. He adds that Tasmania intends to crack down on the illicit trade, but warns that the issue needs to be addressed at federal level. NSW Health Minister Ryan Park says federal counterpart Mark Butler has ignored his call to reduce the excise tax.

CORPORATES
TASMANIA. DEPT OF JUSTICE, NEW SOUTH WALES. MINISTRY OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, DISABILITY AND AGEING

BHP Christmas work order penalty

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 7 : 12-Nov-25

The Federal Court has ordered BHP’s Operation Services labour firm to compensate 85 miners who were directed to work at the Daunia coal mine in Queensland on Christmas Day and Boxing Day in 2019. Operation Services will be required to pay a total of $83,700 in compensation, plus a penalty of $15,000. The Mining and Energy Union’s Queensland president Mitch Hughes says the workers had been directed to work on the public holidays with no consultation or agreement. The workers will be each be paid between $800 and $2,400 each. BHP sold the Daunia mine to Whitehaven Coal in 2024.

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BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, OPERATION SERVICES, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC

Dire defence warning to PM, at eleventh hour

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Original article by Jamie Walker
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 12-Nov-25

Retired army major-general Greg Melick has used a Remembrance Day speech at the Australian War Memorial to criticise the federal government’s spending on defence. Melick contended that Australia needs a "grand strategy" to be prepared for war amid the deteriorating security situation in the Indo-Pacific region; he warned of the risk that defence spending may become a "matter of what we can afford and not what we need". The nation’s defence budget is slated to rise from about two per cent of GDP at present to 2.33 per cent over the next decade. Melick is also the outgoing national president of the RSL.

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AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL, THE RETURNED AND SERVICES LEAGUE OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence drops 1pt to 83.5 after higher-than-expected ABS CPI for September quarter and in the week the RBA left interest rates unchanged

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Nov-25

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 1pt to 83.5 in the week to 9 November; it is now 3.2pts lower than a year ago (86.7), and 3pts below the 2025 weekly average of 86.5. Analysis by State shows mixed results, with Consumer Confidence down in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia, but up in Victoria and Western Australia. Now 21% of Australians (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 44% (up 2ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 28% (up 2ppts) of respondents expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 31% (down 2ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’. Meanwhile, 8% (down 2ppts) of respondents expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 30% (down 2ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Only 20% (down 1ppt) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 37% (up 2ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Unions to pursue above-CPI pay rises

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 6-Nov-25

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union’s national secretary Steve Murphy has accused the Reserve Bank of being "out of touch" after it forecast that inflation will remain above its target range for at least six months and there will be negative real wages growth in 2026. He says the RBA blames workers, but "profit-driven price hikes" and "corporate greed" are the real problem. Murphy adds that despite the forecast increase in the inflation rate, the AMWU will be able to achieve real wages growth in upcoming negotiations for new enterprise agreements. The Electrical Trades Union’s national secretary Michael Wright says it also will continue to deliver real pay rises for its members.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

New Zealand: In October, National-led Government edges ahead of Labour-led Parliamentary Opposition

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Nov-25

Roy Morgan’s New Zealand Poll for October 2025 shows the National-led Government (National, ACT & NZ First) on 49.5%, up 1% point from a month earlier, marginally in front of the Labour-Greens-Maori Party Parliamentary Opposition on 45%, down 2.5% points. Within the National-led Government support for National was virtually unchanged at 32%, support for ACT dropped 1% point to 8% and support for NZ First increased 1.5% points to 9.5%. For the Parliamentary Opposition, support for Labour increased 2% points to 30.5%, support for the Greens was down 1.5% points to 12%, and support for the Maori Party dropped 3% points to 2.5%. A further 5.5% (up 1.5% points) of electors supported a minor party outside Parliament. This latest New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll on voting intention was conducted by telephone – both landline and mobile – with a New Zealand-wide cross-section of 857 electors from 29 September to 26 October. Meanwhile, the Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating was down 7.5pts to 82 in October.

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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

Optus’ $1.5b in federal contracts in doubt

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Original article by Jenny Wiggins, Nicola Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 6-Nov-25

Optus is under renewed scrutiny after a mobile network outage in the Hunter Valley region on Wednesday, which prompted the telco to warn that triple-zero services in 18 postcode areas could be affected. It was Optus’s third network outage in two months, and came just days after a parliamentary committee began an inquiry into the triple-zero outage in September that has been linked to several deaths. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Communications Minister Anika Wells has indicated that Optus’s contracts with federal government agencies are likely to be reviewed. The telco’s current contracts with the Australian Tax Office and the Department of Home Affairs expire in December 2026.

CORPORATES
SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS