Each morning we post a selection of our favourite news stories from the day’s news. These posts also give you a chance to see how we can summarise news for you.
Federal Voting Intention: ALP and L-NP Coalition lose primary support while Greens and One Nation gain support after Middle East conflict starts
Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Mar-26
The first Roy Morgan Poll taken after the conflict in the Middle East began shows support for both the ALP down 4% to 26.5% and the Coalition down 1% to 22.5%. The Greens gained 3% to 14.5% and One Nation was up 1.5% to 23.5% – and ahead of the Coalition. 13% support Independents and Other Parties, according to interviewing conducted from March 2-8 with a representative Australia-wide cross-section of 1,532 electors. In times of global unrest, the usual response of the electorate is to swing to the Government, although this hasn’t happened so far in the early stages of the Iran War. The rise in support for the Greens is likely because the Greens are the only major political party to take a stand against the US and Israeli strikes in the Middle East, and this support has come straight from people previously supporting the ALP. A look at the results by gender and age show the picture is complicated with the ALP losing primary support of men and women, and the Greens and One Nation gaining support of men and women. Analysis by age shows the ALP losing support in every age group, mostly to the Greens. For people aged 18-24 though, ALP support went to One Nation and Independents/Other Parties and the Greens lost support. One Nation gained support in all age groups under 65. Based on how electors said they would ‘vote’, ALP is 54.5% well ahead of Coalition 45.5%. If a Federal Election were held now the ALP would be returned to Government with a clear majority under either methodology.
CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY
Workplace laws reset for AI job losses: union
Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 11-Mar-26
The Australian Services Union has urged a "fundamental reset of workplace laws to protect workers’ time". The ASU has used its submission to an inquiry into the National Employment Standards to call for employees who lose their job due to artificial intelligence to be given at least six months’ paid notice; it contends that this would give them time to upskill, train for new roles within their organisation or look for a new job. The union has also called for the maximum working week to be set at 30.4 hours over four days, with no loss of pay.
CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SERVICES UNION
ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence down 3.7 points to 73.4 following launch of US and Israeli attacks on Iran
Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Mar-26
ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 3.7 points to 73.4 in the week to 8 March; it is now 13.5pts lower than a year ago (86.9), and 5.8pts below the 2026 weekly average of 79.2. Analysis by State shows Consumer Confidence falling in most States including in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, but up in New South Wales. Now 18% of Australians (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 47% (up 2ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 20% (down 1ppts) of respondents expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 43% (up 6ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’. Only 6% (down 1ppts) of respondents expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 42% (up 5ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 18% (down 1ppt) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 43% (up 3ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.
CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ
Three vie to replace Nationals leader
Original article by Greg Brown, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 11-Mar-26
Sources within the National Party have indicated that Matt Canavan, Bridget McKenzie and Kevin Hogan will contest the leadership at a special partyroom meeting today. Outgoing leader David Littleproud surprised most of his colleagues on Tuesday, announcing his intention to step aside because he is "buggered" and has had enough. Littleproud added that he has been a "human punching bag" for the last several months and at some point "you have to look after yourself". The Coalition briefly split on two separate occasions during Littleproud’s tenure, while Barnaby Joyce defected to One Nation and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price switched to the Liberal partyroom. Littleproud intends to remain in parliament.
CORPORATES
NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, ONE NATION PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA
In late 2025 over 2.6 million New Zealanders read newspapers and more than 1.6 million read magazines
Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Mar-26
Roy Morgan readership results for the 12 months to December 2025 show that 60.5% of New Zealanders aged 14+ (an estimated 2.66 million people), now read or access newspapers in an average 7-day period via print or online (website or app) platforms. In addition, 38% (an estimated 1.67 million) read magazines, whether in print or online either via the web or an app. The New Zealand Herald was the nation’s most widely read publication in the year to December, with a total cross-platform audience of 1,783,000; this is up 14,000 (+0.8%) on a year ago. Meanwhile, 21 of the 45 magazines measured increased their print readership during the year to December; New Zealand’s most widely read magazine is still the driving magazine AA Directions, which had an average issue readership of 388,000 in the year to December 2025 (over 150,000 ahead of any other magazine). These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan New Zealand Single Source survey of 6,364 New Zealanders aged 14+ over the 12 months to December 2025.
CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED
Woodside, BHP circle Slattery
Original article by Perry Williams, Colin Packham, Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 11-Mar-26
Woodside Energy’s chairman Richard Goyder says its board is assessing a number of internal and external candidates to succeed former CEO Meg O’Neill; a decision is expected by the end of March. BHP’s president for Australia, Geraldine Slattery, is considered to the leading external candidate for the role, although she is also in contention to replace CEO Mike Henry when he eventually steps down; there is market speculation that BHP will name Henry’s successor by August. Saul Kavonic from MST Marquee says that recruiting an external candidate may be challenging for Woodside, given that its executive remuneration is below that of its global peers.
CORPORATES
WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX WDS, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, MST MARQUEE
Australia drawn further into Gulf conflict
Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 11-Mar-26
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the federal government’s deployment of an early-warning aircraft and 85 defence personnel to the Middle East is solely a defensive measure. He has emphasised that it is aimed at supporting Australians who are still in the region, and to help the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf nations to defend themselves against "unprovoked" attacks from Iran. Opposition leader Angus Taylor has backed the deployment, emphasising the need to "stand together" against regimes that do not accept Australia’s values and the nation’s way of life. The government will also supply an undisclosed number of medium-range air-to-air missiles to the UAE.
CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA
Bunnings is Australia’s most trusted brand; Telecommunications, led by Optus, is the most distrusted industry
Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Mar-26
Bunnings is the most trusted brand in the 12 months to December 2025, a ninth consecutive quarterly victory for the leading hardware retailer. Discount supermarket Aldi is in second place, and discount department store Kmart is third; the top three places have remained unchanged for an eighth straight quarter. Meanwhile, Woolworths remains Australia’s most distrusted brand, while Optus deteriorated two places to be the second most distrusted brand in the 12 months to December; in fact, Optus was the single most distrusted brand in Australia during the month of December, following its fatal triple-zero outage in September. Roy Morgan’s latest data on trust and distrust reveals a remarkable relationship between highly regulated industries and trust. The financial services sector provides clear evidence that greater regulation and stricter rules have helped shape public perception for the better. On the flipside, sectors like Telecommunications and Supermarkets have relatively low regulation and suffer deep distrust; they currently face severe regulatory headwinds as the public demands better accountability and a fair go.
CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD
Union boss slams miner over right-of-entry complaints
Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 11-Mar-26
BHP’s CEO Mike Henry recently noted that its iron ore mines are dealing with an unprecedented level of right-of-entry requests, amid an ongoing push to re-unionise the Pilbara under the federal goverment’s industrial relations reforms. Unions have in turn criticised BHP’s decision to outsource the processing of Pilbara right-of-entry requests to the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Western Australia, noting that rivals such as Rio Tinto still do this in-house. The CCIWA has advised that it processed 844 right-of-entry requests for BHP’s mines in 2025, while it has processed 168 so far in 2026.
CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA (INCORPORATED), RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO
Risk of mortgage stress dropped to lowest for three years in January, but is set to increase as interest rates rise in 2026
Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Mar-26
New research from Roy Morgan shows that 23.9% of mortgage holders were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in January 2026, down 4% points from August 2025. This is the lowest proportion of mortgage holders ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ since January 2023. The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has decreased by 449,000 compared to a year ago, when the RBA began a cycle of interest rate cuts. Meanwhile, the number of Australians considered to be ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 789,000 (15.9% of mortgage holders); this is just below the long-term average over the last two decades of 16.3%. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with over 60,000 Australians each year, including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.
CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA
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