Prominent Australians urge Albanese government to adopt activist middle power role to head off war between US and China

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Original article by Daniel Hurst
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 31-Jan-24

Academics, former politicians and social justice advocate are among 50 prominent Australians who have signed a joint statement calling for the federal government to take a key role in easing tensions between the US and China. They have called for a ‘new detente’ between the two nations in order to reduce threats to both regional and global peace and prosperity. The signatories have argued that Australia can play an ‘activist middle power diplomacy’ role, in close consultation with its key neighbours in the Indo-Pacific region.

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Inflation Expectations in late January are at 5.1% – down by 0.2% points from the month of December (5.3%)

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 31-Jan-24

The latest weekly Inflation Expectations are at 5.1% for the week of January 22-28, which is in line with the four-week average of 5.1% and 0.2% points lower than the month of December. A look at the monthly Inflation Expectations for December shows the measure at 5.3% for the month, a decrease of 0.1% points on November (5.4%). Inflation Expectations are following a similar trend as the broader official ABS inflation measure. The lower-than-expected inflation reading for November has raised hopes that the RBA will not undertake any further interest rate increases. The ABS will release the December quarterly and monthly inflation readings later this week, which will inform the RBA’s actions at their first meeting of the year next week. The data for the Inflation Expectations series is drawn from the Roy Morgan Single Source, which has interviewed an average of around 5,100 Australians aged 14+ per month over the last decade, and includes interviews with 6,028 Australians aged 14+ in December 2023.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Sovereign Borders wasted and mismanaged millions, claims senior official

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Original article by Nick McKenzie, Michael Bachelard
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 31-Jan-24

The former Coalition government’s offshore detention regime for asylum seekers is under renewed scrutiny following the release of sworn evidence given by the Department of Home Affairs’ assistant secretary Derek Elias. It has been revealed that Elias raised concerns about the waste and misuse of taxpayers funds via the so-called Pacific Solution policy in evidence given to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in his claim for workers’ compensation. The federal government has yet to release a report on the offshore processing regime by the nation’s former director-general of security, Dennis Richardson.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIA. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL

$3bn tied to lift in learning

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Original article by Natasha Bita
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 31-Jan-24

The federal government’s share of public school funding has traditionally been set at 20 per cent. However, Education Minister Jason Clare will propose progressively increasing this to 22.5 per cent by 2026. The state and territory governments will in turn be required to increase their own funding for public schools. The additional funding will have to be spent on measures aimed at improving teaching standards and educational outcomes, including assistance for students who are at risk of being ‘left behind’. The Australian Education Union has advocated lifting the federal government’s share of education funding to 25 per cent.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION, AUSTRALIAN EDUCATION UNION

Burke open to IR bill concessions

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 31-Jan-24

A Senate inquiry’s report on the federal government’s Closing Loopholes Bill will be tabled on Thursday, and the remaining provisions of the bill are set to be debated in parliament next week. Sources have indicated that the government is prepared to make some amendments to the bill in order to secure the support of Senate crossbenchers. These could potentially include delaying the starting date for measures relating to casual employment and the gig economy. However, Business Council of Australia CEO Bran Black says the bill requires substantial changes rather than ‘technical amendments’, given that it will have a significant economic impact on jobs and employment.

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BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Coalition voters win in Labor’s tax U-turn: PM

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 7 : 31-Jan-24

Treasury analysis shows that the federal government’s proposed changes to the stage-three income tax cuts package will strongly benefit Coalition voters. The analysis suggest that about 85 per cent of voters in seats held by the Liberal or National parties will be better off than they would have been if the tax cuts had gone ahead in their original form. The federal government will use the Treasury data to seek the Coalition’s support for its changes. The Opposition will not decide its formal stance on the changes until parliament resumes next week; however, it will continue to reiterate that Labor has broken an election promise regarding the tax cuts.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence drops 1.9pts to 82.5 after Albanese Government breaks promise and vows changes to the Stage 3 tax cuts

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 31-Jan-24

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 1.9pts to 82.5 in the week to 28 January, and it has now spent a record 52 straight weeks below the mark of 85. Consumer Confidence is 4.3pts below the same week a year ago (86.8), but still 4.5 points above the 2023 weekly average of 78.0. There were mixed results around the States, with Consumer Confidence down in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia but up in Victoria. Now 19% of Australians (down 2ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 50% (up 2ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 34% (unchanged) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year (the equal highest figure for this indicator since late January 2023), while 32% (up 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’. Only 9% (down 1ppt) of Australians now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 31% (down 2ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 22% (down 3ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 48% (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

Mortgage stress increased in December following RBA’s November rate rise but still below mid-year highs

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 31-Jan-24

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 1,527,000 mortgage holders (30.3%) were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the three months to December 2023. This period included an interest rate increase on Melbourne Cup Day, with the RBA raising interest rates to 4.35%. The figure for December represented the highest level of mortgage stress for three months as the impact of the interest rate increase flowed through, but still below the record highs above 1.56 million mortgage holders ‘At Risk’ in both August and September 2023. This is only the fourth time the index has shown over 1.5 million mortgage holders to be considered ‘At Risk’. The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 720,000 since May 2022, when the RBA began a cycle of interest rate increases. Meanwhile, the number of mortgage holders considered ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 964,000 (19.8% of mortgage holders), which is significantly above the long-term average over the last 10 years of 14.2%. 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.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

‘Very dangerous prime minister’: Turnbull attacks Abbott in new ABC documentary

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Original article by Paul Sakkal
The Age – Page: Online : 30-Jan-24

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has told an ABC documentary that chronicles the former Coalition government’s nine years in power that Tony Abbott was a "very dangerous prime minister". Turnbull, who toppled Abbott in 2015, claims that Abbott sought to exaggerate the threat of terrorism in order to frighten people, and that he was too forceful in his response to Russia in the wake of the downing of flight MH17 in 2014 in which 38 Australians died. Abbott, who did not take part in the documentary, has been approached for comment.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Accused torturer to command ADF troops

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Original article by Stephen Rice
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 30-Jan-24

Colonel Penioni Naliva has been appointed as deputy commander of the Australian Army’s 7th Brigade, which comprises around 3,500 troops, with his appointment coming after he graduated from the Australian War College in 2023. A senior Fijian military officer, Naliva has been accused of torture and human rights abuses, and a Defence spokesperson said it was aware of the allegations. There is speculation that current Fiji prime minister Sitiveni Rabuk approved Naliva’s appointment over concern that he was the military officer most likely to stage a coup against his unstable government; his appointment will see Naliva move to Australia, thus lessening the risk of him staging a coup.

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AUSTRALIAN ARMY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE