Bullock rebuffs Labor on rates

September 30, 2026roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 30-Sep-26

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock has reiterated that "domestic capacity pressures" have been the key driver of the inflation rate, rather than the Iran war. She notes that while the conflict in the Middle East has "made things much worse", there was already excess demand in the economy and the RBA had started increasing the cash rate before the war began. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has persistently claimed that the war has been the primary source of Australia’s inflation challenge, rather than government spending. Bullock has warned that the RBA may need to follow up yesterday’s increase in the cash rate with another one if it is to prevent high inflation from becoming embedded across the economy. Financial markets have fully priced in a rise in the cash rate by February 2027.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

ALP holds an election winning lead; One Nation strongest in Queensland, Labor strongest in New South Wales

September 30, 2026roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Sep-26

Over the past fortnight the ALP has maintained an election-winning lead with 26% of the primary vote, ahead of One Nation on 25.5%. The L-NP Coalition’s primary vote is 22.5% (20% Liberal, 2.5% Nationals); Greens 14.5% and Independent/Others 11%. This result comes in a fortnight where both Labor and One Nation announced their immigration policies and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke at the UN General Assembly in New York. Albanese also announced a taskforce to review an incident of AI hacking into the Medicare statistics portal. If a Federal Election were held now the ALP would win a majority against either One Nation or L-NP Coalition. Next week’s Roy Morgan poll will show the impact of the Reserve Bank’s interest rate decision yesterday. These results are according to the Roy Morgan Poll conducted from 14-27 September, with a representative Australia-wide cross-section of 2,569 electors.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ONE NATION PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Chainsaw to ALP energy revolution

September 23, 2026roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 23-Sep-26

The Coalition has advised that its Scrap Net Zero (Cheaper Energy) bill will be introduced to parliament within 30 days if it wins the next federal election. Amongst other things, the proposed bill would abolish Labor initiatives such as the legislated net-zero emissions target, the Capacity Investment Scheme, the safeguard mechanism and new vehicle efficiency standards. The existing CIS would be replaced by one that embraces all dispatchable energy technology, including nuclear power; the Coalition would also seek to scrap the national ban on nuclear power generation. Shadow energy minister Dan Tehan says the Coalition’s energy policy will be about "energy abundance", rather than Labor’s current approach of "energy restriction".

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Spend less or tax more: It’s Chalmers’ call, say experts

September 23, 2026roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Thomas Henry
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 23-Sep-26

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he has not "necessarily" given up on returning the budget to surplus, despite the latest Intergenerational Report’s projection that Australia faces deficits for the next four decades. Meanwhile, KPMG’s chief economist Brendan Rynne has warned that decades of budget deficits would be "incredibly politically damaging" for any government, as households ultimately bear the cost of higher government debt. He estimates that without further cuts to government spending or changes to the Treasury’s long-term productivity assumptions, Labor will be forced to collect more taxes from Australian consumers or businesses in order to repair the budget. Rynne says this would most likely be via an increase in the GST or personal income tax rates.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Green goal shattered as Bowen faces COP heat

September 16, 2026roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Perry Williams, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 16-Sep-26

Modelling suggests that renewables will account for just 53 per cent of Australia’s electricity generation by 2030, well below the federal government’s target of 82 per cent. This projection is based on the number of renewable energy projects that were being built at the end of June; the modelling shows that although sufficient renewable energy and battery-storage projects have been proposed to reach the 2030 target, not enough of them will be completed by this date. Meanwhile, Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen’s Turkish counterpart and COP31 president Murat Kurum says his nation will make final decisions regarding the climate summit. Kurum says Bowen is only the president of negotiations.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER

No east coast gas crisis: Santos

September 9, 2026roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Colin Packham
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 9-Sep-26

Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher will address the National Press Club in Canberra today; he will use the speech to contend that Australia’s east coast is not facing an imminent gas crisis and that it will have adequate supplies until at least 2030. He will also reject claims that Queensland’s LNG export industry has caused supply issues for the east coast market. Gallagher will in turn urge the federal government to make changes to its proposed domestic gas reservation scheme, arguing that the "must sell" clause on reserved gas should be replaced by an obligation for producers to offer gas to the domestic market on commercial terms.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO

Audit office to take a look after Labor accused of sports rorts pork-barrelling

September 9, 2026roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Rob Harris, Paul Sakkal
The Age – Page: Online : 9-Sep-26

The Australian National Audit Office will examine the allocation of funding via the federal government’s Major and Local Community Infrastructure Program. Auditor-General Caralee McLiesh says it will then decide whether to undertake a full audit of the "invitation-only" $560m scheme, which was established prior to the 2025 federal election with the aim of funding community projects. Analysis by the Centre for Public Integrity has found that 73.2 per cent of the program’s funding was allocated to safe Labor seats and marginal electorates that Labor wanted to win. It has also been revealed that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese failed to declare an honorary membership of the Marrickville Golf Club on his parliamentary register of interests; the club was promised a $6m grant via the infrastructure program. The ANAO will also decide whether to audit a $170m government program for multicultural communities; about 85 per cent of funding was allocated to Labor-held seats.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

‘Abusing his power’: Pauline Hanson accuses Anthony Albanese of acting like an emperor by refusing to allocate staff to One Nation

September 2, 2026roymorgansocial Leave a comment

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

‘Consequences’: China strongarms Pacific

September 2, 2026roymorgansocial Leave a comment

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

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AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT