AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Coalition enjoys its largest two-party preferred lead since the last Federal Election: L-NP 51.5% cf. ALP 48.5%

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-May-24

The Coalition now has a clear lead on a two-party preferred basis for the first time since the Federal Election more than two years ago: L-NP 51.5% (up 2%) ahead of the ALP 48.5% (down 2%) in the week student protests on University campuses in support of Palestine were broken up. In addition, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese failed to come out in support of Israel after the International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan issued applications for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. While support for the ALP dropped for a second straight week, and was down 2% to only 28.5% this week, the drop in ALP primary support drifted to minor parties and independents, not to the Coalition. Primary support for the Coalition was unchanged on 37% for a third straight week. If a Federal Election were held now the Coalition would form a minority government, but with the support of minor parties and independents, the latest Roy Morgan survey shows. Support for the Greens was up 0.5% to 15% and support for One Nation increased 0.5% to 6%. In addition, support for Other Parties was up 0.5% to 4.5% and support for Independents was up 0.5% to 9%. The latest Roy Morgan survey is based on interviewing a representative cross-section of 1,488 Australian electors from May 20-26, 2024. When comparing different polls it is always important to make sure to take note of the dates when the polls are conducted to undertake a proper comparison between two polls.

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

AUKUS subs bigger, better, bolder

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Brendan Nicholson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 28-May-24

The Australian Submarine Agency’s director-general Jonathan Mead is confident that the project to build five SSN-AUKUS submarines in South Australia will be completed as planned. The nuclear-powered vessels will be based on the UK’s Astute-class submarines, but Mead says they will be "bigger, better, faster and bolder"; they will also be significantly larger than the three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines that will be added to Australia’s fleet in the early 2030s.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SUBMARINE AGENCY

Australia is unprepared if war breaks out

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Cameron Stewart
The Australian – Page: 2 : 28-May-24

Professor Paul Dibb says the Australian Defence Force is approximately the same size it was in 1986, when he wrote the seminal ‘Review of Australia’s defence capabilities’. Professor Dibb adds that Australia still basically has a peacetime defence force with little capacity to expand quickly in the event of a military conflict. He notes that when he produced the Dibbs report in 1986 the government of the day was spending much more on defence as a proportion of GDP than the current Labor government, despite the fact that Australia faced only low-level conflict at the time.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE

Albanese vows to get the job done before calling an election

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joe Hildebrand
The Daily Telegraph – Page: Online : 22-May-24

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has marked the second anniversary of his government by ruling out an early election, stating that Labor will not to go to the polls until it has addressed the cost-of-living crisis. He adds that reducing the inflation rate is his government’s top priority, and Labor will not focus on its re-election campaign until 2025. Albanese has also noted that handing down a budget amid the current economic conditions is challenging, with the need to balance providing cost-of-living relief with the focus on combating inflation.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Dutton’s views on tax credits wrong: MinRes

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 22-May-24

Treasury modelling suggests that mining companies could receive $17.6bn worth of production tax credits over 14 years for the downstream processing of critical minerals. Opposition leader Peter Dutton has labelled the budget measure as "billions for billionaires" and committed to vetoing the policy. However, Mineral Resources’ MD Chris Ellison believes that Dutton will eventually realise that he is wrong to oppose a policy that will support projects that will contribute revenue for more than five decades. Meanwhile, Mineral Resources has begun loading the first shipment of iron ore from its Onslow Iron Project in the West Pilbara; work on the project started less than a year ago.

CORPORATES
MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

PM equivalates on ICC’s Hamas-Israel equivalence

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ben Packham, Janet Albrechtsen
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 22-May-24

The federal government is under scrutiny over its response to the International Criminal Court’s move to seek an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese initially responded by stating that "I don’t comment on court proceedings". In contrast, US President Joe Biden has labelled the push to charge Netanyahu with war crimes as "outrageous"; he also stated that there is "no equivalence between Israel and Hamas", whose leaders in Gaza may also face war crime allegations. Foreign Minister Penny Wong subsequently issued a statement in which she said the decision on arrest warrants is a matter for the ICC.

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine comments on drop in support for the ALP the latest Roy Morgan Poll on Federal Voting Intention

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 21-May-24

The following are some reasons the ALP vote has declined: In a climate where Australians are concerned about cost of living, inflation, and the housing crisis, the Reserve Bank has drawn a causal link between the housing crisis and immigration levels. The Reserve Bank has stated high immigration is driving rental inflation and this creates a housing crisis for many Australians. The Government’s failure to tackle high immigration – Coalition Leader Peter Dutton has stated the Coalition will cut annual permanent migration to 140,000 – is hurting the Government. The Government’s commitment to hand billions of dollars as tax rebates to Australian billionaires to create ‘clean technology’ such as ‘Green Steel’ has not resonated with electors; and in addition the $300 per year household electricity rebate will be only a ‘drop in the bucket’ compared to increasing mortgages and rising food prices.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL

Miles backs Dutton on migrant cut

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 21-May-24

Queensland Premier Steven Miles claims that federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton has taken on his own policy for a halving of the nation’s migrant intake. Miles said the current level of migration is putting too much pressure on the state’s housing system, and he was pleased to see Dutton echo his comments. Dutton’s pledge that he would seek to slash migrant numbers has been attacked by the federal government as "excessive and reckless", so Miles’ comments in support of Dutton create the potential for an awkward meeting between Miles and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese when the latter visits Queensland this week.

CORPORATES
QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

No Budget Boost for Government as ALP loses ground after Federal Budget is delivered: ALP 50.5% cf. L-NP 49.5%

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 21-May-24

The Albanese Labor Government has lost support and now only has a narrow lead after delivering the Federal Budget: ALP 50.5% (down 1.5%) compared to the Coalition on 49.5% (up 1.5%) on a two-party preferred basis after Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivered the Federal Budget last week. If a Federal Election were held now the result would be too close to call with a hung parliament and the support of minor parties and independents required for either the ALP or Coalition to form a minority government, the latest Roy Morgan survey shows. Primary support for the Coalition was unchanged on 37% this week while support for the ALP dropped 1.5% to only 30.5%. Much of this support went to the Greens, up 1% to 14.5%. Support for One Nation was unchanged at 5.5%, while support for Other Parties was down 0.5% to 4% and support for Independents increased by 1% to 8.5%. The latest Roy Morgan survey is based on interviewing a representative cross-section of 1,674 Australian electors from May 13-19, 2024. When comparing different polls it is always important to make sure to take note of the dates when the polls are conducted to undertake a proper comparison between two polls.

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

Dutton plan risks $48b foreign student industry

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Julie Hare
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 18-May-24

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has come under fire for stating that a Coalition government would reduce temporary migration to 160,000 in its first year in office. International students make up half of the number of temporary migrants, and migration expert Abul Rizvi claims that one student would have to leave the country for every one that arrives in order to meet Dutton’s target. International education was valued at $48 billion in 2023, making it Australia’s most successful non-mining export, and Rizvi claims that the international education sector would be "smashed" under Dutton’s plan.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA