Ladies Lounge creator Kirsha Kaechele exiting a hearing in the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal on 19 March. Photograph: Jesse Hunniford Mona/Charlotte Vignau
Ladies Lounge creator Kirsha Kaechele exiting a hearing in the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal on 19 March. Photograph: Jesse Hunniford Mona/Charlotte Vignau
Business confidence holding up better than consumers as price pressures ease
As we saw in an earlier post, consumers might not be so chuffed but it turns out businesses don’t quite share their pessimism.
NAB’s latest monthly survey found conditions and confidence were little changed in March, with confidence still slightly above the “zero” reading and conditions remaining above the long-run average.
By industry, there were positive signs for retail and construction which both saw improvement in confidence and conditions in the month, though in trend terms conditions remain weakest in these two [interest] rate-exposed sectors.
There are tentative signs that supply and demand are coming into better balance with capacity utilisation continuing to ease albeit gradually and from a high level.
For business, meanwhile, conditions in March remained a little above the long term average even though confidence (lower chart) was roughly neutral. (Source: NAB) pic.twitter.com/6ioHSGpiBk
That sort of language about a better demand-supply balance turned up in the Reserve Bank‘s minutes of its meeting last month. In that gathering, the RBA board only considered the case of leaving its cash rate on hold. (Mortgage holders will be hoping they start at least to consider cutting the rate at the board’s next meeting on 6-7 May.)
Another reason why the RBA might not be that far off at least mulling rate cuts is that businesses report “some modest easing in the pace of labour and materials cost growth”, although both elevated, NAB said.
We’ll get the March quarter consumer inflation figures from the ABS on 24 April. That will be widely watched - including by treasurer Jim Chalmers and Katy Gallagher as they put the final touches to the federal budget due out 14 May.
The Tax Practitioners Board has appeared at a parliamentary hearing this morning about laws proposed in light of the PricewaterhouseCoopers confidentiality breach scandal.
The scandal came to light when a former PwC partner, who was advising the Australian government on the draft multinational tax laws, shared confidential information with his colleagues over several years, which was then sold to overseas tech companies, giving them time to prepare them for new, tougher laws.
The Australian Taxation Office formally referred the issue to the watchdog for tax practitioners in mid-2020, and the TPB then made inquiries with Treasury. But due to secrecy obligations, there were limitations around what information could be shared between the agencies, slowing down any inquiry into the matter.
The TPB, chaired by Peter de Cure, said it supported the planned legislative changes that will allow it to share protected information with Treasury about suspected misconduct or breaches of confidentiality agreements.
I think the prior situation has been that there hasn’t been enough clarity and hopefully this will give rise to improved ability to share information.
On offering additional protections for people coming forward to blow the whistle on suspected wrongdoing, de Cure also said:
I think it just removes that barrier and makes it clear that a person who wants to speak to us can do so with clarity of that whistleblower protection being available.
29-year-old Adelaide woman in hospital with meningococcal disease
South Australian Health has alerted to a new case of meningococcal disease in Adelaide.
The 29-year-old woman from metropolitan Adelaide is in a stable condition in hospital after being diagnosed, the health department said.
SA Health has identified multiple people who have come in contact with the patient and three people have been directed to receive clearance antibiotics.
There have been nine cases of meningococcal in South Australia total so far this year, up from 5 this time last year.
Ola rideshare app appears to close operations in Australia
Rideshare app Ola appears to have abruptly closed its operations across Australia.
It has sent an email out to customers stating its “services will no longer be available in your area” from 12 April.
We have viewed emails sent to customers in Canberra and Queensland, alerting it would “discontinue operations”. The emails reads:
This means that you will no longer be able to book any rides through your Ola app from that date.
You must not take any rides with any vehicle purporting to be an Ola vehicle or Ola driver from 12th April 2024. Ola has not authorised any driver or any other party to use the Ola brand or provide rides on Ola’s behalf.
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your support for Ola.
The email says customers can still access their account information through the app until 11 May but will lose access after that.
The email did not state a reason for why Ola was shutting down.
Ola Australia’s last posts to Instagram, Facebook and Twitter/X were in 2021.
Supermarket chiefs to face combative Senate inquiry
Jonathan Barrett
The chief executives of Australia’s big supermarkets are scheduled to appear at a combative Senate inquiry next week to face claims food retailers have benefitted from a cost-of-living crisis by expanding corporate profits.
The planned appearances of the Coles CEO, Leah Weckert, and the outgoing Woolworths boss, Brad Banducci, on 16 April comes during a period of intense public scrutiny of a sector not seen since 2008, when it faced similar price gouging allegations.
The witness list for next week’s hearings was updated this morning.
Relentless price rises in essential items, from food to housing and utilities, has emerged as a central political issue for the next federal election, with cost relief expected to be featured prominently in next month’s federal budget.
According to an analysis of submissions and public commentary, the supermarket representatives will likely argue that supermarket profit margins are relatively slim compared with other industries, and that cost increases for shoppers have been driven by price rises imposed by major food brands.
Coles and Woolworths have been contacted for comment.
The major supermarkets are also facing a 12-month pricing probe by the competition regulator and will need to adjust to a revamped groceries code that governs how they deal with suppliers and customers.
Tropical Cyclone Olga to weaken to tropical low off Pilbara coast
Tropical Cyclone Olga is weakening over the open water north of West Australia’s Pilbara coast.
The Bureau of Meteorology says it is a category 1 system currently, forecast to weaken to a tropical low later today as it moves southwest.
Strong and gale force winds are possible around coastal areas west of the Pilbara overnight and into Wednesday, the Bureau warned.
Tropical #CycloneOlga is weakening over open water north of the #Pilbara coast and expected to move to the south-west. Strong to gale force winds are likely for coastal areas of the west Pilbara overnight Tuesday and into Wednesday. Latest forecasts: https://t.co/jlOoTZL1iFpic.twitter.com/ndv7JgDTXu
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) April 9, 2024
Jacinta Allan condemns rates of violence against women, family violence
Benita Kolovos
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has been giving a news conference and said the rates of family violence in the country are unacceptable, after the alleged murder of woman by her partner in Ballarat at the weekend.
Allan said:
It’s only the ninth of April and already 18 Australian women have been killed in 2024. This is unacceptable and it has to stop.
Women don’t just deserve the right, they must have the right to live and work and move safely around our community. It is just unacceptable that too many women are losing their lives at the hands of a violent [partner].
I think that is incumbent upon all of us to reflect on those statistics, because behind every statistic is a woman, is a family and a community who are grieving and it just reinforces the need that we have to work incredibly hard to make sure that women and all members of the community should to move safely around the community.
Residents can return with caution to parts of Gronos Point: SES
Earlier, the New South Wales State Emergency Service was warning people to avoid certain properties in Gronos Point, near Richmond, due to dangers following the recent flooding.
This has now been lifted, and people are advised to return with caution.
The NSW SES advises you may now RETURN WITH CAUTION to the following area(s): - Properties in the Gronos Point area including properties along Gronos Farm Road and Manns Road.
Consumers’ mood remains bleak with many bracing for more RBA pain
There’s not a lot of optimism among consumers, if the monthly Westpac/Melbourne Institute survey is any guide. Their latest read has sentiment firmly stuck in a negative zone that it’s occupied over the past two years – or roughly since the Reserve Bank started hoisting interest rates from a record low 0.1% in May 2022.
Australian consumers are still to shake off their funk - with confidence remaining in a narrow band at its lowest level since the 1990s recession. About 40% still expect another RBA rate rise... (Via @Westpac, Melbourne Institute.) pic.twitter.com/w5CJHDZfVN
On the positive side, consumers do expect continued “progress” on inflation with cost-of-living pressures easing as a result. Slightly at odds with that view, though, is that expectations for what will happen to interest rates have tilted slightly upwards in the past month.
“Just over 40% of consumers are still bracing for rate increases [over the coming 12 months], while 24% expect no change, 21% expect declines and 15% reported ‘don’t know’,” Westpac said.
A separate weekly survey for ANZ and Roy Morgan has also recorded an uptick in what people think will happen to inflation. That gauge is at the highest for 2024.
This is the first time since November 2022 (when inflation expectations peaked at 6.8%) that inflation expectations have increased for three weeks in a row. Higher petrol prices may be contributing to this rise in inflation.
And, for what it’s worth, investors are still betting the RBA will slice 25 basis points off the cash rate by November, lowering it 4.1%. A blowout US inflation number later on Wednesday (eastern Australian time), though, might push that timing back a bit too.
Victorian government supports extra reproductive leave for women in public service
Circling back to Victoria where the premier, Jacinta Allan, has been giving a press conference. Allan says the government supports extra reproductive leave for women in the public service.
The proposal of five days additional leave has been put forward by the Community and Public Sector Union during bargaining and Allan says the government will support it:
I don’t want to cut across the right of members to have their say on the in-principle agreement that’s been reached … in the instance of providing support for women. They need support to be able to fully participate in the workforce and our women’s pain inquiry is already telling us that chronic pain for women affects many women, it’s holding them back from being able to hold down a job to participate in the workforce to achieve both their full potential but also for the rest of society to benefit from their skills and talents.
And so having a workplace that understands [that from time to time we] need to provide women with additional support [with] being able to conceive a baby, [or managing] the pain that can come from time to time – or for many women all the time – with their periods.
She said the leave would also be able to be used by women undergoing menopause or perimenopause.
