Weekly Update: 28th July 2023

“I don’t anticipate that there will be an election this year. But quite clearly we have a mandate for [the Housing Australia Future Fund bills]. We want this to be passed. The way to ensure that this doesn’t provide a [double dissolution] trigger is to pass the legislation.” 

– PM Anthony Albanese, 28 July 2023 

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Parliamentary Update:

• The Prime Minister announced that the Government would reintroduce its Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) Bills in the House next week and send them back to the Senate in the coming months. This would set up a double dissolution election trigger for the Government.   
   
• Federal Finance Minister Katy Gallagher told the AFR Government Services Summit she wanted Digital ID legislation in the parliament by the end of the year, with the hope to have the first phase of linkages with state and territories operational by this time next year.
• The Treasurer authored an opinion piece in the AFR welcoming a public debate about full employment, how it is defined, and the effectiveness of utilising the Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment (NAIRU) measure.  
• The Treasurer also issued a media release and took part in media events following the latest ABS inflation figures, welcoming the moderation in key data.   
• Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones announced the implementation of new operational enhancements to the CDR rules which will allow businesses to more easily and safely share their CDR data with third parties, such as bookkeepers and software providers. 
• Federal Parliament returns next week. The following Bills are listed for debate in the Senate:
  • Financial Accountability Regime bills 
  • Treasury Laws Amendment (Modernising Business Communications and Other Measures) Bill 2023 
  • Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Amendment (Administrative Changes) Bill 2023 (Senate bill)  

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Policy Update:

• The ABA attended S&P Global Rating’s Australian Property Spotlight Seminar 2023 and heard from a range of panellists, including chief economists, on their projections into the residential and commercial property sectors over the next 12 months.

• The ABA participated in a Land Use Roundtable hosted by the Insurance Council of Australia, Planning Institute of Australia, and Master Builders Association, together a cross-section of industry across the building, development, insurance, finance, and government. The Roundtable was the first of a series, focussing on key issues and solutions to mitigate and manage peril risks associated with land use planning frameworks

• The ABA attended the CommBank Financial Abuse Leadership Summit hosted in Sydney. Speakers discussed the combined effort and the partnership of business and government that will enable the change needed to eliminate gender-based violence.  

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Regulatory Update:

• ASIC commenced a greenwashing case against Vanguard Investments Australia. ASIC alleges Vanguard made false and misleading statements and engaged in conduct liable to mislead the public in representing that all securities in the Vanguard Ethically Conscious Global Aggregate Bond Index Fund (Hedged) (Fund) were screened against certain ESG criteria. The Fund was marketed to investors seeking, amongst other things, securities with an ethically conscious screen.  
• The Treasurer announced that Chris Barrett will be appointed as the new Chair of the Productivity Commission, for a term of five years. Mr Barrett will commence his role in September. 
• APRA announced that it had taken enforcement action against unauthorised banking businesses. APRA sought an injunction in the Federal Court of Australia to restrain an individual from engaging in unauthorised banking business and using the word “bank” without the appropriate licence

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Economic Update:

• In June 2023:
  • Inflation slowed to 6% according to ABS’ quarterly CPI measure. The main contributors to inflation over the past 12 months were insurance and financial services, housing and food.
  • Unemployment remained at 3.5%. The number of employed people in Australia is 14 million and the participation rate remained at 66.8%. Underemployment increased to 6.4%.

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Communications and Media:

• The ABA featured the latest monthly data from ACCC’s Scamwatch on LinkedIn here and here, as part of an ongoing awareness raising campaign encouraging consumers to stay vigilant against scams. 

• Key findings from ABA’s Bank On It report were featured in a Channel 7 News piece about changing payments trends.

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Events:

• ABA Acting CEO Vanessa Beggs and CA ANZ CEO Ainslie van Onselen led the opening panel discussion at the Preparing the banking sector for climate disclosures event being held by the Australian Banking Association and Chartered Accountants ANZ at Deloitte’s offices in Sydney & Melbourne today. The session was a discussion on the importance of sustainability and climate-related risks in the banking sector and was moderated by Deloitte Australia’s Managing Partner of Financial Advisory David McCarthy.

• Emma Penzo (ABA Head of Economic Policy) and Merric Foley (ABA Director Policy) provided an update at the Preparing the banking sector for climate disclosures event on the ABA’s climate roadmap, including industry policy work and advocacy priorities. Emma and Merric outlined some of the practical steps that Australian banks are undertaking through the ABA to prepare for the introduction of climate disclosures.

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Upcoming Submissions:

Published submissions

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Selected Media:

• The Australian – Chalmers pursues fresh thinking for higher productivity
• AFR – RBA’s interest rate rises may be over
• AFR – Westpac, CBA dip into money markets using digital Aussie dollar  
• AFR – RBA’s rate-setting board to move beyond inexpert ‘pub test’
• The Australian – PM’s double dissolution threat over social housing
• AFR – Identity reforms open new era of personalised government

Weekly Update