Weekly Update: 11 October 2024

Highlights this week:

• In the Media: Bragg warns APRA rules to face Senate scrutiny.  
• Key Data: Total dwelling approvals fall by 6.1% 

Quote of the week:
“The TFF met the objectives we set out for it at the start of the pandemic. It helped prevent dire economic outcomes at a time when the outlook was bleak and highly uncertain…” 

– Assistant Governor (Financial Markets), Christopher Kent. A Review of the RBA’s Term Funding Facility, speech 9 October 2024.

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Media & Communications Update:

•  The ABA gave an interview on the topic of surcharging with Channel 9.
• The ABA provided ABS data to the ABC about mortgages for Australians aged 65 and over.

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Policy Update:

• The ABA attended a speech given by the Assistant Treasurer on The Scams Prevention Framework: Keeping Australia’s Money Safe. 
• The ABA met with the Commissioner and CEO of the Victorian Building Authority, Anna Cronin, to discuss proposed reforms in the building and construction sector in Victoria. 
• The ABA met with the Tasmanian Land Titles Registry to advocate for changes to how eConveyancing will be implemented in Tasmania.

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Regulatory Update:

• The RBA released the minutes from the September Monetary Policy Meeting of the Reserve Bank Board. 
• Andrew Hauser, the Deputy Governor of the RBA gave a speech on Central Banks and the Press at the Australian Journalism Awards. 
• Christopher Kent, Assistant Governor of Financial Markets at the RBA, gave a speech on the Review of the RBA’s Term Funding Facility. 

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Parliamentary Update:

• The Treasurer and Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury announced reforms to overhaul Australia’s merger rules. The legislative package is the biggest reform to Australia’s merger settings in almost 50 years.  
• The Treasurer also published an opinion piece on “modernising merger approvals to bring them into the 21st century” in the AFR, and held a press conference with ACCC Chair, Gina Cass‑Gottlieb on the merger reforms.  
• The Treasurer announced that Dr David Gruen AO has been reappointed as the full‑time Australian Statistician to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for a further five years, beginning on 11 December 2024. 
• The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet released the proposed Parliamentary sitting weeks for 2025. 
• The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill 2024 passed the House of Representatives and will now be debated in the Senate.  
• The Treasury Laws Amendment (Better Targeted Superannuation Concessions and Other Measures) Bill 2023 passed the House of Representatives and will now be debated in the Senate.  

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Economic Update:

• Total dwelling approvals fell by 6.1% in August 2024, with the value of
  • total residential building falling 6.7%
  • non-residential building rising 11.5% 
• At the same time, total housing loan commitments rose 1.0% from the previous month and 23.0% from August 2023.
  • Investor lending drove this growth with 1.4% growth in the month and 34.2% growth over the year. 
  • In comparison, owner-occupier loans grew 0.7% in the month and 16.8% over the year.

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Coming up next week:

• Data:
  • 17/10 – Labour Force, Australia

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Upcoming Submissions:

Published submissions

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Upcoming Events:

The ABA invites you to join us for a briefing by Housing Australia on their latest ‘Housing Australia Trends and Insights Report’ in September, focused on improving housing outcomes for Australians to be held Tuesday 15 October from 2.00pm to 3.00pm.

To register, please email Nat Madden, Associate Director, Events at nat.madden@ausbanking.org.au

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Selected Media:

AFR – Is there any rhyme or reason to credit card surcharges?  News.com.au – NAB monthly business survey shows uptick in confidence, conditions for September  AFR – Small business hammered by rising costs  ABC – Growing backlash over new draft scam laws as consumer groups unite to condemn government victim compo proposal  AFR – RBA rate relief to arrive before federal election, say economists  The Australian – RBA learnt valuable lessons from costly funding program: Kent

Warm regards,
The ABA Team

Weekly Update