Weekly Update: 30 May 2025

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Highlights this week:

• Coalition reunited as a deal is struck between Sussan Ley and David Littleproud.
• Ted O’Brien appointed as Shadow Treasurer and Pat Conaghan as Shadow Assistant Treasurer & Minister for Financial Services.
• April monthly CPI rose to 2.4%, 0.1% above consensus.

Quote of the week:
“This is the ninth consecutive month where headline inflation has been in the target band and the fifth consecutive month that underlying inflation has been in the target band. It’s actually the longest period where both measures of inflation have been in the target range since this monthly data started being collected in 2018.”

– Jim Chalmers, Treasurer. Doorstop interview – Brisbane, 28 May.

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Media & Communications Update:

• Provided background information to the ABC on the support options that banks have activated for flood-affected communities.
• The ABAprovided background to the AFR on the appointment of Deloitte as the preferred tenderer for the independent pricing model.

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Parliamentary Update:

• The Coalition reunited following their split on May 22, and Sussan Ley unveiled the shadow ministry. Key appointments:
  • Ted O’Brien – Shadow Treasurer
  • James Paterson – Shadow Minister for Finance and the Public Service
  • Pat Conaghan – Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services
  • Julian Leeser – Shadow Attorney-General
  • Melissa McIntosh – Shadow Minister for Communications
  • Andrew Bragg – Shadow Minister for Housing, Productivity and Deregulation.
• The Australian Electoral Commission finalised Senate seat counts:
  • Labor: 28
  • Liberal / National: 27
  • Greens: 11
  • One Nation: 4
  • Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock: retain their seats.
• The Productivity Commission released a research paper that looks into the rapid rise, and subsequent rapid decline, in labour productivity over the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Policy Update:

• The ABA and members banks attended the annual Financial Counselling Australia Conference in Adelaide. Over 1000 delegates were on site to hear about a range of topics including engaging with First Nations customers, gambling harm and financial hardship best practice. Member banks talked to hundreds of financial counsellors and industry representatives.  

• The ABA met with the Law Council’s National Elder Law and Succession Law Committee to discuss Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPOAs) and the Deceased Estates provisions in the Banking Code.
• The ABA participated in a workshop with AUSTRAC on the second draft of the new AML/CTF Rules & in AUSTRAC’s Finance Sector Forum.
• The ABA attended a roundtable hosted by the Business Council of Australia to discuss practical ideas for productivity reforms.

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Economic Update:

• Monthly CPI for April rose 2.4%, 0.1% above consensus with the greatest increases being Food and non-alcoholic beverages (3.1%), Housing (2.2%), and Recreation and culture (3.6%). Trimmed mean inflation rose 2.8%, slightly above the 2.7% in March but still within the RBA target band. The monthly CPI print has now been steady at 2.4% for the last three months, illustrating prudent monetary policy and economic consolidation.

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Regulatory Update

• ASIC announced a proposal to remake basic deposit and general insurance product distribution legislative instrument.
• ASIC Commissioner Kate O’Rourke gave a speech on Addressing financial system climate risk: A view from the regulator at the Responsible Investment Association Australasia.

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Coming up next week:

• Data:
  • 03/06 – Business Indicators
  • 05/06 – Monthly Household Spending Indicator
  • 06/06 – International Trade in Goods

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Upcoming Submissions:

Published submissions

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Upcoming Events:

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Selected Media

• The Australian – White House calls for Supreme Court to rein in activist judges
• AFR – Big business the driver of wages, growth: McKinsey
• ABC – Australia’s housing goals face hurdles despite 7 per cent rise in home construction
• AFR – ‘People don’t want state-owned homes’: Coalition overhauls its housing policies

Warm regards,
The ABA Team

Weekly Update