Weekly update: 31.03.23

“Today is an historic day for the country to ensure our economy can take advantage of the opportunities of decarbonisation and meet our ambitious climate targets” 

– The Hons Chris Bowen MP

Parliamentary Update:

• The Federal Government’s Safeguard Mechanism Bill passed the Senate, after a number of hours of extended debate.
• The National Reconstruction Fund Bill passed the Senate.
• The Government was unable to gather support from the Greens and crossbench for their Housing Australia Future Fund Bill.
• The Treasurer authored two key op-eds: ‘Global volatility underlines challenges for budget’ (The Australian) and ‘Confident, but not complacent, about our banks’ (AFR).
• The Treasurer conducted a number of key interviews speaking on inflation, interest rates, cost of essentials, cost‑­of‑­living support in the Budget, minimum wage review, RBA Review, and the RBA Governor.
• Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones delivered a key speech to the AFR Banking Summit, focussing on scam prevention.
• The Treasurer issued a statement on the passing of former Treasurer the Hon. John Kerin AO.

---

Policy Update:

• The ABA attended a Gambling Harms Minimisation Roundtable discussion with leading academics in gambling and addiction research at the University of Sydney and colleagues from our sector. The roundtable discussion focused on the role banks and other financial institutions play in responding to, and intervening when, gambling problems are identified in their customer base. 
• Staff from ABA’s economy team met with the NSW Building Commissioner to discuss key priorities for the NSW Government relating to building and property and to share insights on the sector.
• The ABA participated in a BCCC workshop on engaging with small business and agribusiness ahead of financial difficulty. The ABA shared with attendees the proactive role banks play in supporting customers before and during times of hardship, including through on-the-ground engagement with businesses, proactive communication with customers and ongoing monitoring.

---

Regulatory Update:

• Ellis Connolly, RBA Head of Payments Policy, described recent RBA research on the transition to digital payments in a speech to the AFR Banking Summit. The research described the prevalence of mobile payments, with nearly 40 per cent of Australians reporting having used mobile devices to make a payment at least once during a one week period.
• ACCC issued a warning about bank impersonation scams, telling Australians to be wary of phone calls and texts that appear to be from their bank. Scamwatch received 14,603 reports of bank impersonation scams in 2022, resulting in more than $20 million in losses.

---

Economic Update:

• Inflation dropped to 6.8% from 7.4% in January 2023 and 8.4% in December 2022.

Figure 1: CPI, Experimental monthly indicator, September 2018 – February 2023, %

• Job vacancies continued to trend down in February 2023 but remain significantly higher than the long-term average, Figure 2. There were 438,500 job vacancies in February 2023, down 8.7 per cent from a high of 480,300 in May 2022. Nearly one quarter of all businesses reported job vacancies.
• Vacancies were highest in health care and social assistance (72,400), accommodation and food services (57,800) as well as professional scientific and technical services (47,600). These industries all saw growth in the number of vacancies from May 2022.

Figure 2: Job vacancies, November 2009 – February 2023

---

Communications and Media Update:

• ABA CEO Anna Bligh spoke at the Australian Financial Review Banking Summit 2023 earlier this week, part of a panel facilitated by the AFR’s Economics Editor John Kehoe discussing ‘economics, policy and an uncertain year looming’.

• Anna was interviewed on Sky News and ABC Radio National discussing issues including cost of living, the review of the RBA and global banking trends. Read the RN interview transcript.

• The ABA issued a media statement welcoming the agreement reached on the proposed safeguard mechanism reforms. The ABA supports accelerating the reduction of emissions by 2030 and a balanced and orderly transition to a net zero emissions economy by 2050. 

---

Upcoming Events:

---

Submissions Lodged:

• AUSTRAC ECDD and M&A Guidance Reviews
• Senate Inquiry into bank closures in regional Australia

---

Upcoming Submissions:

---

Selected Media:

• AFR – Bligh warns Labor against raising levy
• ABC – Australian banks are boring, scrutinised … and safe, says APRA boss
• AAP – Local banks ‘well-positioned’ to resist overseas storm
• SMH – RBA poised for biggest shake-up in three decades
• The Australian – Global volatility underlines challenges for budget’
• AFR – ‘Confident, but not complacent, about our banks‘

Weekly Update