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Rent costs picked up again in November while petrol price increases eased

Peter Hannam

As mentioned, the CPI numbers can be volatile, especially on a monthly basis. Still, renters will be dismayed by the uptick in costs (at least in the eight capital cities surveyed by the ABS), with rents rising at an annual rate of 7.1% in November, or quicker than the 6.6% rate registered for October.

Electricity prices, too, were 10.7% higher than a year earlier, up from a year-on-year increase of 10.1% for October. Gas prices were up 12.9%, or similar to the annual rate for October.

Better news for motorists, though. Automotive fuel was 2.3% higher than in November 2023. That’s a lot better than the 8.6% pace of increases for October and the eye-watering 19.7% notched in September.

The market’s reaction has been muted. Stocks were little changed on the number to be about 0.2% down for the day in recent trading. The Australian dollar ticked about 0.1 US cent higher to be worth 66.95 US cents recently.

You can follow updates here:

Some relief as inflation falls back slightly faster than expected in November

Peter Hannam

The November consumer price index figures will please treasurer Jim Chalmers and a few others.

Coming in at 4.3%, inflation was slightly lower than the 4.4% expected by economists, and well down from the 4.9% pace in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.

Michelle Marquardt, ABS head of prices statistics, said housing costs continued to rise, up 6.6% from a year ago, while food and non-alcoholic beverages rose 4.6%, and insurance and financial services were 8.8% more expensive.

Excluding volatile items from the monthly CPI indicator, the annual rise in November was 4.8%, lower than the annual rise of 5.1% in October,” she said.

More needed, of course, but the arrow is pointing in the right direction.

Peter Hannam

Inflation dropped to 4.3% in November

November inflation was 4.3%, better than expected and the lowest since January 2022.

Benita Kolovos

Pope’s comments on surrogacy spur two Victorian MPs to ditch morning prayer

Two Victorian Labor MPs have vowed to ditch the morning prayer on parliamentary sitting days in the wake of Pope Francis’ recent comments on surrogacy.

Frankston MP, Paul Edbrooke, and Tarneit MP, Dylan Wight, both took to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday to hit back at the pope, who called for a global ban on surrogacy, describing the practice as “deplorable” and a violation of the dignity of the woman and the child.

The duo both said they would no longer take part in the 105-year tradition of opening each sitting day with the Lord’s Prayer. Greens MPs already don’t take part in the practice.

Wight wrote:

[My brother] Jarrod was adopted at birth by my parents a couple of years before I came along. Whilst I understand adoption and surrogacy aren’t the same thing – families are formed in many different ways. The comments from the Pope are archaic and deplorable.

I have deep respect for those that practice a faith and strongly believe in their right to do so.

I don’t practice a faith, however the vast majority of my electorate that do, do not practice Christianity.

For these reasons I’ve decided to no longer participate in the prayer.

Here’s Edbrooke’s tweet:

Peter Hannam

November CPI to offer snapshot of what’s happening to cost-of-living pressures

As flagged earlier in this blog, the Australian Bureau of Statistics is cued up to release shortly the consumer price inflation data for November.

Economists are tipping the CPI to come in at about 4.4% for the month compared with a year earlier (though some reports have it as 4.5%, it’s probably a hair-split difference.) If that is the result, it’ll be the lowest since January 2022 when it was 4%. In October, the CPI was 4.9%.

Of course, should it be much higher than 4.4%, expect lots of angst about whether an RBA interest rate rise is back on the cards when the central bank board holds its first meeting of 2024 on 5-6 February.

Similarly, should CPI be much lower than 4.4%, then pundits may be inclined to say the RBA shouldn’t have lifted the cash rate in November and should now be looking at an early rate cut.

No doubt the CPI figures are noteworthy in providing an update of how “cossie livs” (terrible words for the cost of living) are tracking. But they will carry a few qualifications that are worth taking into account before we get too carried away.

For one thing, the ABS doesn’t count everything every month. October had a greater weight on goods (which have been showing some dis-inflation thanks mostly to China’s excess supply) and November’s numbers will be more services-heavy.

In any case, the more comprehensive quarterly numbers are out on 31 January. That’s when the RBA board members are really likely to arise from their summer slumber.

Anyway, stay tuned for the numbers at 11.30am AEDT. Not long now.

The former prime minister Scott Morrison’s book, to be released later this year, labels itself “less political memoir and more pastoral encouragement”.

Plans For Your Good: A Prime Minister’s Testimony of God’s Faithfulness will feature a foreword by Mike Pence, the former vice-president of the United States under Donald Trump.

The blurb says Morrison “asks the questions all of us are looking to find answers to” – those being “discovering your purpose”, “finding your pathway” and “embracing your future”.

Here is some more from the blurb:

Scott Morrison, Australia’s 30th Prime Minister (2018-2022), offers a unique insider’s account of a Christian who was open about his faith and operated at the top level of politics for more than a decade. During one of the toughest periods since the second world war, covering drought, wildfires, a global pandemic and recession, he chronicles God’s faithfulness throughout, win or lose, public criticism or public success.

Less political memoir and more pastoral encouragement, Morrison is passionate about encouraging others to discover how they can access and see the many blessings of God in their own lives, no matter their circumstances, drawing on Jeremiah 29:11, that God’s plans are for our good and not our harm, to give us a future and a hope.

The book is due to be published in May.

Challenge to NSW regional forest agreement dismissed in court

Graham Readfearn

A challenge to an agreement between the federal government and the New South Wales government that allows the state’s forest corporation to bypass environmental laws has been dismissed in the federal court.

The North East Forest Alliance had challenged one of the state’s three regional forest agreements – the north-east agreement stretching along the cost from Sydney to the Queensland border – saying it should not be exempt from the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

Justice Melissa Perry has dismissed the case a few minutes ago. The case was the first to challenge the validity of RFAs.

The regional forest agreements are controversial and conservationists argue they allow logging corporations to damage habitat for threatened species while remaining immune from the nation’s main environmental law.

Josh Butler

Supermarket code of conduct review ‘a step in the right direction’, Greens say

The Greens have backed the government advancing its work on reviewing the code of conduct for supermarkets and grocery prices, but says a separate Senate inquiry will be a more effective tool to tackle the issue – including demanding the bosses of Coles and Woolworths front up for public scrutiny.

The Greens economic justice spokesperson, Nick McKim, called announcements today “a step in the right direction”, with the government picking the former minister Craig Emerson to lead the review. Labor had come under criticism from the Coalition for not appointing a leader for that review for 100 days after they’d announced it.

McKim said “it is crucial that Labor’s review does not shy away from considering robust measures like divestiture powers”, calling for moves to “tackle the supermarket duopoly’s power”:

The announcement of this review is a testament to the persistent advocacy by the Greens and the Senate inquiry we are leading into supermarket price gouging.

This is a step in the right direction, but it is in no way a substitute for the Greens led Senate inquiry which has powers to compel evidence and testimony which will see Coles and Woolworths CEOs held to account publicly.

The government review will look at issues such as whether the grocery code, which is currently voluntary, should be mandatory – and whether it should include stricter powers or penalties on how food is priced.

Separately, the Senate committee on grocery prices is looking at “the price setting practices and market power of major supermarkets” – including rising supermarket profits, the large increase in price of essential items and price mark-ups.

McKim said the inquiry would “force supermarket CEOs to appear before the Senate and try to justify their obscene profits”.