THE House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics will hold a public hearing with the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Dr Philip Lowe, on Wednesday, December 2, 2020.

The RBA last appeared before the committee in August 2020.

At its meeting on November 3, the RBA Board announced a package of further measures to support the Australian economy as it recovers from COVID-19.

The moves comprise:

• a reduction in the cash rate target, the three-year yield target, and the interest rate on new drawings under the Term Funding Facility to 10 basis points, from the current 25 basis points;
• a reduction in the interest rate on Exchange Settlement balances to zero from the current 10 basis points; and
• committing to the purchase of $100 billion of government bonds over the next six months.

Committee Chair, Tim Wilson MP, said, "The committee will be scrutinising the RBA’s measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the move to implement quantitative easing, and how these measures will help the Australian economy recover after a very difficult year.

"We will also be scrutinising the RBA’s recent decision to start work on a digital currency, as well as zoning and planning regulation that is contribution to house price inflation."

Public hearing details

Date: Wednesday, 2 December 2020
Time: 10am to 12pm
Location: Main Committee Room, Parliament House, Canberra

The hearing will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

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THE Joint Standing Committee on Migration yesterday tabled its final report on its inquiry into the Working Holiday Maker program. 

"During this inquiry, the Committee received highly compelling evidence on the ongoing importance of the Working Holiday Maker program to Australia,” Committee Chair Julian Leeser MP said.

“Working Holiday Makers make a significant contribution to Australia, not only through their tourism spending, but by supplementing the seasonal workforce, and through cultural exchange,” Mr Leeser said.

"This report builds on the findings of the interim report and calls for the measures taken in response to that report to be promoted.

“Following the interim report and the measures the Government has put in place to address agricultural labour shortages, it is clear there is a need to further promote the opportunities that exist for Australians and other visa holders to help with areas of critical need.

“The Committee also made a range of recommendations on longer term changes to the program, many of which focus on expanding the program and technical matters relating to the visas.”

The Committee’s key recommendations focus on enabling Working Holiday Makers who are working in hard-to-staff regions to stay in the regions for longer, expanding the program, strengthening oversight and administration of the program, and undertaking a targeted marketing campaign to encourage Australians and other visa holders in Australia to help fill the agricultural and tourism labour shortages.

The Committee has thanked people who participated in this inquiry.

The report can be found at this link.

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OCTOBER 2020 was the best month for new detached house building approvals in almost 21 years according to Master Builders Australia chief economist Shane Garrett.

During October 2020, a total of 10,936 new detached houses received building approval. The last time a higher figure was recorded was back in February 2000.

“The numbers out today provide further proof that the HomeBuilder scheme is a huge success in supporting new home building at a very challenging time,” Shane Garrett said.

“Inward migration to Australia is the single biggest driver of demand for new home building and with permanent arrivals to the country at their lowest since World War II, government support for residential building has prevented activity from sinking to catastrophic levels.

“The weekend announcement of an extension to HomeBuilder is very welcome from this perspective as it means that the residential building industry can look forward to a decent pipeline of work for most of 2021,” Mr Garrett said.

“The strong linkage between residential building activity and the health of the rest of the economy in terms of jobs and small businesses means that the extension of HomeBuilder is good news for everyone."

masterbuilders.com.au

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AFTER TWO years in operation, a law to improve transparency and accountability around political donations will be reviewed by the Parliament’s Electoral Matters Committee.

Committee Chair Senator James McGrath said the review of the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Funding and Disclosure Reform) Act 2018 is an opportunity for the Parliament to ensure that the law is working as it should.

"The Committee will also take the opportunity to check in on how the Act’s objectives can continue to be achieved in the most effective way while minimising red tape," Senator McGrath said.

"We are also interested in the impacts of amendments to the original bill that are relevant to charitable issue-based advocacy."

Senator McGrath noted that the Committee would examine the operation of the amendments, dealing with foreign donations; and the clarity of public guidance products issued by regulators.

The Committee is inviting written submissions addressing any or all of the terms of reference. Information on how to make a submission may be found at this link. Submissions are requested by January 29, 2021.

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