Labor halts slide in polling numbers

• Labor appears to be recovering ground according to opinion polls, or at least halting the slide that was evident towards the end of last year. A number of polls out over the past week have shown the government’s lead over the opposition remaining steady, along with an improvement in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s approval rating.
• Treasurer Jim Chalmers is playing down the prospect of a second successive budget surplus, saying falling revenue and a slowing economy will hit the government’s bottom line. Dr Chalmers said government revenue forecasts will be significantly downgraded in the May budget due to falling commodity prices and a slowing jobs market.
• The Pentagon says it will construct just one Virginia class nuclear submarine in 2025, meaning the United States Navy would not have any boats to spare for Australia under the AUKUS agreement. Defence Minister Richard Marles says the US remains committed to the deal, but former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says AUKUS has been “mugged by reality”.
• The US Congress has approved a US$7 billion funding package for the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau. The deal renews the Compacts of Free Association for the next two decades, granting the US military exclusive access to territories in the north Pacific and strategically located military facilities.
• Australia’s private hospitals lost a reported A$611 million in the last financial year, with fears the system’s poor health could have wider implications for patients and the government. Private hospital chief executives briefed Health Minister Mark Butler on the state of the sector last week.
• Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is continuing to push nuclear energy as a viable option for Australia, despite concerns over its cost and feasibility. Speaking at a business summit, Mr Dutton said Australia could only have “cheaper, consistent and cleaner power” if nuclear energy were added to the mix and pointed to recent opinion polls that he said showed growing support for nuclear power.
• The Senate inquiry into supermarkets continues to hear of unfair practices and a significant power imbalance between producers and supermarkets. AUSVEG, which represents thousands of vegetable growers, said a real problem is supermarkets nominating weekly volumes they will buy, but are under no obligation to purchase.
• Partners at PwC Australia reportedly complained over the appointment of Kevin Burrowes as chief executive officer in the wake of the consulting firm’s tax scandal. It came as the consulting giant announced hundreds of job cuts as part of a restructure and faced more questions over its tax advice, this time in relation to Facebook and its dispute with the Australian Tax Office.

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