ASX to lift as Robodebt royal commission kicks off

The ASX is expected to lift slightly this morning as the royal commission into the Robodebt scheme kicks off. (Source: Getty)

ASX: The local market is expected to edge higher this morning despite Wall Street suffering more losses overnight.

This comes after the ASX was routed again, with the worst losses in two years for the mining and energy sectors.

Wall Street: US stocks had yet another losing session onMonday, as the S&P 500 hit a new 2022 closing low and the Dow Jones Industrial Average's decline put the index officially into a bear market.

Economy: Australia's economy may be faring better than those of Europe and the US, but the nation is not safe from gloomy global prospects.

Global growth is expected to ease from 3 per cent in 2022 to 2.25 per cent in 2023, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) interim economic outlook shows.

Falling behind: Innovation is sluggish across Australian businesses, with just 1 or 2 per cent of local businesses inventing anything new.

A new Productivity Commission report shows stagnant innovation across Australian businesses and government, and that Australian firms are falling behind global leaders.

Anti-corruption: Long-awaited details of Labor's proposed national anti-corruption commission are set to be released.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will brief the Labor caucus this morning before introducing the bill to the lower house.

Descrimination: Legislation to crack down on sexual harassment in the workplace is set to be introduced to parliament today.

The laws would put in place seven recommendations as outlined in Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins's Respect@Work report.

Robodebt: Hundreds of thousands of people were caught in a huge Centrelink stuff-up and now a major investigation will examine how things went so horribly wrong.

A royal commission into the controversial robodebt scheme is preparing to hold its first public hearing today.

Cash seized: Almost $7.5 million in suspected criminal proceeds have been confiscated in Queensland, and the state's Crime and Corruption Commission expects to seize millions more.

Motorbikes, cars, jewellery and the proceeds of sold properties brought in close to $3 million following two drug trafficking investigations by police.

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