Author: roymorgansocial

Privacy safeguards paramount in shift towards digital IDs, vows Taylor

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 17-Oct-17

The federal government is in the process of setting up a system whereby people can apply for a "digital identity" in order to access government services online. Assistant Digital Transformation Minister Angus Taylor will on 17 October release details of how people can apply for a digital ID under its "GovPass" program. He will stress that privacy safeguards have been built into the program, and that getting a digital ID is purely voluntary.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. CENTRELINK, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. MEDICARE AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

Unions must take the blame for our car crash

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Original article by Robert Gottliebsen
The Australian – Page: 23 : 17-Oct-17

The attitude of car workers and their unions during the period from 2012 to 2014 was the main reason why Ford, Toyota and Holden ceased building cars in Australia. Car workers enjoyed generous pay conditions, while antiquated enterprise agreements allowed unions, rather than management, to control operation of the factory floor. Holden made it clear in 2013 that it would close down its operations if workers would not agree to labour agreements that were more in line with modern work practices, but this was ignored. The sustainability of the Holden and Toyota operations was not helped by new free trade agreements.

CORPORATES
FORD MOTOR COMPANY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION AUSTRALIA LIMITED, GM HOLDEN LIMITED, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, ARRIUM LIMITED – ASX ARI, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Rained-off but staff get overtime

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 7 : 17-Oct-17

The full bench of the Fair Work Commission has dismissed an appeal against an earlier ruling concerning workers on the $A50 billion Ichthys LNG project. The Commission had then ruled that workers were entitled to remain on site during bad weather and still be allowed to receive overtime pay as part of their normal pay cycle. Kentz and UGL Operations & Maintenance had appealed the initial ruling.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, KENTZ (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, UGL LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION

Haoma Mining NL requested trading halt because ASX would not release details on Haoma’s recovering ‘flat – watermelon seed-like’ nuggets from conglomerates at the Comet Mine near Marble Bar

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Original article by
Australian Stock Exchange Announcements – Page: Online : 17-Oct-17

On 11 October 2017, Haoma Mining commenced surface sampling of Fortescue Group type rocks at four locations at Bamboo Creek and three locations at the Comet Mine near Marble Bar. Bulk samples of approximately 50kg were collected from the above seven conglomerate outcrop locations. Those samples are now being processed and analysed at Haoma’s Bamboo Creek laboratory. "Flat" gold nuggets and "fine" gold were collected from the conglomerate outcrop "C2" located to the South West of the Comet Mine near Marble Bar. Other gold nuggets were also collected from "C3", located to the North West of the Comet Mine. At location "C2" a significant number of "flat" gold nuggets were collected over a 150 metre section of the strike zone, which is approximately three kilometres long. The nuggets were collected just below the surface of the conglomerate outcrop (about 30 meters wide) which continues to the South West of the Comet Mine. View Full Haoma ASX Release here.

CORPORATES
HAOMA MINING NL – ASX HAO

Speculation ends as ABA names ANZ’s Elliott as chairman

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 17-Oct-17

ANZ Bank CEO Shayne Elliott will succeed his National Australia Bank counterpart Andrew Thorburn as chairman of the Australian Bankers’ Association. The role is traditionally rotated between the CEOs of the four major banks, and Ian Narev had been expected to take up the role prior to announcing that he will step down as Commonwealth Bank CEO by mid-2018. Elliott had taken a less hostile approach to the Federal Government’s proposed bank levy than his peers earlier in 2017.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

CET might not reduce power bills, says Sims

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 17-Oct-17

The Australian Competition & Commission has released the interim report of its inquiry into electricity prices. The report concludes that electricity network costs were the main cause of a sharp rise in electricity prices over the last decade. Meanwhile, ACCC chairman Rod Sims says that although a Clean Energy Target could potentially contribute to downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices, this might be offset by the impact of renewable energy target subsidies on electricity prices for consumers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, JACOBS GROUP (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SCIENTIST, FRONTIER ECONOMICS PTY LTD

Goode blasts ‘unfair’ tax on big five banks

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 20 : 17-Oct-17

Diversified United Investments (DUI) chairman Charles Goode says the Federal Government must reconsider its proposed levy on the four major banks and Macquarie Group. He has told the listed investment company’s shareholders that the banks already pay billions of dollars in income tax, and targeting only some companies in a specific sector is unfair and discriminatory. DUI holds $A240m worth of shares in the major banks, while Australian United Investments – which is also chaired by Goode – has a $A315m exposure to the big banks.

CORPORATES
DIVERSIFIED UNITED INVESTMENT LIMITED – ASX DUI, AUSTRALIAN UNITED INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED – ASX AUI, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, IAN POTTER FOUNDATION, FLAGSTAFF PARTNERS PTY LTD, WALLARA ASSET MANAGEMENT, RIVER CAPITAL PTY LTD, SG HISCOCK AND COMPANY LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN FOUNDATION INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED – ASX AFI

Energy plan keeps coal in the mix

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 17-Oct-17

The Federal Government’s energy policy, which has been endorsed by the cabinet, will not include a Clean Energy Target or any other subsidies. The policy will be put to the Coalition’s party room on 17 October, and will require energy retailers to comply with new guidelines regarding reliability of electricity supply and emissions reduction. However, they will be able to determine the proportion of each type of energy they supply in order to fulfil these requirements. The Government argues that its energy plan will result in lower electricity prices than under the CET that was proposed by the Finkel review.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ENERGY SECURITY BOARD, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SCIENTIST, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Upbeat Evolution flags higher 2018 cash flow

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 17-Oct-17

Evolution Mining produced 220,971 ounces of gold in the September 2017 quarter, which is 1.3 per cent higher than in the three months to June. The gold miner has reported an all-in sustaining cost of $US620 ($A786) per ounce for the latest quarter. Evolution’s operating cash flow rose to a record $707m in 2016-17, and finance director Lawrie Conway believes that this can increase by 15-20 per cent in 2017-18. This is despite the recent sale of the Edna May mine to Ramelius Resources.

CORPORATES
EVOLUTION MINING LIMITED – ASX EVN, RAMELIUS RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX RMS, GLENCORE PLC, BARRICK GOLD CORPORATION, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

IMF jitters over ‘high’ Australian debt

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 6 : 16-Oct-17

Household debt in Australia now exceeds GDP by 23 per cent, prompting the International Monetary Fund to express concern about the nation’s vulnerability to "risk premium shocks". The combined debt of governments, business and households in Australia is now 147 per cent higher than GDP, compared with just 87 per cent a decade ago. The IMF’s data also shows that the combined debt of Group of 20 nations has risen by $US60trn to $US135trn since the global financial crisis.

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20)