Author: roymorgansocial

Australia’s real unemployment is 9.4% in July; down 1.1% from a year ago

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Aug-17

A Roy Morgan survey shows that 11,854,000 Australians were employed in July 2017, a substantial increase of 212,000 over the past year (with just under 20,000 jobs added per month). A total of 1.236 million Australians were unemployed in July (9.4% of the workforce). This is down 129,000 (1.1%) from a year ago. An additional 1.226 million Australians (9.4%) were under-employed (looking for work or looking for more work), which is up 55,000 (0.4%). A total of 2.462 million Australians (or 18.8%) were unemployed or under-employed in July. The Roy Morgan real unemployment figures are substantially higher than the current ABS estimate for June 2017 (5.6%). Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says that finding work for the 2.462 million Australians who are unemployed or under-employed is the Government’s largest challenge, despite what the media may talk about on a continual basis. This large cohort of Australians looking for new employment opportunities will ultimately judge the Government’s success or otherwise based on whether an improving economy is generating sufficient jobs.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

States fear hospital funding clawback

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Original article by Sean Parnell
The Australian – Page: 6 : 4-Aug-17

Victorian Health Minister Jill Hennessy claims that the Federal Government is trying to effectively recoup hundreds of millions of dollars of health funding that has already been spent by the states. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has asked the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority to review previous state health spending activity before the Federal Government enters into the next hospital funding arrangement with the states. Hunt says there are some abnormalities in health spending by state Labor governments that are of concern to him.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIA. INDEPENDENT HOSPITAL PRICING AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, QUEENSLAND HEALTH

Unlawful strikes cost ‘woeful’ CFMEU $300,000

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 7 : 4-Aug-17

The Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union has been ordered to pay $A300,000 in fines arising from unprotected strike action at three Queensland building sites in May 2011. The Federal Court described the CFMEU as a "recidivist" with a long history of failing to comply with workplace laws. The Communications, Electrical & Plumbing Union has been fined $A130,000 for participating in the unlawful strike action, and the court noted that it has a better record of complying with workplace laws than the CFMEU.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, COMMUNICATIONS, ELECTRICAL, ELECTRONIC, ENERGY, INFORMATION, POSTAL, PLUMBING AND ALLIED SERVICES UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Yawning gap in iron ore prices here to stay

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Original article by Tess Ingram, James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 4-Aug-17

The differential between the benchmark price of iron ore and lower-grade ore has widened in recent months, which affected the earnings of miners such as Fortescue Metals Group and BC Iron in the June 2017 quarter. Fortescue expects the discount to narrow in the second half of fiscal 2018, but Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques forecasts that it will be sustained for some time. He argues that the shift is structural rather than cyclical. and he says China’s move to close down inefficient steel mills has been a major driver of the shift.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, BC IRON LIMITED – ASX BCI, ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, MOUNT GIBSON IRON LIMITED – ASX MGX, SMORGON STEEL GROUP LIMITED

CBA faces laundering rap

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 12 : 4-Aug-17

AUSTRAC has accused the Commonwealth Bank of Australia of not being in compliance with money-laundering regulations, and has launched legal action against it in the Federal Court. AUSTRAC contends that the CBA has not properly monitored or reported large cash transactions being made through its ATMs. AUSTRAC has stated that there have been 53,700 occasions since 2012 when the $A10,000 threshold above which transactions must be disclosed were exceeded, but they were either not reported to AUSTRAC or were not reported in time for it to take action. A maximum penalty of $A18 million applies to each incident of non-compliance with disclosure rules.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, BNP PARIBAS SA

Hanson uses media votes as clout for ABC review

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 4 : 4-Aug-17

The Federal Government’s cross-media ownership bill will be on the Senate’s agenda when Parliament resumes in the week beginning 7 August. One Nation continues to have concerns about the impact on media diversity of abolishing the "two-out-of-three" rule, although the minor party has signalled that it may be open to supporting the media reforms if the Government agrees to a review of the ABC and SBS. The proposed review would include the public broadcasters’ costs and the number of TV channels they operate.

CORPORATES
ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

Rio could return up to $13.2b to shareholders over next 18 months

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 4-Aug-17

Rio Tinto shareholders will receive a full-year dividend of $US2.60 per share for calendar 2017, after the interim dividend was increased from $US0.45 to $US1.10 per share. The resources giant will also repurchase up to $US1bn worth of its London-listed shares, and Paul Young of Deutsche Bank says it has the capacity to undertake about $US2bn worth of buybacks annually from 2018. Meanwhile, CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques says Rio Tinto will only consider acquisitions that add value for shareholders.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, COAL AND ALLIED INDUSTRIES LIMITED, YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, IRON ORE COMPANY OF CANADA

PM demands power chiefs act on prices

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 4-Aug-17

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has requested that the heads of Australia’s main electricity retailers attend a meeting with him in the week beginning 7 August. Turnbull will tell them that the Federal Government wants retailers to provide customers with greater detail about how their power costs are incurred, so as to help them to reduce their expenses by either changing plans or retailer. A recent report from St Vincent de Paul concluded that the average Victorian power customer could save $A830 a year on electricity costs by changing from the most expensive plan to the least expensive one.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, SNOWY HYDRO LIMITED, MOMENTUM ENERGY PTY LTD, ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, SIMPLY ENERGY, ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY

China’s nuclear menace triggers call for missile defence shield

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 9 : 4-Aug-17

Alan Shearer of the US Center for Strategic & International Studies has called for Australia to develop a continental missile defence shield, to combat both possible conventional and nuclear attacks from China. Shearer, who previously advised on defence matters to former Coalition prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott, says China has up to 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles with the capacity to reach Australia. Former Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said in July 2017 that Australia should develop a missile defence shield.

CORPORATES
CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND BUDGETARY ASSESSMENTS, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS LIMITED

World shrugs off Dow high

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 19 & 31 : 4-Aug-17

Sharemarkets in Australia and Asia closed lower on 3 August, despite the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching the 22,000-point milestone. The Dow Jones has gained 20 per cent since the US presidential election in November 2016, and much of this can be attributed to a rise in stocks that have exposure to global economic growth. However, the upbeat sentiment on Wall Street has not been reflected by the Dow Jones Transportation Average Index, which has fallen close to its 200-day moving average. A significant divergence between the two indices has often signalled a pullback in the past.

CORPORATES
DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, DOW JONES TRANSPORTATION AVERAGE INDEX, SUNDIAL CAPITAL RESEARCH INCORPORATED, EDWARD JONES AND COMPANY, CMC MARKETS PTY LTD, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, APPLE INCORPORATED, BOEING COMPANY, McDONALD’S CORPORATION, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, KOSPI INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN