Author: roymorgansocial

Business wants states to handle environmental approvals

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 2 : 29-Oct-25

The federal government’s proposed changes to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act will be put before the lower house on Thursday. The government aims to have the Environmental Protection Reform Bill passed by parliament before it negotiates s separate deals with each state and territory regarding the streamlining of environmental approvals. The Business Council of Australia has called for the states and territories to be given responsibility for assessment and approval rights; CEO Bran Black says this is necessary to lock in faster approvals for housing, critical minerals and infrastructure projects.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Uber drivers sacked over sex claims reinstated

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 29-Oct-25

The Fair Work Commission has ruled that ride-sharing giant Uber must reinstate two drivers under the federal government’s unfair deactivation laws. Uber was also ordered to pay one of the drivers more than $6,000 in lost earnings after removing him from its platform in May due to several complaints about sexually inappropriate misconduct; this included a female passenger’s allegation that the driver had been sexually gratifying himself. In the second case, the FWC has yet to determine how much compensation for lost wages a driver will be entitled to following his deactivation for allegedly hugging and kissing a female passenger. In both cases the FWC found that Uber had relied on customer statements or hearsay evidence from its service team in deactivating the drivers.

CORPORATES
UBER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

ANZ-Roy Morgan Inflation Expectations are at 4.8% in late October – down 0.1% points from the month of September

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Oct-25

The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan Inflation Expectations were at 4.8% for the week of 20-26 October, down 0.1% points from the full month of September. A look at monthly Inflation Expectations for September shows the measure at 4.9% for the month – down 0.1% points from August. Looking back over the last year, weekly Inflation Expectations have moved in a band of 4.2% to 5.2% since the start of September 2024 and averaged 4.8%. A look at Monthly Inflation Expectations on a State-based level for September shows mixed results, with decreases in Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia, unchanged in Victoria, and up in Tasmania.. The data for the Inflation Expectations series is drawn from the Roy Morgan Single Source which has interviewed an average of around 5,300 Australians aged 14+ per month over the last decade, and includes interviews with 4,097 Australians aged 14+ in September 2025.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Glencore walks away from taxpayer-funded clean energy pivot

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 29-Oct-25

Anglo-Swiss miner Glencore has advised that it will not proceed with a proposed renewable energy and battery hub at its Murrin Murrin nickel mine and refinery in Western Australia. Glencore had received a $35m grant from the federal government’s Powering the Regions Fund to help finance the development of an 849-hectare renewables hub at Murrin Murrin, which currently operates its own gas-fired power station. A spokesman for Glencore says it decided to cancel the onsite hybrid renewable energy project due to a range of macroeconomic and cost factors. Glencore and the government have agreed to mutually terminate the grant.

CORPORATES
GLENCORE PLC

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence up 1.8pts to 85.8 driven by rising confidence about personal finances

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Oct-25

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose 1.8pts to 85.8 in the week to 26 October. However, Consumer Confidence is now 0.6pts below the same week a year ago (86.4), and 0.8pts below the 2025 weekly average of 86.6. Analysis by State shows mixed results, with increases in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia, down in Queensland, and virtually unchanged in New South Wales. Now 23% of Australians (up 4ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 42% (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 28% (up 3ppts) of respondents expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 31% (down 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’. Meanwhile, 11% (up 3ppts) of respondents expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 30% (unchanged) expect ‘bad times’. Only 22% (unchanged) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 35% (up 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Audit for PM’s flagship housing fund

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 29-Oct-25

The Australian National Audit Office will undertake a review of the federal government’s $10bn Housing Australia Future Fund, amid growing criticism of the fund. Auditor-General Caralee McLiesh has advised that the ANAO wil also examine the effectiveness of the Treasury’s design and delivery of the HAFF. Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has described the HAFF as one of the nation’s biggest public policy disasters, likening it to the previous Labor government’s Pink Batts home-insulation scheme. The HAFF aims to build 40,000 social and affordable homes by 2028, and it is part of the government’s target of building 1.2 million new dwellings over five years.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. HOUSING AUSTRALIA FUTURE FUND, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

ALP subsidy too late to save 1200 smelter jobs

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Perry Williams, Jack Quail, Lachlan Leeming
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 29-Oct-25

Tomago Aluminium’s CEO Jerome Dozol says the fate of its NSW smelter is likely to be decided long before the federal government’s $2bn green production credit scheme becomes available. The smelter’s current electricity supply deal will expire in 2028, and it faces the prospect of negotiating a new coal-fired supply deal at much higher prices until it has access to sufficient renewable generation. Dozol says this is unlikely to occur until "well into the 2030s". The Energy Users Association of Australia says the shutdown of the Tomago smelter due to high electricity prices is an "unimaginable situation", given the nation’s abundant energy resources. Tomago’s closure would result in the loss of about 1,200 direct jobs.

CORPORATES
TOMAGO ALUMINIUM COMPANY PTY LTD, ENERGY USERS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

Illicit tobacco trade worst in the world

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Mohammad Alfares
The Australian – Page: 5 : 29-Oct-25

British American Tobacco’s chief corporate officer Kingsley Wheaton says criminal gangs have effectively seized control of Australia’s nicotine market. BAT estimates that 65 per cent of all cigarettes now sold in Australia are illegal, and that up to 80 per cent of the nicotine market – including vapes – is controlled by the black market. The London-based executive visited Australia earlier this year, and notes that while the UK has had a long-standing problem with the illegal tobacco trade, the level of criminality in Australia is much worse. Wheaton says the only realistic way to regain control of the tobacco market is to overhaul current policy settings, including a reduction in the federal government’s excise tax on cigarettes; this has risen by 75 per cent since 2019.

CORPORATES
BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO PLC

Over 620,000 Problem Gamblers in Australia – and the majority are aged under 35

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Oct-25

Roy Morgan’s analysis of gambling data shows that an estimated 622,000 Australians aged 18+ (2.9%) now fit the profile of ‘problem gamblers’; this is up 111,000 (+22%) from a year ago, and up 230,000 from two years ago. Some 1,610,000 Australians are now classified as ‘low risk gamblers’, which is down 149,000 (-8%) on a year ago, and 196,000 lower than two years ago. Meanwhile, the number of Australians who are now considered to be ‘moderate risk gamblers’ is down 17,000 (-1%) on a year ago, but up 180,000 compared to two years ago. The Problem Gambling Severity Index shows that a total of 3,492,000 Australians (16.2%) are either problem gamblers or at-risk gamblers. This detailed research into gambling in Australia is conducted on an ongoing basis around the nation, and is based on interviews with more than16,000 Australian adults every year (1,300+ each month).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Majority of mortgage holders who live alone or as single parents experience mortgage stress

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Oct-25

Roy Morgan’s Single Source research shows that 52.3% of owner-occupier mortgage holders who live alone or are single parents are ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress, while 36.0% are ‘Extremely at Risk’. Many more women than men are impacted; an estimated 205,000 ‘single female’ mortgage holders were ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress in the 12 months to June 2025 compared with 108,000 ‘single male’ mortgage holders. More single women were also ‘Extremely at Risk’ of mortgage stress (137,000), compared with 74,000 single male mortgage holders. The substantially higher number of single female mortgage holders at risk of mortgage stress is not only due to single women being more likely to be at risk of mortgage stress, but also due to there being more single women than single men among mortgage holders; nearly twice as many mortgage holders are single women (6.8%) as single men (4.1%). While single women are more likely to be at ‘Extreme Risk’ of mortgage stress than ‘single men’, the gap is greatest among those aged under 34, where the income gap between men and women is greater.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED