Author: roymorgansocial

Greens’ divisive rhetoric is fuelling domestic terror threat: PM

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 6-Aug-24

The federal government has advised that the nation’s terrorism threat alert will be raised from ‘possible’ to ‘probable’. ASIO’s director-general Mike Burgess has warned that the chance of a terrorist attack in the next 12 months is now more than 50 per cent. He adds that young ‘lone-wolf’ terrorists armed with guns and knives pose the biggest risk. Burgess says that while the Israel-Hamas war is contributing to the growing threat of a terrorist attack, social media is being used to radicalise people and to spread ­extremist ideologies and conspiracy theories. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the Greens have contributed to the growing tensions within the community with their stance on issues such as the war in Gaza.

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AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Lynas boss backs Dutton’s nuclear plan

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 6-Aug-24

Lynas Rare Earths CEO Amanda Lacaze contends that Australia should be ‘energy-supply agnostic’, so adding nuclear power to the nation’s energy mix needs to be considered. Speaking on the sidelines of the annual Diggers & Dealers mining conference in Kalgoorlie, Lacaze said that anything that improved baseload power in the Western Australian town would be a "very good thing". Kalgoorlie’s power is currently supplied via a single transmission line covering more than 600 kilometres, plus a backup generator with a maximum capacity of four hours.

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LYNAS RARE EARTHS LIMITED – ASX LYC, DIGGERS AND DEALERS FORUM

Roy Morgan Poll: Labor edges further ahead as inflation is lower than expected and interest rates set to remain unchanged: ALP 51.5% cf. L-NP 48.5%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Aug-24

If a Federal Election were held now the result would be a narrow win for the Labor Party with the ALP on 51.5% (up 1%) ahead of the Coalition on 48.5% (down 1%) on a two-party preferred basis, the latest Roy Morgan survey finds. Although neither major party increased their support this week, the flow of preferences from minor parties tipped further in favour of the ALP, once again highlighting the importance of preference flows to determine the overall two-party preferred result. The Coalition primary vote decreased by 0.5% to 37% while ALP primary support was unchanged at 30.5%. Support for the Greens dropped 1% to 12% and support for One Nation was down 1% to 5.5%. It was smaller parties and independents that gained support. Support for Other Parties was up 1% to 5% and support for Independents increased 1.5% to 10% – the highest level it has been so far this year.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

Unis capped at 40pc overseas students

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Original article by Julie Hare
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 6-Aug-24

Sources within the federal government have indicated that it proposes to enforce new caps on international student numbers from the start of 2025. Labor is expected to announce specific caps for each university and college within days, but they will be required to limit foreign student numbers to 40 per cent of their total enrolment. The proposed caps will be based on 2019 figures, when there were 671,200 foreign students in Australia; this compares with an estimated 780,100 in 2024. Sydney University, Monash and RMIT are among at least 10 universities that currently exceed the cap.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, MONASH UNIVERSITY, RMIT UNIVERSITY

Google violated antitrust laws to dominate online search, US judge rules

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Original article by Nick Robins-Early
The Guardian – Page: Online : 6-Aug-24

Shares in technology stocks such as Apple and Google have fallen sharply in response to the US District Court’s ruling that the latter has breached anti-trust laws. Judge Amit Mehta has concluded that Google is a ‘monopolist’, and it has acted as one to maintain its market dominance with regard to search services and advertising. Department of Justice prosecutors had contended amongst other things that Google has suppressed competition by paying billions of dollars to smartphone makers such as Apple and Samsung to use it as their default search engine.

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GOOGLE INCORPORATED, DISTRICT COURT OF UNITED STATES, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF JUSTICE, APPLE INCORPORATED, SAMSUNG CORPORATION

Call to simplify IPO process to revive market

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 18 : 6-Aug-24

Neil Pathak from law firm Ashurst has called for an overhaul of ASX Limited’s procedures for undertaking an IPO. He contends that the process for listing on the Australian sharemarket is too lengthy, noting that an IPO can take four months while a capital raising can be initiated and completed within two weeks. Data from the London Stock Exchange Group shows that a total of $US372.9m has been raised via IPOs in Australia so far in 2024; this is slightly higher than the same period in 2023, but well below the 2021 figure of $US3.9bn.

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ASHURST AUSTRALIA, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE GROUP

Rupert, Lachlan and me: inside the Murdochs’ medieval fiefdom

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Original article by Amanda Meade
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 6-Aug-24

Eric Beecher has written a new book called ‘The Men Who Killed the News’, which looks at the abuse of power by media moguls from William Randolph Hearst to Elon Musk. Beecher’s career in journalism included a number of years with the Murdoch family-owned News Corporation, with Beecher saying that News Corp is like a "’medieval fiefdom", where editors learn through "a kind of osmosis" rather than through direct instruction. Beecher says he had been working on the book slowly for years, with the impetus to finish it coming in 2022, when he was personally sued by Lachlan Murdoch over an article that appeared in Crikey; Murdoch eventually dropped the case in April 2023.

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NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

EPA blocks Woodside gas project

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Original article by Ben Potter, Tom Rabe, Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 18 : 6-Aug-24

Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Authority has advised that it expects to release its final determination on Woodside Energy’s Browse LNG project in 2025. However, the EPA has concluded in its preliminary decision that the project’s environmental risks are "unacceptable". It is particularly concerned about the project’s impact on pygmy blue whales and green turtle nesting sites, as well as the risk of oil spills near Scott Reef, which is off the coast of Broome. WA Premier Roger Cook says his government wants Browse to proceed, arguing that it will boost the state’s gas supply and help Asian countries to decarbonise.

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WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX WDS, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Share rout heat on RBA

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Original article by Sarah Jones, Joanne Tran, Jessica Sier
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 28 : 6-Aug-24

The global sharemarket downturn has coincided with the Reserve Bank of Australia’s two-day monetary policy meeting. Governor Michele Bullock will be among the first central bankers to publicly comment on the equities slump when she holds a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. Financial market traders now expect the RBA to reduce the cash rate in December, compared with previous expectations of February 2025. Meanwhile, there is speculation that the US Federal Reserve may be forced to intervene and reduce official interest rates before its next scheduled meeting in September.

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD

New iron ore mine to start producing in 2025

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Original article by Tim Bond
Australian Resources & Investment – Page: Online : 30-Jul-24

Fenix Resources is in the process of launching its third iron ore mine in Western Australia’s mid-west, with the Beebyn-W11 mine due to commence production in early 2025. Located 20 km from Fenix’s existing Iron Ridge mine and just over 500 km from the Geraldton Port, Beebyn-W11 has a maiden ore reserve of 10 million tonnes at 62.2 per cent iron. It will have an estimated mine life of seven years and slated annual production of around 1.5 million dry metric tonnes, with Fenix forecasting annual EBITDA of $47.9 million.

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FENIX RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX FEX