Author: roymorgansocial

Push to regulate sale of cannabis to stem rise in organised crime

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Original article by Mark Buttler
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 24-Jul-24

The Penington Institute’s CEO John Ryan says cannabis has become an integral part of the criminal economy, and he contends that the drug is a health problem rather than a law and order problem. Ryan argues that the use of cannabis should be regulated rather than prohibited, in order to undermine the criminal market. The Pennington Institute, which advocates drug reform, has released a report which calls for the creation of a regulated cannabis market which would allow adult users to buy the drug from controlled access points; this would ensure that users had access to cannabis that is free of contaminants.

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PENNINGTON INSTITUTE

Democrats’ presidential campaign redux: Kamala’s manifesto

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Original article by Cameron Stewart, Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 9 : 24-Jul-24

Associated Press has reported that at least 2,660 Democrat delegates will back Kamala Harris as the party’s presidential candidate; she requires the support of just 1,976 delegates to win the first ballot at the party’s National Convenion in August. Key Democrats have also backed Harris, including former House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi and a growing number of state governors. Meanwhile, Harris has used her first major speech since becoming the Democrats’ presumptive presidential election nominee to criticise Donald Trump’s stance on issues such as taxation, social welfare and abortion. President Joe Biden in turn praised Harris in a phone call to the campaign meeting; in his first public comments since withdrawing from the election race, Biden said Trump is still a danger to the community and the nation.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PARTY (UNITED STATES)

Unions unleash part-time IR battle

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Jul-24

The Fair Work Commission will commence a review of part-time employment in 2025. FWC president Adam says it will examine daily and weekly minimum hours of work for part-time workers, and the circumstances in which working hours may be altered. Meanwhile, the union movement will seek restrictions on part-time employment. This includes minimum shifts of four hours for such workers; at present some awards provide for minimum shifts of no more than two hours for part-time and casual workers. Unions will also push for a requirement that part-timers receive 28 days’ advance notice of rosters changes, and that any such changes must be made with mutual agreement.

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AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Longo suspects ANZ broke law

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Original article by Ronald Mizen, Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 24-Jul-24

Australian Securities & Investments Commission chairman Joe Longo has responded to claims by ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott regarding the bank’s government bond scandal. Elliott said ANZ does not believe that there was any wrongdoing on its part, and ASIC has simply asked it to "please explain" some "unusual activity" in the bond market in April 2023. However, Longo says it is on the public record that ASIC is investigating the bond trades, adding that this means by definition that the corporate regulator suspects a breach of the law. Longo has also advised that ASIC has established a dedicated insider trading team.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

How the west was formed – new study reveals age of Australia’s ancient iron ore deposits

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Original article by Peter de Kruijff
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 24-Jul-24

Western Australia’s mining industry has been a key source of the nation’s economic wealth, particularly iron ore mines in the Pilbara. A research team has concluded that these iron ore deposits formed between 1.4 and 1.1 billion years ago during the formation of a supercontinent called Rodinia; their findings are based on analysis of drill cores supplied by Rio Tinto from nine deposits in the Pilbara’s Hamersley province. The team’s findings have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science; lead author Liam Courtney-Davies says the research could assist mining companies in locating high-grade ore resources in the Pilbara.

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RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Union fury at Nine chief’s torch run amid jobs row

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Original article by James Madden
The Australian – Page: 3 : 24-Jul-24

The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance has criticised Nine Entertainment CEO Mike Sneesby for attending the Paris Olympic Games during enterprise agreement negotiations at its publishing division. The union is seeking a pay rise of 20 per cent over three years for employees of the division, and Nine’s staff have voted to take strike action for five days from Friday, which will coincide with the start of the Games. Sources have indicated that Nine’s journalists were also not impressed by footage of Sneesby participating in the Olympic torch relay, given that the division is expected to shed about 90 jobs as part of a broader restructuring program at Nine.

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NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence jumps 5.9pts to 84.4 after Stage 3 tax cuts hit the bulk of consumer’s pockets; highest consumer confidence since January 2024

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

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose 5.9pts to 84.4 in the week to 21 July; this is the largest weekly jump since mid-April 2021, when the index jumped 6.4pts. However, Consumer Confidence has now spent a record 77 straight weeks below the mark of 85. Consumer Confidence is now 9.2 points above the same week a year ago (75.2), but it is 2.7 points below the 2024 weekly average of 81.7. A look at Consumer Confidence by State shows that there were increases in most States led by a large rise in Queensland, and up strongly in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, although there was a dip against the trend in Western Australia. Now 22% of Australians (up 2ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 49% (down 4ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 33% (up 3ppts) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 32% (down 3ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’. Now 12% (up 4ppts) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 33% (down 4ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 23% (up 3ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 47% (down 2ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

‘Wilful blindness’: Big fines for tech giants that ignore abuse material

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Original article by Angus Thompson
The Age – Page: Online : 24-Jul-24

Technology companies are currently required to report to the federal government on steps they are taking to minimise harmful content on their platforms. However, eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant says her office will further crack down on companies such as Google and Meta to ensure compliance. Amongst other things, they will be required to report their progress on combating child exploitation and sex abuse material on their platforms, with such reports to be submitted every six months for the next two years. The first reports must be submitted by 15 February, and they can incur a fine of up to $782,500 for each day they fail to comply.

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AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE ESAFETY COMMISSIONER, META PLATFORMS INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED

Net Trust in Australian charities is on the rise over the last few years after hitting a low in mid-2021

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

A special webinar with Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine which focused on Trust and Distrust in the Australian Charity sector found that Net Trust has been consistently rising over the last few years. However, trust and distrust have fluctuated over recent years. While Charities remain among the most trusted sectors in Australia (third overall behind Consumer Products and Retail in the latest results), the Net Trust Score is still lower than the mid-2020 peak. The Net Trust Score of the Charities sector reached a record high just after the onset of the pandemic, then declined steadily to mid-2021, before recovering from early 2022. The net trust score as of March 2024 has increased by over 50%, and is nearly back to its peak reached in June 2020 in the early days of the pandemic.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Melbourne in box seat for next housing upturn

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Original article by Nila Sweeney
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 24-Jul-24

AMP’s chief economist Shane Oliver expects all capital city housing markets to benefit when the Reserve Bank eventually starts to reduce the cash rate. However, he says Melbourne’s housing market may rebound the strongest, given that it has underperformed for some time. Data from CoreLogic’s daily home value index shows that a sharp rise in listings saw home values in Melbourne fall by 0.2 per cent over the first 19 days of July, and by 0.6 per cent over the last three months. Tim Lawless of Corelogic says Melbourne home values are likely to fall further in coming months, given the volume of new listings.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD