Author: roymorgansocial

Age-old hatred threat to nation, warns new envoy

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 10-Jul-24

The federal government has appointed Jillian Segal as Australia’s first special envoy to combat anti-Semitism. Segal is a business leader, lawyer and philanthropist, and a former president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. She says anti-Semitism is a threat to Australian society as a whole, rather than just the Jewish community. Segal will represent Australia at the upcoming World Jewish Congress in Argentina. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out holding a judicial inquiry into anti-Semitism on university campuses. He has also criticised the Greens’ deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi for failing to call for Hamas to be ‘dismantled’ in a recent interview.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Australian real wage growth among worst in OECD

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Original article by Rachel Clun
The Age – Page: Online : 10-Jul-24

A report from the OECD has concluded that real wages in Australia are still 4.8 per cent below pre-pandemic levels. The Paris-based organisation’s latest employment outlook also shows that Australia is one of 16 member countries whose real incomes have fallen since the end of 2019. The report notes that although real wages have risen in 2024 for the first time in nearly three years, Australian households are still under pressure due to the cost-of-living crisis. Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the report shows that the federal government’s policies to increase real wages are making a "meaningful difference".

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ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Labor names, shames Chinese cyber spy gang

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 4 : 10-Jul-24

The Australian Signals Directorate has publicly named a Chinese cyber espionage group that has been targeting public and private sector networks in Australia and the South Pacific region. The APT40 hacking group – which is also known as Gingham Typhoon, Kryptonite Panda, Leviathan and Bronze Mohawk – is believed to have links to China’s Ministry of State Security. Microsoft recently identified APT40 as the Pacific region’s most active cyber espionage group. It is not known as to whether Prime Minister Anthony Albanese raised concerns about Chinese hackers during Premier Li Qiang’s recent official visit to Australia.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SIGNALS DIRECTORATE, CHINA. MINISTRY OF STATE SECURITY, MICROSOFT CORPORATION

Uber is cutting fares before Australia’s minimum gig work standards take effect, drivers say

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Original article by Josh Taylor, Josh Butler
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 10-Jul-24

Ride-sharing pioneer Uber says the decision to reduce its fares in Australia from 7 August is due to the current economic environment and local market conditions. However, some Uber drivers contend that the move is in response to the federal government’s Closing Loopholes industrial relations reforms, which take effect from 26 August. Brisbane-based Uber driver Shane Millsom is amongst those who believe that the company is acting to lock in new rates before the Fair Work Commission is given powers to set minimum pay and conditions for gig economy workers. He says Uber drivers are already facing cost-of-living pressures, including the rising price of petrol, insurance and car registration.

CORPORATES
UBER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence drops 2.3pts to 79.0 after End of Financial Year (EOFY) sales finish up; buying sentiment indicator has largest weekly drop so far this year

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Jul-24

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 2.3pts to 79.0 in the week to 7 July, its biggest weekly decline so far this year. Consumer Confidence has now spent a record 75 straight weeks below the mark of 85; although Consumer Confidence is now 5.7 points above the same week a year ago (73.3), it is 2.8 points below the 2024 weekly average of 81.8. Consumer Confidence was down in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia, but virtually unchanged in Queensland. Now 19% of Australians (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 53% (up 3ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 31% (unchanged) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 35% (down 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’. Now 8% (unchanged) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 36% (down 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 21% (down 4ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items (the biggest drop for this indicator so far this year), while 51% (up 5ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’ (the largest increase for this indicator so far this year).

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

Macquarie Bank has the wealthiest customers

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Jul-24

New financial data from Roy Morgan’s Wealth Report shows that among the larger banks, Macquarie has the wealthiest customers. Macquarie customers’ net wealth per capita is a market leading $943,000. Macquarie customers have higher incomes than customers of other large banks, and they are also the most likely to own or to be paying off homes, the main source of Australians’ wealth. In second place is St George with net wealth per capita of $662,000. St George’s customers are centred in Sydney where housing prices are the highest in the country, contributing to that city having greater per capita wealth than elsewhere in Australia. In third please is Westpac, with net wealth per capita of $646,000, the highest of the top four banks. Westpac customers are more likely to own property than customers of the other top four banks. They are also older and more likely to be Baby Boomers, giving them more time to have accumulated wealth. Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Bank has the lowest net wealth per capita of the banks reported ($474,000). Its customers are more likely to be Gen Z than customers of the other large banks. The latest data covers the 12 months to March 2024. Over this period net wealth per capita among all Australians aged 14+ stood at $503,000. Net wealth per capita is often below average among customers of the smaller regional banks and credit unions.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Roy Morgan Business Confidence drops 5.5pts to 91.5 in June to lowest so far this year after Federal Budget

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Jul-24

In June 2024, Roy Morgan Business Confidence was 91.5 (down 5.5pts since May), the second straight monthly fall and its lowest level so far this year. Business Confidence is now 19.7pts below the long-term average of 111.2, although it is up 2.7pts since June 2023. Now 45.5% (down 6.5ppts) of businesses expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next year, while 51.6% (up 6.6ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, only 36.1% (down 1.9ppts) of businesses say the next 12 months will be a ‘good time to invest’ in growing the business (the lowest figure for this indicator since the early days of the pandemic in April 2020), while 40.7% (also down 1.9ppts) say the next 12 months will be a ‘bad time to invest’. The latest Roy Morgan Business Confidence results for June are based on 1,455 detailed interviews with a cross-section of Australian businesses from each State and Territory.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Chinese nab stake in Forrest-backed rare earths play

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 10-Jul-24

A Hong Kong-based subsidiary of China’s JL Mag Rare-Earth Company will acquire a 9.8 per cent stake in Australian-listed Hastings Technology Metals . JL Mag will receive 19.6 million shares in the rare earths explorer via the $7m investment, while it will also gain a seat on Hastings’ board. Hastings notes that the JL Mag deal is below the threshold for the Foreign Investment Review Board’s current guidelines for investments in the critical minerals sector.

CORPORATES
HASTINGS TECHNOLOGY METALS LIMITED – ASX HAS, JL MAG RARE-EARTH COMPANY LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

High-flyer takes on Hollywood

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Original article by Jessica Toonkel, Joe Flint
The Australian – Page: 17 : 10-Jul-24

Skydance Media founder David Ellison says he aims to transform Paramount Global into a "media and tech hybrid" to enable it to compete with rivals such as Disney and Netflix. The complex merger deal will initially see Skydance acquire Paramount’s major shareholder, National Amusements, for $US1.75bn; Paramount will in turn acquire Skydance for about $US4.7bn. Skydance has identified around $US2bn worth of cost savings at Paramount, and aims to make the iconic film studio cashflow positive by the end of 2026. Paramount’s assets include the Ten Network in Australia.

CORPORATES
SKYDANCE MEDIA LLC, PARAMOUNT GLOBAL, NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS INCORPORATED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED

Economic conditions (including inflation and prices) are the biggest challenge facing Australian farmers

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Jul-24

A special Roy Morgan survey of Australian farmers shows that 57% say the biggest challenge they are facing is economic conditions (including inflation/prices); this is up 8% points from a year ago and 22% points higher than in 2022. In a clear second place is Government policy, mentioned by 23% of farmers (up 11% points from 2023 and up by 17% points from 2022). Staffing issues, including finding sufficient labour for their farms, are the third most prominent issue (mentioned by 18% of farmers as the biggest challenge they face, up 5% points from a year ago). Filling out the top five issues are weather (mentioned by 16% of farmers), business viability (also at 16%) and climate change (mentioned by only 7% of farmers, and down from a year ago). The results of the special Roy Morgan Farmer AgTech Survey are based on 1,001 in-depth interviews with Australian farmers conducted during April and May 2024.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED