Author: roymorgansocial

More RBA rate rises unwarranted as Yarra cuts growth outlook

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Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 9-Jul-24

Yarra Capital’s chief economist Tim Toohey has downgraded his growth forecast for the Australian economy to just 1.75 per cent in 2024-25, compared with his previous expectations of 2.25 per cent growth. In contrast, the Reserve Bank anticipates growth of 2.1 per cent in the current financial year, while the federal government’s 14 May budget papers show that the Treasury expects the economy to expand by two per cent. Toohey says factors such as a slowdown in employment growth among non-migrant workers and plans to curb the migrant intake could dampen economic growth, and in turn weaken the case for a further tightening of monetary policy.

CORPORATES
YARRA CAPITAL PARTNERS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Labor urged to outlaw betting rewards luring Australians into gambling

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Original article by Josh Butler
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 9-Jul-24

The Alliance for Gambling Reform contends that "bonus bets" and cashback offers by gambling companies are luring people into problem gambling, and it has called on the federal government to ban such inducements. The Alliance contends that gambling companies market such inducements in a way that suggest they encourage prudent betting, but that evidence suggests that uptake of inducement offers is actually linked to more harmful betting behaviours. A 2023 parliamentary committee chaired by the late Peta Murphy called for the government to ban all online gambling inducements and inducement advertising "without delay". but to date no such ban has been implemented.

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ALLIANCE FOR GAMBLING REFORM

Allan snubs airport rail for suburban loop

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Original article by Gus McCubbing, Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 9-Jul-24

Melbourne Airport CEO Lorie Argue says there is no reason why there should be any more delays to the $10 billion Melbourne Airport rail link, after the airport dropped its opposition to a more expensive underground station. However, the project still faces at least four more years of delay, with Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan stating her government would prioritise the $125 billion Suburban Rail Loop. Allan announced on Monday that the state government had chosen a consortium called Terra Verde to construct the next phase of the SRL, which involves the construction of 10-kilometre twin tunnels between Glen Waverley and Box Hill.

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MELBOURNE AIRPORT, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Nuclear lawyer says Australia would not be starting from scratch

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Original article by Clare Armstrong
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 9-Jul-24

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has contended that amongst other things, legal hurdles could not be overcome quickly enough for the Coalition to achieve its ambitious target of building the first of seven nuclear power stations by 2035. However, expatriate nuclear lawyer Helen Cook argues that agreements and safety regulations that are already in place would make it easier for parliament to pass the legislative changes that would be required to add nuclear to the energy mix. She notes that Australia has already ratified most of the treaties that would be required to build and operate nuclear reactors.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER

Roy Morgan Poll: L-NP (52%) takes the lead over ALP (48%) after ALP disunity on Palestine

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Jul-24

A Coalition Government, with a slim majority, would now win a Federal Election with the two-party preferred vote: L-NP 52% cf. ALP 48%, the latest Roy Morgan survey finds. The Coalition surged after ALP disunity on the conflict between Israel and Hamas led to Senator Fatima Payman to quit the Labor Party last week. Senator Payman crossed the floor a few days before quitting the party when the Greens brought a motion to the floor calling for recognition of Palestinian statehood. Primary support for the Coalition increased 3% to 39.5% this week while the ALP dropped 3% to 28.5%. Support for the Greens increased 0.5% to 13.5%. Support for One Nation increased 0.5% to 5%, support for Other Parties dropped 1% to 4.5% and support for Independents was unchanged at 9%.

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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

Electric vehicles could help ease Australia’s energy instability by sending power back to the grid

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Original article by Peter Hannam
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 9-Jul-24

The ACT government is trialling the use of electric vehicles to put power back into the energy grid, with an incident on 13 February showing how that might work. When strong winds in Victoria brought down transmission lines and closed the state’s biggest power station, a fleet of electric vehicles connected to a charger in Canberra began discharging their batteries, sending power back into the grid. As the number of electric cars in Australia increase, particularly those with vehicle-to-grid capability, the nation’s energy grid could be looking at a huge and flexible source of power.

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Financial stress through the roof as interest rate hikes come home to roost

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Original article by David Taylor
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 9-Jul-24

The National Debt Line received 145,166 calls in the 2023-24 financial year, the highest number of calls in four years. Financial counsellor Mike Dunkley says he is experiencing his busiest time since he has been with the NDL, with calls increasing over the latter half of 2023 as the impact of interest rate increases began to take their toll. Dunkley says that most of the calls that the NDL gets are about mortgages and rents, while it has also been getting some calls about the Australian Taxation Office in recent months. For his part, Financial Counselling Australia CEO Peter Gartlan notes that the demand on financial counsellors has gone through the roof in recent times

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AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, FINANCIAL COUNSELLING AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Not Labor they elected as people reel from Gaza war

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Original article by
The New Daily – Page: Online : 9-Jul-24

Fatima Payman says people who voted for a Labor government have told her that it is now not serving their interests, when being asked why the now independent senator was not quitting her seat. Payman quit the Labor Party last week after crossing the floor on the issue of Palestinian statehood, claiming the government was not moving quickly enough on the matter. She claims that it is not just Australia’s Muslim and Palestinian communities that are being affected by the war in Gaza, saying it has "been impacting each and every person with a conscience and a heart out there".

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Average home loan surges to record high

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 9-Jul-24

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the average new home loan for owner-occupiers reached a record high of $626,055 nationally in May. The average size of new home loans reached fresh highs in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia in May. NSW still boasts the nation’s highest average home loan, at $767,584; however, this is below the state’s peak of $803,235 in early 2022. In contrast, the average home loan in Victoria fell to $601,891 in May, compared with a peak of $651,364 in 2022. Sally Tindall of RateCity notes that home buyers are taking out bigger mortgage loans than ever, despite the cash rate rising to its highest level in 12 years.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, RATECITY PTY LTD

Analysts warn on bank growth

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 19 : 9-Jul-24

The share prices of Australia’s big four banks have risen strongly over the past 12 months, but Macquarie analysts have warned that the earnings outlook for the Commonwealth Bank, the ANZ, Westpac and the National Australia is weak. They note that the likelihood of there being a softer landing for the broader economy has diminished, and that extremely low impairment charges will hinder their earnings recovery in the medium term; Macquarie is underweight the banking sector over that period.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG