Author: roymorgansocial

Australian September real unemployment 8.3% – lowest since May 2012

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Oct-15

A Roy Morgan Research survey on Australia’s labour market has found that the real unemployment rate was 8.3 per cent in September 2015, compared with 9.9 per cent 12 months earlier. The number of people in the workforce now totals 12,764,000 (up 540,000 since September 2014), while the number of people who are underemployed has fallen by 79,000 in the last 12 months to 936,000 (7.3 per cent of the workforce). The official unemployment rate was 6.2 per cent in August 2015. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says that while it appears that Australia’s employment market is heading in the right direction, it is obviously early days for the new Turnbull Government and the momentum of recent months must be built upon rather than squandered by policy timidity.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, 7-ELEVEN STORES PTY LTD, UNITED PETROLEUM PTY LTD, BAKER’S DELIGHT HOLDINGS LIMITED, DOMINO’S PIZZA ENTERPRISES LIMITED – ASX DMP, SUBWAY SANDWICHES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Cafe owners no fans of Grand Final public holiday

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Original article by Lucille Keen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 9 : 5-Oct-15

Port Melbourne cafe Noisette had lower patronage during the AFL Grand Final long weekend, and owner Stephane Bordes says he may have to impose a customer surcharge to cover the high wages costs on public holidays. Bordes says patronage was low during the morning of the Grand Final Eve public holiday, but picked up in the afternoon. Vanilla Lounge in Oakleigh does not impose a surcharge, but owner Helen Spanos says the cafe only just breaks even on public holidays.

CORPORATES
NOISETTE, VANILLA LOUNGE, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, VICTORIA. OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL, VICTORIA. DEPT OF STATE DEVELOPMENT, BUSINESS AND INNOVATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, RESTAURANT AND CATERING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Reform back on the agenda

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Original article by Sharri Markson
The Australian – Page: 23 : 5-Oct-15

The Australian Government is believed to be open to reviewing the list of sporting events for which free-to-air networks must be given first right of refusal. The Government may agree to relax the anti-siphoning list in return for industry support for changes to cross-media ownership rules. Seven West Media opposes changes to both cross-media laws and the anti-siphoning list, while News Corp favours reviewing the latter as part of a broader overhaul of media laws.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED

November RBA rate cut gains traction

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Original article by Rose Powell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 5-Oct-15

Data from Bloomberg shows that financial markets believe there is a 27 per cent chance that the Reserve Bank of Australia will reduce the cash rate by 25 basis points on 6 October 2015. Economists have cited factors such as the recent fall in the value of the Australian dollar and an improvement in business confidence as some of the factors that will influence the central bank’s decision. Citigroup anticipates a rate cut in November.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, BLOOMBERG LP, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Uber cases to test work laws

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Original article by Marianna Papadakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 5-Oct-15

Uber claims that its drivers are independent contractors rather than employees, but they have launched a class action in the US seeking to be classified as employees. Clayton Utz lawyer Saul Harben says the outcome of the case could have implication for the definition of an employee under Australia’s workplace laws. He adds that workplace laws should be amended to include a definition of what constitutes an independent contractor.

CORPORATES
UBER TECHNOLOGIES INCORPORATED, CLAYTON UTZ, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN TAXI INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN TAXI DRIVERS ASSOCIATION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, AIRBNB INCORPORATED, LYFT INCORPORATED, TASK RABBIT, MARQUE LAWYERS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

Trafficking of workers ‘a spider’s web’

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Original article by Ben Schneiders, Royce Millar
The Age – Page: 8 : 5-Oct-15

Victoria’s Industrial Relations Minister, Natalie Hutchins, says the exploitation of both local and foreign workers is widespread. She warns that many people are setting up labour hire companies with the intention of hiring workers on below-standard wages and conditions. The State Government will shortly release a discussion paper as part of its inquiry into illegal labour practices. A recent Fairfax Media expose revealed the existence of a "black economy" in Australia, whereby overseas workers are employed for less than the minimum wage.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF STATE DEVELOPMENT, BUSINESS AND INNOVATION, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, 7-ELEVEN STORES PTY LTD

Regionals push for local news services

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 5-Oct-15

Australia’s regional TV broadcasters will propose a number of safeguards to ensure that local content levels are maintained if cross-media ownership laws are scrapped. Among other things, they have suggested that a "change of control" clause be added to their broadcasting licence, to prevent further reductions in local news services. Local news accounts for about 15 per cent of regional networks’ costs, and they argue that this is one of the few areas in which they can make further cost savings.

CORPORATES
PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, SOUTHERN CROSS AUSTEREO PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, IMPARJA TELEVISION PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NBN TELEVISION

Oil Search bid is fully priced, says Coleman

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 5-Oct-15

Woodside Petroleum has ruled out increasing its $A11.6bn takeover offer for Oil Search, with CEO Peter Coleman arguing that the offer represents full value. He says increasing the offer would be dilutive for Woodside shareholders, and he doubts that a rival bidder will emerge with a higher offer for Oil Search. Coleman adds that some of Oil Search’s largest shareholders have expressed interest in discussing the bid with Woodside.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, INTERNATIONAL PETROLEUM INVESTMENT COMPANY, CAPITAL GROUP INCORPORATED, PAPUA NEW GUINEA. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA-KOREA BUSINESS COUNCIL

Amaysim pushes for 1m subscribers

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Original article by David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 5-Oct-15

Australian-listed mobile telephone reseller Amaysim currently boasts 718,000 mobile subscribers, but it aims to lift this to one million in the next four years. However, it had originally aimed to achieve this by 2015. The telco also believes that its customer support systems are robust enough to handle about two million subscribers. Amaysim is also expected to diversify its operations in coming years by expanding into electricity and gas retailing.

CORPORATES
AMAYSIM AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX AYS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, SIMYO GMBH, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, KOGAN MOBILE PTY LTD, ISPONE PTY LTD, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, M2 GROUP LIMITED – ASX MTU, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, APPLE INCORPORATED

Australians join viewing revolution

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 5-Oct-15

A survey by Viacom International Media Network has found that 85 per cent of Australians aged 6-34 watch video on demand. Likewise, 70 per cent of Australians – and 49 per cent of respondents globally – now use subscription video-on-demand services. The survey also shows that 77 per cent of Australian respondents stated that having more options in terms of how they access TV services helps them to find more content to watch. This compares with 70 per cent of respondents overall.

CORPORATES
VIACOM INTERNATIONAL MEDIA NETWORKS