Author: roymorgansocial

Census changes to dilute religion

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Original article by Rhiannon Down, Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 3 : 30-Apr-24

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Timothy Costelloe has expressed concern about plans by the Australian Bureau of Statistics to make changes to census questions regarding religion. Accusing the ABS of including a "new bias in favour of no religion", Costelloe says the changes will lead to an increased number of invalid responses. The changes are also opposed by Anglican Bishop of South Sydney Michael Stead, who suggest they will produce less accurate data; he said his concern is that this data is often used by those who want to "champion the fact that Australia is becoming more and more secular and less and less ­religious".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Mehreen Faruqi v Pauline Hanson: Greens senator tells court attacks on white people not racist

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Original article by Karen Middleton
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 30-Apr-24

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi is suing One Nation senator Pauline Hanson over a social media post in which Hanson told Faruqi to "pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan", with Faruqi describing the post as "the ultimate racist slur". Appearing as the first witness in the case on Monday, Faruqi was accused by Hanson’s lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou SC, of being a hypocrite, with Chrysanthou claiming Faruqi had made and endorsed racist remarks about white people. Faruqi denied that verbal attacks on white people are racist, claiming that racism is also about power and the use of that power to perpetrate racism and oppress people; she claimed that power in Australia is held by white people.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

Optus parent writes off billions

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Original article by Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 30-Apr-24

Singapore Telecommunications has announced a $S3.1 billion ($3.5 billion) writedown, most of which relates to its Australian subsidiary Optus. However, its potential impact has been offset by Optus’s agreement with TPG Telecom to share regional telecommunications networks; the agreement will see TPG pay Optus service fees of $1.59 billion over 11 years. Optus will use that money to accelerate its investment in 5G networks and complete them two years faster than foreshadowed. TPG’s deal with Optus comes after competition regulators rejected a $1.8 billion deal proposed by TPG and Telstra in 2023 to share networks and spectrum.

CORPORATES
SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPG, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS

Brutal portrait of ALP’s detainee woes – and ministers go missing in action

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 30-Apr-24

The federal government is under renewed scrutiny following revelations that a former immigration detainee participated in a home invasion in which a 73-year-old woman was brutually assaulted. It is alleged that Kuwait national Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan was one of three men who robbed a Perth couple. He was released into the community in late 2023 after the High Court ruled that indefinite detention is unlawful. Doukoshkan was granted bail earlier in 2024 after being charged with two counts of breaching a curfew order. The Opposition has called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to sack Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles if they refuse to accept responsibility for the detainee disaster.

CORPORATES
HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

More staff come forward in Super Retail legal case

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Original article by Carrie LaFrenz, Ayesha de Kretser
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 30-Apr-24

Harmers Workplace Lawyers has confirmed that it is acting for four female employees at Super Retail Group who are seeking compensation over alleged governance breaches, including an undisclosed relationship between CEO Anthony Heraghty and its former head of HR, Jane Kelly. Harmers has stated that more staff have come forward to join the action after Super Retail Group disclosed the relationship in an announcement on Friday, with the company stating that it expected two employees to bring a claim for between $30 million and $50 million alleging governance failures, including the non-disclosure of the romance between Heraghty and Kelly.

CORPORATES
SUPER RETAIL GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUL, HARMERS WORKPLACE LAWYERS

Cost pressures top business concerns

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 15 : 30-Apr-24

A KPMG Enterprise pre-budget survey of mid-market businesses has found that cost and margin pressures are their biggest concern, with mid-market businesses deemed as those with turnover of between $10 million and $500 million. Clive Baird from KPMG Enterprise said that the biggest help for mid-market businesses in terms of growing their operations and generating demand would be for interest rates to be lowered, while 80 per cent of those surveyed expect to see economic growth of at least 2-3 per cent this year.

CORPORATES
KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Spending cuts must take heat off rates

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 30-Apr-24

Economists are calling on the federal government to cut net discretionary spending in its 14 May budget, contending that such spending is making it harder for the Reserve Bank to combat inflation. Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor and Coalition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume said on Monday that the government should "restore budget discipline" by reintroducing the Coalition’s 23.9 per cent tax-to-GDP cap. Treasurer Jim Chalmers responded by claiming that the Coalition is advocating cuts to spending.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

BHP hunts big game in Africa

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 17 : 30-Apr-24

BHP’s primary interest in making a takeover bid for Anglo American is the latter’s copper assets, which include the Quellaveco, Los Bronces and Collahuasi projects. The proposed $59.6bn deal would see BHP regain exposure to commodities that it has been seeking to exit for the last decade, such ad diamonds and manganese. BHP has also indicated that it has no desire to hold long-term ownership of Anglo American’s platinum and iron ore assets in South Africa. Nevetheless, BHP is expected to make a sweetened takeover offer for Anglo American. Rivals such as Glencore could also potentially make a bid now that Anglo American is in play.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, ANGLO AMERICAN PLC, GLENCORE PLC

RBA’s next move will still be a cut: investors

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Original article by Cecile Lefort
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 30-Apr-24

The US Federal Reserve is now widely tipped to deliver its first interest rate cut in December, after the latest inflation data dampened expectations of a rate cut in June. Meanwhile, bond traders have now priced in a 50 per cent chance that the Reserve Bank of Australia will increase the cash rate to 4.6 per cent by September. Both central banks are expected to leave interest rates unchanged at their upcoming board meetings. Kapstream Capital portfolio manager Kris Bernie still expects the RBA to reduce the cash rate, although he says this is now likely to be delayed until 2025.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, KAPSTREAM CAPITAL PTY LTD

ALP maintains election winning lead over Coalition in late April: ALP 52% cf. L-NP 48%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Apr-24

The Albanese Labor Government has retained the lead for the second week in a row with support on 52% (unchanged) ahead of the Coalition on 48% (unchanged) on a two-party preferred basis. If a Federal Election were held now the ALP would be re-elected with a slim majority as they have now, the latest Roy Morgan survey shows. Primary support for both major parties increased this week, at the expense of the Greens, with the ALP up 1% to 31.5% but still behind the Coalition, up 1% to 36.5%; support for the Greens dropped 2% to 14%. Looking at the minor parties, support for One Nation was unchanged at 5.5%. Support for Independents was up 0.5% to 8% and support for Other Parties was down 0.5% to 4.5%. The latest Roy Morgan survey is based on interviewing a representative cross-section of 1,719 Australian electors from April 22-28. When comparing different polls it is always important to make sure to take note of the dates when the polls are conducted to undertake a proper comparison between two polls. Further details will be released in Roy Morgan’s weekly video update presented by CEO Michele Levine

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