Author: roymorgansocial

US-Japan strategy flags ADF Patriot gains

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 12-Apr-24

President Joe Biden has announced a trilateral air defence network involving the US, Japan and Australia, following a summit meeting in Washington with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The new strategy will give Australia access to US and Japanese knowledge and hardware for the Australian Defence Force’s proposed air and missile defence system, which is in the early stages of development with Lockheed Martin. Professor Peter Dean, who was co-lead of the 2023 Defence Strategic Review, says the new strategy puts Australia on track to acquire Patriot aerial interceptor missiles.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE, LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION

Anti far-right campaigners say Labor’s anti-doxxing laws could be weaponised

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Original article by Josh Taylor
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 12-Apr-24

The federal government is looking at legislating to make doxxing a criminal offence, as well as the right to sue for serious invasion of privacy. It comes after a spreadsheet containing the names, professions and social media accounts of 600 Australian Jewish writers and artists who were members of a WhatsApp group was posted online; it was posted in response to some group members actively targeting pro-Palestinian writers and their publishers over their coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict. In its submission on the proposed laws, the White Rose Society, which routinely investigates neo-Nazi groups and unmasks those groups in its reporting, claimed that not all doxxing is harmful, and that exposing such groups for the purpose of community and public safety is an important service.

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‘Seize the moment’, Assange family tells PM

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 12-Apr-24

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has welcomed indications that US espionage charges against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange could be dropped. President Joe Biden say he is considering a request from Australia to drop the charges, and Albanese says these comments are "encouraging". He adds that Assange has already paid a significant price and there is nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration. The family of Assange has urged the federal government to keep lobbying the Biden administration to drop the charges and its push to extradite him to the US Assange has now spent five years in Britain’s Belmarsh prison; he had previously live in the Ecuador embassy for seven years after requesting political asylum.

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WIKILEAKS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

PM’s plan risks forever subsidies

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Original article by Michael Read, Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 12-Apr-24

Productivity Commission chair Danielle Wood has warned that the federal government’s Future Made in Australia Act will have an economic cost. The government will provide incentives and subsidies to encourage local manufacturing, but Wood contends that the Act must include a mechanism for winding back this financial support in order to avoid having businesses become reliant on government subsidies. Meanwhile, Opposition leader Peter Dutton says local manufacturers are going broke or relocating offshore due to factors such as high energy costs and the government’s industrial relations regime.

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AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Bridget Archer leads criticism after Peter Dutton compares pro-Palestine protest to Port Arthur massacre

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Original article by Sarah Basford Canales, Luca Ittimani
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 12-Apr-24

Opposition leader Peter Dutton is under growing scrutiny over a recent speech in which he raised concern about the growing incidence of anti-Semitism in Australia. Liberal backbencher Bridget Archer has questioned the appropriateness of Dutton’s comment in which he said that pro-Palestine protests at the Sydney Opera House on 9 October were "akin to a Port Arthur moment in terms of their social significance". Archer says this comment was "incredibly disrespectful" to the victims and survivors of the Port Arthur massacre, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Dutton "went too far". Dutton says he was referring to former prime minister John Howard’s strength as a leader; the Port Arthur massacre resulting in stricter gun laws in Australia.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Chinese Premier Li Qiang tipped to visit Canberra in June

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Original article by Michael Smith, Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 12-Apr-24

The office of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has declined to comment on reports that Chinese Premier Li Qiang will visit Australia in June. He would be the most senior Chinese leader to visit Australia since his predecessor Li Keqiang in 2017. Warwick Smith from the Business Council of Australia says a June trip would be logical, as it would coincide with the Australia China Business Dialogue in Sydney. The Chinese media reports also suggested that the ban on Australian lobster exports will be lifted during the visit. China recently scrapped its punitive tariff on Australian wine.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Australia’s major supermarkets accused of purchasing properties to turf out independent stores

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Original article by Jonathan Barrett
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 12-Apr-24

The Senate inquiry into supermarket prices has been told that grocery giants Coles and Woolworths engage in land-banking to prevent smaller rivals from opening a store near their supermarkets. Grant Ramage, the CEO of Metcash’s food division, said the duopoly is also prepared to pay inflated prices to buy out rivals in order to stifle competition, while they have been known to buy retail properties that are tenanted by independent supermarkets and subsequently not renew their lease. Aldi Australia’s CEO Anna McGrath has told the inquiry that rival supermarket chains often reduce their prices when the Germany-based company opens a new store near their existing outlets.

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METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD

Rate cut hopes dashed by US data

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Original article by Cecile Lefort
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 12-Apr-24

Financial markets have now priced in a 20 per cent chance that the US Federal Reserve will reduce the cash rate in June, compared with 58 per cent prior to the release of the latest inflation data. The figures showed that the inflation rate remains well above the central bank’s target of two per cent; core inflation rose by 0.4 per cent in March and 3.8 per cent in the year to March. Financial markets now expect just one rate cut in 2024. The US inflation data has also prompted Australian investors to scale back their expectations regarding the timing of monetary policy easing by the Reserve Bank.

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UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Roy Morgan unveils Annual Customer Satisfaction Award winners across all categories

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Apr-24

Roy Morgan has announced the winners of its annual Customer Satisfaction Awards for 2023. The awards recognise outstanding levels of customer satisfaction, as judged by more than 60,000 consumers via the Roy Morgan Single Source survey. The award categories cover sectors such as banking, insurance, superannuation, automotive, retail, telecommunications and utilities. Of the 38 award winners this year, 22 are repeat winners backing up from a victory a year ago. The repeat winners include 13 with a perfect record of 12 monthly wins; there were also seven first-time winners, and four companies returned to the winner’s circle this year after missing out a year ago. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the Annual Customer Satisfaction Awards are the gold standard in identifying those companies and brands that stay ahead of the pack by knowing what their customers want and delivering it consistently.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Aussie Broadband wins the Best of the Best Award for Customer Satisfaction for the first time

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Apr-24

Telecommunications group Aussie Broadband has won the Roy Morgan ‘Best of the Best’ Customer Satisfaction Award for the first time, just ahead of car manufacturer Skoda, liquor store chain Dan Murphy’s and supermarket chain ALDI. The ‘Best of the Best’ award goes to the company that achieved the highest customer satisfaction of all 38 winners in the Annual Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards for 2023. Aussie Broadband enjoyed a stellar year, winning not only the Mobile Phone Service Provider of the year award for the first time but also the Internet Service Provider of the Year award for a third time. Aussie Broadband had customer satisfaction of an exceptional 97.5% in 2023 to beat Car Manufacturer of the Year Skoda by the barest of margins.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, SKODA AUTOMOBILOVA AS, AUSSIE BROADBAND LIMITED – ASX ABB, DAN MURPHY’S, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD