Author: roymorgansocial

Australians lose nearly $1 billion a year in card surcharges and the RBA has warned banks it has to stop

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Original article by Samuel Yang
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 5-Mar-24

Analysis based on figures from the Reserve Bank has revealed that Australians are losing $960.26 million a year in card surcharges, which can be significantly reduced through proper implementation of least-cost routing (LCR). LCR is an RBA scheme that seeks to cut card payment processing fees for businesses, and RBA governor Michele Bullock has threatened to mandate it by the middle of the year if a target of 80 per cent of business terminals being enabled with LCR is not met by then.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Work to do on female candidates, says Liberal Party MP

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Original article by Jason Whittaker
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 5-Mar-24

Liberal MP Keith Wolahan has conceded that the party is falling short of its target on female representation in federal parliament. Speaking on the ABC’s Q+A program on Monday night, Wolahan said the Liberals are ready to preselect women but must do more to ensure that this occurs. He has also stressed that the preselection process must be democratic, and that Liberal candidates must be chosen by the party’s members. The Liberals may come under further scrutiny after McKinsey consultant Simon Kennedy was chosen as its candidate in the seat of Cook, which was recently vacated by Scott Morrison. There had been a push within the party to select Gwen Cherne to contest the seat at the upcoming by-election.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Wong urges ASEAN leaders to guard against conflict

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 5-Mar-24

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has told the ASEAN-­Australia special summit that a conflict in South-East Asia could cause the same level of devastation currently being seen in the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine. She urged ASEAN leaders to be bold and to commit to a "preventive architecture" in order to prevent the outbreak of conflict in the South-East Asia region, with Wong saying she wants to see a region where each country can pursue its own aspirations, and one where no country dominates and no country is dominated.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

ALP increases lead Federally as the Albanese Government easily wins the Dunkley by-election

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Mar-24

Support for the ALP has increased 3.5% to 53.5% to put the party well ahead of the Coalition on 46.5% (down 3.5%) on a two-party preferred basis. If a Federal Election was held now the Albanese Government would be returned with an increased majority, the latest Roy Morgan survey shows. There was a swing to the ALP in all six States, with the biggest swings in NSW and Victoria, largely reversing the result of a week ago. The swing to the ALP came after the ABS announced lower than expected inflation in January of 3.4% last week – all but removing the chance of an interest rate rise in mid-March and a definite positive for the Government. The ALP also retained the seat of Dunkley despite a swing of 3.6% to the Coalition. Meanwhile, primary support for the Coalition was down 1.5% to 36.5%, while support for the ALP recovered (up 2.5% to 34%); also helping the ALP was an increase in Greens support, up 1.5% to 13.5% and a decrease in One Nation support, down 1.5% to 3.5%. Support for Independents & Other Parties was down 1% to 12.5%. The latest Roy Morgan survey is based on interviewing a representative cross-section of 1,679 Australian electors from February 26 – March 3. 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

New house pipeline at near-12 year low

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 5-Mar-24

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that approvals for new detached homes fell by 9.6 per cent month-on-month in January, to the lowest level since mid-2012. Approvals for apartments, townhouses and semi-detached homes fell by 22 per cent. Tamawood CEO Robert Lynch says the house construction market has most likely reached its bottom; however, he cautions that factors such as high interest rates mean that a rebound may take some time. He adds that sales activity in the more affordable segment of the housing market – in which Tamawood specialises – is likely to recover first.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, TAMAWOOD LIMITED – ASX TWD

Meta fixer flew in for half-hour delivery

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Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 5-Mar-24

Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones was informed by Meta’s vice president of public policy for Asia Pacific Simon Milner that the social media firm would no longer pay Australian publishers for their content 24 hours before its decision was made public. Milner is a typical example of the policy and government relations professionals that the tech firms employ to deal with irate politicians and inform them of the ‘company line from Silicon Valley’ at a time when their activities are coming under growing global scrutiny, with their work backed up by local lobbyists.

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META PLATFORMS INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

PM pledges $2b green energy fund

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 5 : 5-Mar-24

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will announce on Tuesday that the federal government will establish a $2 billion finance facility to help fund green energy and infrastructure investment in South-East Asia. The facility is one of five recommendations by special envoy to South-East Asia Nicholas Moore that the government will adopt and announce on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit. Moore told the summit on Monday that South-East Asia will need an estimated 454 gigawatts of additional generation capacity between 2021 and 2050; he said that much of the extra capacity will need to come from renewable energy sources.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH-EAST ASIAN NATIONS

Lake Resources cutting jobs as lithium stabilises

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Original article by Matt Bell
The Australian – Page: 16 : 5-Mar-24

Australian-listed Lake Resources has advised that it is seeking a partner for its Kachi lithium project in Argentina, which will continue to be the company’s priority. CEO David Dickson says Lake Resources will seek expressions of interest from prospective partners, with a view to making a final investment decision on Kachi in 2025. Dickson has also indicated that Lake Resources will review its non-core assets and lithium tenements, while it will retrench about 50 per cent of its global workforce; the job cuts will be focused on non-core operational and administrative roles.

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LAKE RESOURCES NL – ASX LKE

Inflation Expectations in late February are at 5.1% – unchanged from the month of January (5.1%)

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Feb-24

The latest weekly Inflation Expectations are at 5.1% for the week of February 19-25, which is in line with the average so far this year of 5.1% and unchanged from the month of January. A look at the monthly Inflation Expectations for January 2024 shows the measure at 5.1% for the month, a decrease of 0.2% points on December 2023 (5.3%). In the month of January 2024 Australians expected inflation of 5.1% annually over the next two years – the lowest monthly figure for Inflation Expectations s since February 2022. Since January ended, Inflation Expectations have stabilised within a narrow band over the last few weeks. Inflation Expectations are following a similar trend as the broader official inflation measure. The latest ABS monthly CPI estimate for December 2023 of 3.4% is down 0.9% from November, and down 2.2% points since September (5.6%). The sharp drop in the official inflation readings has raised hopes the RBA will not undertake any further interest rate increases. The ABS will release the January monthly inflation readings later this week which will inform the RBA’s actions at its next meeting in mid-March. The data for the Inflation Expectations series is drawn from the Roy Morgan Single Source, which has interviewed an average of around 5,100 Australians aged 14+ per month over the last decade, and includes interviews with 6,032 Australians aged 14+ in January 2024.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

More at risk of mortgage stress as rate rises take toll

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Original article by Paulina Duran
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 28-Feb-24

Data from Roy Morgan shows that a record 1.6 million Australians were ‘at risk’ of mortgage stress in the three months to January. The Roy Morgan report shows that an additional 802,000 people have had to spend up to 45 per cent of their after-tax household income on their mortgage repayments since the Reserve Bank began raising the cash rate, putting them at risk of mortgage stress. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says another 29,000 home-loan borrowers would be at risk by April if the RBA increases the cash rate in March. Separate data shows that prime mortgage arrears among publicly securitised loans rose by 0.5 per cent to 0.97 per cent in the December quarter; Erin Kitson of S&P Global Ratings expects arrears rates to peak above one per cent.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS