Author: roymorgansocial

ACCC must probe food giants on prices: Fels

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 23-Jan-24

Former Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Allan Fels has urged the ACCC to conduct a major inquiry into competition and prices in the retail food and grocery industry. Fels recently conducted an ACTU-sponsored inquiry into price gouging, with Fels claiming that supermarkets are not being transparent about the price history of displayed items and their "correlated discounts". While supporting the appointment of former trade minister Craig Emerson to conduct a review of the food and grocery code, Fels says the voluntary code should be made mandatory.

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AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Greens warn Labor stage-three tax cuts will add to inflation and bring little relief for most workers

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 23-Jan-24

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has given strong indications that further cost-of-living relief will be on the federal government’s agenda at a caucus meeting on Wednesday. However, the government has downplayed reports that it will make changes to the legislated stage-three personal income tax cuts, including retaining the existing top marginal tax rate and increasing the tax-free threshold. Meanwhile, the Greens have written to Treasury Jim Chalmers arguing amongst other things that the tax cuts package is unsustainable, primarily benefits wealthy people and will be inflationary.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Leading Liberal figures endorse an Indigenous governor-general

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 3 : 23-Jan-24

Former NSW Liberal premier Barry Ó’Farrell has backed calls for Australia’s next governor-general to be either an Aboriginal or a Torres Strait Islander, with the Coalition’s Indigenous Australians spokesman Julian Leeser also endorsing the idea. Leeser says Anthony Albanese should consult with Peter Dutton to ensure bipartisanship over a suitable Indigenous appointment, and while Opposition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Price said that race should not be a consideration when choosing the next governor-general, Ó’Farrell noted there has always been an element of symbolism in federal and state vice-regal appointments.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

ABC staff pass no-confidence vote in boss as senior journalist lashes leadership

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Original article by Calum Jaspan, Michael Bachelard
The Age – Page: Online : 23-Jan-24

The ABC board will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday after the public broadcaster’s union members passed a motion of no-confidence in MD David Anderson by 125 to 3 at a meeting on Monday. The meeting was prompted by the public broadcaster’s sacking of journalist Antoinette Lattouf in December, while ABC global affairs editor John Lyons is said to have told the meeting he was embarrassed by it, accusing it of pro-Israel bias and of failing to protect its staff. The meeting outlined five demands it wants Anderson and senior ABC management to address in order to win back the confidence of its staff and the public, including upholding a transparent complaints process and developing clearer and fairer social media policies.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Disney+ signals end to password sharing is near

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Original article by Sezen Bakan
The New Daily – Page: Online : 23-Jan-24

Streaming video giant Disney+ will join rivals such as Netflix in cracking down on subscribers who share their accounts. Disney+ has updated the terms of its subscriber agreement to explicitly state that customers must not share their subscription outside of their household; Disney+ defines a ‘household’ as the devices associated with a subscriber’s primary place of residence. Victoria University lecturer Marc C-Scott says streaming companies have the right to require people to pay for the service they provide. He adds that cost-of-living pressures are likely to prompt more Australians to switch between streamers and subscription tiers over the next 12-18 months.

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DISNEY+, WALT DISNEY COMPANY, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, VICTORIA UNIVERSITY

Albanese backs sports bodies’ Australia Day snub

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Original article by Rhiannon Down
The Australian – Page: 3 : 23-Jan-24

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the nation needs to stop looking for areas in which "we can be outraged". With Cricket Australia and Tennis Australia not to acknowledge Australia Day at the Gabba Test or the Australian Open on Friday, Albanese refused to back calls by NSW Premier Chris Minns for the two sporting bodies to reconsider their decision. Opposition leader Peter Dutton says Albanese needs to stand up as the leader of our country and tell Cricket Australia and other "corporate wokes" that we should be celebrating Australia Day, while Nationals Leader David Littleproud says it is not the job of sporting codes to "set the moral compass".

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CRICKET AUSTRALIA, TENNIS AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Miners call for critical minerals aid

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Original article by Peter Ker, Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 15 : 23-Jan-24

Shares in Liontown Resources fell almost 22 per cent on Monday after its lending syndicate announced it would withdraw a $760 million it had offered as recently as October. It was prompted by a forecast by commodities’ agency Wood Mackenzie that the price of lithium would remain at around $US950 a tonne until 2028, with Liontown seeking to develop the Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia. Liontown MD Tony Ottaviano says $US950 a tonne is "a very, very low price", while federal Resources Minister Catherine King and WA Mines Minister David Michael are to hold crisis talks with nickel and lithium producers.

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LIONTOWN RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX LTR, WOOD MACKENZIE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE AND RESOURCES, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF MINES, INDUSTRY REGULATION AND SAFETY

Australians say January 26 should be known as Australia Day (68.5%), and say the date of Australia Day should stay on January 26 (58.5%)

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Jan-24

A special Roy Morgan SMS Poll on attitudes to January 26, shows that 68.5% of Australians now say the date should stay as ‘Australia Day’, up 4.5% from a year ago. Only 31.5% (down 4.5%) say January 26 should be called ‘Invasion Day’. Australians are more evenly split on keeping Australia Day on January 26; 58.5% say the date of Australia Day should stay the same, while just 41.5% say the date should be moved. A large majority of men favour January 26 staying as ‘Australia Day’ rather than ‘Invasion Day’ by a margin of over 3:1 (76.5% cf. 23.5%) a significant change from a year ago (69% cf. 31%). In contrast, women are more evenly split with a majority of 61.5% (up 3.5% points from a year ago) in favour of January 26 being known as ‘Australia Day’ compared to 38.5% (down 3.5% points) saying it should be known as ‘Invasion Day’. Although young people are less likely than their older counterparts to support January 26 staying as ‘Australia Day’, and keeping the date, a majority of Australians of all ages say January 26 should be known as ‘Australia Day’. This Roy Morgan SMS Poll was conducted with an Australia-wide cross-section of 1,111 Australians aged 18+ from Wednesday January 17 to Friday January 19.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Australian employment increased to over 14.1 million for the first time in December, but under-employment hit a record high of 1.65 million

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 17-Jan-24

The latest Roy Morgan employment series data shows that the number of Australians who are employed rose by 165,000 to a new record high of 14,175,000 in December 2023. The increase was due to a rise in full-time employment (up 234,000 to a new record high of 9,242,000), while part-time employment was down 69,000 to 4,933,000. Despite surging employment – up by 607,000 compared to a year ago – some 3.02 million Australians (19.4% of the workforce) were unemployed or under-employed in December (down 0.2% from November). Some 1,364,000 Australians were unemployed in December (8.8% of the workforce), a decrease of 141,000 from November (down 0.9%). In addition to the unemployed, a further 1.65 million Australians (up 119,000) were under-employed in December. Roy Morgan’s unemployment figure of 8.8% is more than double the ABS estimate of 3.9% for November, but is comparable with the combined ABS unemployment and under-employment figure of 10.4%.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

CFMEU to Burke: Stay out of DP World row

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Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 17-Jan-24

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke is slated to meet with executives from port operator DP World Australia on Thursday. The stevedoring firm is likely to urge the federal government to intervene in its long-running dispute with the Maritime Union of Australia. Opposition leader Peter Dutton recently urged Burke and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to step in, contending that failure to do so would give the MUA a ‘green light’ to keep pursuing industrial action. However, the CFMEU’s national secretary Zach Smith warns that government intervention in the dispute would set a "dangerous precedent".

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DP WORLD AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA