Author: roymorgansocial

50 Commonwealth Games bureaucrats still being paid

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Original article by Shannon Deery, Alex White
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 22-Nov-23

The Victorian government is continuing to attract scrutiny over its controversial decision in July to withdraw from hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games. It has been revealed that the government has yet to finalise exit packages for about 50 staff who were employed to organise the Games; sources say they will continue to be paid until 29 January, which is the deadline for them to ­decide whether to accept an exit package. The Games staff say they have been placed on ‘gardening leave’. The manager of opposition business James Newbury says Premier Jacinta Allan holds the gold medal for wasting taxpayers’ money. Allan was the minister responsible for the Commonwealth Games.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

ALP divides to conquer on IR

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 22-Nov-23

The federal government has struck a deal with the Australian Resources & Energy Employer Association to exempt service contractors from the labour-hire provisions of the Closing Loopholes Bill. It follows week of negotiations between Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke and AREEA, whose CEO Steve Knott has been a vocal critic of the proposed reforms. The amendments to the bill mean that the Fair Work Commission will not be able to make labour hire pay orders if a business is providing a service to a client rather than supplying labour. The government has previously agreed to changes to the bill following talks with the Australian Hotels Association and gig economy platforms.

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AUSTRALIAN RESOURCES AND ENERGY EMPLOYER ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, AUSTRALIAN HOTELS ASSOCIATION

Australian electricity networks raked in $2bn in superprofits from customers, thinktank says

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Original article by Peter Hannam
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 22-Nov-23

The Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis has released a report that highlights the massive earnings of Australia’s electricity distribution network operators. It estimates that in addition to "normal" profits of about $16bn since 2014, electricity distributors have generated some $11.1bn worth of "superprofits" over this period – including $2bn in 2022-23. The excess profits equate to between $80 and $400 for each customer, depending on the area they service. The report’s author Simon Orme says the excess profits of the ‘poles and wires’ companies are reducing energy affordability and adding to economy-wide inflation.

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INSTITUTE FOR ENERGY ECONOMICS AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

Qantas worse than Jetstar for on-time performance in October

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: Online : 22-Nov-23

The latest on-time performance data for Australian airlines shows that just 66.6 per cent of Qantas’s domestic flights arrived within 15 minutes of their scheduled time in October. This compares with 68 per cent for its budget offshoot Jetstar. The QantasLink regional brand had the best on-time performance record, at 77.2 per cent; this was followed by Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (73.9 per cent) and Regional Express (73.5 per cent). Qantas cancelled 4.3 per cent of its scheduled flights during the month, which was also the worst performance of any airline. The data does not include low-cost carrier Bonza.

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QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, JETSTAR AIRLINES PTY LTD, QANTASLINK, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA REGIONAL AIRLINES PTY LTD, REGIONAL EXPRESS AIRLINES, REGIONAL EXPRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX REX

Mortgage stress eased in October before the RBA raised interest rates on Melbourne Cup Day

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Nov-23

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 1,514,000 mortgage holders (30.1%) were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the three months to October 2023. This period included three RBA meetings at which interest rates were left unchanged and was before the increase on Melbourne Cup Day. The figure for October represented a slight decrease on a month earlier as mortgage stress eased due to a combination of factors, such as increased household incomes, increased employment and reduced amounts borrowed and outstanding. Despite the slight easing in mortgage stress, this was only the third time in the history of the index that over 1.5 million mortgage holders were considered ‘At Risk’. The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 707,000 since May 2022, when the RBA began a cycle of interest rate increases. Meanwhile, the number of mortgage holders considered ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 967,000 (19.7%), which is significantly above the long-term average over the last 10 years of 14.1%. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with over 60,000 Australians each year, including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Bullock: Pay growth risks higher interest rates

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Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 22-Nov-23

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock has warned that reducing the inflation rate is the "crucial challenge" facing the domestic economy over the next several years. She also said that rapidly rising labour costs are another challenge for the RBA in restoring inflation to its target range of 2-3 per cent, and stressed that the recent growth in wages will not be sustainable unless productivity improves. Recent data shows that annual wages growth reached a 14-year high of four per cent in the September quarter. Meanwhile, the minutes of the RBA’s board meeting for November show that economic data will determine whether monetary policy is further tightened. Financial markets have priced in a five per cent chance of an interest rate rise in December.

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

First strike at Fortescue over exec pay

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 22-Nov-23

More than 52 per cent of votes cast at Fortescue Metals Group’s annual meeting on Tuesday rejected the iron ore miner’s remuneration report. Fortescue could potentially face a board spill if more than 25 per cent of shareholders vote against the report again in 2024. Major proxy advisory firms had recommended voting against the report, citing concerns such as discretionary payments to several former executives. Meanwhile, Fortescue has announced plans to build a $US550m ‘green’ hydrogen plant in Arizona and a $US150m hydrogen plant at Gladstone in Queensland. It will also build a $US50m commercial ‘green’ iron plant at its Christmas Creek iron ore mine in the Pilbara.

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FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

PM urged to be honest over Xi meeting

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Original article by Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 2 : 22-Nov-23

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is facing growing pressure to reveal whether he discussed a naval incident with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the recent APEC summit in San Francisco. Albanese stated on Monday that he does not disclose the discussions he has with any world leader, but he said allegations that divers from HMAS Toowoomba were injured by a sonar pulse from a Chinese warship have been raised in the "appropriate way". Opposition leader Peter Dutton says Albanese need to be "honest" as to whether he had discussed the issue with Xi. He has also described China’s denial that it had breached international laws as "propaganda". The incident took place within Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Albanese accuses China of dangerous, unsafe and unprofessional behaviour in naval ship altercation

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Original article by Josh Butler, Amy Hawkins
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 21-Nov-23

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has responded to revelations that divers from the HMAS Toowoomba were injured by a sonar pulse from a Chinese warship in international waters last week. Albanese has criticised the Chinese vessel’s conduct, and stated that the federal government had made strong objections to China regarding the incident. However, Albanese has declined to comment on whether he raised the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the recent APEC summit in San Francisco. Kevin Rudd, Australia’s ambassador to the US, says it is longstanding practice not to comment on the content of conversations between leaders.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Long search ahead for new telco chief

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Original article by Jared Lynch, Eric Johnston, Greg Brown, Tansy Harcourt
The Australian – Page: 6 : 21-Nov-23

Optus has appointed CFO Michael Venter as its interim CEO following the resignation of Kelly Bayer Rosmarin in the wake of the recent network outage. Bayer Rosmarin told Optus staff that she had decided that her resignation was in the best interests of the telco. She was widely criticised for her response to the outage, and she had attracted similar criticism over her handling of Optus’s data breach in 2022. Yuen Kuan Moon, the CEO of parent company Singapore Telecommunications, says Bayer Rosmarin had led Optus during a "challenging period", and stressed that Optus is an "integral part" of the company’s business.

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SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED