Bendigo Bank is the most trusted agribusiness bank among Australian farmers, followed by NAB and CBA

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

A special Roy Morgan Agribusiness Brand Trust Survey of Australian farmers looking at trust and distrust in the nation’s agricultural sector shows that Bendigo Bank is the most trusted agribusiness bank in 2023. Farmers commended Bendigo Bank for its community support, long-term relationships with farmers, the provision of reliable customer service, and for providing solutions locally. The next most trusted banks in the agribusiness sector were National Australia Bank and the Commonwealth Bank. The higher Net Trust Score for Bendigo Bank was largely driven by higher trust among sheep farmers; however, dairy farmers ranked CBA as the most trusted bank. Differences were also evident among beef, horticulture and other livestock farmers. The findings of the Roy Morgan Farmer Agribusiness Brand Trust Survey Report are based on 1,002 in-depth interviews with Australian farmers conducted during July 2023.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Energy prices fall as solar gets hot

Original article by Colin Packham
The Australian – Page: 17 : 23-Oct-23

Data from the Australian Energy Market Operator shows that the amount of electricity generated by solar power reached a record 2,287 megawatts in the September quarter. AEMO has also reported that wholesale spot electricity prices across the National Electricity Market averaged $63/MWh during the quarter, which is 71 per cent lower than the previous corresponding period. Meanwhile, coal-fired power generation fell to a record low in the September quarter, after AGL shut down the Liddell power station in late April.

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AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED

Ellison eyes new lithium prize in WA

Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 23-Oct-23

Mineral Resources has declined to comment on reports that it is looking to acquire a stake in Wildcat Resources, citing ‘market speculation’. Wildcat recently completed a deal with Global Advanced Metals to acquire the Tabba Tabba lithium project in the Pilbara. Global Advanced Metals is owned by the private equity firm of Mineral Resources’ chairman James McClements. The Tabba Tabba project is in turn located near the Wodgina lithium mine, which is jointly owned by Mineral Resources and Albemarle.

CORPORATES
MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, WILDCAT RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX WC8, GLOBAL ADVANCED METALS PTY LTD

PM to back Biden on AUKUS, Israel and Ukraine

Original article by Geoff Chambers, Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 23-Oct-23

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flew to Washington on Sunday for an official state visit and dinner at the White House with US President Joe Biden. Albanese says he will lobby the US Congress to pass Biden’s $105 billion military aid bill, which includes $3.4 billion to boost US submarine production to help promised sales to Australia as part of the AUKUS treaty; the bill also will provide aid for Israel and Ukraine. Albanese has also confirmed that he will visit China to meet President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang in Beijing and attend the Shanghai International Import Expo in early November.

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

Why Rhodes Ridge is Rio’s silver bullet

Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 15 & 19 : 23-Oct-23

Rhodes Ridge has long been considered as the best iron ore deposit in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, but for a while it was regarded as the most heavily litigated mining deposit in the world. However, it is now being hailed as Rio Tinto’s ‘silver bullet’, as it will end Rio’s reliance on its network of 17 mines across the Pilbara that it uses to produce the differing ore types that make up its ‘flagship’ Pilbara Blend; it can also be serviced by Rio’s existing infrastructure, doing away with the need to build new rail infrastructure.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Medibank to trial four-day work week

Original article by Jessica Yun
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 23-Oct-23

Health insurer Medibank Private will shortly commence a six-month trial of the 100:80:100 model, whereby employees retain 100 per cent of their salary for 80 per cent of their time, in exchange for a commitment productivity of 100 per cent. Some 250 employees will participate in the four-day working week trial, with a view to eventually rolling it out across the company. Professor Bronwen Dalton from the University of Technology, Sydney has praised Medibank’s initiative, but she believes that the length of the trial and the number of participants should be increased.

CORPORATES
MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY

Heat on ABC voice, Garma spending

Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 23 : 23-Oct-23

The ABC’s MD David Anderson is slated to appear before a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday. Liberal senator Hollie Hughes recently wrote to Anderson informing him of the issues he can expect to be asked about. They include how much the public broadcaster spent on its coverage of the Voice referendum over the last year, as well as its coverage of the Garma Festival in the Northern Territory. Anderson will also be asked to provide more details of ABC employees whose annual salaries exceed $220,000. The ABC’s legal costs are also likely to come under scrutiny.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

China wine tariffs under review

Original article by Will Glasgow
The Australian – Page: 4 : 23-Oct-23

The Chinese government imposed tariffs of more than 200 per cent on Australian wine in 2020 as part of a widespread imposition of tariffs on Australian exports after the former Coalition government called for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19. However, China has announced that it will review its tariffs on Australian wine. Shadow foreign affairs minister Simon Birmingham – who was trade minister at the time the tariffs were imposed – said they were "an attempt at economic coercion by China".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Odds of Melbourne Cup Day rate rise shorten

Original article by Shane Wright, Rachel Clun
The Age – Page: Online : 18-Oct-23

The minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s board meeting for October show that it considered increasing the cash rate. The minutes stated that the RBA board has a low tolerance for a slower return of inflation to the target range than currently expected, and that upcoming economic data will determine whether the current monetary pause is sustained. Inflation and unemployment data to be released next week are likely to be a key factor as to whether the cash rate is increased in November. Meanwhile, Deloitte Access Economics has forecast that economic growth will slow to one per cent by the March 2024 quarter, and that the nation will experience both a per capita recession and a recession in the retail sector.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD

Delivery prices could soar under gig laws: DoorDash

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 18-Oct-23

Uber Eats recently estimated that the gig economy reforms in the federal government’s Closing Loopholes Bill could increase the cost of using food delivery services by up to 85 per cent. However, rival food delivery platform DoorDash has told a Senate inquiry into the legislation that prices could potentially rise by more than 260 per cent. The legislation would give the Fair Work Commission powers to set minimum pay and conditions for gig workers, but DoorDash has argued that these powers should be limited to setting minimum pay, insurance, portable leave and payment times. Nick McIntosh from the Transport Workers’ Union says there is broad support for the reforms among gig economy workers and companies.

CORPORATES
DOORDASH, UBER EATS, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION