Author: roymorgansocial

Chalmers won’t back the unions on jobless target

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 4 : 17-Jul-23

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he will not ‘pre-empt’ the monetary policy decisions that incoming Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock might recommend to its board. Chalmers adds that it "remains to be seen" as to whether inflation can be brought under control with higher levels of employment, and he says inflation is the main challenge facing the domestic economy. The ACTU has called for a "reset" of the RBA’s full employment target in the wake of Bullock’s appointment, while Australian Workers Union secretary Paul Farrow said the RBA should redefine full employment as being "understood as zero involuntary unemployment". Bullock had suggested in June that the unemployment rate will have to rise to 4.5 per cent to restore inflation to the target range of 2-3 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES

Casual employment at 10-year low

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Original article by Stephen Lunn
The Australian – Page: 4 : 17-Jul-23

The Australian Industry Group has released a report which shows that the proportion of casual employees in the workforce has fallen to a decade-low of just 22.1 per cent. The Ai Group says the report refutes the union movement’s claim that the Australian workforce is becoming increasingly casualised, noting that the proportion of casual workers had remained relatively steady at between 23.5 per cent and 25.5 per cent in the years immediately prior to the pandemic. The report also notes that casual work is skewed toward younger Australians.

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

AusNet chief confident grid will be ready for coal’s exit

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Original article by Nick Toscano
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 17-Jul-23

AusNet chief development officer Jon D’Sylva says the power grid operator is optimistic that Australia can manage the transition from coal-fired power to renewable energy sources, although he concedes that there is a bit of pressure regarding the federal government’s target of 82 per cent of Australia’s power being ‘green’ by 2030. AusNet is the company behind the Western Renewables Link, which has met with a lot of opposition from local communities, and D’Sylva acknowledges that it failed to ensure an adequate level of community engagement when the project was conceived.

CORPORATES
AUSNET SERVICES LIMITED

NAB blocks high-risk crypto exchanges

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Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 17-Jul-23

The National Australia Bank has announced it will block payments to certain high-risk cryptocurrency exchanges as from 17 July, although NAB head of fraud Chris Sheehan has declined to name which exchanges are being targeted. The NAB’s action is the latest in a series of similar crackdowns by the major banks, who are finding that scammed money is increasingly being diverted into cryptocurrency, making it almost impossible to recover for scam victims. Asked if the ban includes Binance, Sheehan replied that "our approach is going to be consistent with the rest of the industry".

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, BINANCE

Iron ore legal fight set for starting bell

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 3 : 17-Jul-23

A case that will begin in the Supreme Court of Western Australia on 24 June is the latest in a number of cases that have resulted from efforts by former business partners Peter Wright and Lang Hancock to "carve up" their WA iron ore interests in the 1980s. Lucrative iron ore assets and billions of dollars in iron ore royalties are at stake in this latest case, along whether Wright’s descendants are entitled to some of Hancock Prospecting’s interests in the Hope Downs and East Angelas mining tenements. The case is likely to run for around three months.

CORPORATES
SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD

Policy doubt could derail domestic gas projects, Beach Energy warns

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Original article by Nick Toscano
The Age – Page: Online : 17-Jul-23

A mandatory code of conduct governing the gas sector was released in the week ending 14 July, with the code coming after ongoing friction between gas producers and the federal government over proposals aimed at curbing rising energy prices. The code sees the extension of a $12-a-gigajoule cap on domestic gas sales until 2025, but exempts smaller producers who sell all their gas locally domestically rather than export it offshore as liquefied natural gas (LNG). Beach Energy has confirmed it qualifies as a small producer under the code, but it has expressed concern that ongoing market interventions and regulatory burdens could discourage investments in new gas supply projects.

CORPORATES
BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT

Secret probe cleared Forrest of wrongdoing

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Original article by Brad Thompson, Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 17-Jul-23

It has been revealed that the board of Fortescue Metals Group engaged law firm Seyfarth Shaw to conduct a secret review into claims that executive chairman Andrew Forrest was involved in a relationship with an employee of the company. The board has advised that the investigation was instigated as a result of claims being raised in an anonymous letter, and that the investigation found that none of the claims were substantiated. The revelation of the investigation comes after Forrest and his wife Nicola recently disclosed that they have separated.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, SEYFARTH SHAW LLP

‘Grey-BC’: most viewers of 7pm news are over 55

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Original article by Mark Di Stefano
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 17-Jul-23

The ABC’s internal data shows that audiences for its news and current affairs programs are heavily skewed toward older people. More than 80 per cent of people who watch its evening news bulletin are aged 55+, and two-thirds are over the age of 65; in contrast, less than eight per cent of viewers are below the age of 40. Likewise, 75 per cent of the average audience for Q&A is aged 55+ and 70 per cent of Insiders’ viewers are over the age of 55. A spokesman for the ABC contends that the audience shift to older viewers for TV news content is an industry-wide trend; he adds that the ABC’s digital news service is popular among younger audiences.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

‘Dangerous and Orwellian’: Tech giants, lawyers warn on Labor bill

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Original article by Rhian Deutrom, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 12-Jul-23

The federal government continues to attract scrutiny over proposed laws targeting online misinformation and disinformation. Josh Machin of Facebook’s parent Meta has told a parliamentary committee that the digital giant is concerned that the additional powers given to the Australian Communications & Media Authority could potentially be abused, or used in a way that inadvertently ‘chills’ free and legitimate political expression online. Liberal senator James Paterson contends that censorship is not the answer to addressing online misinformation. Paterson and some of his Coalition colleagues have previously expressed concern about the ‘Orwellian’ nature of the proposed misinformation laws.

CORPORATES
META PLATFORMS INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Inflation Expectations down 0.4% points to 5.5% in mid-July after rising significantly in June and early July

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Jul-23

The latest ANZ-Roy Morgan Inflation Expectations are down 0.4% points to 5.5% in mid-July after increasing steadily during June. This week Australians expected inflation of 5.5% annually over the next two years. Despite the weekly fall, the measure has averaged 5.7% so far in July after increasing significantly from a weekly low of 5.1% in mid-May. The monthly figure for June showed Inflation Expectations of 5.6%, an increase of 0.4% points from May, and the equal highest monthly figure so far this year after dipping to its lowest in over a year in May. Roy Morgan’s Inflation Expectations during 2023 have consistently been followed weeks later by the ABS CPI figures. The monthly ABS CPI figures dropped to 5.6% in May 2023 – down 1.2% points from April (6.8% annual CPI). If the trend continues, we can expect to see the ABS CPI annual figures for June register an increase after dipping in May. The ABS CPI figures for June are due to be released on 26 July. The data for the Inflation Expectations series is drawn from the Roy Morgan Single Source, which has interviewed an average of around 5,000 Australians aged 14+ per month over the last decade and includes interviews with 5,966 Australians aged 14+ in June.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS