Author: roymorgansocial

ACTU’s training levy a ‘crock’, say business leaders

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 20-Aug-25

The ACTU has used the first day of the federal government’s economic roundtable to call for a national skills levy, with its idea being roundly rejected by employer and business groups. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox claimed that the proposal would impact 71,000 businesses with a combined payroll of about $300 billion; the ACTU stated that its proposal would involve a levy of 1.5 per cent of payroll for companies with annual turnover above $500,000, unless a business already spends that amount on training. Business Council of Australia CEO Bran Black says incentives to boost training, such as those provided to take on apprentices, are preferable to taxes.

CORPORATES
ACTU, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Work from Home: Another Great Australian Divide

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Aug-25

New research from Roy Morgan highlights a clear divide across Australia’s 150 federal electorates. Nationwide, 47% of working electors (around 5.94 million people) work from home at least some of the time. However, this flexibility is concentrated in just 45 electorates, and the majority of working electors continue to work in-person in the remaining 105 seats. The highest work from home electorates are concentrated in Australia’s inner-cities: Sydney (67%), Wentworth (66%), Bennelong (65%), Kooyong (65%) and Grayndler (62%) lead the nation. These affluent electorates are dominated by professional white-collar workers and are held by Labor or high-profile Independents. The electorates with the lowest levels of working from home are found in large regional and remote electorates, where on-site industries dominate; they include Mallee (31%), Durack (31%), Forrest (29%), Lingiari (28%) and Gippsland (28%). Among the 45 electorates where a majority work from home, Labor dominates with 30 seats, reflecting its strength in metropolitan hubs where hybrid work is most entrenched.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence increases for those with a mortgage, but down for home owners after Reserve Bank cuts rates

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Aug-25

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 89.4 in the week to 17 August, after the Reserve Bank cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.6%. However, Consumer Confidence is now 6.4 points above the same week a year ago (83.0), and 2.6pts above the 2025 weekly average of 86.8. Analysis by State shows mixed results, with Consumer Confidence up in Queensland and South Australia, but down in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. Importantly, the Consumer Confidence of home owners has dropped by 2.6 points this week, although the Consumer Confidence for people with a mortgage has increased by 2.1 points. Meanwhile, 24% of Australians (up 3ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year (the highest figure for this indicator so far this year), while 42% (up 2ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 29% (up 1ppt) of respondents expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 32% (up 2ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’. Just 23% (down 1ppt) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 33% (unchanged) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

iiNet customers’ details stolen in cyber breach

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Original article by Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 20-Aug-25

TPG Telecom has reported a hack of its systems that led to the email addresses and phone details of 280,000 iiNet customers being stolen to various bodies, including the Australian Signals Directorate and the Australian Cyber Security Centre. It has also apologised to iiNet customers for the breach, and has told them to be on the lookout for suspicious emails, texts and phone calls. It is understood that the breach of TPG’s systems took place on Sunday, with TPG having acquired the iiNet brand back in 2015.

CORPORATES
TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPG, IINET LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN SIGNALS DIRECTORATE, AUSTRALIAN CYBER SECURITY CENTRE

Trump slams activists over Rio, BHP copper mine delay

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Original article by Jessica Gardner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 20-Aug-25

The US Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service division gave final environmental approval for the Resolute Copper project in June. However, the US 9th Circuit Court has granted a temporary administrative injunction to block the transfer of land that is necessary for the BHP and Rio Tinto project in Arizona to proceed to its next stage. President Donald Trump has criticised the coalition of activists that had sought the injunction; he has stated on the Truth Social platform that the activists are "anti-American" and represent other countries that compete in the copper sector. Trump also targeted the "radical left" court for delaying the copper project.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, RESOLUTION COPPER MINING LLC, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE. FOREST SERVICE, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Google inks first commercial AI news deal in Australia

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 20-Aug-25

Newswire service Australian Associated Press has secured a content deal with Google regarding the latter’s generative artificial intelligence platform. AAP’s news articles will be made available to the Gemini AI app. Nic Hopkins from Google says the deal with AAP will deliver a feed of real-time information to enhance responses in the Gemini app and will assist Australians when they look for locally relevant and up-to-date information. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS PTY LTD, GOOGLE INCORPORATED

Zelensky ready for Putin

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 9 : 20-Aug-25

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he is ready for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which would be Zelensky’s first face-to-face meeting with Putin since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. The prospect of the two leaders meeting comes after Zelensky and European leaders met with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday, with a meeting between Zelensky and Putin to be followed by one that would also involve Trump. Russia’s Tass news agency reported that Putin told Trump he was open to the idea of direct talks with Zelensky. Meanwhile, Trump has ruled out deploying troops in Ukraine but indicated that the nation could provide air support as part of any peace deal.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANISATION

BHP cuts spending, warns of job losses to weather slide in earnings

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 20-Aug-25

BHP has posted a 2024-25 underlying net profit of $US10.15bn ($15.63bn), which is 26 per cent lower than previously and slightly below analysts’ expectations. The result was marred by lower prices for iron ore and coal, although this was partially offset by a higher copper price. Meanwhile, BHP has advised that it will reduce capital expenditure by $US3bn between 2028 and 2030; a decision on the proposed expansion of its Olympic Dam copper mine in South Australia will also be pushed back to 2028. CEO Mike Henry has flagged the potential for job cuts, particularly at its Queensland coal mines due to the impact of lower prices and the state government’s royalties regime.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Boards woo investors with ASX buybacks

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Original article by Alex Gluyas
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 20-Aug-25

Analysis by MST Marquee shows that most Australian-listed companies that announce buybacks tend to outperform the broader sharemarket by an average of 10 per cent in the following 12 months. Twelve listed companies have revealed plans to repurchase some $5bn worth of their shares so far in the current reporting season; this compares with the 10 companies that announced just $2.8bn worth of buybacks during the August 2024 reporting season. The growing trend towards buybacks has coincided with an overall decline in the dividend payouts of listed companies.

CORPORATES
MST MARQUEE

Magazines matter to clear majority (64%) of Australians: over 14.7 million read magazines in print or online

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Aug-25

The Roy Morgan Australian Readership report for the 12 months to June 2025 shows that 11 million Australians aged 14+ (48.2%) now read print magazines. This market broadens significantly to more than 14.7 million Australians aged 14+ (64.2%) who read magazines in print or online either via the web or an app. Overall, nine of the top 25 most widely read magazines have increased their readership over the last year. The most widely read magazine category is still Food & Entertainment, with a readership of 6,925,000 (well over 2,5 million ahead of any other category, and reaching 30.2% of the population). Meanwhile, Better Homes and Gardens is still Australia’s most widely read paid magazine, with a print readership of 1,696,000; the second-placed The Australian Women’s Weekly has a print readership of 1,206,000. Australia’s two most widely read free magazines are still Coles Magazine (with a print readership of 4,995,000) and Woolworths’ Fresh Ideas (4,477,000). These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey of 67,653 Australians aged 14+ in the 12 months to June.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED