Author: roymorgansocial

Gloves off: ABC goes to war with News Corp

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 25-May-23

ABC MD David Anderson has defended the public broadcaster’s coverage of King Charles III’s coronation. He has told a Senate estimates hearing that the coverage was "justified, relevant and appropriate", and criticised Rupert Murdoch’s media outlets for their sustained attack on the ABC’s coverage. Anderson and the ABC’s head of news Justin Stevens highlighted the negative reporting from News Corp Australia mastheads and Sky News, noting that Indigenous presenter Stan Grant in particular was targeted. Anderson indicated that he will seek a meeting with News Corp Australia’s executive chairman Michael Miller; he added that they have a "respectful" working relationship.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, SKY NEWS

Three years on, Rio Tinto says Juukan disaster remains a deep stain

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Original article by Nick Toscano
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 25-May-23

Wednesday marked the third anniversary of Rio Tinto’s ill-fated destruction of ancient Indigenous rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara. Rio Tinto’s actions attracted global condemnation, a federal parliamentary inquiry and the resignation of senior executives such as former CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques. Rio Tinto’s current chairman Dominic Barton says Juukan Gorge is a deep stain on the company’s history that it has to deal with. Restoring trust with Indigenous communities and improving Rio Tinto’s cultural heritage processes have been top priorities for the company’s current leadership team.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Australian farmers are twice as likely to use agribusiness brands they trust

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-May-23

A special Roy Morgan Agribusiness Survey of Australian farmers looking at trust and distrust in Australia’s agricultural sector shows that farmers who trust a particular agribusiness brand are 127% more likely to have used that brand in the past 12 months. These findings show a direct correlation between trust and brand use – those who trust a brand are much more likely to use them, and to use them regularly, while the reverse is true for those who distrust brands. The research also found that the top reason farmers trust agribusiness brands is a ‘strong customer relationship’, followed by ‘good customer service’ and a ‘good track record, indicating that relationship building in agribusiness is paramount in driving trust and gaining repeat business from farmers. Elders was the most trusted agribusiness brand by Australian farmers in 2022, while NAB emerged as the most trusted bank for agribusiness. The Roy Morgan Farmer Agribusiness Brand Trust Survey results are based on 1,230 interviews with Australian farmers aged 18 and over, conducted during June and July 2022.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, ELDERS LIMITED – ASX ELD, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Morrison government paid corrupt businessman millions for offshore processing on Nauru

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Original article by Ben Doherty, Rafqa Touma
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 25-May-23

The former Coalition government is under scrutiny over its awarding of contracts to provide offshore processing facilities for asylum-seekers on Nauru. The Senate estimates committee has queried why the Coalition had failed to disclose that it had renewed a contract with Mozammil Gulamabbas Bhojani’s Radiance International group after the businessman had been convicted of bribing two Nauru government officials. Radiance’s contract was worth $17.5m, and continued to be paid until May 2022, nearly two years after Bhojani was given a suspended jail sentence. Its initial contract in 2016 was worth $2.5m, and had been disclosed on the AusTender website.

CORPORATES
RADIANCE INTERNATIONAL

Australia’s critical minerals crunch

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 25-May-23

The issue of processing rare earths and critical minerals in Australia was a key issue of discussion at a mining summit in Perth on Wednesday. Iluka Resources MD Tom O’Leary flagged the potential for a domestic critical minerals reservation, which would allow projects to be approved on the condition that a certain proportion of the output would have to be processed in Australia. He noted that a similar gas reservation scheme has been successful in Western Australia. Former WA premier Richard Court in turn suggested that state governments could encourage increased downstream processing of critical minerals by introducing differential royalty rates.

CORPORATES
ILUKA RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX ILU

Dividends fall behind global peers as mining payouts slump

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Original article by Alex Gluyas
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 25-May-23

Data from global asset manager Janus Henderson shows that Australian-listed companies paid $27.9bn worth of dividends in the March quarter, which is 6.6 per cent lower than previously. In contrast, global dividend payouts rose by 12 per cent to a record high of $US326.7bn in the first three months of 2023. This result was boosted by US28.8bn worth of special dividends, the highest amount in nine years. Ben Lofthouse of Janus Henderson notes that the Australian sharemarket’s heavy weighting towards mining and bank stocks affects dividend payouts across the bourse.

CORPORATES
JANUS HENDERSON GROUP PLC – ASX JHG

An exceptional 15 magazine categories grew their readership over the last year led by Food & Entertainment, General Interest, Home & Garden, Mass Women’s, Health & Family, Women’s Fashion and Women’s Lifestyle – all with readership up on 2022

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-May-23

The Roy Morgan Australian Readership report for the 12 months to March 2023 shows that 11.5 million Australians aged 14+ (53.4%) now read print magazines, up 5.1 per cent on a year ago. This market broadens to 15 million Australians aged 14+ (69.9%) who read magazines in print or online either via the web or an app, a small drop of 2.5 per cent from a year ago. Print readership increased for 15 of 17 magazine categories compared to a year ago. The readership increases occurred as Australians enjoyed a considerable easing of restrictions following the extensive lockdowns of 2021; most COVID-19 restrictions were lifted by October 2022. Better Homes & Gardens is still Australia’s most widely read paid magazine with print readership of 1,792,000, up 17.2 per cent on a year ago (the largest increase of any of the top 15 magazines), ahead of the Australian Women’s Weekly on 1,309,000, up 8.8 per cent. These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey of 65,863 Australians aged 14+ in the 12 months to March 2023.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Underpayment rife among migrant workers

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Original article by Tom McIlroy, Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 24-May-23

Research from the Grattan Institute has concluded that up to 16 per cent of recent migrants to Australia are being paid less than the minimum wage. This equates to around 82,000 workers; the research also suggests that up to 42,000 recent migrants are being underpaid by at least $3 an hour. Migrant workers were found to be vulnerable to many forms of exploitation apart from wage underpayment, such as unpaid leave, superannuation and penalty rates, cash-back arrangements, racism and sexual harassment. The Institute has made 27 recommendations to protect workers from exploitation.

CORPORATES
GRATTAN INSTITUTE

ASIO: Voice campaign may trigger violence

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Original article by Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 2 : 24-May-23

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s director-general Mike Burgess has raised concern about the national security implications of the referendum on an Indigenous Voice to parliament. He has told a Senate estimates hearing that the referendum may lead to some protests and counter-protests, and that this could result in "spontaneous violence". Burgess also said that there is currently no evidence at present to suggest the potential for a terrorist attack or foreign interference in the referendum process, but cautions that such risks cannot be ruled out.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION

Qantas sets a course for $2.5bn profit

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 24-May-23

Qantas has advised that its underlying profit for 2022-23 is expected to be within the range of $2.425bn to $2.725bn. This compares with a loss of $1.8bn for the previous financial year. The carrier’s quarterly update shows that air travel has rebounded from the pandemic-induced downturn; its domestic operations’ revenue is now at 118 per cent of pre-Covid levels, while its international arm’s revenue is at 123 per cent of 2019 levels. Meanwhile, seat capacity is now at 87 per cent of levels prior to the pandemic, and CEO Alan Joyce expects this to reach 93 per cent by the end of 2023.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN