Author: roymorgansocial

US subsidies shift global energy game

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Original article by Jennifer Hewett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 8-Mar-23

BHP CEO Mike Henry says Australia is competing "head-to-head" with other countries in the global transition to renewable energy. He has told a business summit that initiatives such as the Inflation Reduction Act in the US and Canada’s critical minerals strategy are examples of policies that will attract large capital inflows, and Australia must have policies in place to ensure that the nation remains internationally competitive. Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest agrees with the importance of the IRA, arguing that companies need to allocate capital where it is most competitive; he adds that this means allocating capital away from Australia into North America.

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BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

China invasion forecasts unrealistic: Morrison

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Original article by Will Glasgow
The Australian – Page: 4 : 8-Mar-23

Former prime minister Scott Morrison has downplayed concerns that China may invade Taiwan in coming years. US military officials have warned that China could potentially attack Taiwan within three years, but Morrison contends that any such assessments should be taken with "a grain of salt". He added that Australia’s increased defence spending and alignment with other countries is part of an effort to create an "enduring balance" in the Asia-Pacific region. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping has accused the US and its allies of implementing a policy of "all-round containment, encirclement and suppression" of China. Foreign Minister Qin Gang in turn has reiterated that China wants to take control of Taiwan by "peaceful means"; however, he adds that China reserves the right to
take "all necessary measures" to achieve this.

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Elders’ heartbreak at Fortescue mine brawl

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 7 : 8-Mar-23

The Federal Court has been told that Fortescue Metals Group iron ore mining operations in the Pilbara have split the Yindjibarndi people and resulted in an ongoing feud between them. The Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation was granted exclusive native title rights in 2017 to the land that now comprises Fortescue’s Solomon mining hub. Yindjibarndi elders Margaret Read and Tootsie Daniel have told the Federal Court that their people became divided following the formation of a breakaway group called the Wirlu-Murra Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, which has since secured lucrative contracts at the Solomon hub. They also expressed their anguish over the impact that mining has had on the Yindjibarndi people’s land.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, YINDJIBARNDI ABORIGINAL CORPORATION, WIRLU-MURRA YINDJIBARNDI ABORIGINAL CORPORATION

NAB faces test case over unpaid overtime

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 8-Mar-23

The issue of ‘reasonable additional hours’ for white-collar workers will come under scrutiny in a test case launched by the Finance Sector Union. The case centres on four National Australia Bank managers who allege that they were required to work unreasonable unpaid hours over several years. The FSU’s national secretary Julia Angrisano says the NAB managers are nominally employed to work 38 hours a week, but their actual hours can range between 10 and 16 hours per day, every day of the week. Angrisano adds that the FSU will seek compensation for all of NAB’s managers if it wins the test case, while it would also pursue action against the nation’s other major banks.

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NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, FINANCE SECTOR UNION

Andrews’ secret Covid polling revealed

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Original article by Damon Johnston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 8-Mar-23

Victoria’s Department of Premier & Cabinet has belatedly released nearly 200 pages of documents and emails pertaining to research on the public’s attitude to COVID-19 lockdowns. The polling was undertaken by QDOS Research, which is owned by Labor strategist John Armitage. The government had frequently reiterated that its pandemic response was shaped by health advice, but the documents also show that it asked QDOS to undertake intensive online surveys and focus groups to gauge Victorians’ reactions to pandemic restrictions, as well as the performance of Premier Daniel Andrews during the state’s marathon 112-day lockdown. The government had sought for two years to block requests for access to the documents via freedom of information laws.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, QDOS RESEARCH

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence at 79.9 – virtually unchanged for second straight week in early March

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Mar-23

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 79.9 in the week to 5 March. However, Consumer Confidence is 20.2pts below the same week a year ago (100.1), and 3.4pts below the 2023 weekly average of 83.3. Consumer Confidence had mixed results around the country; it was up in Queensland and South Australia, down in New South Wales and Western Australia and unchanged in Victoria. Now 21% of Australians (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 48% (unchanged) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Some 32% (unchanged) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 35% (also unchanged) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Only 6% (down 1ppt) of Australians now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 38% (unchanged) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 19% (down 2ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 53% (up 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Rio pays $22m to settle probe into Simandou

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 8-Mar-23

Rio Tinto has agreed to pay $US15m ($22m) to settle the US Securities & Exchange Commission’s investigation into payments it made to a Guinean political adviser. The SEC found that Rio Tinto had violated accounting and record-keeping standards by failing to properly document its engagement with Francois de Combret, who had been hired in 2011 to help the company to secure the mining rights to the Simandou iron ore deposit. The scandal resulted in the termination of two senior Rio Tinto executives in 2016.

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RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, UNITED STATES. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Turnbull says cabinet was told robo-debt was legal

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Original article by Tom Burton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 7-Mar-23

The royal commission into the robodebt scheme heard evidence from former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull on Monday. Cabinet agreed to the controversial scheme in 2015, prior to Turnbull becoming prime minister; he said cabinet was told that the scheme was lawful, and he was therefore focused on the accuracy and fairness of the scheme rather than its legality. Turnbull also revealed that he recommended in early 2017 that the Digital Transformation Agency should be tasked with improving the scheme, but said that this did not occur.

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AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO THE ROBODEBT SCHEME

A plan for unions, not nation

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 4 : 7-Mar-23

Australian Resources and Energy Employer Association CEO Steve Knott has backed claims by former Productivity Commission chair Gary Banks that Australia is going "backwards" on industrial relations. Knott contends that the federal government’s changes to industrial relations laws are all about trying to revive falling union membership numbers, rather than what is good for Australia. Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke has dismissed Banks’ criticisms, suggesting that he is making the case for how "the nation can be better off if people have less secure jobs on lower wages", with Burke saying that was not just his view.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN RESOURCES AND ENERGY EMPLOYER ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

Inflation: Act now or hurt like 1990s

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Ewin Hannan, Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 7-Mar-23

The Reserve Bank of Australia is widely tipped to announce a 10th consecutive increase in the cash rate on Tuesday, and some economists believe that there is potential for up to four rate rises by June. Westpac’s chief economist Bill Evans says households face a tough time in coming months, and they must expect more rate rises. Evans warns that it is "now or never" if the RBA is to get inflation under control, and he contends that failing to do so would risk the prospect of interest rates approaching the levels that were seen in the 1990s. ACTU secretary Sally McManus has called for a pause in interest rate rises, arguing that Australians are "seriously hurting" and the rate rises to date have achieved the RBA’s goal of running down households’ savings.

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, ACTU