Author: roymorgansocial

Beware of the sting in China’s tale

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 10-Jan-23

Japan’s ambassador to Australia Shingo Yamagami has welcomed the apparent improvement in relations between Australia and China that led to Foreign Minister Penny Wong visiting Beijing in December. He noted that Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi is also planning a trip to China after years of strained relations between the two countries. However, he claims that China’s more constructive tone is yet to be matched by a change in its behaviour, and that both Australia and Japan need to remain "vigilant" towards China.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

Secret briefings triggered US senators’ dramatic AUKUS intervention

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Original article by Matthew Knott
The Age – Page: Online : 10-Jan-23

It has been disclosed that officials from AUKUS working groups provided confidential briefings in December to US congressional leaders on the process of negotiations to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS treaty. It can be revealed that the briefings prompted Democrats Senator Jack Reed and Republican Senator James Inhofer of the Senate Armed Services Committee to write to President Joe Biden expressing their concerns about the implications of the AUKUS treaty, with the two warning that there should be no sale of transfer of Virginia-class submarines to Australia until the current requirements of the US Navy are fulfilled.

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Fortescue top dogs continue their exodus

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 & 14 : 10-Jan-23

Fortescue Metals Group has advised that CFO Ian Wells will step down on 31 January in order to "pursue other opportunities". Adrian Prendergast of Morgans says the short notice period is unusual for Fortescue, given that it typically requires key executives to give six months’ written notice. Wells is the ninth senior executive to leave Fortescue in the last two years, and his departure follows the recent resignation of Guy Debelle as CFO of the Fortescue Future Industries clean energy subsidiary. George Boubouras of K2 Asset Management says further executive turnover at Fortescue is possible when Fiona Hick takes up the role of CEO at its mining division in February.

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FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG,FORTESCUE FUTURE INDUSTRIES PTY LTD,MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED,K2 ASSET MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX KAM

Disappointing year for hydrogen fuel investors

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 10-Jan-23

Bernstein Research claims that 2022 was a "disappointing year" for investors in hydrogen fuel and the broader clean energy sector, due to rising interest rates and supply chain problems. Bernstein Research did note that global demand for hydrogen grew by five per cent to 95 million tonnes a year in 2022, but that only 0.1 per cent was green hydrogen made from renewables. It noted strong policy support for green hydrogen in countries such as the US and China, while sales of hydrogen fuel cell cars were strong in China, but weak elsewhere.

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BERNSTEIN RESEARCH

Citi upgrades Australian, Euro stocks

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Original article by Alex Gluyas
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 10-Jan-23

Citigroup has upgraded its rating on Australian equities to ‘neutral’ and expects the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 to reach 7,400 points in 2023. Citi also cautions that there is downside risk to consensus earnings forecasts of four per cent for the calendar year. Meanwhile, Citi has upgraded its rating for European shares to ‘overweight’, but its recommendation on US shares has been downgraded to ‘underweight’.

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CITIGROUP INCORPORATED,STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX

Guardian Australia staff in the dark as global hack shutdown continues

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 10-Jan-23

Online and print news company The Guardian was hit by a suspected ransomware attack across its global operations towards the end of 2022, and it is still working to recover from the attack. Its Australian news web site is still continuing to publish articles, but staff have been asked to working from home until January 23. Guardian Media Group CEO Anna Bateson has told staff that it has disabled Wi-Fi, network and printer access at all of its offices, in order to allow its technical staff to get its operations up and running again.

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GUARDIAN MEDIA GROUP PLC

House prices plunge 8.4pc from peak

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Original article by Nila Sweeney
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 10-Jan-23

Data from CoreLogic shows that house prices have fallen by 8.4 per cent nationally since peaking in May. Eliza Owen of CoreLogic says the sharp decline is primarily due to the aggressive monetary policy tightening cycle, noting that interest rates have not increased so quickly in more than three decades. She anticipates a further market downturn in coming months, given that more interest rate rises are likely, and suggests that a double-digit fall in national house prices is possible. Sydney has recorded a 13 per cent fall in house prices, while prices in Melbourne are down 8.6 per cent peak-to-trough.

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CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Renewables break records but lag target

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 & 14 : 4-Jan-23

New data shows that renewable energy’s share of the National Electricity Market reached a record high of 40.4 per cent in the December quarter. In contrast, coal-fired power generation fell to a record low of 55.5 per cent during the period. However, the rate of growth for renewables slowed from 21.6 per cent in 2021 to just 16.6 per cent in 2022. Dylan McConnell from the University of NSW says this rate of growth will need to almost double in order to achieve the federal government’s renewable energy target of 82 per cent by 2030.

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UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

State coal power to reap $500m-plus

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Original article by Max Maddison
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 4-Jan-23

Households and small businesses will receive some $1.5bn in price relief via the federal government’s energy plan, which will cap gas and coal prices. Coal-fired power generators will in turn be entitled to compensation over the decision to cap coal prices at $125 per tonne. It has been estimated that coal-fired power stations in New South Wales could receive about $500m in compensation, with their Queensland counterparts could potentially be entitled to $750m in compensation. Independent senator David Pocock has criticised the government in the wake of revelations that mining company Rio Tinto and its partners could receive around $450m in compensation because they own the Gladstone power station.

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RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

‘Journalistic cluelessness’: Ex-Media Watch host roasts regulator

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Age – Page: Online : 4-Jan-23

ABC Alumni chair Jonathan Holmes has criticised the Australian Communications & Media Authority’s investigation into the ABC’s two-part ‘Four Corners’ program on US-based Fox News. ACMA ruled in late 2022 that the program had breached the public broadcaster’s code of practice and misled viewers. Holmes subsequently wrote to ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin, contending that the investigation had "needlessly damaged" the reputation of ‘Four Corners’. ABC Alumni is not affiliated with the public broadcaster.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION,ABC ALUMNI,FOX NEWS,AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY