Author: roymorgansocial

Wong warns of hard issues

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Original article by Andrew Tillett, Michael Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 21-Dec-22

Foreign Minister Penny Wong is the first federal government minister to visit China since 2019. Her meeting with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Wednesday will coincide with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Wong has downplayed expectations that her visit to China will result in an improvement in the strained relations between the two nations, noting that many of the hard issues will take time to resolve in Australia’s interests. Wong has indicated that she will push for China to ease restrictions on Australian exports and to release two Australians who have been detained on national security charges.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

Low-budget mindset holds back Aussie TV

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Original article by Edmund Tadros
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 21-Dec-22

It is estimated that it typically costs between $2m and $2.5m to produce one hour of premium Australian drama. This compares with $US5m to $US7m ($7.5m to $10.4m) an hour for premium streaming content in the US. Former Nine Entertainment CEO Hugh Marks contends that Australia can produce drama programs on this scale, but the focus needs to shift from the current emphasis on quotas regarding the number of hours of local content that TV networks must broadcast. He argues that Australia must produce content that will appeal to global audiences, and that the industry must become more open to overseas funding sources. Marks is now the co-CEO of production and distribution studio Dreamchaser.

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NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, DREAMCHASER

Native Title body gives Narrabri gas project nod

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Original article by Elouise Fowler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 21-Dec-22

Santos has cleared another obstacle in its bid to develop the Narrabri gas project, after it was approved by the National Native Title Tribunal. However, the tribunal has imposed a number of conditions on Santos, which will be required to implement an additional research program linked to the Aboriginal cultural heritage management plan for each of the four petroleum production licences associated with Narrabri. The $3.5bn project has faced strong opposition from farmers, environmentalists and the traditional owners.

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SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL NATIVE TITLE TRIBUNAL

Secret $8bn sweetheart energy deal

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 21-Dec-22

The federal and NSW governments have struck a $7.8bn joint funding deal for eight electricity transmission and Renewable Energy Zone projects across the state. The deal has been negotiated to secure NSW’s support for the federal government’s coal price caps when state parliament is recalled on Wednesday. The federal government will contribute $4.7bn in funding for the projects via its Rewiring the Nation policy. The joint funding will be used to connect the Snowy Hydro 2.0 project and a number of renewable energy zones into the national grid.

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Retailers continue to hold top spots as most trusted while Qantas, ABC, Shell, TikTok and Pfizer more distrusted this quarter in Roy Morgan’s latest Net Trust rankings

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 21-Dec-22

Roy Morgan data scientists analysed nominations from more than 22,000 Australians to identify the nation’s 20 most trusted brands, and the 20 most distrusted brands. The Roy Morgan Net Trust rankings for the 12 months to September 2022 shows that the top five most trusted brands are unchanged for a fourth straight quarter – Woolworths, Coles, Bunnings Warehouse, ALDI and Kmart. However, Qantas has fallen three places from 6th place to become the 9th most trusted brand. The ABC has also fallen three places, from the 15th to 18th most trusted brand, although it is still the most trusted media brand. Meanwhile, Harvey Norman has entered the top five most distrusted brands for the first time, while Shell has risen four places to become the 12th most distrusted brand. TikTok jumped eight places on the distrust ladder to become the 13th most distrusted brand, joining fellow social media giants Facebook/Meta (1st) and Twitter (16th) in the top 20 most distrusted brands. The Roy Morgan Risk Monitor surveys approximately 1,800 Australians every month to measure levels of trust and distrust in more than 900 brands across 26 industry sectors.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence virtually unchanged at 82.5 in the week before Christmas

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 21-Dec-22

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 82.5 in the week ended 18 December. However, it is 25.9pts below the same week a year ago (108.4) and 6.2pts below the 2022 weekly average of 88.7. Consumer confidence was up slightly in New South Wales and Victoria but down in Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia. Now 23% of Australians (up 2ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 46% (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Some 30% (unchanged) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 33% (also unchanged) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Only 6% (down 2ppts) of Australians now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 35% (up 2ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 22% (down 1ppt) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 48% (down 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

Lithium explorer may face class action

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Original article by Tom Richardson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 21-Dec-22

Law firm Johnson Winter Slattery is set to launch a class action against lithium explorer AVZ Minerals. The legal action will be financed by litigation funder Omni Bridgeway, and centres on AVZ’s disclosures regarding the Manono lithium project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It will be alleged that AVZ breached its continuous disclosure obligations and misled investors over its rights to the project. AVZ’s shares have been in a trading halt since early May.

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AVZ MINERALS LIMITED – ASX AVZ, JOHNSON WINTER AND SLATTERY, OMNI BRIDGEWAY LIMITED – ASX OBL

Robodebt question minister can’t answer

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Original article by Catie McLeod
The Australian – Page: 2 : 14-Dec-22

Former human services minister Marise Payne appeared before the royal commission into the robodebt scheme on Tuesday. The inquiry has been told that former social security minister Scott Morrison had been advised in late February 2015 that policy and legislative changes would be required in order to implement the scheme. However, Payne has told the inquiry that she was unable to explain how this advice had "disappeared" by the time the expenditure review committee met to discuss the robodebt scheme in late March of that year.

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AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO THE ROBODEBT SCHEME

Top economists urge government to rethink stage three tax cuts

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Original article by Shane Wright
The Age – Page: Online : 14-Dec-22

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has consistently stated that Labor will not back down on its election commitment to proceed with the Coalition’s stage-three personal income tax cuts. However, labour economist Jeff Borland and former Reserve Bank governor Bernie Fraser are among 100 financial experts who have sent an open letter to Albanese urging his government to reconsider the tax cuts. They contend that the tax cuts are unaffordable in their current form given the changes in the economic and budget outlook since the package was legislated in 2019.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

RBA’s ultra-low rate loans barely boosted lending

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Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 14-Dec-22

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s approach to monetary policy during the COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to attract scrutiny. RBA analysts have undertaken a review of the central bank’s Term Funding Facility, which offered ultra-low interest loans to banks with the aim of providing support to businesses during the pandemic-induced economic downturn. The analysts concluded that there was little evidence that the TFF had increased overall lending, particularly to the small and medium enterprise sector.

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA