Author: roymorgansocial

Labor in retreat on corruption watchdog warrants

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 5 : 23-Nov-22

The federal government has agreed to some compromises regarding its bill to establish a National Anti-Corruption Commission. The government has put forward an amendment which restricts the power to issue surveillance warrants to superior court judges; it had originally proposed that members of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal be authorised to approve warrants to bug phones or access encrypted messages. Labor has also agreed to provide increased protections for journalists and their sources. The Senate is slated to vote on the NACC bill next week.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence up 0.8pts to 81.6 – first consecutive weekly increases since late September

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 16-Nov-22

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 81.6 in the week ended 20 November. It is now 25.8pts below the same week a year ago (107.4), and 7.6pts below the 2022 weekly average of 89.2. There were mixed results around the nation; Consumer Confidence decreased in NSW and Queensland, while the other three mainland States all increased. Now 21% of Australians (unchanged) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 49% (up 3ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Some 30% (down 1ppt) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 36% (up 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Only 7% (down 1ppt) of Australians now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 39% (unchanged) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 24% (up 2ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 46% (down 4ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

More exemptions to salvage IR bill

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 23-Nov-22

The Senate inquiry into the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill has recommended increasing the threshold for small businesses to be exempted from multi-employer bargaining to 20 employees, compared with 15 under the existing provisions of the bill. Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has indicated that the government is willing to negotiate a higher threshold in order to secure the bill’s passage before parliament rises for the year. However, Burke notes that lifting the threshold too much would undo the central aim of the bill, which is to increase the wages of low-paid workers. Independent senator David Pocock has continued to push for a vote on the multi-employer bargaining provisions of the bill to be delayed until next year.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

Good news in store for retail this Christmas – new research

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Original article by
Australian Retailers Association – Page: Online : 23-Nov-22

The Christmas Gift Buying Survey has been undertaken by the Australian Retailers Association in collaboration with Roy Morgan. The survey shows that 59% of Australians intend to spend the same or more (12%) on Christmas gifts compared with 2021, despite growing inflationary pressures. It also found that the average gift purchase is $700, down slightly ($26) on last year. Alcohol and food top the list of intended gift purchases for this year, followed by gifts cards and toys. The ARA and Roy Morgan forecast that Australians will spend nearly $64 billion in the lead up to Christmas, up 3% on last year. They also forecast that sales over the four-day Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend (25 – 28 Nov) will reach a record $6.2 billion.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Activist investor aims to scuttle Murdoch’s $39b megamerger

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Original article by Elizabeth Knight
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 23-Nov-22

Irenic Capital owns two per cent of News Corporation’s Class B shares. The activist investor opposes Rupert Murdoch’s proposal to merge News Corp and Fox Corp, warning that reunifying the two companies would be expensive and distracting. He has written to the committee of News Corp directors that is assessing the merger proposal, urging them to recommend not proceeding with the deal. Irenic instead is of the view that News Corp should spin off its real estate assets, which include a 61 per cent stake in realestate.com.au owner REA Group.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOX CORPORATION, IRENIC CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LP, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, REALESTATE.COM.AU

Mortgage stress increases to its highest since April 2018 with 22.6% of mortgage holders now At Risk

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Nov-22

New research from Roy Morgan shows that an estimated 1,013,000 mortgage holders (22.6%) were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the three months to October 2022. This period encompassed two interest rate increases of 0.5% and an increase of 0.25% in early October, taking official interest rates to 2.6% – the level since August 2013. Since then, there has been another interest rate increase of 0.25% in November. Despite these interest rate increases the proportion of mortgage holders considered ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress is well below the high reached during the Global Financial Crisis in early 2009 of 35.6% (1,455,000 mortgage holders). The number of mortgage holders now considered ‘At Risk’ is now just below the long-term average over the last 15 years of 22.8%. Meanwhile, the number of mortgage holders considered ‘Extremely At Risk’ increased to 619,000 (14.4%) in the three months to October, which remains clearly below the long-term average over the last 15 years of 659,000 (15.9%). These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with over 60,000 Australians each year including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Australian TV news presenters still mostly white, report shows, sparking row over balance

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Original article by Mostafa Rachwani
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 23-Nov-22

A new report highlights the lack of diversity among Australian television news and current affairs presenters. The report from Media Diversity Australia shows that 78 per cent of TV journalists have an Anglo-Celtic background, up from 75.8 per cent in 2020; meanwhile, people from a non-European background account for just 6.1 per cent of appearances on news and current affairs programs, despite comprising 24.7 per cent of the nation’s population. The report is based on a sample of free-to-air news and current affairs programs over a two-week period in June. The ABC’s Gavin Fang says the sample size was not large enough, while restricting it to one media format is also a shortcoming.

CORPORATES
MEDIA DIVERSITY AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Tech titan wins AGL board fight

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 16-Nov-22

AGL Energy’s shareholders have endorsed the appointment of all four of Grok Ventures’ nominations for the company’s board. Software entrepreneur Mike Cannon-Brookes became AGL’s largest shareholder earlier in 2022 via his private company. AGL will now have a nine-person board of directors, prompting fund management veteran and AGL shareholder Geoff Wilson to suggest that changes to the board are likely. However, AGL chair Patricia McKenzie has ruled out stepping down. Meanwhile, more than 25 per cent of shareholders voted against AGL’s remuneration report, putting the company at risk of a board spill if there is a similar backlash at its 2023 AGM.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, GROK VENTURES

NZ Election is too close to call with Labour/Greens (44.5%) even with National/Act NZ (44.5%) as minor parties surge

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 16-Nov-22

The latest Roy Morgan New Zealand Poll shows that support for the Labour/Greens coalition government rose 2.5% points to 44.5% in October. Support for Labour fell 0.5% points to 29% (its lowest level of support since Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern came to power in October 2017); however, support for the Greens rose 3% points to a record high of 15.5%. Meanwhile, support for a potential National/Act NZ coalition government fell 4% points to 44.5%. Support for the National Party was down 4% points to 32%, while support for fellow right-leaning party Act NZ was unchanged at 12.5%. Support for the Maori Party fell 0.5% points to 3%, although the party remains the best placed of the minor parties to hold the balance of power in a new Parliament. A minority of 8% of electors (up 2% points) support other minor parties outside Parliament, with support for New Zealand First up 2.5% points to 3.5%, The Opportunities Party up 0.5% points to 3% and support for the New Conservative Party unchanged at 0.5%. This New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll on voting intention was conducted by telephone – both landline and mobile – with a New Zealand-wide cross-section of 951 electors during October. Meanwhile, the Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating rose 6pts in October to 92. The indicator is now down 33pts from just over a year ago in September 2021.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, LABOUR PARTY (NEW ZEALAND), GREEN PARTY OF AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND, NATIONAL PARTY OF NEW ZEALAND, ACT NEW ZEALAND, THE MAORI PARTY, NEW ZEALAND FIRST PARTY, THE OPPORTUNITIES PARTY, NEW CONSERVATIVE PARTY

Labor to boost whistleblower protections in last sitting fortnight of parliamentary year

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 16-Nov-22

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will address the Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference in Sydney on Wednesday. He will reveal plans to pursue amendments to the Public Interest Disclosure Act which aim to provide increased protection for whistleblowers. Cabinet has approved the draft legislation, which will be introduced to parliament before it rises for the year. The federal government will pursue "priority amendments" to the Act, ahead of a fuller review in 2023. It wants stronger whistleblower protections to be in place before the National Anti-Corruption Commission becomes operational in mid-2023.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT