Author: roymorgansocial

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence up 1.3pts to 81.7 while Inflation Expectations soar to highest since late March

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

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose 1.3pts to 81.7 in the week ended 19 June. Despite the increase, Consumer Confidence is still 30.7pts below the same week a year ago (112.4), and it is now 12.9pts below the weekly average of 94.6. On a State-based level Consumer Confidence was up in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, but dropped in Queensland and Western Australia. Now 21% (unchanged) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 42% (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. In addition, 27% (unchanged) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, and 33% (down 5ppts) 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 (the lowest figure for this indicator since September 2020), while 38% (down 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, just 24% (up 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’.

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

Conservation group seeks injunction to stop Woodside gas project to protect Great Barrier Reef

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Original article by Michael Slezak, Penny Timms
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 22-Jun-22

The Australian Conservation Foundation has launched a legal challenge in a bid to block Woodside Energy’s offshore Scarborough gas project in Western Australia. The ACF contends that the project will damage Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef by exacerbating climate change and will heighten the risk of future mass coral bleaching events. Scarborough has received major environmental approvals from the WA and federal governments, and Woodside made a final investment decision to proceed with the project in 2021.

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WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX WDS, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INCORPORATED

Rio bid to iron out problems with revival in the Pilbara

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 22-Jun-22

Rio Tinto officially opened its new Gudai-Darri iron ore mine in the Pilbara on Tuesday. The mine will reduce Rio Tinto’s average costs in the Pilbara and improve the average grade of its iron ore shipments. Rio Tinto’s head of iron ore Simon Trott says Gudai-Darri will help the resources group to reclaim its title of the best iron ore operator in the Pilbara. Rio Tinto’s iron ore shipments from the Pilbara fell to 321.6 million tonnes in 2021, having peaked at 338.1 million tonnes in 2018; its cash costs of production have also risen sharply since then. Gudai-Darri will have annual production capacity of 43 million tonnes, which could potentially be expanded to 70 million tonnes.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Universities on workplace watchdog’s wage theft priority list

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Original article by Angus Thompson
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 22-Jun-22

Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker says wage underpayment has become a systemic issue in Australia’s tertiary education sector. The FWO is investigating 11 of the nation’s universities for potentially underpaying their staff. Parker says the high level of casual staff at universities is also a major concern. The National Tertiary Education Union’s president Alison Barnes says wage theft in universities is "out of control". Wage theft in the higher education sector will be one of the FWO’s priorities in 2022-23, along with the fast food, hospitality and agricultural industries.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, NATIONAL TERTIARY EDUCATION INDUSTRY UNION

Wilkinson warned over Higgins speech

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Original article by Sarah Ison, Emily Kowal
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 22-Jun-22

The ACT Supreme Court has indefinitely delayed the trial of a man who allegedly raped former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins at Parliament House in Canberra. Chief Justice Lucy McCallum said the trial will have to be postponed after Ten Network presenter Lisa Wilkinson referred to Higgins in her Logies acceptance speech on Sunday night. Wilkinson won a Logie award for her interview with Higgins in 2021. Justice McCallum warned that the publicity generated by the speech had ‘obliterated’ the distinction between an allegation and a finding of guilt. The court heard that ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold had told Wilkinson the case could be postponed if she referred to it at the Logies.

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SUPREME COURT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED

Wage hikes ‘risk economy’: Lowe

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 22-Jun-22

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe has downplayed the prospect of a recession, noting that the nation’s economic fundamentals are strong and the jobless rate is at a five-decade low. However, Lowe has warned of the need for wage restraint, arguing that across-the-board pay rises of five per cent or more could see high inflation become entrenched. He contends that wage increases of around 3.5 per cent are more appropriate and sustainable in the current environment. Lowe has also reiterated his view that inflation will peak at around seven per cent before falling in early 2023, but he cautions that it will not return to the RBA’s target range of 2-3 per cent for some time.

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

‘Weaker housing’: Morgan Stanley slashes banks’ valuations

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Original article by Emma Rapaport
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 22-Jun-22

Morgan Stanley analysts have warned that a recession in Australia and New Zealand is becoming more likely. Factors such as the worsening economic outlook and rising interest rates have prompted Morgan Stanley to downgrade its valuations for Australia’s four major banks, given their exposure to the housing market. The share prices of the ‘big four’ banks have fallen sharply since the Reserve Bank increased the cash rate by a higher-than-expected 50 basis points in June, while another rate rise is likely in July.

CORPORATES
MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Chinese-made clothes, electrical goods, mobile phones, footwear, and sporting goods lose favour among Australians

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

New research by Roy Morgan shows that Australians are less likely than pre-pandemic to buy products across a wide range of industries if they know the product is ‘Made in China’. The largest declines were for clothes, electrical goods, mobile phones, footwear and sporting goods, with preference for these products falling between 2%-6% points during the pandemic years of 2020-21. Clothes are still the most ‘popular’ product for Australians that is ‘Made in China’. However, in March 2022 only 25% of Australians said they would be more likely to buy clothes if they knew the clothes were ‘Made in China’, down 4% points from March 2020. The same trend was evident for Chinese-made electrical goods, with 23% (down 5% points from 2020) of Australians saying they’d be more likely to buy the product if they knew it was ‘Made in China’, mobile phones on 21% (down 6%), footwear on 17% (down 5%) and sporting goods on 15% (down 2%). These results are from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, derived from comprehensive in-depth interviews with over 1,000 Australians each week and around 60,000 Australians per year.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Mortgage stress set to rise as interest rates continue to increase during second half of 2022

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

New research from Roy Morgan shows that an estimated 762,000 mortgage holders (17.5%) were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the three months to March 2022. This period encompassed the ‘Omicron wave’ of COVID-19 throughout Australia, although interest rates in the first few months of 2022 were still at a record low level of only 0.10%. Mortgage stress dropped to record lows during 2021 as record low interest rates, government stimulus, and considerable measures taken by banks and financial institutions to support borrowers in financial distress all combined to reduce the number of mortgage holders considered ‘At Risk’ to fewer than 600,000 for the first time. There has been a similar trend for mortgage holders considered ‘Extremely At Risk’, with only 10.7%, or 438,000, in this group in the three months to March 2022, close to a record low. However, there has been a big change in the last few months as concerns about inflation have increased and the RBA has commenced an interest rate hiking cycle.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Russia blacklists 121 Australians indefinitely

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Original article by Merryn Johns, Zoe Smith, Nicole Madigan
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 17-Jun-22

The Kremlin has advised that 121 Australian citizens will be barred from entering Russia in retaliation for the federal government’s sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. The blacklist includes journalists and newspaper editors, ABC chair Ita Buttrose, mining magnate Gina Rinehart, property developer Harry Triguboff and Defence Force Chief General Angus Campbell. Russia has accused them of being part of a ‘Russophobic agenda’, and signalled that the blacklist may be expanded.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION