Author: roymorgansocial

Packer’s Crown influence extinct

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 3-Feb-22

The Western Australian government’s royal commission into Crown Resorts’ casino in Perth has commenced hearing the closing submissions. James Packer’s legal representative Noel Hutley SC told the inquiry that imposing a shareholding cap on Crown would affect the company’s ability to raise capital. Concerns have also been expressed that such a cap could potentially prompt private equity firm Blackstone to withdraw its $8.9bn takeover bid from Crown. Hutley has also told the inquiry that Packer no longer has any influence over Crown or its casinos. Packer’s family company Consolidated Press Holdings has a 37 per cent stake in Crown.

CORPORATES
CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, THE BLACKSTONE GROUP LP, CONSOLIDATED PRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED

Rio’s Kakadu uranium rehabilitation hit by blowouts

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 & 18 : 3-Feb-22

Energy Resources of Australia has advised that rehabilitation work at the Ranger uranium mine in the Northern Territory is now expected to cost between $1.6bn and $2.2bn. This compares with estimated costs of $526m in 2017 and $973m in 2019. The target date for completing the rehabilitation project has also been pushed back by nearly three years. Rio Tinto has an 89 per cent stake in ERA, which may pursue another equity raising to cover the cost blowout. Uranium processing at the Ranger mine ended in early 2021.

CORPORATES
ENERGY RESOURCES OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX ERA, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Unions weigh in on Rio’s woes

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Peter Ker, David Marin-Guzman, Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 3-Feb-22

Mining & Energy Union president Tony Maher says the deunionisation of Rio Tinto’s workforce in the 1990s contributed to the toxic culture that has been exposed by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick. Her review of Rio Tinto’s culture found that conduct such as bullying, sexual harassment and racism are rife within the resources giant. Brad Gandy from the Australian Workers’ Union says it has been warning Rio Tinto of problems with its culture for many years; he adds that bullying occurs at Rio Tinto’s iron ore operations on a daily basis.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, MINING AND ENERGY UNION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES

Morrison urged to take over NSW Liberal division after psycho texts

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Crowe
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 3-Feb-22

Senior federal cabinet ministers have denied involvement in a series of text message exchanges with former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian in which Prime Minister Scott Morrison was allegedly described as a ‘complete psycho’ and a ‘horrible’ person. Morrison says he is confident that the minister in question was not in cabinet and that there is no need for an investigation into the incident. However, some ministers believe that the leaking of the text messages is linked to a factional brawl within the Liberal Party’s NSW division, and have called for a federal intervention. A senior federal Liberal says the leaks were an "orchestrated hit" on Morrison, with the aim of ousting him before the election.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

RBA opens door to 2022 rate rise

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 3-Feb-22

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe has signalled that official interest rates could potentially rise before the end of 2022 if the economy continues to perform well. However, he has downplayed suggestions that the cash rate may be increased four times in 2022, arguing that Australia’s inflation rate is still well below that of countries such as the US and the UK. Lowe also said that the unemployment rate could soon fall below four per cent. The Commonwealth Bank still expects the cash rate to be increased in August.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Health authorities bracing for winter Omicron wave

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jade Gailberger, Tom Minear
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 3-Feb-22

Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly has told the Senate’s COVID-19 committee that the pandemic is far from over and another wave of Omicron is likely in winter. He added that the next wave will be "very different", due to factors such as the rollout of booster shots and the availability of COVID-19 treatments. Meanwhile, Therapeutic Goods Administration head John Skerritt has defended the regulator’s cautious approach to approving rapid antigen tests, arguing that many of the available kits return a high proportion of inaccurate results. NSW reported 11,807 new COVID-19 cases and 27 additional deaths on Wednesday; there were 14,553 new cases and 25 deaths in Victoria, while Queensland recorded 9,630 new cases and 16 deaths.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIA. THERAPEUTIC GOODS ADMINISTRATION

Worker burnout up as pandemic rolls on

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Stephen Lunn
The Australian – Page: 6 : 3-Feb-22

ELMO Software has released the findings of a survey which shows that more than 20 per cent of respondents intend to actively look for a new job in 2022. The survey also found that 45 per cent of respondents feel that they are suffering from burnout, compared with 34 per cent in the first quarter of 2021. In addition, the ELMO Employee Sentiment Index survey found that seven out of 10 employees are concerned about returning to a physical workplace during the pandemic, while 42 per cent expect to continue working from home at least some of the time.

CORPORATES
ELMO SOFTWARE LIMITED – ASX ELO

Relief as almost all BHP workers from Yandi mine test negative for Covid

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Danielle Le Messurier
The West Australian – Page: Online : 3-Feb-22

BHP appears to have avoided a large outbreak of COVID-19 at its Yandi iron ore mine in the Pilbara. BHP had ordered 78 workers to self-isolate at its Spinifex accommodation village after a rail maintenance contactor tested positive and spread the virus to a close contact. Most of the workers have now been cleared of the virus and have been released from isolation. However, 18 close contacts of the two positive cases must remain in isolation for 14 days, while BHP has not yet received the test results for one casual contact.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Andrew Forrest sues Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook over scam ads

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Danielle Le Messurier
The West Australian – Page: Online : 3-Feb-22

Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest has filed criminal charges against social media giant Facebook in the Magistrates Court of Western Australia. Forrest alleges that Facebook has been "criminally reckless" in failing to take sufficient action to block fake advertisements that use his name and image to promote cryptocurrency scams on its platforms. Forrest has also accused Facebook of breaching Australia’s money-laundering laws. Forrest previously filed a US civil case against Facebook in September 2021.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, FACEBOOK, META PLATFORMS INCORPORATED, MAGISTRATES COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Lew seizes 20pc of Myer as endgame nears

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 15 : 2-Feb-22

Premier Investments has advised that it recently paid more than $15m for more than 33 million additional shares in department store group Myer Holdings. Premier now has a 19.88 per stake in Myer, which is just below the takeover threshold. Premier has spent some $132m to progressively lift its stake in Myer over the last five years. The latest share purchase may give Premier’s chairman Solomon Lew sufficient leverage to secure his long-sought representation on Myer’s board.

CORPORATES
MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV