Morrison takes on the wharfies

Original article by Phillip Coorey, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 1-Dec-21

The Maritime Union of Australia recently agreed to suspend industrial action against stevedoring firm Patrick until at least 10 December. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has signalled that the federal government may be prepared to intervene if the parties do not negotiate in good faith to end their long-running dispute. He has stressed that ports are critical to the nation’s economy, and contends that inefficient ports are a tax on all Australians. Morrison has also advised that the Productivity Commission will hold an inquiry into the nation’s ports; its findings are slated to be released in mid-2022.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, PATRICK TERMINALS, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

No lockdowns or border bans over Omicron

Original article by Simon Benson, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 5 : 1-Dec-21

State and territory leaders have ruled out lockdowns and domestic border closures in response to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. A meeting of the national cabinet on Tuesday agreed to press ahead with the roadmap for reopening the remaining state borders, and backed the federal government’s decision to delay reopening the nation’s international borders to eligible visa holders by two weeks. Any returned travellers who have visited one of nine southern African countries that of concern will be required to go into hotel quarantine for 14 days, while other international arrivals must self-isolate at home for 72 hours. There are six confirmed cases of the Omicron strain in Australia; they are all said to either have mild symptoms or are ­asymptomatic.

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ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence drops 1.4pts to 106.0 as Omicron variant emerges in southern Africa

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Dec-21

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 1.4pts to 106.0 on 27/28 November; it is now below the 2021 weekly average of 108.1 and 1.5pts lower than the same week a year ago (107.5). Consumer Confidence this week was down in Victoria, Queensland and WA, while increasing slightly in NSW and SA. Now 27% (down 2ppts) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 29% (up 3ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. In addition, 37% (unchanged) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, and 17% (also unchanged) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Some 18% (unchanged) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 20% (also unchanged) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 42% (up 3ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items (the highest figure for this indicator since early July 2021), while 26% (down 2ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’ (the lowest figure for this indicator since early July).

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

Special Roy Morgan Micro Webinar on the September quarter rankings for Australia’s most TRUSTED & DISTRUSTED brands dives into the differences by investors, premium consumers and supporters of different political parties

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Dec-21

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine and social scientist Dr. Ross Honeywill present the latest QUARTERLY rankings of Australia’s most TRUSTED and DISTRUSTED brands for the year to September 2021, and for the first time this special 20-minute Micro Webinar dives deeply into the data to look at who is driving the TRUST and DISTRUST of key brands. TRUST is well-understood as a driver of decisions made by consumers every day, but it is DISTRUST that is often overlooked. DISTRUST is not just an absence of TRUST, it can be much more dangerous than that for brand health and relevance in the marketplace. As an example of the damage that can be done we must consider the ‘Arc of DISTRUST’ which has been on display recently with continuing protests in the streets of our Capital Cities concerning vaccine mandates and pandemic-related legislation. The webinar also highlights the Top 20 most TRUSTED brands which are led by supermarkets and retailers including Woolworths, Coles, Bunnings, ALDI and Kmart. One of the big improvers in the September quarter has been the ABC – now ranked 14th overall for Net Trust. As well as the most TRUSTED the webinar also highlights the Top 20 most DISTRUSTED brands in the September quarter, and the big movers include Harvey Norman (now in the Top 10 most DISTRUSTED brands), Google (which is now the third most DISTRUSTED brand) and oil companies Shell and BP – which are both now in the Top 20 most DISTRUSTED brands. The webinar also dives deeply into how investors, supporters of different political parties (ALP, Liberal and Greens supporters), and Premium consumers such as ‘NEOs’ view leading brands and companies for both TRUST and DISTRUST. To learn more about what drives these key consumer and investor segments

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Sex discrimination commissioner finds gender inequality key driver of toxic culture in federal parliament

Original article by Katharine Murphy
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 1-Dec-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has described the findings of a report into federal parliament’s workplace culture as "appalling and disturbing". The inquiry by sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins has revealed the extent of inappropriate conduct in commonwealth parliamentary workplaces. A survey undertaken as part of the review found that 33 per cent of respondents had personally experienced sexual harassment and 37 per cent had been bullied. Roy Morgan Research undertook the online survey on behalf of the Australian Human Rights Commission. Jenkins has made a number of recommendations, including a new code of conduct for parliamentarians and their staff. The inquiry was commissioned in response to the alleged rape of former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins in a ministerial office in March 2019.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. SEXUAL DISCRIMINATION COMMISSION, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Melbourne protests bring different Melburnians to the city

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Dec-21

A special Roy Morgan analysis of movement data in the Melbourne CBD during recent protests against vaccine mandates and the Andrews Government’s new pandemic legislation has brought an entirely different type of Melburnian to the city centre than we usually see in the CBD. A special Roy Morgan ‘Heat Map’ shows the home locations of people attending the Melbourne CBD protest. To determine who these people were, and where they came from, Roy Morgan ‘geo-fenced’ the area in front of Victoria’s Parliament House from 11am – 2.30pm on Saturday November 20, 2021. The devices that were seen in this area during the protest time period were then profiled by Helix Community and home location to produce the ‘Heat Map’ showing where the protesters had come from. The ‘Heat Map’ shows the areas with the heaviest concentration of protesters were led by outer suburban areas of the Melbourne metropolitan region such as South Morang (Postcode 3752), Tarneit (3029), Cranbourne (3977), Langwarrin (3910), Werribee (3030), Caroline Springs (3023) and Sunshine (3020). There were also protesters in the Melbourne CBD who came from as far afield as Ballarat, Geelong, Ocean Grove, Torquay, Wallan, Warragul, Hastings, Traralgon and Wonthaggi.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Roy Morgan launches next generation Helix Personas in New Zealand

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Dec-21

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine and Chief Digital Officer Howard Seccombe today launched the next generation Helix Personas for New Zealand – the most advanced psychographic customer segmentation and data integration tool that provides an unparalleled understanding of the different Helix Personas Communities that comprise the 5 million people that call New Zealand home. The next generation Helix Personas brings together a re-engineered platform to provide deeper insights and a frictionless user experience, an integrated premium mapping tool to explore Personas down a street-block level and introduces Creative Briefs – a tool that automatically produces messaging guidelines for any group of Personas. The new marketing website (www.helixpersonas.co.nz) showcases the six new Helix Communities and 52 Helix Personas, with detailed explanations of which slice of the New Zealand population they represent. For a deeper understanding of how the next generation Helix Personas can give your business an edge, please watch our launch webinar.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Big Oil Search investors baulk at $21b merger

Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 1-Dec-21

Oil Search shareholders will vote on the proposed $21bn merger with Santos on 7 December, and proxy votes are likely to determine whether the deal proceeds. The four major proxy advisers have backed the deal, albeit with some qualifications regarding valuation. Several large institutional shareholders in Oil Search have indicated that they will vote against the deal. However, investors with shares in both Oil Search and Santos are said to be largely supportive of the merger.

CORPORATES
OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO

Activists target Adani as first coal leaves Carmichael

Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 1-Dec-21

The first shipment of thermal coal from Adani’s controversial Carmichael mine in Queensland is expected to leave the Abbot Point terminal within weeks. The India-based company, whose Australian mining division trades as Bravus Mining & Resources, has begun test runs on the 206km rail link from the mine to Abbot Point. However, anti-coal activists have been targeting the rail link ahead of the first shipment, prompting Bravus to urge the state government to introduce harsher penalties for activists whose conduct puts themselves and others at risk.

CORPORATES
ADANI ENTERPRISES LIMITED, BRAVUS MINING AND RESOURCES

Oil Search gets proxy nod for merger

Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 16 : 25-Nov-21

Some 75 per cent of Oil Search’s investors will need to approve the proposed merger with Santos for the $21bn deal to proceed. Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services has recommended that shareholders endorse the all-scrip offer, citing factors such as the 16.8 per cent premium over Oil Search’s share price, the pre-tax synergies and the absence of a superior offer. Wilson Asset Management also supports the merger, although Allan Gray Australia opposes it. Oil Search shareholders will vote on the deal on 7 December.

CORPORATES
OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, INSTITUTIONAL SHAREHOLDER SERVICES INCORPORATED, WILSON ASSET MANAGEMENT, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD