Author: roymorgansocial

ACCC green-lights Afterpay megadeal

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Original article by James Eyers, Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 6-Nov-21

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has advised that it will not oppose the acquisition of ‘buy now, pay later’ provider Afterpay by US-based Square. The proposed $39bn deal will now be put to a virtual special meeting of Afterpay’s shareholders on 6 December, and chair Elana Rubin has urged them to support the transaction. The deal has also been approved by US antitrust regulators, and it is expected to be cleared by the Foreign Investment Review Board ahead of the shareholders’ meeting.

CORPORATES
AFTERPAY LIMITED – ASX APT, SQUARE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

Women in construction still battling glass ceilings

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 8-Nov-21

A survey of male and female construction workers by recruitment and human resources firm Randstad found that females believe that there are many barriers to them entering the sector, including workplace culture and a lack of gender diversity. The survey revealed that the level of discrimination reported by female construction workers has fallen in the last two years; the most common form of discrimination they experienced was inappropriate comments or behaviour from male colleagues.

CORPORATES
RANDSTAD RECRUITMENT PTY LTD

Virgin pledges net zero emissions by 2050

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Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 8-Nov-21

Virgin Australia has committed to a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, with Qantas having made a similar commitment in late 2019. Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka announced its pledge at an International Air Transport Association event, with the Association having voted for an industry-wide net zero commitment in October. Hrdlicka says that sustainable aviation fuels are crucial if airlines are to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, but she adds that there is no sustainable aviation fuel industry in Australia at present.

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

Forrest’s green vows hit $200bn

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 8-Nov-21

Media analysis reveals that Fortescue Future Industries has ‘inked’ agreements for hydrogen and renewable energy projects in over 20 countries over the last 18 months, with FFI being the green energy unit of Fortescue Metals Group. It has been estimated that FMG would need to find $US195 billion to pay for all the projects that its chairman Andrew Forrest has committed FFI to, while it is likely to cost even more than that to achieve FMG’s goal of producing 15 million tonnes of hydrogen a year by 2030.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE FUTURE INDUSTRIES PTY LTD, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Labor mulls broader emissions safeguard

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 8-Nov-21

Labor is still working on its climate policy in the lead-up to the next federal election, with shadow climate change minister Chris Bowen confirming that it will not include a climate tax or emissions trading scheme. Bowen has indicated that Labor will consider an expansion of the federal government’s ‘safeguard mechanism’, which requires large emitters to cut their carbon pollution. However, some Labor MPs are said to be wary of embracing the safeguard mechanism, due to concerns that it could make Labor vulnerable to a carbon tax-style scare campaign.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Australian unemployment increases to 9.2% in October – as over 12 million Australians are released from long lockdowns

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Nov-21

The latest Roy Morgan employment series data shows that 1.32 million Australians were unemployed in October, up 55,000 on September, for an unemployment rate of 9.2%. Driving the increase was more people looking for part-time work (up 114,000 to 849,000) while there was a decrease in people looking for full-time work (down 59,000 to 471,000). Some 1.23 million Australians (8.6% of the workforce) were under-employed – working part-time but looking for more work, an increase of 64,000 (up 0.6% points) on September. In total, 2.55 million Australians (17.8% of the workforce) were either unemployed or under-employed in October, an increase of 119,000 on September. Meanwhile, employment dropped 289,000 to 13,019,000 in October, driven by the decrease in part-time employment (down 379,000 to 4,281,000 – the lowest since August 2020). In contrast, full-time employment increased by 90,000 in October to 8,738,000. Roy Morgan’s unemployment figure of 9.2% for October is over 4% points higher than the current ABS estimate for September 2021 of 4.6%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

‘Disappointing’: Big four banks to skip financial crime inquiry

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Original article by Charlotte Grieve
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 8-Nov-21

Labor Senator Deb O’Neill says it is "disappointing" that none of the big four banks have taken up an invitation to appear before a Senate inquiry into the effectiveness of Australia’s anti-money laundering regime. O’Neill was the instigator of the inquiry, which is looking at issues such as expanding the AML regime to cover professions such as lawyers and accountants, along with the effectiveness of the Australian Transaction Reports & Analysis Centre, which is the regulator of the AML regime. The big four banks – the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, the ANZ and the National Australia Bank – will instead be represented at the inquiry by the Australian Banking Association.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

ABC dismisses Fox News’ Four Corners complaint

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Age – Page: Online : 8-Nov-21

The ABC’s internal complaints department has found that "Fox and the Big Lie" did not breach the national broadcaster’s code of practice. The two-part Four Corners documentary examined how US cable network Fox News covered the 2020 presidential election. Fox News called for an external inquiry into the Four Corners story shortly after it had been broadcast, and the ABC is said to have provided Fox with a detailed response as to why its complaints had been dismissed. The ABC recently commissioned a review of its procedures for handling complaints, its first such review in 12 years.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, FOX NEWS

National booster program launched with Pfizer in pharmacies

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Original article by Rachel Clun, Lucy Carroll
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 8-Nov-21

The federal government will ramp up the national COVID-19 vaccination rollout, with pharmacies to begin offering booster shots from 8 November. The Pfizer booster dose will be available to all Australians who have been fully vaccinated for at least six months; about 173,000 booster doses have already been administered to people such as healthcare workers and aged-care residents. Meanwhile, pharmacies will now be able to offer all three Pfizer doses, while the Moderna vaccine will be available from GPs. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Sonya Bennett says that booster shots are likely to be needed periodically, but they will probably not be required every year. Some 80.5 per cent of Australians aged 16+ are now fully vaccinated, and 89.3 per cent have had one vaccine dose.

CORPORATES
PFIZER INCORPORATED, MODERNA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH

Movement in the Melbourne CBD was at only 23% of pre-pandemic levels in late October as the city begun re-opening

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Nov-21

A special analysis of movement data in Australia’s Capital City CBDs since the COVID-19 pandemic began shows that movement in the Melbourne CBD was at only 23% of pre-pandemic levels in late October as the city began to re-open after over two months of lockdown. The average 7-day movement level in the Melbourne CBD hit a low of 8% of pre-pandemic levels in late July and had increased to 23% on the first weekend after the end of the lockdown on Friday October 22. Although Melbourne’s lockdown officially ended over a week ago many stores remained closed during the first week post-lockdown. Melbourne’s non-essential retail stores were only allowed to fully re-open over the last weekend and many hospitality venues remained closed to in-store dining due to ongoing restrictions. Meanwhile, life has continued to return to the Sydney CBD and in late October the average 7-day movement levels were at 31% of pre-pandemic levels, up 4% points from a week earlier. Almost 90% of adults in New South Wales are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Following the end of the short and sharp three-day lockdown in southern Tasmania the average 7-day movement levels in the Hobart CBD had recovered to 49% of pre-pandemic levels by late October. The movement levels in other Capital City CBDs continued to improve over the last few weeks. The Adelaide CBD is again the standout with average movement levels closest to pre-pandemic ‘normal’ at 83% – the highest level of movement since mid-April. Roy Morgan has partnered with leading technology innovator UberMedia to aggregate data from tens of thousands of mobile devices to assess the movements of Australians as we deal with the restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, UBERMEDIA