Author: roymorgansocial

Myer has the right stuff to lead revival

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 15 : 6-Oct-21

Myer Holdings’ chair JoAnne Stephenson has urged shareholders to vote against any motion to spill the department store group’s board of directors. There has been speculation that major shareholder Premier Investments will push for board renewal at Myer’s annual general meeting on 4 November. Stephenson was officially appointed as chair on 16 September, having been in the role on a temporary basis since predecessor Garry Hounsell stepped down in 2020. Stephenson says Myer’s board has an appropriate mix of skills, experience, diversity and independence.

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

Mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for WA FIFO and mining workers

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Original article by James Carmody
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 6-Oct-21

The Western Australian government has advised that all workers in the state’s mining and energy sector will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19. This includes ‘fly-in, fly-out’ workers and all visitors to resources projects in the state. The directive will apply to about 100,000 people, who must have their first vaccine dose by 1 December and be fully vaccinated by the start of 2022. Premier Mark McGowan says that amongst other things, the ‘no jab, no job’ policy will protect remote Aboriginal communities; he notes that the mining sector is the largest employer of indigenous people in regional WA.

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WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Lessons to learn from UK’s electricity failures

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Original article by Robert Gottliebsen
The Australian – Page: 20 : 6-Oct-21

Electricity retailing has traditionally been a stable business, with good long-term returns. However, it is rapidly becoming a low-margin and high-risk industry in Australia and abroad. The recent collapse of nine smaller power distribution companies in the UK has implications for Australia. A sharp rise in the price of gas triggered the collapse of these companies, but the underlying problem of electricity retailers in both the UK and Australia is the use of forward hedge contracts with major power generators, which can leave smaller retailers extremely vulnerable in the event of a price shock.

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Fortescue sets ambitious new hydrogen goals

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 16 : 6-Oct-21

Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group has set a net-zero target date of 2040 for its scope 3 emissions. Fortescue’s plans to become a major player in the global hydrogen industry will be central to achieving the ambitious target. Buyers of Fortescue’s iron ore account for about 98 per cent of the group’s scope 3 emissions; this equates to around 246.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2020-21. Fortescue has also set a target of 2030 for its mining operations to become carbon-neutral, while it has outlined plans to decarbonise its fleet of ore carriers.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Corporates too reliant on Facebook

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Original article by David Swan
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 6-Oct-21

Marcus Thompson says Facebook’s global outage highlights the fact that Australian businesses rely too much on the social media giant and many lack an alternative platform to engage with customers. Thompson, the former head of information warfare at the Australian Defence Force, says local companies need to become more self-sufficient and less dependent on offshore-based digital platforms. Localsearch co-founder Daniel Stoten says small businesses must have a presence on all social media sites that are used by their customers, rather than being reliant on one platform. The Facebook outage lasted for nearly six hours, and has been attributed to a faulty configuration change; it also affected WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger, and had to be announced on rival platform Twitter.

CORPORATES
FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, WHATSAPP INCORPORATED, INSTAGRAM LLC, FACEBOOK MESSENGER, TWITTER INCORPORATED, LOCALSEARCH

Fortescue, ANZ link to bribes tycoon

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Original article by Liam Walsh, Neil Chenoweth
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 6-Oct-21

The Pandora Papers have revealed that several prominent Australian companies have links to Chinese businessman Du Shuanghua, who had testified in 2010 that he had paid bribes to secure Australian iron ore. The documents released by the International Confederation of Investigative Journalists show that Fortescue Metals Group had sold iron ore to Bright Ruby Resources, a commodities trading hub that is controlled by Du. Fortescue has stated that it has a "zero tolerance" approach to bribery and corruption. The Pandora Papers also show that the ANZ Bank has been providing banking services to Bright Ruby Resources since 2013, via its office in Singapore. Du was not prosecuted for his role in the alleged bribery scandal that involved former Rio Tinto executive Wang Yong.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS, BRIGHT RUBY RESOURCES PTE LTD, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Perrottet switches focus to recovery

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Original article by Yoni Bashan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 6-Oct-21

New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet will chair his first meeting of the state’s crisis cabinet on 6 October, following his landslide win in a leadership ballot. Perrottet gained 39 votes in the partyroom meeting, compared with just five votes for Planning Minister Rob Stokes. Perrottet has flagged plans to shift the crisis cabinet’s focus to economy recovery and community wellbeing, rather than day-to-day emergency management. He has also expressed support for the existing reopening roadmap, but signalled that some changes could be made. NSW recorded 608 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases and seven additional deaths on Tuesday.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Eighty years ago Roy Morgan’s first "Gallup Poll" asked Australians about Equal pay for men and women

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Oct-21

Australia’s first "Gallup Poll" was conducted by Roy Morgan, the founder of Roy Morgan Research, on ‘equal pay for men and women’ eighty years ago. Interviewing for the survey began on September 15, 1941 and on October 4, 1941 the first finding was released showing that 59% of Australians agreed with equal pay for men and women. The survey in 1941 was conducted as women were increasingly active in the workforce of the war-time economy. At the time there were clear differences in response to the question based on personal circumstances; only 35% of the ‘well-to-do’ favoured equal pay, compared to 53% of people ‘comfortably off’, 63% of ‘artisans’ and 68% of ‘the poor’. There was little difference based on where people live, with 58% of Australians living in Capital Cities in favour of equal pay for men and women, 56% of those living in Rural areas and 61% of people living in Other cities and towns. Two out of three Labor supporters (66%) voted in favour of equal pay, compared to 52% of supporters of other parties. Sixty-seven years later in May 2008, a Morgan Poll found that a nearly unanimous 98% of Australians believed in equal pay for women.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence increases for fourth straight week, up 0.9pts to 104.6

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Oct-21

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose 0.9pts to 104.6 on 2/3 October. Consumer Confidence remains below the 2021 weekly average of 108.4, but it is now 8.9 points higher than the same week a year ago (95.7). Consumer Confidence was up in Sydney and Melbourne, as both cities quickly increase their vaccination rates, while down slightly in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. Now 29% (up 1ppt) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 27% (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. In addition, 36% (down 1ppt) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, and 14% (unchanged) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Some 16% (up 2ppts) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 25% (unchanged) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 36% (down 2ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 33% (up 2ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Offshore bank accounts exposed

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Original article by Neil Chenoweth
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 36 : 4-Oct-21

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has leaked millions of files from 14 large offshore companies that administer nominee firms for affluent clients in low-tax jurisdictions. Some of their clients include Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, supermodel Claudia Schiffer, former British prime minister Tony Blair and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis. Over 400 Australians have been named in the huge leak of files, which have been dubbed the Pandora Papers ; assets revealed in the leaked files are worth over $1 trillion

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS