Author: roymorgansocial

Green light for ultra-fast Covid tests taken at home

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Original article by Clare Armstrong, Courtney Gould
Herald Sun – Page: 1 & 10 : 28-Sep-21

The Therapeutic Goods Administration is set to approve the use of self-administered rapid antigen tests that will allow Australians to know if they have COVID-19 within 20 minutes. Home test kits are already widely available in countries such as the US and the UK, but in Australia their use must currently be supervised by a health professional. TGA head John Skerritt expects home test kits to be approved for sale and use from 1 November, with the nation on target to have 70 per cent of the eligible population fully vaccinated by the end of October.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. THERAPEUTIC GOODS ADMINISTRATION

More public figures expected to turn off Facebook comments after Australian defamation ruling

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Original article by Josh Taylor
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 28-Sep-21

The High Court recently ruled that the owners of Facebook pages are liable for defamatory comments made on them. The ruling prompted Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein to announce on 24 September that some posts on his Facebook page would have comments turned off, a feature that Facebook introduced in March. Defamation expert Professor David Rolph says he expects other politicians and public figures will adopt similar strategies to that of Gutwein.

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HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

Inquiry team’s conflicts over Wuhan probe

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Original article by Sharri Markson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 28-Sep-21

The World Health Organization is forming a new group to investigate the origins of novel pathogens, which might involve a second mission to China to investigate the origins of COVID-19. However, it has been revealed that a number of the investigators who were involved in the WHO’s first investigation had conflicts of interest, including one Chinese official said to be involved in the cover-up of how the virus originated. This has prompted questions as to whether the WHO is the appropriate body to carry out a second investigation.

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WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

Frydenberg flags home loan curbs

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 28-Sep-21

Growing concern about the high debt-to-income ratios of home buyers may prompt the federal government to push for regulatory intervention. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg discussed the issue at the Council of Financial Regulators’ recent quarterly meeting, although the CFR is not expected to announce any macro-prudential measures in its quarterly statement on 29 September. Frydenberg says Australia’s macro-prudential settings must be continually assessed, and they should be adjusted if this is deemed to be necessary.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. COUNCIL OF FINANCIAL REGULATORS

Steeled for ore fall budgetary blow

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 2 : 28-Sep-21

Chris Richardson of Deloitte Access Economics says the sharp fall in the iron ore price has major implications for the federal and Western Australian budgets. He says the 2021-22 budget forecasts of both governments may not have been conservative enough in the wake of the price crash. The fall in the iron ore price has been attributed to factors such as the Chinese government’s environmentally-driven restrictions on steel production and the financial problems of property developer Evergrande. Surging commodity prices saw overall tax revenue from the mining sector top $30bn in 2020-21, compared with just $12bn in 2015-16.

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DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD

Beach Energy in LNG deal with BP Singapore

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Original article by Elouise Fowler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 28-Sep-21

Beach Energy will become Australia’s biggest LNG exporter after securing a five-year deal to supply 3.75 million tonnes of gas from its Waitsia project to BP’s Singapore unit. The deal will account for the entire expected output from the second stage of the onshore project in Western Australia. The spot price of LNG in Asia has surged in recent months, and Beach MD Matt Kay says the company had held back on selling its gas early in the COVID-19 pandemic as prices fell. Gas from Waitsia will be processed via the North West Shelf LNG plant.

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BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, BP SINGAPORE PTE LTD, BP PLC

NSW Premier reveals roadmap out of lockdown

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Original article by Ursula Malone
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 28-Sep-21

The New South Wales government has been criticised for ignoring the national plan for reopening the economy. Premier Gladys Berejiklian has revealed that some COVID-19 restrictions will be eased for fully-vaccinated people from 11 October, when 70 per cent of residents aged 16+ are expected to have had two vaccine doses. Restrictions will be further relaxed by 25 October, when the fully-vaccinated target of 80 per cent is slated to be achieved. However, most restrictions are set to remain in place for unvaccinated people until 1 December, when 90 per cent of the eligible population is expected to be fully vaccinated. NSW has reported 787 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases and 12 additional deaths from the current outbreak.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Shorter vaccine intervals likely as Victoria races towards 80pc full vaccination target

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Original article by
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 28-Sep-21

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has ruled out applying the same COVID-19 rules to unvaccinated people once 90 per cent of the state’s eligible population is fully vaccinated. He says the state government has not begun to discuss the question of when all Victorians will be on an ‘equal footing’, adding that he has not received new medical advice about revising the state’s existing reopening roadmap. However, Andrews has flagged the possibility that the state could achieve its vaccination targets ahead of schedule, and signalled that the period between vaccine doses could be reduced if the state has certainty of vaccine supply. Victoria has recorded 705 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases, while the toll from the current outbreak has risen to 25 following the death of a man in his 70s.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

ABC was duped by Nielsen sting tale

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 3 : 28-Sep-21

The ABC has recently withdrawn a mini-series examining the 1975 disappearance of Sydney activist Juanita Nielsen from its streaming platform. It said it had done so because new information had been received that cast doubt on claims made in the program that an undercover ‘sting’ had unearthed her murderer. Author Peter Rees, who has followed the Nielsen case for decades, contends that the ABC had been "duped" by the claims, which he says were "preposterous". Rees says it shows the ABC needs to improve its fact checking.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

COVID-19 pandemic drives Australians to increasingly shut themselves off from the rest of the world when at home

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Sep-21

New Roy Morgan data shows that the COVID-19 pandemic is driving significant changes in how Australians view their home. The latest figures from the June 2021 quarter show that 54.5% of Australians aged 14+ now agree that ‘When I’m at home, I like to shut myself off from the rest of the world’; this is an increase of 16% compared to the March 2020 quarter, just prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic agreement with this statement had barely changed over the preceding four years, increasing by just over 1% since the September 2016 quarter. Women have driven a larger share of this increase since the pandemic began than men. A clear majority of 58.5% of women agree with the statement in the June 2021 quarter, an increase of 19.8% points from the March 2020 quarter and up over 21% points from five years ago. In contrast only a narrow majority of 50.3% of men now agree with the statement, an increase of 12% points from the March 2020 quarter and up just over 13% points from five years ago. The data comes from Roy Morgan Single Source, the nation’s largest and longest-running program of research into consumer behaviour and attitudes, continuously conducted year-round.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED