Author: roymorgansocial

PM: Christmas trips likely

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 25-Aug-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison contends that Australians should be able to travel interstate to spend Christmas with family and friends once 70-80 per cent of the adult population has been fully vaccinated. Morrison has again urged the states and territories to back his government’s four-stage plan for reopening the economy, reiterating that lockdowns will do more harm than good when the vaccination target rate has been achieved. Meanwhile, employers’ groups have urged the federal government to relax the restrictions on travelling overseas for business purposes, arguing that people who have been vaccinated should be allowed to do so and quarantine at home upon their return.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

COVID vaccine booster shots will happen in Australia

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Original article by Nick Sas, Sophie Scott
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 25-Aug-21

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation will provide the federal government with initial advice on COVID-19 vaccine booster doses in coming weeks. However, ATAGI’s co-chair Allen Cheng says the nation will not be in a position to start giving booster shots until all eligible Australians have received at least one vaccine dose. He adds that people who are immunosuppressed or in ultra-high risk categories are likely to be given priority for booster shots.

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AUSTRALIAN TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP ON IMMUNISATION

Federal government errors contributed to Ruby Princess disaster, report finds

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Original article by Daniella White
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 25-Aug-21

The Inspector-General of Biosecurity, Rob Delane, has completed a review of the COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney that was caused by the arrival of the Ruby Princess cruise ship in March 2020. His report concluded that the federal Department of Agriculture’s failure to properly enforce biosecurity rules had contributed to the outbreak; amongst other things, biosecurity staff had not screened Ruby Princess passengers who were sick, and they were allowed to leave the ship after it arrived in Sydney. More than 663 passengers and crew subsequently tested positive for COVID-19, while 28 passengers died.

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AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF BIOSECURITY

Short and sharp: Titles up, hours down 68 per cent for Aussie TV drama

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Original article by Karl Quinn
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 25-Aug-21

New figures show that just 67 hours of adult drama was broadcast on Australia’s commercial television networks in 2019, compared with 208 hours in 1999. The number of hours of adult drama that was broadcast across all networks fell from 254 to 187 over this period; the latter figure includes streaming services. The researchers also note that each drama series had an average of seven episodes per season in 2019, compared with 21 in 1999. Veteran producer John Edwards fears that scripted television programs will continue to decline in Australia unless streaming services are legally required to invest in such content.

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BHP sale could hurt its credit rating

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 17 : 25-Aug-21

S&P Global Ratings says BHP’s proposed deal to merge its petroleum division with Woodside Petroleum will further increase its reliance on iron ore and make its earnings less diversified than rivals such as Rio Tinto and Glencore. BHP currently has a credit rating of ‘A’ from S&P, which has put it on CreditWatch negative; S&P has also flagged the possibility that the Woodside deal could prompt it to downgrade BHP’s credit rating by two notches, to ‘BBB+’.

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BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS

Fortescue best positioned to weather industry disruption – report

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Original article by
Mining.com – Page: Online : 25-Aug-21

GlobalData analysts have concluded that Fortescue Metals is best-placed to take advantage of future disruption in the mining industry. Fortescue was ranked first in a list of global mining companies, with a scorecard rating of 4.5. The rankings are based on leadership in 10 areas that matter the most to the mining sector. Australian companies in the list achieved an average score of 3.7. Newcrest Mining was ranked fifth.

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FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, GLOBALDATA

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence up slightly to 101.6 despite lockdown extensions in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-Aug-21

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose 0.5pts to 101.6 on August 21/22, although it is still well below the 2021 weekly average of 109.4. Consumer Confidence is now only 8.9 points higher than the same week a year ago (92.7). Consumer Confidence is now lowest in Victoria and NSW just below the neutral level of 100. Consumer Confidence in Queensland is just above 100 while it is significantly higher in both Western Australia and South Australia at over 110. Now 29% (up 4ppts) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 26% (down 3ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. In addition, 35% (down 1ppt) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, and only 14% (unchanged) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Some 12% (unchanged) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 33% (up 5ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 35% (up 1ppt) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 33% (unchanged) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

NRL could switch TV channels

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Original article by John Stensholt, Jessica Halloran
The Australian – Page: 24 : 25-Aug-21

The Seven Network is said to have expressed interest in the broadcasting rights to rugby league’s State of Origin series. Seven is also believed to be interested in broadcasting one National Rugby League match each week; Ten could also potentially bid for the NRL rights, with the Nine Network’s current deal set to end in 2022. Nine has held the rugby league broadcasting rights for about three decades.

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SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE

Stimulus creates oversupply of homes

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 4 : 25-Aug-21

Tim Toohey of Yarra Capital says the take-up rate of the federal government’s HomeBuilder scheme was more than four times higher than expected. He says that together with state-based incentives, this will result in an oversupply of new housing by 2023. Toohey adds that there is also a good chance that house prices will fall over the next two years. The government received more than 99,000 applications to build a new home via the scheme, as well as some 22,000 applications to undertake renovations on an existing home.

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YARRA CAPITAL PARTNERS PTY LTD

Spark’s $5.2b takeover tactics are well received

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Original article by Elouise Fowler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 & 18 : 24-Aug-21

Shares in Spark Infrastructure rose by two per cent on 23 August after it was revealed its board had agreed to a $5.2 billion takeover offer from a consortium led by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and the Ontario teachers’ pension fund. Dougal Maple-Brown from Maple-Brown Abbott, which owns a stake in Spark, said that the Spark board had done a good job in getting the consortium to increase its original offer, while the transaction will be undertaken by means of a scheme of arrangement

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SPARK INFRASTRUCTURE GROUP – ASX SKI, KOHLBERG KRAVIS ROBERTS AND COMPANY, ONTARIO TEACHERS’ PENSION PLAN, MAPLE-BROWN ABBOTT LIMITED