Author: roymorgansocial

Banks face trust crisis as customers go online

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 15 : 14-Dec-20

Accenture has released a report which shows that the proportion of Australians who trust banks to look after their financial wellbeing has fallen from 43 per cent to 29 per cent since 2018. Alex Trott of Accenture says the rapid shift to digital banking in response to the COVID-19 pandemic may undermine the progress that banks have made in restoring consumers’ trust in the wake of the Hayne royal commission. The report notes that fewer consumers have changed lenders in 2020, despite growing distrust of the banking sector.

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ACCENTURE

China not playing by trade pact rules

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Original article by Ben Packham, Will Glasgow
The Australian – Page: 4 : 9-Dec-20

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham says the federal government is considering "all dispute settlement options" in response to China’s recent move to ban a range of imports from Australia. He has also suggested that the targeted nature of the import bans raises questions about China’s adherence to the free-trade agreement that the two nations signed in 2015. China has yet to explain why it has banned meat exports from Queensland-based abattoir Meramist, although there is speculation that it is in retaliation to the federal government’s Foreign Relations Bill.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, MERAMIST PTY LTD

COVID travel ban extended, as Australia reaches astonishing virus milestone

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Original article by
The New Daily – Page: Online : 9-Dec-20

Australians will be prohibited from travelling overseas until at least 17 March. Health Minister Greg Hunt has cited the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis overseas for the decision to extend the ban, which was slated to expire on 17 December. The ban also prevents international cruise ships from entering Australian waters. Meanwhile, the number of active cases across Australia has fallen to 42, with returned travellers in hotel quarantine accounting for all but one of these cases. Victoria has had no active cases for 39 days; however, six returned travellers have been isolated in a special ‘hot’ hotel in Melbourne after showing symptoms of the coronavirus. Another returned traveller has tested negative for COVID-19 after arriving in Melbourne on 7 December.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH

Woodside strategy queried as CEO flags exit

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 9-Dec-20

Woodside Petroleum will consider both internal and external candidates to succeed CEO Peter Coleman, who has advised that he will step down in the second half of 2021. Potential external candidates are said to include Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher and ex-Shell Australia chair Zoe Yujnovich, while Meg O’Neill is widely regarded as the leading internal contender. Some observers have raised concern that Woodside is slated to make a final investment decision on its Scarborough LNG project at around the same time that Coleman will leave the oil and gas group.

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WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO

Nine opposes concession to tech giants

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Original article by Max Mason, Natasha Gillezeau, John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 9-Dec-20

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the federal government’s mandatory news media bargaining code for digital platforms is a "world-first". He has dismissed suggestions that the government has made too many concessions in the final version of the code to gain the support of digital giants such as Google and Facebook. These include adding a ‘two-way value exchange’ clause which reflect the benefits that news publishers receive from having digital platforms direct users to their content. A Nine Entertainment spokesman says this will merely entrench both the monopoly powers of digital companies and the unfair imbalance in media regulation.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Union takes Tax Office bosses to Federal Court in work from home row

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Original article by Noel Towell
The Age – Page: Online : 9-Dec-20

The Australian Services Union has commenced legal action against senior executives at the Australian Taxation Office. The ASU alleges that the executives – including Commissioner of Taxation Chris Jordan – were in breach of workplace laws and the ATO’s enterprise agreement, which includes working at home provisions. The union claims that ATO staff who had been working from home due to the pandemic were ordered to return to their offices without the required notice period when the federal government announced stimulus measures such as the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme.

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AUSTRALIAN SERVICES UNION, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

Labor snubs job-saving IR reboot

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 14 : 9-Dec-20

Labor has advised that it will not support a key provision in the federal government’s industrial relations omnibus bill. The controversial reform would allow the Fair Work Commission to approve enterprise agreements that do not comply with the ‘better-off-overall test’ in the Fair Work Act. The FWC will be able to take into account factors such as the impact of COVID-19 in approving non-compliant agreements. ACTU secretary Sally McManus says the proposed reform is ‘diabolical’, although it has been welcomed by business groups

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU

AusSuper goes solo in $5bn Infratil bid

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 9-Dec-20

AustralianSuper is offering $NZ7.43 ($7.04) per share in an indicative, non-binding takeover offer for New Zealand-based Infratil. The offer comprises a cash component of $NZ5.79 per share and an in-specie distribution of shares in renewable energy provider Trustpower. The bid for the dual-listed Infratil is the first major deal that AustralianSuper has pursued on its own; the industry fund has previously teamed up with co-investors to bid for companies such as Navitas and Healthscope. AustralianSuper is said to have been looking at Infratil for at least a year.

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AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, INFRATIL LIMITED – ASX IFT, NAVITAS LIMITED, HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED

Kelty approves of super-union divorce move

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Original article by Ewin Hannan, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 5 : 9-Dec-20

The federal government’s hopes of getting the unions demerger bill through parliament before it rises for the year have been boosted after Labor signalled that it will not opposed the legislation. Former ACTU secretary Bill Kelty has expressed support for the legislation, and he contends that breaking up the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union would be quite easy as it is an ‘amalgamation of divisions’. However, Electrical Trades Union national secretary Allen Hicks says that despite targeting the CFMMEU, the legislation would have ‘unintended consequences’ for the entire union movement, and he has urged Labor to reject it.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION

Super fund satisfaction increases in October

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Dec-20

New data from Roy Morgan’s Superannuation Satisfaction Report shows an overall super fund satisfaction rating of 61.0% in October. This is an increase of 0.6% points from a month ago, but still down 3.1% points on a year ago. The most recent ratings cover the period since May 2020, during which time Australians in financial hardship were able to apply to withdraw two tranches of up to $10,000 of their superannuation. Importantly, the monthly increase in Superannuation Satisfaction is the first month-on-month increase since the COVID-19 pandemic and appears to represent a turning of the corner for the rating after declining during the worst months of the pandemic. The largest increase by sector was for Self-Managed Funds, which increased 1.5% points to a customer satisfaction rating of 65.3%. Public Sector Funds increased their customer satisfaction by 1.3% points to 71.5% and for the fifth month in a row have clearly the highest rating. The customer satisfaction rating of Industry Funds rose by 0.4% points to 62.5% in October, and Retail Funds were up 0.1% to 53.6%. The report’s findings are from Roy Morgan Single Source, Australia’s most trusted consumer survey, compiled by in-depth interviews with over 50,000 Australians each year.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED