Author: roymorgansocial

IBAC will look into branch stacking

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 4 : 18-Jun-20

The branch-stacking scandal that has embroiled Victorian Labor has been referred to the state’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, which has confirmed that it has commenced an investigation into it. However, the state government is resisting a push to have the allegations referred to the Victorian Ombudsman, despite an Opposition motion to this effect being passed by parliament’s upper house on 17 June. Meanwhile, some members of Labor’s Right faction have accused Premier Daniel Andrews and federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese of a ‘power grab’.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, VICTORIA. INDEPENDENT BROAD-BASED ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Explosive text messages of a political assassin

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Original article by John Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 18-Jun-20

The crisis over Victorian Labor’s branch-stacking crisis has deepened, after details of text messages that federal MP Anthony Byrne sent to Adem Somyurek over several years were disclosed. The recordings that led to Somyurek’s downfall were made in Byrne’s electoral office; the two were once close allies, and friends of Somyurek say he cannot understand why Byrne turned against him. Amongst other things, the text messages that Byrne sent to Somyurek include derogatory comments about Labor colleagues.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Albanese takes over state ALP

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Original article by Greg Brown, Geoff Chambers, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 17-Jun-20

The Australian Labor Party’s national executive has appointed Steve Bracks and Jenny Macklin as administrators of the party’s troubled Victorian branch. Federal Labor will take control of Victorian Labor for three years in the wake of the branch-stacking scandal, which resulted in Adem Somyurek being expelled from the party and the resignation of frontbenchers Robin Scott and Marlene Kairouz. Bracks and Macklin will audit all 16,000 members of Victorian Labor, amid concerns within the party that up to 4,000 members may have been ‘stacked’ in recent years.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Push for national integrity commission to restart after Somyurek fall

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Original article by David Crowe
The Age – Page: Online : 17-Jun-20

Federal crossbench MPs say the branch-stacking scandal in Victoria has highlighted the need for a national anti-corruption commission. The federal government revealed plans to establish the Commonwealth Integrity Commission in 2018, although progress on the issue has since stalled amid claims that its powers would not be sufficient. Attorney-General Christian Porter has indicated that he will seek to resume negotiations with crossbenchers to establish the CIC.

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AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Fortescue fast-tracks carbon-cutting plan

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 15 : 17-Jun-20

Fortescue Metals Group has announced a revised target of 2040 to achieve net-zero operational carbon emissions. The pure-play iron ore miner also aims to reduce its scope 1 and scope 2 emissions from existing operations by 26 per cent over the next decade. However, Fortescue has not set any emission reduction targets for its Iron Bridge magnetite project, advising that it will outline separate targets for the project when it becomes operational in mid-2022. Fortescue continues to resist setting scope 3 emission reduction targets.

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FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Catalano and Seven discussed news deal

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Original article by Max Mason, Sarah Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 17-Jun-20

Sources have indicated that Antony Catalano is the previously undisclosed party to whom Seven West Media provided detailed financial information about its West Australian Newspapers business earlier in 2020. A deal for Catalano’s Australian Community Media to acquire WAN did not progress beyond initial discussions, and Seven West director Ryan Stokes advised at the time that the group had no plans to sell the business. Catalano was also holding talks with News Corp Australia about buying its portfolio of regional and community newspapers, a deal that also did not eventuate.

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SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, WEST AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPERS HOLDINGS LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence up 0.5pts to 97.5

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 17-Jun-20

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 0.5% to 97.5 in the week to 14 June, after pausing the week before. Now 24% (up 2ppts) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 35% (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Meanwhile, 38% (up 1ppt) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, and 17% (unchanged) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Just 9% (unchanged) expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 38% (down 2ppts) expect ‘bad times’. In addition, 37% (unchanged) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 34% (down 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’. The four-week moving average for ‘inflation expectations’ remained unchanged at 3.2%. The weekly reading increased 0.2pts to 3.3%.

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

Inflation Expectations reach an all-time low in May

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 17-Jun-20

In May, Australians expected inflation of 3.3% annually over the next two years, down 0.3% points on April and 0.7% points on the pre-COVID period of February 2020. Analysing the different Inflation Expectations by home ownership status shows declines across the board over the last few months. The sharpest decreases in Inflation Expectations were for renters, down 1.0% point from February to 3.6% in May. However, renters still recorded the highest expectations for inflation compared to people who own their homes outright and those who are paying off their homes. Individuals who own their homes outright reported an Inflation Expectation of 3.3% in May, down 0.5% points on February; and mortgagors paying off their homes reported Inflation Expectations of only 2.9%, down 0.8% points on pre-pandemic February. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says with Australia entering a recession, it is not surprising to see marked declines in Inflation Expectations over the last few months.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Movement at Melbourne’s Botanic Gardens back to normal levels – led by Metrotechs

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 17-Jun-20

A special analysis of movement data at Melbourne’s Botanic Gardens shows a steady pick-up in visitation in the number of devices seen at the inner-city park over the last month, since reaching a low point in late April. Roy Morgan has partnered with leading technological innovator UberMedia to aggregate data from tens of thousands of mobile devices to assess the movements of Australians as we emerge from the restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of devices – a good proxy for visitors – seen at the Botanic Gardens hit low-points during the lockdown in early April, around Easter, and also at the end of April as the focus turned towards a gradual lifting of restrictions. Since late April there has been a steady increase in movement at the Botanic Gardens. During the summer months early in 2020 three-quarters of the movement data for the Botanic Gardens was drawn from the big spending Leading Lifestyles and Metrotechs Helix Personas communities, and this majority has increased to 83% in the most recent week available. This increase has been entirely driven by Metrotechs who now comprise 50% of the movement data, up from 40% during summer. Movement data for Leading Lifestyles is virtually unchanged at 33%.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, UBERMEDIA

High satisfaction ratings for chemists and pharmacies as Australia faced bushfires and then the COVID-19 pandemic

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 17-Jun-20

Research conducted by Roy Morgan in the year to March 2020 shows that 12 million Australians (57%) shop at chemists/pharmacies in an average four weeks. The leading stores, including Priceline Pharmacy, My Chemist, TerryWhite Chemmart and Chemist Warehouse, each have well over 1 million customers. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says that the good news for chemists and pharmacies is that the 12 million customers of Australia’s chemists/ pharmacies rate their customer satisfaction amongst the highest of any of the more than 30 industries Roy Morgan measures on a weekly basis. Overall customer satisfaction for chemists/pharmacies averages a very high 90.5% and is in third position out of 32 industries. Chemists/Pharmacies rank behind only car manufacturers (92.3%) and hardware stores (90.8%). This high satisfaction for the industry is across the board and the top eight chemists and pharmacies are separated by a total of only 5% points.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED