Author: roymorgansocial

Win for unions in BHP workplace fight

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 11-May-20

A Fair Work Commission review panel has overturned a decision by deputy president Gerard Boyce to approve two enterprise agreements for employees of BHP’s Operations Services subsidiary. The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union is among four unions that appealed against the December 2019 ruling. National secretary Tony Maher claims that BHP had intended to use the Operations Services business to reduce wages and conditions in the mining sector. The full bench of the FWC will decide whether to approve the disputed enterprise agreements.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES

In April Business Confidence plunged to record low of 76.9 but starting to improve

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-May-20

In April 2020 Roy Morgan Business Confidence was down 18.2pts (-19.1%) to 76.9 – plunging to a second consecutive record monthly low. Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan, says "Business Confidence in April continued in a steep negative direction following when it began plunging in late March. The large drop followed the introduction of strict social distancing and self-isolation directives from the Federal and State Governments that persisted throughout the month of April. The good news is that Business Confidence bottomed in the first half of the month and has since improved. For the first half of April Business Confidence averaged only 69.3, similar to its rating for late March of 71.4. Since this low-point the index has improved and averaged 82.0 during the second half of April as Australia ‘flattened the curve’ of new COVID-19 infections."

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Ten readies its fourth channel

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 11-May-20

The Ten Network is expected to launch a fourth broadcast channel in the second half of 2020, focusing on general entertainment for Ten’s target audience of people under the age of 50. Ten’s chief sales officer Rod Prosser says the new channel will feature content from a range of sources, including parent company ViacomCBS. Prosser is confident that the advertising market will soon begin to recover from the coronavirus-induced downturn.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, VIACOMCBS INCORPORATED

Canberra, refiners talk fuel security

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 16 : 8-May-20

Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor has held talks with Caltex, Viva Energy, ExxonMobil and BP about increasing the amount of oil they store in Australia. Taylor flagged plans to establish a domestic oil reserve earlier in 2020, when the government spent $94m on a strategic fuel reserve in the US. Caltex’s acting CEO Matt Halliday has told a conference that the coronavirus pandemic has put the issue of fuel security on the agenda, while Viva Energy CEO Scott Wyatt said demand for petrol is rising as lockdown restrictions begin to ease.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE, ENERGY AND RESOURCES, CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX, VIVA ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX VEA, EXXONMOBIL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BP AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Early super releases pass the $10b mark

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joanna Mather, Tom McIlroy, Michael Roddan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 8-May-20

The federal government has advised that 1.2 million people have now applied to withdraw a total of $10.2bn from their superannuation fund via its early access scheme. Treasury had forecast that about $27bn in total will be withdrawn by people who have experienced financial hardship due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, the Australian Federal Police have executed five search warrants as part of an investigation into allegations that fraudsters are taking advantage of the scheme. Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan has told a Senate inquiry that about $120,000 has been stolen from super funds by fraudsters.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Slow crawl out of Covid hole

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 8-May-20

The national cabinet meeting on 8 May will decide on a timeframe for relaxing the coronavirus lockdown. The restrictions are expected to be progressively eased over the next two months. Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO James Pearson has called for restrictions to be lifted at the same time across all states and territories, arguing that maintaining ‘artificial barriers’ between jurisdictions will merely increase costs for businesses and make it harder for them to retain jobs. However, some states have signalled that they will follow their own timetable for easing restrictions.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

Trade surplus hits $10.6b thanks to iron ore, coal

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 8-May-20

Official data shows that Australia has posted a record trade surplus of $10.6bn for March; the result was driven by strong growth in exports, particularly to China. There was a 33 per cent increase in iron ore exports to China, as one of Australia’s key trading partners began to ease coronavirus restrictions; analysts also note that iron ore supply in February was disrupted by cyclone Damien. Meanwhile, gold exports rose by 22.5 per cent in March, while coal and LNG shipments also rose. Economists had expected a trade surplus of just $6.4bn.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

News Corp to close commercial operations at Storyful APAC

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Hannah Blackiston
Mumbrella – Page: Online : 8-May-20

Media giant News Corporation has advised that it will close the commercial operations of social media intelligence agency Storyful in Australia and the Pacific region. Storyful, which News Corp acquired in 2013, has about 200 employees worldwide. Its teams in the US and Europe will not be affected by the closure, while its APAC editorial team will remain intact. News Corp Australia’s publications will continue to have access to Storyful’s content.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, STORYFUL, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Our global LNG leadership is under threat

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Dennis Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 8-May-20

A report from Wood Mackenzie has warned that the nation’s status as the world’s biggest LNG exporter is at risk. The report, which was produced on behalf of the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association, notes that increased regulation, the downturn in the oil price and growing international competition in the sector are among the threats facing the local industry. Wood Mackenzie adds that any changes to the LNG industry’s tax regime could deter future investment in the sector.

CORPORATES
WOOD MACKENZIE, AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Pell knew of Catholic Church abuse for decades – royal commission

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by
The New Daily – Page: Online : 8-May-20

Redacted sections of the final report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse were released on 7 May, in the wake of the High Court’s decision to overturn Cardinal George Pell’s child sexual abuse convictions in April. The report indicates that the commission did not believe Pell when he claimed that Catholic Church officials had deceived and lied to him about Gerald Ridsdale – Australia’s most prolific paedophile priest – and Melbourne parish priest Peter Searson; the commission heard that the latter had abused children in parishes and schools for over 10 years. The redacted findings indicate that the commission believed that Pell was aware of sexual abuse by Catholic priests as far back as 1973. Cardinal Pell says the views of the Commission are not based on evidence.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSES TO CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE, CATHOLIC CHURCH