Author: roymorgansocial

Solitude warning for Australia

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Original article by Michael Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 23-Sep-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has stated that his visit to Washington will lay the foundation for another century of friendship between Australia and the US. However, Chinese academic Yu Lei has stated in ‘The Global Times’ that Australia risks straining its relationship with Asian nations if it boosts military ties with the US, and that this could leave it in solitude. US President Donald Trump stated during Morrison’s visit that the trade war with China could run until the presidential election in November 2020, while he stated during a joint news conference with Morrison that China represents a "threat to the world".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

New Hope blasts loophole for activists

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 23-Sep-19

New Hope Corporation’s CEO Shane Stephan has called for the abolition of laws that exempt environmental activists from penalties for engaging in secondary boycotts. He says it is not right that anti-coal activists can target suppliers to the mining industry with action that would otherwise be illegal under the Competition and Consumer Act. New Hope recently advised that 150 workers at its New Acland mine will be retrenched at the end of October. A proposed $900m expansion of the mine has been on hold for more than a decade.

CORPORATES
NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, WASHINGTON H SOUL PATTINSON AND COMPANY LIMITED – ASX SOL, ADANI MINING PTY LTD

Broadcasters, big tech at odds on revenue sharing

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 23-Sep-19

Free TV Australia states that a code of conduct is needed to govern commercial relationships between free-to-air broadcasters and digital platforms such as Google and Facebook. Free TV notes that when a free-to-air broadcasters’ content is uploaded to a platform, it is the owner of the digital platform that sets the terms of how that content is monetised. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has recommended a code of conduct be set up that would require digital platforms to negotiate arrangements with media companies regarding data sharing and revenue, and that the Australian Communications and Media Authority oversee the code. However, Free TV would prefer the ACCC to monitor it.

CORPORATES
FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED, GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FACEBOOK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY

PM urges China to settle

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Original article by Dennis Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 23-Sep-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged the US and China to take action to resolve their trade dispute as quickly as possible. Following a meeting with President Donald Trump, Morrison stated that he had a "clear sense" that Trump is also keen for a resolution to the trade war. He added that any deal must be sustainable and address issues such as breaches of intellectual property and forced technology transfer. Morrison has downplayed recent comments by former prime minister Kevin Rudd, who suggested that the G20 leaders’ summit in November will be the last opportunity for the US and China to resolve the trade war.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

$80m deal: Singleton sells out of radio after 60-year career

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 1 : 23-Sep-19

Nine Entertainment Company’s hopes of gaining full ownership of Macquarie Media have been boosted after John Singleton advised that he will accept the offer of $1.46 per share unless a higher bid emerges. The advertising industry veteran has a 32.2 per cent stake in the owner of radio stations such as 2GB and 3AW, and he will gain about $80m from the transaction. Singleton says he may invest in the media sector in the future, but he adds that breeding horses and canaries are now his top priority.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, 2GB, 3AW SOUTHERN CROSS RADIO PTY LTD

Photos of captive Aussie at Iranian uni

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Original article by Mark Schliebs
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 20-Sep-19

University of Melbourne academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who has dual Australian-British citizenship, has been accused of "spying for another country" by Iranian authorities. News of her detention in Iran has only recently been made public, but it is understood she was arrested not long after she completed a course on Shia studies at the University of Religions and Denomination at Qom in Iran in August in 2018, and that she has been held in solitary confinement for about a year. Pictures taken of Moore-Gilbert just before she was arrested were used by the university in promotional materials.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

Civil war erupts in CFMEU over Setka

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 20-Sep-19

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union’s mining and energy division has attacked John Setka’s Victorian construction division over its poaching of members from the CFMMEU’s manufacturing division. The manufacturing division is headed up by Michael O’Connor, who is also the CFMMEU’s national secretary. The relationship between O’Connor and Setka is understood to have become strained over O’Connor’s failure to publicly support Setka, after the ACTU called on Setka to stand down after he was convicted for harassing his wife.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

AGL opts to hold on to coal plants

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 21 : 20-Sep-19

AGL Energy chairman Graeme Hunt has noted the Paris climate accord is one between countries, and not that one that binds companies. He was commenting on a resolution put by activist group Market Forces to its AGM on 19 September that called on AGL to close its coal-fired power stations by 2030, in line with the Paris Agreement to restrict global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels; 30 per cent of AGL shareholders voted in favour of the resolution. AGL stated that the transition away from coal-fired generation needs to be done in an orderly fashion

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AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, MARKET FORCES

Indigenous-owned iron ore venture gets $12m NAIF loan

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 20-Sep-19

The federal government’s $5 billion Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility has made a $12.5 million loan to the $45 million First Iron mining project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The project, which is being developed by the Australian Aboriginal Mining Corporation, will use the loan to construct new supporting infrastructure for the First Iron mine, which is to supply ore for Fortescue Mining’s Cloudbreak operations. The NAIF has now awarded $1.4 billion in concessional loans to 13 projects in Australia’s north, with the NAIF stating the loans will help create over 4,000 jobs and generate $3 billion in public benefit.

CORPORATES
NORTHERN AUSTRALIA INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY, AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL MINING CORPORATION

After decade of deficits, budget ‘back to balance’, says Frydenberg

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Original article by Adam Creighton, Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 20-Sep-19

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg unveiled a budget deficit of $700 million for the 2018-19 financial year on 19 September. Frydenberg noted that the federal government had kept spending under the long-run average of 24.7 per cent of GDP for the second year running, while he said the creation of 300,000 jobs in 2018-19 had meant increased tax collections and reduced welfare expenses. The $700 million deficit was a $14 billion improvement on what had been predicted in May 2018, while a budget surplus is likely for 2019-20 if high commodity prices and strong employment growth continue to boost the government’s tax coffers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY