Author: roymorgansocial

Unemployment rate needs to be 4pc to get wages up: Labor

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 28-Jun-19

Shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh will use a speech on 28 June to argue the case for Australia’s full employment target to be lowered. The Reserve Bank of Australia has downwardly revised its estimate of full employment from 5.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent over the last few years, but Leigh will suggest that an employment rate of four per cent is "eminently achievable". He will state that this would result in an extra 160,000 Australians being employed. He says that creating jobs is the best way to boost wages growth.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS

PM urges G20 trade led recovery

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Jun-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will use the G20 leaders’ summit in Osaka to bolster his efforts to get social media platforms to curb their dissemination of objectionable material in the wake of the Christchurch mosque killings. He will point out that G20 countries host the platforms that support social media companies’ content, which means such firms should take heed if the G20 urges them to do more to regulate their content. Morrison will also urge fellow G20 leaders not to let the World Trade Organization system get any worse, while acknowledging that it is imperfect and its members have lost confidence in it.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20)

Pyne’s defence job breaches code

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Original article by Alice Workman, Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 28-Jun-19

Former defence minister Christopher Pyne has come under scrutiny over his new role as an adviser to Ernst & Young regarding the defence industry. Labor senator Penny Wong contends that Pyne is in breach of the federal government’s ministerial code of conduct, which continues to apply for 18 months after an MP leaves parliament. Wong and Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick have urged Prime Minister Scott Morrison to intervene. Pyne retired from politics at the 18 May election.

CORPORATES
ERNST AND YOUNG, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GRATTAN INSTITUTE

History suggests rate cut in July unlikely

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 28-Jun-19

Financial markets have priced in a 72 per cent chance that the Reserve Bank of Australia will reduce the cash rate by 25 basis points in July. However, analysis shows that the central bank has reduced the cash rate in two consecutive months on just 12 of the 46 occasions on which it has eased monetary policy since 1990. The RBA has not reduced the cash rate in two consecutive months since 1992, when there were concerns about the outlook for the global economy. Chris Read of Morgan Stanley says an easing pause in July would enable the RBA to pursue a gradual cutting cycle.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

IOC rule flip puts Brisbane in frame

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Original article by Wayne Smith
The Australian – Page: 2 : 28-Jun-19

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner says changes to the Olympic Charter will boost the chances of southeast Queensland bidding for the 2032 Summer Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee has traditionally selected the host city just seven years before the event, but it has agreed to extend this to up to 12 years. Southeast Queensland is already widely regarded as the favourite to win the 2032 Olympics, and IOC president Thomas Bach has praised Brisbane’s feasibility study on hosting the world’s biggest sporting event.

CORPORATES
BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL, INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

ANZ squeezes savers more than borrowers

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 27-Jun-19

The ANZ Bank has defended its decision to reduce the interest rates on its popular ANZ Progress Saver and ANZ Online Saver accounts by 20 basis points. A spokesman says ANZ still has the best interest rates for comparable products among Australia’s major banks. Sally Tindall of RateCity warns that savers can expect interest rates to fall further, given that the Reserve Bank is tipped to reduce the cash rate again. ANZ reduced its mortgage interest rates by 18 basis points after the official interest rate cut in early June.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, RATECITY PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, UBANK, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

AMP hit with new class action

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Original article by Samantha Bailey
The Australian – Page: 20 : 27-Jun-19

AMP says it will "vigorously" defend a class action launched by law firm Slater & Gordon, which alleges that superannuation fund members were charged excessive fees. Slater & Gordon is the second law firm to file a class action on behalf of AMP’s super fund members, with Maurice Blackburn having done so in May. Maurice Blackburn is also pursuing a separate class action against AMP over its compliance with disclosure obligations.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, SLATER AND GORDON LIMITED – ASX SGH, MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD, THERIUM LITIGATION FINANCE

Senators demand gas surplus for tax cuts

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 27-Jun-19

Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick has presented the federal government with a number of policy demands in return for supporting its income tax cuts package. Amongst other things, Patrick wants the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism to be strengthened to ensure that the east coast has a surplus of gas. At present, the ADGSM only requires that there is no shortfall of gas in the domestic market. The tax package is scheduled to be debated in the Senate on 4 July.

CORPORATES
CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, ORICA LIMITED – ASX ORI, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

Developer says tower cracks years old

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Original article by Brad Norington, Ben Wilmot
The Australian – Page: 7 : 27-Jun-19

Aland Developments MD Andrew Hrsto has rejected suggestions that construction work on his company’s Peak Towers project caused the cracks in the structure of the adjacent Mascot Towers. Hrsto says an engineering report on buildings near the Peak Towers project showed that structural defects were found in the Mascot Towers building several years before work on his company’s project commenced. John Barilaro, the Deputy Premier of New South Wales, recently claimed that the problems at Mascot Towers were caused by construction work at adjacent building sites.

CORPORATES
ALAND DEVELOPMENTS, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Coalition to reshape workplace landscape

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 27-Jun-19

Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter says the federal government’s review of industrial relations laws will take 6-9 months. He adds that the government may pursue legislative changes before the next election if such reforms would increase jobs, boost wages and strengthen the economy. Amongst other things, the review will consider changes to unfair dismissal laws, the processes for approving enterprise agreements and a revised definition of ­casual employment. The government’s more immediate legislative priorities include passing the Ensuring Integrity Bill and stricter regulation of workers’ entitlement funds.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION