Author: roymorgansocial

Coalition secures majority, and may get a buffer

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale, Victoria Laurie
The Australian – Page: 7 : 22-May-19

The Coalition may extend its majority in the lower house, with Liberal candidates holding slim leads in several seats that remain in doubt. Liberal candidate Gladys Liu was declared the winner in the seat of Chisholm on 21 May, ensuring that the Coalition will have the 76 lower house seats it requires to govern in its own right. The Liberals may also win the seats of Bass and Macquarie, although the Australian Electoral Commission has indicated that Labor is likely to win the seats of Cowan and Lilley.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION

Rare earths dispute lifts Lynas

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 20 : 22-May-19

Lynas Corporation produced 5,444 tonnes of neodymium and praseodymium in fiscal 2018, but it has outlined plans to lift this to 10,500 tonnes a year via a $500m capital investment program. Lynas has also advised that it will undertake the initial processing of ore from its Mt Weld project in Western Australia at a site near the mine, rather than exporting the raw materials to its processing plant in Malaysia. Meanwhile, Lynas share closed 14.4 per cent higher at $2.26 on 21 May, after China flagged plans to cease exporting rare earths to the US amid ongoing trade tensions between the two nations.

CORPORATES
LYNAS CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX LYC, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES

Economy needs rate cuts: Lowe

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 17 & 24 : 22-May-19

Financial markets have priced in a 92 per cent chance that the Reserve Bank of Australia will reduce the cash rate in June, in response to comments made by governor Philip Lowe. He used an Economics Society speech on 21 May to argue that two interest rate cuts are needed to prevent an increase in unemployment and to lift inflation to the central bank’s target range. Financial markets also expect a second interest rate cut by November, and Westpac economist Bill Evans forecasts that the RBA will do so in August.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, ECONOMICS SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, apra use AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NOMURA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BARCLAYS BANK PLC, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

Promised cuts ‘don’t have to wait for parliament’

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Original article by Richard Ferguson, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 7 : 22-May-19

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the proposed increase in the low and middle-income tax offset will be the Coalition’s top priority when parliament resumes. He has conceded that parliament is unlikely to be reconvened before 30 June to allow the tax cuts to be passed before the start of the new financial year. A spokesman for the Australian Taxation Office has advised that the changes to the tax offset can be applied retrospectively if the legislation is passed after 1 July.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Nine dices up inherited events arm

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 19 : 22-May-19

Sydney’s City2Surf race is among five sports events that the Ironman Group will acquire from Nine Entertainment in a deal worth $31m. Nine will retain about seven of the events that were previously part of Fairfax Media’s events business, including the Night Noodle Markets and Good Food Month. They will be integrated into Nine’s publishing division, while a number of smaller events will be discontinued. Chinese-owned Ironman Group manages more than 230 events in 53 countries.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, IRONMAN GROUP, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, WANDA GROUP, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, THORNEY INVESTMENT GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence recovers after Federal Election result

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-May-19

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 2.1% to 117.2 in the week ended 19 May, reversing the previous week’s loss. The survey coincided with the election, so much of the gain likely reflects the impact of the surprise win by the Coalition. Households’ views towards current financial conditions rose 0.5%, while views towards future financial conditions rose 1.2%. Consumers’ views toward current economic conditions rose 3.8%, compared to a fall of 8.1% previously, while future economic conditions were up 0.9%. The ‘time to buy a household item’ index rose 4.1% to its highest level since the end of March.

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

TWU set to bring chaos to airports

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 21-May-19

The Transport Workers’ Union will begin serving claims for improved wages and conditions on Australia’s major airports in the week beginning 21 May. It will then start to lodge claims with major road transport companies. TWU national secretary Michael Kaine says it has spent the last five years aligning 200 enterprise agreements covering 38,000 workers to expire in 2020, so as to maximise the impact of its bargaining efforts, including the right to legally strike.

CORPORATES
TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Shorten fell for elites, says Trump strategist

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Original article by Cameron Stewart
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 21-May-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s unexpected election win has been likened to Donald Trump’s US presidential election victory in 2016. Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, says there were similarities between the US businessman’s "forgotten people" and Morrison’s "quiet Australians". He believes that as was the case in the US, many Australian voters were reluctant to tell pollsters that they supported Morrison. Bannon adds that former Labor leader Bill Shorten had focused on "inner-city elites" rather than ordinary Australian families.

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

GetUp to get what’s coming: Dutton

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Original article by Brad Norington
The Australian – Page: 5 : 21-May-19

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton claims activist group GetUp spent over $1 million in its unsuccessful attempt to remove him from his seat of Dickson at the federal election. Dutton has accused GetUp of being a front for the Greens and Labor, and says it engaged in "deceptive", "undemocratic" and "unrepresentative" conduct. Dutton says he would back efforts by Liberal MPs Ben Morton and Eric Abetz to get the Australian Electoral Commission to declare that GetUp is an "associated" political entity of either the Greens and Labor, which would damage its stance of being independent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, GETUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Unions try to fathom loss of workers’ vote

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 21-May-19

Analysis of voting at the federal election indicates that the labour movement needs to do a better job of communicating with working-class voters, following Labor’s shock loss. BCG Gamma has found that electorates with households with a median weekly income of more than $1,800 preferred to vote for Labor rather than the Coalition, as were electorates where more voters had a higher education. Union leaders suggest that working-class voters steered away from Labor over a range of issues, including its proposed changes to negative gearing and its mixed messages on the Adani coal mine. The ACTU is tipped to review its $10 million ‘Change the Rules’ advertising campaign in the wake of the election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BCG GAMMA, ACTU, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, VICTORIAN TRADES HALL COUNCIL