Author: roymorgansocial

Full disclosure of the ownership structures of market research and polling companies is of vital importance to stakeholders including the Australian public – Gary Morgan & Michele Levine, Directors of Roy Morgan Research Ltd, publisher of ABIX

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Apr-19

The example provided above of a political polling company being commissioned by one of Australia’s largest media companies to conduct polling for the recent NSW State Election and producing polling results that turned out to be significantly different to the final result of the NSW Election shows how important it is that companies commissioning important polling like this are easily able to find out who the beneficial owners of Public Opinion Pollsters and Market Research companies are. An ABC investigation has now revealed that the polling company uComms is co-owned by two prominent unions the ACTU and CFMMEU who obviously have a vested interest in the results of Federal and State Elections in Australia. Roy Morgan’s December 2018 cross-platform audience figures show that the Sydney Morning Herald (the paper which commissioned the uComm polling) is Australia’s most widely read newspaper with a total cross-platform audience of the SMH at over 4.1 million Australians – more than 1 million ahead of any other newspaper in Australia. This case is a perfect example on the eve of a Federal Election expected to be called this weekend for why it is so important for the Australian public – as well as Australia’s leading media companies such as Sydney Morning Herald now owned by Nine Entertainment Company – to have full knowledge of who the owners of Australia’s Public Opinion Pollsters and Market Research companies are. At the bottom of today’s ABIX-Roy Morgan Daily email we have provided a comprehensive list of the owners of Australia’s Public Opinion Pollsters and Market Research companies also available at link.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, UCOMM, ACTU, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Investigation shows political polling company used by Nine Entertainment newspapers The Age and SMH is co-owned by ACTU & CFMMEU unions

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Original article by Pat McGrath, Jeremy Story Carter, Sarah Curnow
abc.net au – Page: Online : 11-Apr-19

An investigation by the ABC has revealed that the uComms political polling company is co-owned by the ACTU (via ACTU secretary Sally McManus), the CFMMEU (via CFMMEU national secretary Michael O’Connor) and James Stewart, a former executive of ‘robo-polling’ pollster ReachTEL. The three each hold a third of UPoint’s 150 shares (50 shares each) which is listed as the sole shareholder of UComms via a paid ASIC search. In addition, the ABC reporters initially found uComm’s business address listed as the same office building in Melbourne as the ACTU, although this has since changed. The Sydney Morning Herald commissioned polling by uComms in the recent NSW Election and ran the results on the front-page of the ‘The Sun-Herald’ in mid-March headlined ‘Labor leads poll in race to wire’ showing the ALP 51% cf. L-NP 49% on a two-party preferred basis. The Gladys Berejiklian-led L-NP Government was returned to power at the NSW Election winning a majority of 48 out of the 93 seats. When contacted by the ABC reporters group executive director of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, James Chessell, said the paper didn’t know the ownership structure of uComms although Chessell said they would no longer commission polls from uComms going forward.

CORPORATES
UCOMMS, ACTU, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, REACHTEL PTY LTD

Australian Futures Project launches The Perfect Candidate using Roy Morgan Issues data

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Apr-19

In a first for Australian politics, a digital candidate powered by data insights from real Australians has entered the Federal election race, to shift our national conversation from short-term problems to long-term solutions. Australia is stuck in a cycle of political short-termism and The Perfect Candidate (www.theperfectcandidate.org.au) is an unbiased voice of the people, driven by the most authoritative research ever released on Australians’ concerns. The Perfect Candidate is driven by data not bias and launching their campaign today in Sydney, they aim to empower Australians to hold our politicians to account and to ignite discussion amongst leaders and citizens about our long-term future. Created by the Australian Futures Project, a non-partisan, not-for profit organisation dedicated to ending short-termism in Australia, The Perfect Candidate allows Australians to search and understand key concerns of their local electorate and the whole country. Using data and analysis from Roy Morgan, policy statements on the websites of the political parties and independents and insights from the Australian Futures Project, Australians can compare these concerns to what is being prioritised and talked about by politicians, ultimately holding them to account.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN FUTURES PROJECT

Adani mine, climate create great divide

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 11-Apr-19

Roy Morgan surveys of more than 40,000 Australians, broken down by federal electorates, show a much higher share of Canberrans, Melburnians and Sydneysiders nominate global warming and climate change as one of their top three election issues than voters in Brisbane and regional Queensland. Almost 38 per cent of voters in the nation’s capital, 31 per cent of Melbourne’s voters and nearly 28 per cent of Sydneysiders include the issue of climate change as one of their three top issues in the Morgan survey, compared to just 22 per cent in Brisbane and 17 per cent in regional Queensland. Nationally global warming and climate change is the fourth most important issue, nominated by 25 per cent, the survey – commissioned by the Australian Futures Project, a non-profit backed by wealthy families and La Trobe University and "dedicated to ending short-termism in Australia" – finds.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN FUTURES PROJECT, LA TROBE UNIVERSITY

‘They’re all gamblers’: high-stakes Crown still in play

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 11-Apr-19

Shares in Crown Resorts fell 9.1 per cent to $12.77 on 10 April, after US-based Wynn Resorts withdrew from takeover talks. However, observers believe that Crown is open to other offers and that another bid from Wynn cannot be ruled out. Crown’s largest shareholder James Packer is said to be keen to exit the casinos business, with an industry observer suggesting that he would be a "willing seller" at around the price that had been proposed by Wynn.

CORPORATES
CROWN RESEARCH INSTITUTES, WYNN RESORTS LIMITED, WHITE FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Negative equity feared as house prices plunge

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Original article by Michael Roddan, Luke Griffiths
The Australian – Page: 2 : 11-Apr-19

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s deputy governor Guy Debelle says the number of homeowners with negative equity has increased, although he notes that it remains largely confined to Western Australia and mining regions. He adds that it is unusual for house prices to fall sharply at a time when the economy is continuing to grow and the unemployment rate is low. Debelle says the outlook for the labour market is likely to determine whether there is a further increase in negative equity and mortgage arrears.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

It’s on: PM to call poll today

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 11-Apr-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has visited Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and asked him to dissolve Parliament. Morrison is expected to announced 18 May as the date of the election. Meanwhile, senior Liberal Party sources believe that the Coalition can still win the election, and they are said to have identified at least eight seats that will be crucial to the outcome of the poll. Labor in turn has identified 12 seats that it will target.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION

Nation’s residential building boom well and truly over: BIS

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 11-Apr-19

BIS Oxford Economics is bearish about the near-term outlook for Australia’s housing construction market. The firm has forecast that the sector will be hit by a two-year correction, with the number of new dwelling starts tipped to fall to 161,000 a year. This compares with between 220,000 and 230,000 annually over the last four years. Meanwhile, official data shows that there was a 16.3 per cent decline in housing starts during the December quarter, which is the largest quarter-on-quarter fall since September 2000.

CORPORATES
BIS OXFORD ECONOMICS PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, BROOKFIELD MULTIPLEX LIMITED

Rio uses AGM to pitch eco strategy

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 19 : 11-Apr-19

Rio Tinto chairman Simon Thompson and CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques have emphasised its focus on environmental sustainability in their presentations to shareholders at the annual meeting in London. Amongst other things, they committed to increased use of renewable energy across Rio Tinto’s mining operations, as well as developing new targets for reducing the company’s greenhouse gas emissions. Thompson also noted that Rio Tinto is the only major mining company that no longer produces fossil fuels.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, GLENCORE PLC, CLIMATE ACTION 100+

Time for caution as US stocks due for pullback

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 27 : 11-Apr-19

The S&P 500 is trading close to its record high, having gained 23 per cent since late December 2018. A number of factors suggest that there could be a correction. The International Monetary Fund has again downgraded its forecast for global economic growth; the S&P 500 fell sharply after the IMF’s previous downgrade in October. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is now widely tipped to announce quantitative easing rather than quantitative tightening, while there is growing speculation that the Fed’s next interest rate move will be down rather than up.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, BLOOMBERG LP, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, CITIGROUP INCORPORATED, JP MORGAN AND COMPANY INCORPORATED