Roy Morgan Poll: Coalition maintains a narrow lead over ALP on the Australia Day long weekend: L-NP 52% cf. ALP 48%

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Jan-25

A Coalition Government, with a slim majority, would now win a Federal Election with an unchanged two-party preferred vote from a week ago: L-NP 52% cf. ALP 48%, the latest Roy Morgan survey finds. Although primary support for the Coalition dropped 1.5% to 40.5% and ALP support was up 1% to 29.5%, the movements for the minor parties cancelled this trend out. Support for the Greens dropped 1.5% to 11.5% while support for One Nation was up 2% to 6%. Other Parties were down 0.5% to 3.5% while support for Independents increased 0.5% to 9%. The latest Roy Morgan survey is based on interviewing a representative cross-section of 1,567 Australian electors from January 20-26. When comparing different polls, it is always important to make sure to take note of the dates when the polls are conducted to undertake a proper comparison between two polls.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MORGAN POLL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

Living standards stagnant until 2030: Deloitte

Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 29-Jan-25

Deloitte Access Economics has forecast that state and federal government spending will reach a record 28 per cent of real GDP by the end of 2025. This compares with an average of 22 per cent in the decade prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The firm has warned that despite rising government expenditure, Australians’ living standards will not recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2030. Meanwhile, Deloitte partner Stephen Smith expects that CPI data to be released today will show that inflation is moving sustainably towards the Reserve Bank’s target range of 2-3 per cent. However, he says factors such as a resilient labour market, elevated government spending and a falling Australian dollar are complicating the central bank’s decision on interest rates.

CORPORATES
DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Worst in 30 years: What Hottest 100 says about the state of Aussie music

Original article by Thomas Mitchell
The Age – Page: Online : 29-Jan-25

The ABC’s youth-focused radio station Triple J is under scrutiny after its annual Hottest 100 countdown featured just 29 Australian artists; this compares with 52 last year. The head of Triple J, Lachlan Macara, says Australian music discoverability is an issue, which has been exacerbated by the growing use of streaming music platforms. Local artists account for just 9.2 per cent of songs that are streamed in Australia, and Tim Kelly from the University of Technology Sydney notes that streaming platforms’ playlists are determined by algorithms rather than radio station programmers.

CORPORATES
TRIPLE J PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY

Deep end: big tech’s disruption

Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 29-Jan-25

Science Minister Ed Husic says it is too early for the federal government to determine whether China’s DeepSeek AI platform is a potential national security risk. He says the government will take advice from national security agencies on the potential threat posed by the DeepSeek chatbot. US technology investor Marc Andreessen has described the latest version of DeepSeek as "AI’s Sputnik moment". However, Australian Strategic Policy Institute executive director Justin Bassi says the West was never reliant on the Soviet Union’s economy or its technology in the way it is with China; he adds that Western governments and companies acted after the Soviets launched the Sputnik artificial satellite in 1957, and similar action is required now.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE AND RESOURCES, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE LIMITED

700,000 retirees overpaying on super fund tax, says SMC

Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 19 : 29-Jan-25

New research from the Super Members Council suggests that many Australian retirees are needlessly paying tax by leaving their superannuation in accumulation mode. These earnings are taxed at 15 per cent; in contrast, earnings from super funds in the retirement phase are not taxed, provided the fund’s balance is less than $1.9m. The research has found that about 700,000 people over the age of 65 who are no longer working full-time still have money in accumulation accounts, which is estimated to cost them an average of about $650 a year.

CORPORATES
SUPER MEMBERS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Local funds at risk with $28 billion exposure to Nvidia

Original article by Alex Gluyas
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 29-Jan-25

Shares in US semiconductor manufacturer Nvidia fell by 17 per cent on Tuesday, reducing its market capitalisation by nearly $US600bn. Analysis by VanEck shows that Australian fund managers and superannuation funds hold about $28bn worth of Nvidia’s shares, although this figure may be higher given that some funds do not disclose their holdings. Sam Sicilia from Hostplus says all high-performing stocks must decline at some point, and the question is whether Nvidia’s share price will rebound and what impact it will have on the broader sharemarket.

CORPORATES
NVIDIA CORPORATION, VANECK, HOST-PLUS

Australians who get most of their news from social media more likely to believe in climate conspiracy, study finds

Original article by Amanda Meade
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 29-Jan-25

Research undertaken by Monash University has found that people who use social media as their main source of news score lower on a measure of ‘civic values’ than those who rely on newspapers and non-commercial media for news and current affairs. The researchers also found that 25 per cent of respondents who primarily use social media for news content believe that climate change is a conspiracy. This compares with 37 per cent of those who use commercial TV and radio as their main source of news. In contrast, just six per cent of people who largely source their news content from public TV networks the ABC and SBS consider climate change to be a conspiracy.

CORPORATES
MONASH UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS)

Red Hawk backs $254m Fortescue takeover bid

Original article by Giuseppe Tauriello
The Australian – Page: 16 : 29-Jan-25

Red Hawk Mining’ board has unanimously endorsed a $254m takeover offer from pure-play iron ore miner Fortescue. The off-market cash bid values Red Hawk at $1.05 per share, although this will rise to $1.20 if Fortescue secures at least 75 per cent of the target’s shares by 4 February. Fortescue says its offer represents a ‘significant and attractive premium’ for Red Hawk shareholders, while Red Hawk’s ND Steven Michael describes the offer as an ‘attractive outcome’ for the company’s shareholder. Red Hawk’s Blacksmith iron ore project is located near Fortescue’s Solomon hub.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE LIMITED – ASX FMG, RED HAWK MINING LIMITED – ASX RHK

Top 10 Issues Shaping the 2025 Federal Election: Cost of Living and Crime on the Rise, Climate Change Fades

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 24-Jan-25

Roy Morgan’s in-depth survey data covering the last few years highlights the key issues gaining importance for Australian electors as we approach the Federal Election. Cost-of-living increasingly dominates voter concerns with several related issues rising significantly since the Federal Election in mid-2022. The most important issue for electors is clearly ‘Keeping day-to-day living costs down’ (up 7% points to 57%). ‘Keeping interest rates down’ (up 8% points to 19%) and ‘Managing immigration and population growth’ (surging 8% points to 14%) have also increased. The sharp rise in immigration-related concerns is during a period in which Australia has had record high immigration and housing affordability issues have been at the forefront. At the same time, public anxiety about safety has escalated significantly with ‘Reducing crime and maintaining law and order’ jumping 10% points to 23% – the largest increase for any issue. In contrast, there are two issues that have fallen rapidly in importance: ‘Global warming and climate change’ is down 9% points to 23% and ‘Open and honest government’ is down 6% points to 19%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Dozens more charged over alleged bribes-for-registration scheme

Original article by Lachlan Johnston
The Age – Page: Online : 24-Jan-25

Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission announced on Thursday that it had charged another 28 people as part of its investigation into allegations that employees at the Victorian Building Authority took bribes to register builders. IBAC stated that the 28 people charged are on top of six people that were charged in 2024 as part of Operation Perseus, with two of the six people charged then being VBA staff. The Victorian government in March 2024 removed the board of the VBA and made CEO Anna Cronin its sole commissioner, with the VBA’s operations having been under scrutiny since the 2022 suicide of building inspector Rob Karkut

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. INDEPENDENT BROAD-BASED ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION, VICTORIAN BUILDING AUTHORITY