Author: roymorgansocial

Libs believe election is still winnable

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 11-Dec-18

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is among the senior Liberal MPs who are optimistic that the Coalition can win the 2019 federal election. He notes that the Coalition won an election under former prime minister John Howard despite a worse performance in public opinion polls than at present. He adds that Prime Minister Scott Morrison will be much more effective in campaigning than predecesser Malcolm Turnbull. The Coalition’s internal polling is believed to show that it is faring better than published polls suggest.

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

$850m bonanza as sale of 5G spectrum beats expectations

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Original article by Supratim Adhikari
The Australian – Page: 17 & 28 : 11-Dec-18

The federal government has raised a total of $853m from an auction of 5G spectrum, including $700m for regional spectrum. The reserve price was $185m for the 350 lots of 125MHz of spectrum on offer, and telcos paid an average price of $0.29 per megahertz per population. Telstra has paid $386m for 143 lots of spectrum and the joint venture between TPG Telecom and Vodafone has paid $263m for 131 lots. Telstra CEO Andy Penn says the telco is "very pleased" with the outcome of the auction.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, VODAFONE HUTCHISON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, DENSE AIR, AIRSPAN NETWORKS INCORPORATED

Coalition bid to end double dipping

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 11-Dec-18

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox has welcomed the federal government’s response to a Federal Court ruling on the leave entitlements of casual employees. Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O’Dwyer says it is unfair that companies could be required to pay both a casual loading and paid leave. She says the government will clarify the situation via regulation under the Fair Work Act. It also plans to introduce legislation aimed at providing casuals who are employed on a regular basis with the right to request that they become permanent employees.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, WORKPAC PTY LTD, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Labor trade-off over pattern bargaining

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 11-Dec-18

Industrial relations is likely to be a key issue on the agenda at Labor’s upcoming national conference. Labor sources have indicated that the party is set to reinstate pattern bargaining as part of its industrial relations platform. However, Labor is expected to restrict pattern bargaining to workers in sectors that have low wages, such as childcare and cleaning. The ACTU is leading a union push for pattern bargaining to be allowed across all industries. Labor’s policies on free trade and asylum seekers are also expected to attract debate at the national conference.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA)

ACCC hits big banks, ports, tech

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 11-Dec-18

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has concluded that the nation’s four major banks engaged in "synchronised pricing" with regard to increases in interest-only home loan interest rates in June 2017. The big four banks raised their interest rates following the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s decision in mid-March to cap interest-only loans at 30 per cent of all new loans from the September quarter. The ACCC estimates that the rate rises boosted the banks’ profits by around $1.1bn.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

Rules risk entrenching giants

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Original article by Michael Bailey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 11-Dec-18

LegalVision’s James Adler has questioned the merits of the ACCC’s proposal for an "opt-in" regime for the collection and use of customers’ personal data by digital platforms. Adler warns that the proposal would adversely affect many local digital start-ups while increasing the competitive advantage of established players such as Google and Facebook.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, LEGALVISION PTY LTD, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

Ten surrenders but BOSS hasn’t left court

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Original article by Nick Tabakoff
The Australian – Page: 19 : 11-Dec-18

Nine Entertainment Company may still proceed with legal action over the rebranding of the Ten Network’s digital channel despite a backdown by the broadcaster. Ten has advised that its 10 Boss channel will be rebadged as 10 Bold after Nine claimed that its logo was too similar to the "Boss" magazine supplement of "The Australian Financial Review". Nine has issued a statement in which it notes that the trademark dispute is still before the courts.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, CBS CORPORATION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN

Facebook and Google face clamp on customer data

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 11-Dec-18

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has concluded that Google and Facebook have substantial market power. The 378-page preliminary report of its inquiry into digital platforms has made 11 recommend­ations aimed at making digital players more accountable with regard to their use of customers’ data and how their algorithms work. Amongst other things, the ACCC has noted that the digital giants have contributed to declining investment in local news and journalism.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Tech titans face crackdown

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 10-Dec-18

The preliminary report of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s review of digital giants’ impact on the media and advertising markets will be released on 10 December. Amongst other things, the report raises concerns about the lack of transparency regarding the algorithms used by digital companies and whether such companies have engaged in "discriminatory conduct". The ACCC may also recommend establishing a regulatory auth­ority that would have the power to investigate digital companies over such conduct.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, ALPHABET INCORPORATED, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, INSTAGRAM LLC, WHATSAPP INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, WORLD FEDERATION OF ADVERTISERS

Tax cash flow instead of profit, say economists

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 10-Dec-18

Leading economists Ross Garnaut and Craig Emerson have proposed a major overhaul of the corporate tax system. They have proposed taxing a company’s cash flow rather than its profits, arguing amongst other things that this would result in increased tax revenue at a lower rate and result in a more level playing field between small companies and multinationals. They add that it would also result in increased investment and reduce the incidence of tax avoidance via profit-shifting.

CORPORATES
APPLE INCORPORATED, CHEVRON CORPORATION, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE, VICTORIA UNIVERSITY, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD