Author: roymorgansocial

Million job milestone under federal scheme

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 10 : 13-Apr-18

Jobs Minister Michaelia Cash says the best form of welfare is getting a job. Cash is due to announce that more than one million people have now been helped in securing a job through the federal government’s jobactive scheme, with those under the age of 30 benefiting the most. Nearly 80 per cent of those who have been helped in finding work have secured permanent positions, while 65.8 per cent of placements have been in metropolitan areas and 34.2 per cent have been in regional areas.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS

Foxtel reacts to Facebook woes by slashing ad spend

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 6 : 13-Apr-18

Pay-TV company Foxtel will reduce the proportion of its marketing budget that is allocated to advertising on Facebook. The move follows the data breach scandal and the two-day testimony of CEO Mark Zuckerberg before the US Congress. Foxtel’s chief marketing officer Andy Lark says that Facebook is a media company rather than a technology company, and it should start acting like one. He adds that despite recent changes to Facebook’s privacy policy, the underlying problems exposed by the Cambridge Analytica scandal have not been addressed.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PRIVACY COMMISSIONER, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS

Migrant numbers in sharp plunge

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 13-Apr-18

Australia’s permanent migrant intake fell to 183,608 in 2016-17, and stricter scrutiny of visa applicants is expected to see it fall to between 160,000 and 170,000 in 2017-18. The downturn in permanent migrant numbers will require the Federal Government to adjust its estimates in the 2019 Budget, although the May 2018 Budget will not be affected. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton proposed reducing the permanent migrant intake by 20,000 in 2017. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has confirmed that the issue had been discussed by ministers, he says it was not put before Cabinet.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ACTU’s new bargaining bid risks industrial chaos

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 13-Apr-18

The Federal Government and business leaders have criticised the ACTU’s push for changes to the Fair Work Act to allow employees and employers to negotiate wages and conditions at the industry level rather than the enterprise level. The ACTU’s six-point plan also includes the right to take protected industrial action at industry level. Workplace Relations Minister Craig Laundy warns that the proposals would see industrial action rise to the levels of the 1970s, while Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says militant unions would be the sole beneficiaries of any such reforms.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Business urges Turnbull to patch China rift

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Original article by Andrew Tillett, Jennifer Hewett, Michael Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 13-Apr-18

Business leaders have urged Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to take steps to improve Australia’s seemingly strained relationship with China. There are a number of factors behind the recent poor relationship between the two countries, including attacks on China’s Pacific foreign aid policy by International Development Minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells and the federal government’s foreign interference laws. Former Labor foreign minister Bob Carr contends that the government has increased its "anti-Chinese rhetoric" since the start of 2017 in an attempt to impress Donald Trump.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA CHINA BUSINESS COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (CHINA), UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY

Key PNG gasfield upgraded: Oil Search

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 21 : 13-Apr-18

Oil Search and ExxonMobil have upgraded the contingent resource for the P’nyang gas field in Papua New Guinea to 3.51 trillion cubic feet of gas. Andrew Hodge of Macquarie Group says the upgrade makes it more likely that an expansion of the PNG LNG project will proceed. Oil Search has a 38.5 per cent stake in the P’nyang gas field, and MD Peter Botten notes that the PNG LNG project’s partners now have access to an estimated 11 trillion cubic feet of gas when the undeveloped Elk-Antelope field is taken into account.

CORPORATES
OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Fox cartel probe gets raid twist

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Original article by Nick Miller
The Age – Page: 31 : 13-Apr-18

UK lawyer Alex Haffner says raids conducted by European Commission officers on a number of media firms suggests that it suspects possible anti-competitive behaviour in regard to broadcasting rights for Dutch soccer. Companies raided include Fox Networks Group, a unit of 21st Century Fox, and Ziggo Sport, with the two firms being the main rivals for sports broadcasting in the Netherlands. Haffner, who is a sports and regulatory lawyer with London law firm Fladgate, says the EC has indicated its intention to monitor closely how rights for soccer broadcasts in Europe are tendered, and how they are won.

CORPORATES
EUROPEAN COMMISSION, FOX NETWORKS GROUP, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, ZIGGO SPORT, FLADGATE, ENDEMOL ENTERTAINMENT HOLDING NV

$1bn cricket deal to stump Nine

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 13-Apr-18

Cricket Australia is poised to secure a broadcasting rights deal with Foxtel. The pay-TV group would simulcast some international matches in partnership with a free-to-air network, most likely Seven or Ten, while Foxtel would have exclusive coverage of some Big Bash League matches. The six-year rights deal is expected to be worth around $A1bn, compared with $A600m under the current deal. The Nine Network has been the main cricket broadcaster for more than four decades.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, CRICKET AUSTRALIA, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, CBS CORPORATION, TENNIS AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, FOOTBALL FEDERATION AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS

Activism to rise as M&A at highest since 2007

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 13-Apr-18

Data from Dealogic shows that $US32.8bn ($A42.3bn) worth of mergers and acquisitions have been announced in Australia so far in 2018. Neil Pathak of Gilbert + Tobin says M&A activity in the near-term is unlikely to be affected by heightened financial market volatility or concerns about a trade war between the US and China. The law firm also anticipates that shareholder activists will continue to target listed companies.

CORPORATES
DEALOGIC (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, GILBERT AND TOBIN LAWYERS, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, ARDENT LEISURE GROUP – ASX AAD, QUINTIS LIMITED – ASX QIN, AWE LIMITED – ASX AWE, ISENTIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX ISD, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, HARBOUR ENERGY LIMITED, TRIBECA INVESTMENT PARTNERS PTY LTD, BENNELONG FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, UNIBAIL-RODAMCO, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

First rate rise will shock, warns RBA’s Lowe

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 12-Apr-18

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe has reiterated that there is likely to be a gradual increase in economic growth and wages, which should ensure that interest rates remain on hold in the near-term. Lowe also used an Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce speech to emphasise that the cash rate is expected to rise rather than fall when the central bank next adjusts monetary policy, and he noted that interests have not risen for more than seven years. Some economists now expect the cash rate to remain at 1.5 per cent until 2020.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA-ISRAEL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE