Over a third of Australians say 2022 will be a year of Economic difficulty while 19% expect Economic prosperity

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Dec-21

A special Roy Morgan web survey taken in late November shows that 37% Australians think 2022 will be a year of ‘Economic difficulty’. This is down 11% on a year ago when 48% of Australians predicted ‘Economic difficulty’ for 2021. For the second straight year only 19% of Australians think next year will be a year of ‘Economic prosperity’. Nearly half of all Australians think next year will either ‘Remain the same’ (37%) or don’t know (7%) how the economy will perform. Analysis by State shows that a plurality of people in the largest States think next year will be a year of ‘Economic difficulty’, led by Queensland (43%), Victoria (38%) and New South Wales (35%). However, in Western Australia (46%) and South Australia (45%), a clear plurality of people expect in economic terms next year will ‘Remain the same’. Australians are not as positive about next year’s economic prospects as they are about whether 2022 in a more general sense will be ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than 2021. As we revealed previously, despite being down on a year ago, 37% of Australians say 2022 will be ‘better’ than 2021 compared to only 23% that say it will be ‘worse’.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence virtually unchanged at 108.4 in the leadup to the Holidays

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Dec-21

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 108.4 on 18/19 December. Consumer Confidence is in line with the 2021 weekly average of 108.1, and it is now 0.6 pts below the same week a year ago (109.0). Consumer Confidence this week was up in New South Wales (+4.8pts) and Victoria, but saw modest drops in the smaller states of Queensland, WA, SA and Tasmania. Now 32% (up 2 ppts) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 27% (down 2ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. In addition, 38% (up 1 ppt) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, and 16% (unchanged) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Some 19% (up 1ppt) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 20% (up 2ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 41% (down 2ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 30% (up 3ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Parliamentary inquiry to put behaviour of big tech under scrutiny

Original article by Michelle Grattan
The Conversation – Page: Online : 1-Dec-21

The House of Representatives’ select committee on social media and online safety will hold an inquiry into large technology companies. Its terms of reference include examining the range of harms that Australians may be exposed to via online platforms such as social media and the risks associated with algorithm-driven content. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are among the technology giants that will be invited to appear before the inquiry, as will Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. The announcement of the inquiry will coincide with the release of an exposure draft of the federal government’s ‘anti-trolling’ bill.

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FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, TWITTER INCORPORATED, INSTAGRAM LLC

Morrison takes on the wharfies

Original article by Phillip Coorey, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 1-Dec-21

The Maritime Union of Australia recently agreed to suspend industrial action against stevedoring firm Patrick until at least 10 December. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has signalled that the federal government may be prepared to intervene if the parties do not negotiate in good faith to end their long-running dispute. He has stressed that ports are critical to the nation’s economy, and contends that inefficient ports are a tax on all Australians. Morrison has also advised that the Productivity Commission will hold an inquiry into the nation’s ports; its findings are slated to be released in mid-2022.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, PATRICK TERMINALS, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

No lockdowns or border bans over Omicron

Original article by Simon Benson, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 5 : 1-Dec-21

State and territory leaders have ruled out lockdowns and domestic border closures in response to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. A meeting of the national cabinet on Tuesday agreed to press ahead with the roadmap for reopening the remaining state borders, and backed the federal government’s decision to delay reopening the nation’s international borders to eligible visa holders by two weeks. Any returned travellers who have visited one of nine southern African countries that of concern will be required to go into hotel quarantine for 14 days, while other international arrivals must self-isolate at home for 72 hours. There are six confirmed cases of the Omicron strain in Australia; they are all said to either have mild symptoms or are ­asymptomatic.

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ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence drops 1.4pts to 106.0 as Omicron variant emerges in southern Africa

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Dec-21

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 1.4pts to 106.0 on 27/28 November; it is now below the 2021 weekly average of 108.1 and 1.5pts lower than the same week a year ago (107.5). Consumer Confidence this week was down in Victoria, Queensland and WA, while increasing slightly in NSW and SA. Now 27% (down 2ppts) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 29% (up 3ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. In addition, 37% (unchanged) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, and 17% (also unchanged) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Some 18% (unchanged) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 20% (also unchanged) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 42% (up 3ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items (the highest figure for this indicator since early July 2021), while 26% (down 2ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’ (the lowest figure for this indicator since early July).

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

Special Roy Morgan Micro Webinar on the September quarter rankings for Australia’s most TRUSTED & DISTRUSTED brands dives into the differences by investors, premium consumers and supporters of different political parties

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Dec-21

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine and social scientist Dr. Ross Honeywill present the latest QUARTERLY rankings of Australia’s most TRUSTED and DISTRUSTED brands for the year to September 2021, and for the first time this special 20-minute Micro Webinar dives deeply into the data to look at who is driving the TRUST and DISTRUST of key brands. TRUST is well-understood as a driver of decisions made by consumers every day, but it is DISTRUST that is often overlooked. DISTRUST is not just an absence of TRUST, it can be much more dangerous than that for brand health and relevance in the marketplace. As an example of the damage that can be done we must consider the ‘Arc of DISTRUST’ which has been on display recently with continuing protests in the streets of our Capital Cities concerning vaccine mandates and pandemic-related legislation. The webinar also highlights the Top 20 most TRUSTED brands which are led by supermarkets and retailers including Woolworths, Coles, Bunnings, ALDI and Kmart. One of the big improvers in the September quarter has been the ABC – now ranked 14th overall for Net Trust. As well as the most TRUSTED the webinar also highlights the Top 20 most DISTRUSTED brands in the September quarter, and the big movers include Harvey Norman (now in the Top 10 most DISTRUSTED brands), Google (which is now the third most DISTRUSTED brand) and oil companies Shell and BP – which are both now in the Top 20 most DISTRUSTED brands. The webinar also dives deeply into how investors, supporters of different political parties (ALP, Liberal and Greens supporters), and Premium consumers such as ‘NEOs’ view leading brands and companies for both TRUST and DISTRUST. To learn more about what drives these key consumer and investor segments

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Sex discrimination commissioner finds gender inequality key driver of toxic culture in federal parliament

Original article by Katharine Murphy
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 1-Dec-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has described the findings of a report into federal parliament’s workplace culture as "appalling and disturbing". The inquiry by sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins has revealed the extent of inappropriate conduct in commonwealth parliamentary workplaces. A survey undertaken as part of the review found that 33 per cent of respondents had personally experienced sexual harassment and 37 per cent had been bullied. Roy Morgan Research undertook the online survey on behalf of the Australian Human Rights Commission. Jenkins has made a number of recommendations, including a new code of conduct for parliamentarians and their staff. The inquiry was commissioned in response to the alleged rape of former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins in a ministerial office in March 2019.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. SEXUAL DISCRIMINATION COMMISSION, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Melbourne protests bring different Melburnians to the city

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Dec-21

A special Roy Morgan analysis of movement data in the Melbourne CBD during recent protests against vaccine mandates and the Andrews Government’s new pandemic legislation has brought an entirely different type of Melburnian to the city centre than we usually see in the CBD. A special Roy Morgan ‘Heat Map’ shows the home locations of people attending the Melbourne CBD protest. To determine who these people were, and where they came from, Roy Morgan ‘geo-fenced’ the area in front of Victoria’s Parliament House from 11am – 2.30pm on Saturday November 20, 2021. The devices that were seen in this area during the protest time period were then profiled by Helix Community and home location to produce the ‘Heat Map’ showing where the protesters had come from. The ‘Heat Map’ shows the areas with the heaviest concentration of protesters were led by outer suburban areas of the Melbourne metropolitan region such as South Morang (Postcode 3752), Tarneit (3029), Cranbourne (3977), Langwarrin (3910), Werribee (3030), Caroline Springs (3023) and Sunshine (3020). There were also protesters in the Melbourne CBD who came from as far afield as Ballarat, Geelong, Ocean Grove, Torquay, Wallan, Warragul, Hastings, Traralgon and Wonthaggi.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Secret email plea to lock down Sydney

Original article by Anton Nilsson
The Daily Telegraph – Page: Online : 25-Nov-21

The New South Wales government’s response to the Delta variant outbreak is under further scrutiny. It follows the revelation that chief health officer Kerry Chant and senior NSW Health officials were urged to lock down Greater Sydney on 24 June. A NSW Health official in the Hunter Region called for such action due to the widespread detection of coronavirus fragments in wastewater in areas of Sydney and Wollongong. A lockdown was imposed in some parts of Sydney on 25 June, but Greater Sydney was not locked down until the next day. NSW recorded 248 new COVID-19 cases and two additional deaths on Wednesday.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. MINISTRY OF HEALTH