Original article by Jacob Greber The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 27-Oct-20
Ioneer’s chairman James Calaway has welcomed indications by presidential candidate Joe Biden that he is supportive of US production of solar panels, electric vehicles and energy storage. Australian-listed Ioneer is seeking to develop a lithium mine in Nevada, and Calaway says the US looks set for a "electrified clean future" if Biden wins the election, with huge implications for the supply of battery materials such as lithium. Biden has stated that he will spend $US2 trillion ($2.8 trillion) on electric vehicle infrastructure and other projects to curb carbon emissions if he is elected, and analysts believe that his plan will spark ongoing demand for copper.
CORPORATES IONEER LIMITED – ASX INR, DEMOCRATIC PARTY (UNITED STATES)
Original article by Scott Gullan Herald Sun – Page: 59 : 27-Oct-20
Ratings data from OzTAM shows that the 2020 AFL grand final attracted 3.812 million viewers nationwide, which is the largest audience for an AFL match in four years. The Seven Network boasted an audience share of 65.8% for its coverage of the premiership decider. The AFL is likely to come under growing pressure to move the grand final to a prime-time slot permanently due to the strong ratings. Meanwhile, the Nine Network’s coverage of the NRL grand final was watched by 2.967 million viewers, compared with 2.65 million in 2019.
CORPORATES SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, OZTAM PTY LTD, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE
Original article by Zoe Samios The Age – Page: Online : 26-Oct-20
Sources have indicated that Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes held informal talks earlier in 2020 about a potential merger with the rival Ten Network. The discussions between Stokes and ViacomCBS president and CEO Bob Bakish are said to have ended after they agreed that such a deal would not be possible under Australia’s existing media ownership rules. Any such deal would also have faced scrutiny by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. The talks have heightened speculation that Stokes may be keen to exit the media sector.
CORPORATES SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, VIACOMCBS INCORPORATED
Original article by Margaret Simons The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 23-Oct-20
A recent story in the ‘New York Post’ about the son of US presidential candidate Joe Biden has become the battleground over the principle that media organisations should not publish allegations unless they believe them to be true, and after they have undertaken appropriate checks. The story has pitched traditional media company News Corporation against social media giants Facebook and Twitter. The social media giants have sought to stop the story from circulating due to doubts about its veracity. News Corp in turn has accused them of censorship, while it has generally failed to acknowledgement that the original story may have been false.
Original article by Maureen Dowd The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1, 6 & 7 : 16-Oct-20
James Murdoch quit the board of News Corporation in June, having at one point of time hoped to lead the media company. Murdoch cited differences in certain content published by some of its news outlets, along with some other strategic decisions, as his reason for leaving at the time. He has established a company called Lupa Systems, while his investments include a comic company whose publisher once worked for Marvel. Murdoch says he decided to leave News Corp because he believed he could be "more effective outside" the company, while friend Matthew Vaughn believes that Murdoch will now start his own empire.
CORPORATES NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, LUPA SYSTEMS
Original article by Lilly Vitorovich The Australian – Page: 7 : 16-Oct-20
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions will not take legal action against ABC journalist Daniel Oakes over a series of reports known as ‘The Afghan Files’. The CDPP has deemed that the public interest does not require a prosecution in the case of Oakes; the Australian Federal Police has subsequently advised that its investigation into allegations that Oakes obtained classified information has been closed. ABC MD David Anderson says the matter should never have gone as far as it did.
CORPORATES AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE
Original article by Kieran Gair The Australian – Page: 7 : 15-Oct-20
Racing NSW CEO Peter V’landys has given evidence in his defamation lawsuit against the ABC and one of its journalists. The case centres on a story that appeared on the ‘7.30’ current affairs program in October 2019; it featured an interview with V’landys that was spliced with graphic footage of retired racehorses being killed at a Queensland abattoir. V’landys claimed that the story "pandered to an activist agenda" and alleges that the ABC failed to make it clear that he has no jurisdiction over racehorses in Queensland. V’landys is seeking aggravated damages.
CORPORATES AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, RACING NSW
Original article by Max Mason The Australian – Page: 18 : 15-Oct-20
Sources have indicated that a decision on Rugby Australia’s next broadcasting rights deal could be made within days. Rugby Australia has held meetings with executives from Foxtel and Nine Entertainment, and the discussions are said to be "well advanced". Foxtel currently holds the broadcasting rights, while Nine could potentially broadcast one Super Rugby match each week as well as the Wallabies’ matches. Any deal with Nine could also include more extensive rugby coverage via its Stan streaming video service.
CORPORATES RUGBY AUSTRALIA, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD
Original article by James Madden The Australian – Page: 19 : 12-Oct-20
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted key sports codes such as the AFL and NRL to renegotiate their current broadcasting rights deals. However, horse racing coverage has attracted a growing audience during the pandemic, which is likely to result in a significant increase in the cost of the sport’s next broadcasting rights deals. Meanwhile, the fourth running of ‘The Everest’ is expected to attract record TV ratings on 17 October.
CORPORATES AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, RACING NSW
by Marcus L’Estrange, The Sensible Centrist No 44, 9th October 2020
“I believe around two million Australians are unemployed, or around 15 per cent, with 1.3 million underemployed. All up, around 25 per cent plus.
The dramatic understatement of Australia’s unemployment and underemployment figures by the ABS causes major distortions in handling covid19, economic planning and general policy making.”
“The Australian Bureau of Statistics ‘Labour Force’ unemployment figures of 6.7 per cent must be taken with a massive grain of salt. They are merely a political definition of unemployment, not an actuarial one.
Terry McCrann has attacked the ABS’ official unemployment figures, effectively calling them “fake” and claiming the real figure is more like 30 per cent in the private sector: “The ABS has to ditch its ludicrous methods of measuring joblessness if it wants to be taken seriously again” (Sunday Herald Sun, May 10, 2020).
He claimed that the ABS unemployment estimates were already ridiculous 30 years ago, and are beyond ridicule now. The only jobs data that now have any meaning come from Roy Morgan Research.
Back in 2017, Adam Creighton wrote in The Australian: “The definition of unemployment certainly doesn’t satisfy the ‘pub test’. It actually includes only a minority of people without work who want it. Imagine if a group of rogue statisticians, hellbent on issuing numbers that reflect reality, seized control of the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Their first decision would be to release an unemployment rate above 15 per cent — almost triple the official figure”.
There are many reasons for this but the following examples should suffice:
The ABS regard you as unemployed only if you are “actively looking for work” in the week prior to the survey period. But just what work is there to look for right now and indeed for many years, particularly since the global financial crisis? Not only are businesses not hiring now, many are being forced to not operate at all. Persons who only looked in newspapers or at job advertisements on the internet are seen as passively, rather than actively, looking for work and so are not considered unemployed. How job seekers are supposed to apply for a job that they are unqualified for or simply doesn’t exist, in order to be regarded as an “active” job seeker, is beyond me. Similarly, just checking noticeboards is not considered an active job search.
JobSeeker/Youth Training Allowance (dole) recipients, due to covid19 restrictions, do not at the moment have any mutual obligation requirements, (e.g. “actively looking for work”) because the requirements have been suspended until June 1, 2020. So, no one on JobSeeker allowance (1.6 million mid May) and no one on the JobKeeper allowance will be counted as unemployed. As of mid May, 835,000 employers, with six million employees, are covered by JobKeeper. The ANZ Job Vacancy survey for April showed that there were 64,000 vacancies, down from 136,000 in March and 62 per cent lower than a year ago.
Commentator Alan Kohler asked on April 25: “Six million people are budgeted to get it (JobKeeper), which is 46 per cent of the workforce. Would they have been unemployed without it? Does that mean unemployment would have been 56 per cent, not 15 per cent, without the Job Keeper Allowance?”
If you work one hour in the week before the survey period you are regarded as being employed. The ABS gives the same status to people who work one hour as those who work 40 hours plus! A more objective measure would be the average number of hours worked per month per adult. Apart from being more objective, it incorporates the impact of unemployment, participation, underemployment and population ageing.
If you are not ready to start work during the week after the survey you are not counted as being unemployed. For example, if you have short-term health problems, are moving house or you cannot immediately obtain childcare, you don’t count. You are not unemployed.
People stood down who receive even a week or two of annual/long service leave will also be counted as employed. Additionally, people who have been laid off are not counted as unemployed if they believe they have a job to go back to within four weeks.
A falling rate of participation in the labour market. If people simply give up looking for work, that reduces the actual number of officially unemployed Australians. Half a million workers dropped out of the workforce in April and were not counted as unemployed. Hence the nonsensical ABS figure of 6.2 per cent for April.
Youth Allowance (youth dole) recipients who are studying part time as a requirement of receiving the dole are not counted as being unemployed.
If you receive JobSeeker (dole) but are allowed to engage in volunteering, work part time or are homeless, you are not counted as being unemployed.
If you have worked without pay in a family business during the survey week you are counted as being employed.
When you allow for these factors, the real figure is, well, certainly not 6.7 per cent. I believe it is at least around two million unemployed, or around 15 per cent, with 1.3 million underemployed. All up, around 25 per cent plus.
The dramatic understatement of Australia’s unemployment and underemployment figures by the ABS causes major distortions in handling covid19, economic planning and general policy making.”
ABIX 