Fake website scams: Grim warning to Black Friday shoppers

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Original article by Chloe Whelan
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 21-Nov-23

Australian shoppers are expected to spend $6.36bn in the Black Friday sales, making it the biggest shopping event on the nation’s retail calendar. However, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s deputy chair Catriona Lowe has warned shoppers to be aware of fake websites that replicate the genuine sites of well-known brands. The products sold on these sites are often fake or simply never arrive. Lowe adds that scammers are now paying for their fake websites to appear at the top of internet search results, so consumers may not be able to trust the first listing they see. Data from the National Anti-Scam Centre shows that there have been 2,760 reports of fake online stores so far in 2023.

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AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, NATIONAL ANTI-SCAM CENTRE

Pilbara train drivers to strike

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 21-Nov-23

BHP’s iron ore operations in Western Australia’s Pilbara region face disruption due to industrial action by train drivers from Friday. Almost 400 train drivers who are members of the Mining & Energy Union are set to impose bans on the use of BHP’s mobile rostering app, as part of the long-running negotiations for a new enterprise agreement. A BHP spokesman has stated that the company has put forward "a good and comprehensive offer" which recognises the important contribution that the rail team makes to its iron ore business. It will be the first protected industrial action in the Pilbara since 2008. Meanwhile, the MEU’s demerger from the CFMEU will formally take effect from 1 December.

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BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, MINING AND ENERGY UNION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Long search ahead for new telco chief

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Original article by Jared Lynch, Eric Johnston, Greg Brown, Tansy Harcourt
The Australian – Page: 6 : 21-Nov-23

Optus has appointed CFO Michael Venter as its interim CEO following the resignation of Kelly Bayer Rosmarin in the wake of the recent network outage. Bayer Rosmarin told Optus staff that she had decided that her resignation was in the best interests of the telco. She was widely criticised for her response to the outage, and she had attracted similar criticism over her handling of Optus’s data breach in 2022. Yuen Kuan Moon, the CEO of parent company Singapore Telecommunications, says Bayer Rosmarin had led Optus during a "challenging period", and stressed that Optus is an "integral part" of the company’s business.

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SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED

Liberal 21.6% vote (up 4.4%) in Victoria’s Mulgrave State by-election is too low to indicate Victorians have changed their allegiance with Labor

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Original article by Gary Morgan, Michele Levine, Julian McCrann
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 21-Nov-23

The Victorian ALP won the State by-election in Mulgrave easily on the weekend after Liberal Party candidate Courtney Mann managed to gain only a 4.4% swing on primary votes compared to last year’s State Election result. In addition, independent candidate Ian Cook gained only a small primary vote swing of 0.9% while there were also gains for several other minor party and independent candidates. On a two-party preferred basis, the swing away from the ALP was only 4.6%. ALP candidate Eden Foster secured 56.2% of the two-party preferred vote compared to 43.8% for Independent candidate Ian Cook. A yet to be calculated preference distribution between the Liberal and ALP candidates is likely to show a similar result between the two major parties. (The Poll Bludger has estimated the two-party preferred result between the two major parties will be ALP: 56.5% cf. LIB 43.5% – a swing of only 3.7% to the Liberals). Although Liberal Leader John Pesutto claimed on the night that the result "sent Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan a strong message" in fact the result underlined how far in front the ALP Government is. History shows that by-elections generally provide a strong swing to the Opposition, and particularly when a popular local member – like former Premier Daniel Andrews – resigns and is replaced.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF VICTORIA

ESG investment pioneer calls for ban on labels

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Original article by Joanne Tran
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 21-Nov-23

Managed funds with an environmental, social and governance focus have attracted growing scrutiny from investors and regulators in 2023. Nanuk Asset Management’s chief investment officer Thomas King contends that criticism of ESG funds and issues such as their performance has validity. King also believes that the ESG label has been overused and it should be banned; he says the acronym is confusing and ESG scores are "distracting nonsense", and that plain language should be used to describe what managed funds are doing.

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NANUK ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Rio Tinto pays $43m in Mozambique settlement

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 21-Nov-23

Rio Tinto has reached a settlement with the US Securities & Exchange Commission regarding impairment charges arising from the acquisition of Riversdale Mining in 2011. The $US28 million ($42.7 million) settlement means that Rio Tinto and former executives Tom Albanese and Guy Elliott will not face any fraud charges. Rio Tinto paid $US3.7bn for Riversdale, and subsequently found that the quality of the company’s coking coal in Mozambique was lower than anticipated. Rio Tinto announced writedowns associated with Riversdale in early 2013, but it had been alleged that it should have done so much earlier.

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RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, RIVERSDALE MINING LIMITED, UNITED STATES. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Deeming vows to sue Liberal leader Pesutto for defamation after mediation fails

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Original article by Annika Smethurst
The Age – Page: Online : 21-Nov-23

Victorian MP Moira Deeming says the allegedly defamatory comments made by state Liberal leader John Pesutto have caused enormous harm to her family "personally, financially and reputationally". Deeming adds that she was left with no option but to pursue a defamation case against Pesutto after mediation talks broken down on Sunday. Deeming was suspended and subsequently expelled from the Liberal partyroom after she addressed a Let Women Speak rally that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis. Pesutto has denied that he had compared Deeming to a Nazi sympathiser, and says he will vigorously defend the legal action. Deeming has in turn rejected suggestions that she is seeking $1m from Pesutto.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF VICTORIA

Roy Morgan Poll on Federal voting intention shows third straight weekly decline for the ALP Government: ALP 49.5% cf. L-NP 50.5%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 21-Nov-23

The Coalition on 50.5% (up 0.5% from a week ago) now leads the ALP on 49.5% (down 0.5%) on a two-party preferred basis, according to the latest Roy Morgan Poll on Federal voting intention conducted over the last week. The result matches the low-point the Albanese Government reached immediately after the defeat of ‘The Voice’ referendum in mid-October and is the third straight week of declines for the Government. On primary vote the Coalition is now on 37.5%, up 1% from a week ago, and clearly ahead of the ALP on 29.5%, down 0.5%. The Greens are on 13.5%, up 0.5%, and One Nation is on 6.5%, up 0.5%. There has been a loss of support for both Independents on 7%, down 1% and Other Parties on 6%, down 0.5%. The latest Roy Morgan Poll is based on interviewing a representative cross-section of 1,401 Australian electors from November 13-19, 2023. For further details watch Roy Morgan’s weekly Market Research Update video presented by Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine on Tuesday afternoon.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Identity of third party that brought down Optus network revealed

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Original article by David Swan, Ben Grubb
The Age – Page: Online : 15-Nov-23

Optus recently disclosed that its recent network outage was caused by a software upgrade by an ‘international peering network’, but declined to name this third party. However, sources close to Optus have revealed that it was the telco’s own parent company, Singapore Telecommunications; the botched upgrade is said to have been made on the Singtel Internet Exchange, and subsequently cascaded through the Optus network. Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin will appear before a Senate hearing into the outage on Friday.

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SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED

Roy Morgan Business Confidence up 3.3pts to 90.4 in October – before the RBA raised interest rates again to 4.35%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-Nov-23

In October 2023, Roy Morgan Business Confidence was 90.4 (up 3.3pts since September). Business Confidence has now spent a record nine consecutive months below the neutral level of 100, the longest stretch in negative territory in the history of the index dating back over a decade to 2010. Business Confidence is now 21.1pts below the long-term average of 111. A majority of businesses are worried about the performance of the Australian economy, with 56.5% expecting ‘bad times’ for the economy over the next year, while 58.2% expect ‘bad times’ for the economy over the next five years. Nevertheless, businesses remain relatively positive about their own prospects over the next year, with 40.1% saying they will be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, compared to only 29.2% that say they will be ‘worse off’ – a positive net rating of 10.9% points and the only index in positive territory.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED