Lockdowns no barrier to budget tax jump

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Original article by John Kehoe, Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 1-Oct-21

The federal government has advised that the Budget deficit blew out to a record $134.2bn in 2020-21, although this is well below the government’s worst-case scenario forecasts. Meanwhile, data from the Department of Finance shows that the underlying cash deficit for the first two months of 2021-21 was $22bn, compared with a forecast of $28.1bn in the Budget in May. Government revenue for the period was $12.1bn higher than had been forecast in the Budget, with higher-than-expected revenue from personal and company taxes.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Rio finds trust low after Juukan

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Original article by Lachlan Moffet Gray
The Australian – Page: 16 : 1-Oct-21

Rio Tinto’s survey of traditional owners in the Pilbara shows that the resources group still has much work to do in repairing strain relations in the wake of the destruction of ancient indigenous rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in 2020. One of the traditional owner entitles expressed the view that Rio Tinto is doing the "the bare minimum" to rebuild its reputation with indigenous Australians. Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm says that listening to indigenous groups will be a priority as it seeks to rebuild trust.

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RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Foxtel on track to top 5m subscribers

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Original article by James Madden
The Australian – Page: 13 & 20 : 1-Oct-21

Pay-TV and streaming group Foxtel currently boasts more than four million customers, and CEO Patrick Delany has told the inaugural strategy day that it aims to lift this to five million within three years. Foxtel will also target annual revenue of $3bn. Delany noted that Foxtel has been transformed from a one-product company several years ago to one with multiple revenue streams as its focus has shifted from traditional linear broadcasting to subscription video-on-demand. Some 53 per cent of Foxtel’s customers now subscribe to one of its streaming services, compared with eight per cent in 2016. Delany also said that the question of an IPO is a matter for Foxtel’s shareholders.

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FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Delaying the NRL grand final is an option

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Original article by Dean Ritchie, Jeremy Ritchie
The Australian – Page: 23 : 1-Oct-21

Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys says the NRL Grand Final due to be played on 3 October could be postponed if Queensland’s COVID-19 crisis worsens and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk bans crowds from attending the game at Suncorp Stadium. Stating that the game must be played in front of a crowd, he says the NRL’s preferred option would be to switch the game to Townsville. Any decision to switch the game to Townsville will have to be made by late on 1 October to give officials enough time to make all the arrangements, but Townsville has also been impacted by COVID-19.

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AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE COMMISSION LIMITED, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE

Hydroxychloroquine sales spiked almost 100% in Australia at start of Covid pandemic, study finds

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Original article by Donna Lu
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 1-Oct-21

Australian researchers have reported that there was a 99 per cent increase in hydroxychloroquine dispensing in March 2020. The surge came at a time when it was being touted by people such as Donald Trump and Elon Musk as being effective against COVID-19, despite there being no evidence of this. They also found that new use of ivermectin doubled in May 2020, even though studies that suggest it can effectively treat COVID-19 have not held up under careful scrutiny.

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Demand for new houses goes through the roof

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Original article by Melissa Iaria
The Australian – Page: 20 : 1-Oct-21

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that there was 6.8 per cent growth in dwelling approvals nationwide in August. This followed an 8.6 per cent decline in July. Private-sector housing approvals rose by 3.5 per cent month-on-month and nearly 24 per cent over the year to August. Daniel Rossi from the ABS attributes the rebound in housing approvals to factors such as increased household savings, historically low interest rates and confidence in the housing market.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Union blasts ABC on management, underpay

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Original article by Miranda Ward
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 1-Oct-21

A review by the ABC has found that current and former staff employed under certain pay categories between 14 July 2014 and 20 July 2021 had been underpaid. The public broadcaster’s announcement that some staff had been underpaid has prompted an attack by the Community & Public Sector Union, which has accused the ABC of having "serious cultural problems", while urging it to rein in the poor management practices that caused the underpayment problems.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION

Major miners push for net-zero

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 1-Oct-21

Minerals Council of Australia CEO Tania Constable says the mining sector has embraced a net-zero carbon emissions target of 2050. She adds that carbon capture and storage technology will play a key role in the sector’s push to become carbon-neutral by the target date, including coal producers. Meanwhile, the federal government is set to expand the Emissions Reduction Fund and make large-scale CCS projects eligible for the carbon credit scheme.

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MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Victoria’s exit from lockdown could be delayed if grand final case spike becomes trend

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Original article by Paul Sakkal
The Age – Page: Online : 1-Oct-21

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says "some poor choices" resulted in the state reporting a record 1,438 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday. He has not ruled out pushing back the scheduled date for relaxing Melbourne’s lockdown restrictions if case numbers and hospitalisation rates continue to rise. Contact-tracing interviews suggest that about 500 of the new cases may be linked to illegal home gatherings on the AFL grand final long weekend. COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar has warned that the ‘superspreader’ event could potentially see case numbers reach the upper limit of modelling by the Burnet Institute, which formed the basis for the state government’s reopening roadmap. Victoria’s death toll from COVID-19 has risen by five, and there are now 11,018 active cases state-wide.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

ING home loan customers are the most satisfied with their bank, followed by Suncorp, Bendigo Bank and BankSA

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Sep-21

New financial data from Roy Morgan shows that ING has maintained its lead at the top of banking customer satisfaction ratings among home loan customers in mid-2021. ING’s satisfaction rating rose 2.6% points year-on-year to 91.3% in August 2021. ING was followed by Suncorp on 90.3% (up 3.9% points on a year ago), Bendigo Bank on 89.1% (up 0.1% points) and BankSA on 87.3% (up 11% points). The latest data covers the six months to August 2021; overall home loan customer satisfaction amongst Australia’s top 12 banks collectively was at 77.9% during this period. This represents a decrease of 0.5% points from a year ago when there was significant financial support being offered to hundreds of thousands of home loan customers in the form of deferred loans. CBA once again has the highest home loan customer satisfaction among the big four banks, with a rating of 78.7%. Average home loan customer satisfaction with the big four banks as a group is 75.9%. These latest banking satisfaction ratings come from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, derived from in-depth interviews with over 50,000 Australians each year.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, SUNCORP BANK, BENDIGO BANK, BANK OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA LIMITED