Get vaxxed or leave, Qantas chief warns

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 19-Aug-21

Qantas is the latest Australian company – and the largest so far – to require mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for its staff. CEO Alan Joyce contends that vaccination is necessary for the safety of the airline’s employees, customers and the destinations to which it flies. Joyce has advised that all frontline staff must be vaccinated by 15 November, and he has warned that those who do not have valid medical grounds for refusing a vaccination will need to look at career options in other industries. A survey of Qantas employees has found that 75 per cent of them support mandatory vaccination.

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QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

Blow to Packer as NSW commits to casino shake-up

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Original article by Lachlan Moffet Gray
The Australian – Page: 13 & 18 : 19-Aug-21

The New South Wales government has advised that it will implement all 19 recommendations made by the Bergin inquiry into Crown Resorts. Amongst other things, former judge Patricia Bergin recommended the creation of an independent casino regulator and a ban on individuals or businesses owning more than 10 per cent of a casino operator without regulatory approval. This is likely to require James Packer to reduce his 37 per cent stake in Crown, while it may also make it harder for him to sell his stake to potential buyers of the group.

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CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN

Woodside investors cautious on deal

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 16 : 19-Aug-21

Allan Gray Australia MD Simon Mawhinney says there are a lot of "unknowns" with regard to Woodside Petroleum’s proposed deal to merge with the petroleum division of BHP. He says the biggest question is just what Woodside investors will gain in return for giving BHP shareholders a 48 per cent stake in the oil and gas producer. Meanwhile, Woodside has posted an underlying net profit after tax of $US354m for the first half of 2021, and revenue of $US2.5bn.

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WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Elliott lurks as BHP slumps on unification plan

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 19-Aug-21

BHP’s proposal to scrap its dual-listed structure has had a lukewarm reaction from Australian investors, with its local shares falling by seven per cent on 18 August. In contrast, BHP’s London-listed shares rose by four per cent in response to the proposal. Don Hamson of Plato Investment Management says this indicates that the Australian-listed shares’ traditional premium is being erased. BHP CEO Mike Henry contends that shifting to a primary listing in Australia will make the resources giant more efficient and agile. Activist hedge fund Elliott Management has previously pushed for the dual-listed structure to be abolished.

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BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, PLATO INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED, ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION

Nine, News Corp resist Porter bid to protect his reputation

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Original article by Michaela Whitbourn
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 19-Aug-21

Industry Minister Christian Porter recently filed an official notice of discontinuance of his defamation action against the ABC, several months after the parties reached a settlement. Porter is now seeking a court order to prevent News Corp Australia and Nine Entertainment from using 27 pages of the ABC’s defence document that have been officially removed from the court’s public record. The media groups had previously been given access to the ABC’s full 37-page defence; Porter and his lawyers will argue that the media companies cannot use the redacted sections for any purpose other than their previous involvement in the defamation case.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE, ENERGY AND RESOURCES

ACCC under fire as ANZ cartel charges reduced

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Original article by Charlotte Grieve
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 19-Aug-21

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is under scrutiny over its role in prosecuting a cartel case against the ANZ Bank, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank. The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions recently dropped all charges against Citi Australia’s former head Stephen Roberts, plus a number of charges against the other five bank executives involved in the case. However, the DPP wants to re-interview JP Morgan bankers who were given immunity from prosecution by the ACCC in return for providing evidence in the case. Sources have claimed that the JP Morgan witnesses are "fast becoming discredited".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

NSW to hit 2200 cases a day if virus continues to spread at current rate

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Original article by Lucy Carroll, Lucy Cormack
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 19-Aug-21

A record 633 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases have been reported in New South Wales in the last 24 hours; at least 92 of these people were active in the community while they were infectious. The state’s reproductive rate is currently 1.3, and Premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned that case numbers will keep rising until this falls below 1. University of Melbourne epidemiologist James McCaw says daily case numbers in NSW could potentially rise to around 2,000 within a month, given that there are now more than 3,800 mystery cases. The state’s death toll from the current outbreak has risen by three, to 59.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

ALP (54%) increases lead over L-NP (46%) – as Melbourne and Sydney lockdowns continue

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 19-Aug-21

ALP support is at 54% (up 0.5% points since early August) cf. L-NP on 46% (down 0.5% points) on a two-party preferred basis after Melbourne’s sixth lockdown was extended, Sydney’s lockdown was extended to the whole State of NSW and the ACT entered lockdown for the first time in over a year. This is the largest two-party preferred lead for the ALP since the bushfires crisis of early 2020. If a Federal Election were held now the ALP would be elected with the largest share of the vote since the 1977 Federal Election won by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser with 54.6% of the vote. Voting analysis by State shows the ALP leading on a two-party preferred basis in Australia’s two largest States of Victoria and NSW and also holding leads in WA, SA and Tasmania. The LNP leads only in Queensland. Interviewing for the Roy Morgan Poll was conducted over the weekends of August 7/8 & 14/15, with a nationally representative cross-section of 2,747 Australian electors using a combination of telephone and online interviews.

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

ANZ acts to halt fall in home lending

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 17 : 19-Aug-21

The ANZ Bank has revealed that its home loan book fell by $300m during the June quarter, to $280bn. Mortgage lending grew by $16.2bn for the period, but there was a $16.5bn increase in customers paying off their loans amid record low interest rates. Meanwhile, the bank has disclosed that 1,300 of its mortgage customers were still on deferred repayment plans during the quarter, which equates to just 0.2 per cent of its mortgage book. Likewise, only 50 business loans were deferred during the quarter, compared with 24,000 in 2020-21.

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AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

NSW in Covid limbo

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Original article by Alexandra Smith, Lucy Cormack, Mary Ward
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 11-Aug-21

New South Wales has recorded 356 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours; at least 97 of these people were active in the community while they were infectious. The state’s toll from the current outbreak has risen to 32 following another three deaths. A fourth person has died after he contracted the coronavirus while overseas and tested positive in hotel quarantine. Meanwhile, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has rejected calls for stricter lockdown measures, such as a curfew or a ‘ring of steel’ around Sydney, and flagged the possibility that restrictions could be eased at the end of August if the state achieves its vaccination targets. However, chief health officer Kerry Chant says it is too soon to be thinking about easing restrictions, emphasising the need to reduce daily case numbers.

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES. MINISTRY OF HEALTH