Isuzu UTE wins Best of the Best Award

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Jun-21

Vehicle manufacturer Isuzu UTE has been named the winner of the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Award – ‘Best of the Best’ – taking the mantle from fellow car manufacturer Lexus. The ‘Best of the Best’ award goes to the company that achieved the highest customer satisfaction of all 40 winners in the Annual Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards. Isuzu UTE also won the prestigious ‘Best of the Best’ Award in 2018 and their victory this year was built on the back of seven monthly victories in the Car Manufacturer of the Year category, including six wins in a row from March to August 2020. Isuzu UTE came out just on top of 2019 winner Lexus (five monthly victories) Other car manufacturers to perform exceptionally well in 2020 included Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and Suzuki. Isuzu UTE averaged customer satisfaction of an exceptional 94.92% in 2020 to beat Liquor Store of the Year First Choice Liquor by the barest of margins in second place on an average of 94.88%.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, ISUZU UTE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Labor, unions to fight Morrison on IR push

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 9-Jun-21

The Australian Workers’ Union will oppose any renewed attempt by the federal government to introduce greenfield workplace agreements. Such agreements were included in the omnibus industrial relations bill that was rejected by the Senate earlier in 2021. AWU national secretary Daniel Walton contends that major projects have been approved without greenfield agreements being in place, and the government’s proposal would merely put downward pressure on wages. Shadow industrial relations minister Tony Burke has also accused the government of pushing for wage growth restraint.

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AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

PM calls for back-up over China

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 9-Jun-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will use a Perth USAsia Centre speech on 9 June to call for an overhaul of the World Trade Organisation amid the growing trade tensions with China. Amongst other things, he will urge the reinstatement of the WTO’s binding dispute settlement system, arguing that it is the most practical way to address "economic coercion". Morrison will shortly attend the Group of Seven leaders’ summit in the UK.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION, GROUP OF SEVEN (G-7)

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence drops 0.7pts to 110.7 after Melbourne’s lockdown is extended into a second week

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Jun-21

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 0.7pts to 110.7 on June 5/6,after Melbourne’s lockdown was extended into a second week. Consumer Confidence is now just below the 2021 weekly average of 111.3, but it is 13.7pts higher than the same week a year ago (97.0). Now 29% (down 2ppts) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 26% (unchanged) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. In addition, 40% (unchanged) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, and 14% (down 2ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Some 20% (unchanged) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 18% (up 3ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 41% (down 1ppt) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 25% (up 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

New Victorian hotel quarantine failure

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Original article by Mitch Clarke
Herald Sun – Page: 5 : 9-Jun-21

Genomic sequencing has confirmed that the outbreak of the Delta variant of COVID-19 in west Melbourne has been traced to a returned traveller who arrived from Sri Lanka on 8 May and tested positive for the virus on the same day. The man in his 40s was released from hotel quarantine on 23 May, and health authorities are trying to determine how the virus was passed on the west Melbourne family of four who subsequently holidayed in New South Wales. Acting Premier James Merlino says the latest breach of the state’s hotel quarantine program will not affect the schedule for ending Melbourne’s lockdown. There have now been eight hotel quarantine leaks in Victoria since the pandemic began.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Mega projects have a future: Woodside

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Original article by Perry Williams, Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 9-Jun-21

The Western Australian government has approved Woodside Petroleum’s proposed expansion of the Pluto LNG project, subject to a number of conditions. Woodside will be required to reduce carbon emissions at the LNG plant by 30 per cent by 2030, while the project must become carbon-neutral by 2050. The expanded plant will process gas from the Scarborough gas field; Woodside’s interim CEO Meg O’Neill contend that the company can both develop Scarborough and meet its carbon reduction targets, given that the gas field contains almost no carbon dioxide.

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WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL

Melbourne lockdown set to end, but travel restricted

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Original article by Shannon Deery, Tom Minear, Mitch Clarke
Herald Sun – Page: 6 : 9-Jun-21

The COVID-19 lockdown in metropolitan Melbourne is expected to end as scheduled at 11:59pm on 10 June, although some restrictions will remain in place. The state government is finalising the details, but Melburnians will not be permitted to travel more than 25km from their homes, while cafes and restaurants will be limited to 50 customers at a time and outdoor public gatherings will be restricted to 10 people. Victoria has recorded two new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, although both are linked to existing clusters; there are currently 92 active cases statewide.

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Movement in the Melbourne CBD plunges to below 20% of pre-COVID averages as the city experiences a fourth lockdown

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Jun-21

Special analysis of movement data in Australia’s Capital City CBDs since the COVID-19 pandemic began shows a plunge in movement in the Melbourne CBD in late May after the city entered a fourth lockdown on May 28. The average 7-day movement level in the Melbourne CBD was at only 19% of pre-COVID-19 averages at the end of May, around half the movement level in the Sydney CBD (38%). This is the first time average 7-day movement levels in the Melbourne CBD have plunged below 20% since the short five-day ‘circuit-breaker’ lockdown in Victoria from February 13-17. Movement levels have declined in other Capital City CBDs during May, despite no significant outbreaks or lockdowns in other cities since a three-day lockdown in Greater Perth in late April. Looking around Australia the Adelaide CBD is again the stand-out with movement levels sitting at 65% of pre-COVID averages in late May, ahead of the Perth CBD (59%). Movement levels in the Brisbane CBD (52%) and Hobart CBD (49%) are at around half of their pre-COVID-19 averages. Roy Morgan has partnered with leading technology innovator UberMedia to aggregate data from tens of thousands of mobile devices to assess the movements of Australians as we deal with the restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, UBERMEDIA

Mortgage and rental stress worsen in May

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Original article by Nila Sweeney
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 40 : 9-Jun-21

Data from Digital Finance Analytics shows that 41.3 per cent of households in New South Wales were in mortgage distress in May, compared with just 38.2 per cent in April. Likewise, 56.8 per cent of households in Tasmania were in mortgage distress. The northwest Sydney suburb of Stanhope Gardens had the nation’s highest level of mortgage stress in May, at 91.5 per cent. Meanwhile, the Northern Territory was the only jurisdiction that did not record an increase in rental stress during the month.

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DIGITAL FINANCE ANALYTICS

Our biggest M&A boom: $83b and counting

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 35 : 9-Jun-21

Some market watchers believe that Australia’s mergers and acquisitions activity in 2021 could top the record $US134bn worth of deals in 2011. Data from Dealogic shows that some $US64.3bn ($82.8bn) worth of M&A deals have been announced in the year to date, compared with just $US56.9bn for the same period in 2011. The surge in M&A activity is being driven by factors such as strong balance sheets and access to low-cost debt, while the boards of target companies have become more willing to engage with suitors following a rebound in valuations in the wake of the pandemic.

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DEALOGIC (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD