Media coalition seeks right to fight warrants

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Original article by Leo Shanahan
The Weekend Australian – Page: 8 : 3-Aug-19

The Right to Know Coalition has used its submission to a parliamentary inquiry into freedom of the press to call for changes to the rules governing the issuance of police warrants. The coalition, which comprises 14 media companies and organisations, argued amongst other things that the media industry should have the right to challenge warrants that are used to gather evidence against journalists, and that all such applications should be put to an independent judge in open court. The inquiry was commissioned in response to the recent media raids.

CORPORATES
RIGHT TO KNOW COALITION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS

CBA sets banking tone with profit pressure

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 5-Aug-19

The consensus of analysts polled by Bloomberg is that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia will post a 2018-19 cash profit of $8.76bn, which would be seven per cent lower than previously. Jonathan Mott of UBS estimates that CBA has about $5bn in excess capital after completing the sale of Colonial First State Global Asset Management. He says that rather than announcing a special dividend, the bank should retain some capital until the outcome of the New Zealand Capital Review is known. Mott recently downgraded his recommendation on CBA’s stock to ‘sell’. AMP and Suncorp are among the other companies that will issue earnings reports in coming days.

CORPORATES
COMMOTION SYSTEMS, BLOOMBERG LP, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL, RECKON LIMITED – ASX RKN, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP INCORPORATED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ORD MINNETT GROUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Inpex expects glut of LNG to continue

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 19 : 5-Aug-19

The spot price of LNG in Asia has fallen to $US4 per million British thermal units, compared with $US11/MMBtu in late 2018. The LNG market has been affected by factors such as increased supply and slowing global economic growth. However, Inpex CEO Takayuki Ueda is upbeat about the outlook for LNG, saying Asian demand will remain strong. Meanwhile, Inpex is considering an increase in the capacity of its Ichthys LNG project.

CORPORATES
INPEX CORPORATION, CHEVRON CORPORATION

Big Tech inquiry lauded abroad

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 25 : 5-Aug-19

The final report of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s inquiry into digital platforms has received strong support from the global media industry. News Media Alliance CEO David Chavern says the US government should hold a similar inquiry into the market power of digital players such as Google and Facebook. Meanwhile, the UK News Media Association’s deputy CEO Lynne Anderson says the federal government should act quickly on the ACCC’s recommendations.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, NEWS MEDIA ALLIANCE, NEWS MEDIA ASSOCIATION, GREAT BRITAIN. COMPETITION AND MARKETS AUTHORITY, EUCLID LAW

Gold shines on great western front

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 17 & 18 : 5-Aug-19

The Gruyere gold mine in Western Australia is slated to produce about 300,000 ounces of gold a year over a 12-year mine life. The mine is a joint venture between Australian-listed Gold Road Resources and South Africa-based Gold Fields, with the latter having been brought in to develop and operate the greenfield project. Gold Fields’ other assets in Australia include Agnew, St Ives and Granny Smith mines, and its Australasian executive vice-president Stuart Mathews has downplayed suggestions that it could offload any of them.

CORPORATES
GOLD ROAD RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX GOR, GOLD FIELDS LIMITED, REGIS RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX RRL, EVOLUTION MINING LIMITED – ASX EVN, NORTHERN STAR RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX NST, SILVER LAKE RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX SLR, RAMELIUS RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX RMS, DACIAN GOLD LIMITED – ASX DCN, GASCOYNE RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX GCY

New wage deals push 3pc pay rises

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 2-Aug-19

Data from the Attorney-General’s Department shows that public sector enterprise agreements that were approved in the March quarter included wage increases of 2.4 per cent, while wages growth under private sector agreements was 2.7 per cent. However, the data excludes 29 per cent of new agreements because they featured ‘non-quantifiable’ wage increases. They included enterprise agreements for Woolworths and David Jones employees, which link pay rises to increases in the minimum wage.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, DAVID JONES LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, BUPA AGED CARE, THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED. CENTRE FOR FUTURE WORK

Rio warns aluminium on thin ice

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 2-Aug-19

Rio Tinto has posted an underlying after-tax profit of $US4.9bn for the first half of 2019, and underlying EBITDA of $US10.25bn. The result was underpinned by its iron ore division, whose underlying EBITDA was 33 per cent higher than previously at $US7.5bn. Meanwhile. CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques has warned that the future of the Gladstone and Newcastle aluminium smelters will be in doubt unless action is taken to address the energy crisis on Australia’s east coast. Rio Tinto shareholders will receive an interim dividend of $US1.51 per share and a special dividend of $US0.61.

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RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, PACIFIC ALUMINIUM PTY LTD, OYU TOLGOI LLC

Setka power play: brutal and radical

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Original article by David Penberthy
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 2-Aug-19

The Victorian branch of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union has been accused of ‘infiltrating’ the militant union’s South Australian branch, with a view to taking it over. Aaron Cartledge was the CFMMU’s SA secretary until 2018, when he was forced out of the role he had held for six years. He notes that prosecutions against the state branch for breaching workplace laws have increased significantly since Victorian officials began exerting their influence. Victorian state secretary John Setka has not responded to Cartledge’s allegations.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, MASTER BUILDERS’ ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Trump to impose more tariffs on Chinese goods

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Original article by
bbc.com – Page: Online : 2-Aug-19

Wall Street has retreated after President Donald Trump announced via Twitter that the US government will impose a tariff of 10 per cent on an additional $300bn worth of goods imported from China. The move means that all Chinese imports will now be subject to an impost. Trump has indicated that the latest move is a short-term measure and that the tariff could progressively be increased to at least 25 per cent. The US Chamber of Commerce has warned that Trump’s latest tariff move will undermine the strong US economy.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Data laws a win for bank customers

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Original article by Supratim Adhikari, Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 20 : 2-Aug-19

Australian Banking Association CEO Anna Bligh says open banking will boost competition and will be good for bank customers. Open banking becomes possible following the passage of the federal government’s Consumer Data Right legislation, which will make it easier for customers to change financial institutions. MoneyPlace CEO Stuart Stoyan says open banking will lead to the elimination of poor products and services, and that the big banks will actually be one of its biggest beneficiaries, despite their misgivings about the open banking reforms.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION, MONEYPLACE PTY LTD