[SPACE

Australian journalist Cheng Lei released from Chinese prison, arrives in Melbourne

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Original article by Georgia Roberts
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 12-Oct-23

Australian journalist Cheng Lei has returned to Australia more than three years after being arrested in China, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying he had known about her release for some time. Cheng was working at Chinese state-owned media CGTN when she was arrested in August 2020; she was accused of "supplying state secrets overseas", an allegation she denied. Albanese said he had spoken to her on Wednesday, noting she had been happily reunited with her family in Melbourne. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday that Cheng had served a sentence of two years and 11 months, and was released after completing it

CORPORATES

IMPRISONMENT – CHINA,[SPACE]DETENTION OF PERSONS – CHINA]

‘Hell of a journey’: campaign run ends after 14,500km

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 12-Oct-23

Former Liberal MP Pat Farmer has finished a 14,500-kilometre run around Australia in support of an Indigenous Voice to parliament. Starting his run in Tasmania in April, Farmer arrived at Uluru on Wednesday, where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles were among those to greet him. Farmer said the run "was a hell of a journey", while Albanese described him "as an absolute inspiration". Farmer spoke in favour of Indigenous constitutional recognition in towns and cities along his run, while he referred to the voice referendum on 14 October as a "turning point in Australia’s history"

CORPORATES

ATHLETES – AUSTRALIA]

Origin Energy shareholders await sweeteners from Brookfield, EIG consortium

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Original article by Colin Packham
The Australian – Page: Online : 12-Oct-23

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission having approved Brookfield and EIG’s $18.7 billion bid for Origin Energy, Brookfield and EIG must now persuade 75 per cent of Origin’s shareholders to endorse the deal. Two of its major shareholders have already stated that the bid is too low, while its current share price suggest investors expect an improved offer. When Brookfield and EIG made its offer earlier in the year, its bid valued Origin at $8.85 a share, but they closed on Wednesday at $9.21.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION,[SPACE]BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT INCORPORATED,[SPACE]EIG ACQUISITION CORPORATION,[SPACE]ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS – AUSTRALIA]

Footy fans for NRL and AFL helped drive strong growth in hospitality sales in September

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: Online : 12-Oct-23

The Commonwealth Bank Household Spending Insights Index has found that five of the 12 underlying categories it tracks saw spending declines in September, including recreation and household goods, while annual spending growth came in at 1.8 per cent. The hospitality sector enjoyed strong growth, with fans of the leading football codes the NRL and the AFL spending up big during the month, with an exciting AFL final series and Collingwood’s exciting grand final helping Victoria to record the joint biggest spending growth among all the states.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY – AUSTRALIA,[SPACE]ECONOMIC INDICATORS – AUSTRALIA]

Liontown shares slump as Rinehart flexes muscle

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 12-Oct-23

Shares in Liontown Resources fell from around $3 to $2.90 during intra-day trade on Wednesday, with the fall coming after Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting announced it had increased its stake in the lithium explorer to 19.9 per cent. With $3 being the price at which battery metals company Albemarle has ‘pitched’ its $6.6 billion takeover offer for Liontown, the fall in its share price was seen as a sign that investors see little chance in its bid succeeding. It may now have to abandon its offer, or work in partnership with Rinehart.

CORPORATES
LIONTOWN RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX LTR,[SPACE]HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD,[SPACE]ALBERMARLE CORPORATION

MINING CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA,[SPACE]INSTITUTIONAL INVESTMENTS – AUSTRALIA,[SPACE]MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS – AUSTRALIA]

Goyder to go in Qantas board exodus

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Original article by Ayesha de Kretser
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 19 : 12-Oct-23

Qantas shares closed 2.65 per cent higher on Wednesday after it was announced that Richard Goyder would be stepping down as its chairman prior to its 2024 AGM, while fellow directors Maxine Brenner and Jacqueline Hey will leave its board in February. The Australian Shareholders Association and the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors both welcomed Goyder’s announcement, which comes after a number of controversies at the airline, including the August announcement by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that it was suing it for alleged deceptive and misleading conduct.

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QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN,[SPACE]AUSTRALIAN SHAREHOLDERS’ ASSOCIATION,[SPACE]AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SUPERANNUATION INVESTORS INCORPORATED,[SPACE]AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

DIRECTORS OF CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA – APPOINTMENTS AND RETIREMENTS]

Mogul’s son shut out of Endeavour board meetings

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Original article by Simon Evans,[SPACE]Carrie LaFrenz
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 12-Oct-23

Endeavour Group director Bruce Mathieson jnr claims a meeting of its board that approved a letter to shareholders rejecting criticisms by his father was illegally convened. His father is pubs billionaire Bruce Mathieson Snr, who owns 15 per cent of the hotel and liquor chain company, and who is threatening legal action against it if he is not able to inspect certain documents concerning Bill Wavish’s nomination as an Endeavour director. For its part, Endeavour stated it was appropriate that a representative of the Bruce Mathieson Group not be part of a meeting that concerned its response to a campaign against it based on "selective and incomplete information"; that campaign is being run and financed by the Mathieson family.

CORPORATES
ENDEAVOUR GROUP LIMITED – ASX EDV

LIQUOR STORES – AUSTRALIA,[SPACE]DIRECTORS OF CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA]

Slowdown in home building costs to help ease inflation

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Original article by Nila Sweeney
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 12-Oct-23

CoreLogic’s Cordell Construction Cost Index for the September quarter shows that there was just 0.5 per cent growth in construction costs, making it the lowest since 2015. CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless says that growth in construction costs could ease further in coming months, which could lead to lower inflation; he notes that housing has the biggest weighting in inflation measurement and the cost of new residential owner occupied homes is the largest component of the housing segment.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

HOUSE CONSTRUCTION – ECONOMIC ASPECTS – AUSTRALIA,[SPACE]INFLATION (FINANCE) – AUSTRALIA]

Moves to cut apprentice dropout rate

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 4-Oct-23

Federal Skills Minister Brendan O’Connor has told the National Press Club that a review is underway into how high dropout rates for apprentices can be addressed. He said low pay was one reason why many apprentices dropped out, while the review would also look at issues such as how they were welcomed in the workplace and mistreatment by co-workers. He also said that work was in hand to address the perception that TAFE and private vocational education providers were inferior to universities.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA)

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION – AUSTRALIA]

Ethnic swing away from PM could bring down Voice

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 4-Oct-23

Australian Development Strategies chairman John Black says there was a significant change in voting intentions against Labor by Asian Australians between the Aston byelection in April and the Fadden byelection in July. He says the shift away from Labor by Chinese and Indian Australian voters could be critical to the result of the Voice referendum, and could see it defeated. Black, who is a former Labor senator, says the party has previously relied on multicultural voters to bolster its support in outer suburban areas, so it would be worried by their apparent change in voting intentions.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES PTY LTD,[SPACE]AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

REFERENDUM – AUSTRALIA,[SPACE]VOTING – AUSTRALIA]