Social media ban 📵

G’day.  

Welcome to Point Blank. We’ve got a solid line up of insights and news for this Friday eve. Grab a large Flat White and enjoy the quick read. ☕️

 💼 Practice Points

• In a five-to-two ruling today, the High Court struck down a federal law requiring former immigration detainees to wear ankle bracelets and follow curfews, declaring it unconstitutional. The former detainees—some with serious criminal records—are no longer required to comply with these measures. The Albanese government is in full damage control, scrambling to pass new laws to sidestep the High Court’s decision.

• The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has issued a joint statement urging social media companies to comply with its obligations to protect publicly accessible personal data on their platforms from data scraping—an illegal practice where bots harvest user information without consent.

• ACCC has cleared the $8.8bn merger between pharmacy wholesaler Sigma Healthcare and retail chain Chemist Warehouse. With the deal subject to court enforceable undertakings, the decision provides valuable insight into the regulator’s approach to competition concerns. Sigma’s undertakings include not hindering franchisees from terminating their franchise agreements, not restricting the collection and use of confidential data from Sigma’s wholesale customers for 3 years, and Sigma remaining a participating wholesaler for at least 5 years.

 📢 Talking Points

• As we all know, the US election ended with a sweeping Trump victory with the Republicans even taking the Senate. Global markets and policy continue to price what Trump’s world will look like. Trump’s tariffs on China may have an ‘adverse effect’ on Australia, says RBA assistant governor. But only time will tell. So here’s some other things to talk about 👇

• Australia leads the charge with a comprehensive age restriction on social media use. The Albanese government will ban under 16-year-olds from using social media platforms like Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat. The PM said: “Social media is doing social harm to our young people, and I’m calling time on it”. For a longer read, former High Court CJ Robert French conducted an early report on what the ban would look like. Here’s the gist:

  • ID verification will be required

  • The onus will sit entirely with the platforms for compliance - penalties can apply for breaches

  • There’s a 12-month lead time before the ban takes effect

  • There’s no exception for parental consent

  • The Government will conduct a review of the ban at a later date

• The first direct clash between Ukrainian and North Korean troops marks a dangerous escalation in the conflict, with Ukraine expecting a significant increase in North Korean deployments to the frontlines.

• Private jet emissions have skyrocketed by nearly 50% in four years, as the rich continue to avoid commercial flights—proving that the 1% really know how to leave a carbon footprint. Australia’s not immune, ranking eighth globally for private jet ownership, though the US still takes the jet-set crown.

 🏦 The Treasury

• Trump’s win has hit global markets in different ways. The US S&P 500 hit record highs, and US bond yields jumped. Tesla was a clear favourite, with a 14.8% gain. Bitcoin edges a 10% gain overnight, while gold took a hit. The US dollar also did well, which lowered our Aussie dollar performance slightly.

 🤝 Deal Room

• Just four weeks after snapping up a 50.1% stake in renewables player Lightsource BP, BP is already eyeing the exit, signalling an uptick in renewables activity. Word on the street is that BP is looking to offload its majority stake to wipe out the debt tied to Lightsource’s Aussie projects.

• The UK competition regulator will likely approve the $19bn Vodafone-Three UK merger, backflipping on its stance that four mobile operators are needed to keep prices down. Nine years ago, another deal was blocked for that reason. But with Labour in power, the new rule seems to be boost infrastructure and public services, and we’ll sign off on it.

• With the US Federal Reserve primed to cut rates and the US election result settled, a flurry of deals could be in the works. Private equity is likely to lead the charge, flipping old assets and reinvesting the cash, while mining giants like BHP, Anglo and Rio will continue to pursue lithium and coal deals.

🏗 Sector Specific

Diggers

• Fortescue's Twiggy Forrest has a "she'll be right" response to the threat of a US-China trade war. He’s confident China will offset US tariffs with domestic stimulus, keeping Australian iron ore demand strong. Meanwhile, others say the Trump victory will shake up the global energy market, likely undoing the big renewables push and the US rush for battery tech that took off under Biden.

• The Future Fund, with an $88m stake in MinRes, is asking the MinRes board for more deets on the behaviour of its MD Chris Ellison, while CGI Glass Lewis wants the board to name and shame other former execs who improperly benefited from the company.

Fin

• The Finance Department has kicked the can down the road on whether PwC Australia can resume bidding for government contracts, delaying a decision until at least mid-2025 and further hamstringing PwC’s ability to start rebuilding its rep.

Tech & Media

• Trump’s not the only winner from the US election. Fox News and the New York Times have cashed in big on political ads. Fox saw its revenue jump $472 million to $3.6bn in the three months leading up to September, while the New York Times added 260k paid digital subscribers and posted a 7% revenue bump.

• It’s not all smooth sailing for the Murdoch Empire. Several News Corp investors are pushing to scrap the company’s dual-class share structure, which gives the Murdoch family disproportionate control—despite owning just 14% of the equity, the family holds 41% of the voting rights.

Retail & Real Estate

• Mosaic Brands, the name behind Aussie mums' go-to fashion labels, is staring down the barrel of potential liquidation as it undergoes a major restructure. The plan? Focus on keeping profitable brands like Katies, Rivers, and Noni B afloat, while cutting loose Rockmans and Crossroads.

• With data centres now the hot trend, warehouse and logistics giant Goodman Group has quietly jumped on the bandwagon, developing its own. The result? A $25bn boost to its market cap since unveiling the plans to investors last year.

🏘️ Word on the Street 

• Judge goes rogue - in a costs ruling, District Court Judge Whitford claimed sexual assault cases are often pursued without a realistic chance of conviction. After a complaint was filed by NSW Chief Prosecutor Sally Downing SC, the NSW Judicial Commission found that the judge’s remarks were a deliberate attempt to criticise the prosecution and influence prosecutorial decisions, however decided they didn’t quite justify any formal action against Whitford.

• HSF clocks 2 new energy partner leads, with partner Anthony Patten now sitting as global sector co-lead partner, energy, and partner Peter Davis as head of energy, Australia.