Santos secures licence for Dorado oil find
CANBERRA, AAP – A major new oil project off Western Australia is being hailed as an important step for the nation’s oil security. Federal Resources Minister Keith Pitt announced on Tuesday that Santos and its partner Carnarvon Energy now have a production licence covering the Dorado oil field, about 150km north of Port Hedland. Two…
Farmers lay out their election demands
CANBERRA, AAP – Farmers want more than $11 billion invested in rural Australia and have compiled a list of five priority areas they say need to be addressed for agriculture to thrive. The list of demands will be outlined by the National Farmers Federation at their two-day national conference starting in Canberra on Tuesday. Among…
Construction sector extends its recovery
CANBERRA, AAP – Australia’s construction sector continues to grow in the face of growing price pressures and difficulties in attracting and retaining skilled workers. The Australian Industry Group/Housing Industry Association performance of construction index rose by a further 3.1 points in March to 56.5, building on the recovery from a sharp fall during the summer…
Climate report a ‘file of shame’ -UN chief
NEW YORK, DPA – United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has blasted politicians and businesses in the wake of a grave climate crisis assessment. “It is a file of shame, cataloguing the empty pledges that put us firmly on track towards an unliveable world,” Guterres said of the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)…
Tech boost Wall Street, Twitter surges
NEW YORK CITY, RAW – Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Monday, boosted by megacap tech and growth stocks and a surge in Twitter after Elon Musk revealed his stake in the company, amid cautionary signals in the bond market and talk of more sanctions against Russia over Ukraine. Gains were relatively concentrated as the…
ATO torches $52 million in illicit tobacco
SYDNEY, AAP – Nearly 280,000 kilograms of illicit tobacco have gone up in smoke with authorities seizing the hefty haul in two separate busts in regional NSW. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) snatched and destroyed the illicit tobacco, equivalent to the weight of approximately 14 bulldozers. Its total street value is estimated to be more…
ASX ends above 7500pts, rates call ahead
SYDNEY, AAP – Investors gently pushed the ASX200 to more than 7500 points a day before the Reserve Bank explains whether the federal budget may affect inflation and the chance of higher rates. The market closed a little more than 100 points from its record of August, helped by the heavyweight category of materials shares…
Rare earths investment refines reputation
CANBERRA, AAP – Australia’s capacity and status as a trusted supplier of the world’s critical minerals is getting a $1.25 billion boost. The federal loan approved on Monday for Australian company Iluka Resources will be used to build Australia’s first integrated rare earths refinery in Western Australia. The refinery will produce praseodymium, dysprosium, neodymium and…
Fed agency can invest ‘beyond renewables’
CANBERRA, AAP – The Australian Renewable Energy Agency can invest “beyond pure renewables” under new regulations made on the eve of a federal election. Equivalent regulations have been disallowed multiple times by parliament’s upper house, stopping the Morrison government’s previous attempts to direct the agency to bankroll new uses for fossil fuels. “The regulations are…
Aust shares in sight of record high
SYDNEY, AAP – Australia’s share market has crept up to within 100 points of its record high as investors appear unconcerned by a Reserve Bank rates decision later on Tuesday. A broad-based rally on Wall Street overnight helped the local market move higher on Tuesday to be within range of the ASX200 record high of…
