Worker scheme ‘rife with abuse’: Inquiry
CANBERRA, AAP – Supermarket shelves are filled with fruit and vegetables but the people who harvest them are sometimes being paid just $100 for a 64-hour work week. On Wednesday, seasonal workers detailed exploitation at the hands of employers approved to run migrant worker programs by the federal government. Yet the departments responsible for facilitating…
Aust shares not troubled by RBA rates talk
SYDNEY, AAP – The Australian share market has closed higher as investors overlooked the Reserve Bank governor’s comment that higher interest rates were plausible in 2022. The market opened higher on Wednesday and stayed that way after Philip Lowe told the National Press Club more about Tuesday’s decision not to forecast a rate hike. However,…
Emissions-busting aviation yet to take off
CANBERRA, AAP – Aviation will be one of the most difficult sectors to cut emissions unless governments support new technology, experts warn. Qantas was one of the first airlines to commit to net zero emissions by 2050, and capping net emissions at 2019 levels. Now 31 of 60 major passenger airlines have made the 2050…
No reason to raise rates like others: Lowe
CANBERRA, AAP – Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe says Australia is closer to full employment and achieving the inflation target then he had anticipated, but has reiterated the central bank will remain patient before lifting the cash rate. Dr Lowe addressed the National Press Club on Wednesday, the day after the RBA’s first board meeting…
ASX weighed down by Meta disappointment
SYDNEY, AAP – Shares were trading a little lower on the ASX after Facebook’s owner reported a fall in earnings and wiped the momentum for global markets. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 17.2 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 7070.5 points at 1200 AEDT. The All Ordinaries index was lower by 29.9 points, or…
Jobless rate may drop below 4 pct soon
CANBERRA, AAP – Scott Morrison wants to see the unemployment rate below four per cent in the second half of this year, but Employment Minister Stuart Robert says it could come sooner. As of December the jobless rate already stood at 13-year low of 4.2 per cent. The prime minister, just months out from a…
Tesla recalls 54,000 cars over software
DETROIT, AP – Tesla is recalling nearly 54,000 cars and SUVs because their “Full Self-Driving” software lets them roll through stop signs without coming to a complete halt. Documents posted on Tuesday by US safety regulators say that Tesla will disable the feature with an over-the-internet software update. The “rolling stop” feature allows vehicles to…
Wall St higher, overcomes choppy trading
NEW YORK CITY, RAW – Another seesaw session ended with the Wall Street benchmarks in positive territory and the energy index at a record high, although trading reflected investor uncertainty about how to play the current market. Recent sessions have been choppy, as the prospect of an aggressive rate-hike campaign by the US Federal Reserve…
RBA’s Lowe to flesh out thinking on rates
CANBERRA, AAP – Philip Lowe will get the opportunity to explain his thinking on the outlook for interest rates when he delivers a speech on Wednesday. The Reserve Bank of Australia governor stuck to the line of being “patient”, rather than lifting the cash rate from a record low 0.1 per cent, in a statement…
Even ‘refuge’ reefs won’t survive 1.5C
BRISBANE, AAP – New research shows global warming of 1.5degC will be catastrophic for almost all coral reefs worldwide, even sites scientists once thought of as refuges. The study is a dramatic escalation in expected outcomes and sobering news for economies like Australia that rely on reefs to support key industries including fishing and tourism….
