Aussie robots to build world’s solar farms
CANBERRA, AAP – Already making blocks of panels that roll out like a solar accordion, engineers at 5B say robots can build the world’s solar farms even faster, safely and at lower cost. The company says its flagship product, the prefabricated and portable “Maverick”, can already deploy up to 10 times faster and generate up…
ASX manages gains after China rate cut
SYDNEY, AAP – A late rally has helped the Australian share market to modest gains while losses for materials shares prevented greater improvement. The market improved on Monday after China’s central bank cut loan rates following weak GDP data. Most ASX share categories were higher but a loss of almost one per cent for materials…
China GDP grows faster than expected
BEIJING, RAW – China’s economy grew four per cent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, faster than expected but its weakest expansion in one-and-a-half years, National Bureau of Statistics data shows. Gross domestic product had been forecast to expand 3.6 per cent from a year earlier, according to a Reuters poll of analysts,…
Asian shares brace for China data
SYDNEY, RAW – Asian share markets are off to a cautious start as the US earnings season looms large and a slew of Chinese economic data is expected to show the deadening effect of coronavirus restrictions on activity. A holiday in the United States made for thin trading, but that did not stop Brent crude…
Wesfarmers H1 has Kmart sales setback
SYDNEY, AAP – Wesfarmers is on course for first-half earnings which will satisfy investors but the coronavirus has crippled Kmart and Target. The group on Monday reported first-half net profit after tax should fall between $1.18 billion and $1.24 billion, which would meet investors’ expectations. The earnings are due on February 17. Bunnings and Wesfarmers’…
Gas-fired robbery cheats Aussies: report
CANBERRA, AAP – A “gas-fired robbery” is underway in an offshore heist that is cheating Australians out of a much-needed tax windfall, a report says. “What if you gave your house to a real estate agent and trusted them to sell it and they gave it away to a mate for free – it’s that…
Barnaby Joyce, partner Vikki engaged
CANBERRA, AAP – Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is set to marry partner Vikki Campion after the federal election due by May. Mr Joyce popped the question to Ms Campion, and received a positive response, at a restaurant in Coffs Harbour on the NSW north coast last weekend. “(She) went to the bathroom and I…
‘Significant concerns’ at RAT prices: ACCC
SYDNEY, AAP – The consumer watchdog is “significantly concerned” about the skyrocketing prices of COVID-19 rapid antigen tests. The ACCC said at the “extreme end” it had received reports of RATs costing up to $500 for two tests through online marketplaces, and more than $70 per test through convenience stores, service stations and independent supermarkets….
Election battlelines drawn over tax
CANBERRA, AAP – Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has returned from his COVID-19 sick bed to boast of his government’s record on tax cuts, which he sees as a major point of difference with Labor as the country goes to the polls this year. But shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers accused Mr Frydenberg of launching a scare campaign…
Woolies suspends supplier after union row
MELBOURNE, AAP – Woolworths has suspended arrangements with one of its main suppliers after Australia’s peak union body claimed the abattoir made COVID-positive employees keep on working. ACTU president Michele O’Neil on Saturday called on the supermarket giant to take action after Teys Australia workers in South Australia were directed to wear coloured hairnets to…
