Easter petrol price hike. Used car prices lift.
Easter petrol price hike; Used car prices lift Record resources & energy exports Petrol Prices; Used vehicle market; Resources & energy exports Fuel prices: Last week the national average price of unleaded petrol fell by 0.6 cents a litre to 137.9 cents per litre (c/l) according to the Australian Institute of Petroleum. But retail unleaded…
Asian stocks set to rise on vaccine hopes
WASHINGTON, D. C., RAW – Asian markets are set to open higher on Friday after US equities rose as investors weighed the outlook for economic growth and inflation and welcomed progress on COVID vaccination rollouts. “Market sentiment remains fairly bullish, and volatility, by post-pandemic standards, is remarkable low,” said IG Markets analyst, Kyle Rodda. “At…
Crown under investigation for wage theft
CANBERRA, AAP – Casino giant Crown has admitted it could have underpaid more than 200 workers around $2 million as part of an ongoing wage theft investigation. The Fair Work Ombudsman on Wednesday confirmed at Senate estimates it started investigating the company about one year ago after Crown self-reported. The ombudsman’s enforcement director Stephen Ronson…
Bankable coal study not needed despite $4m
CANBERRA, AAP – Taxpayers might not get anything in return for $4 million granted to a company who want to see if it is a good idea for a new coal-fired power station to be built in north Queensland. Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources senior official Rachel Parry conceded it was okay if…
Victoria’s Crown royal commission to begin
MELBOURNE, AAP – A royal commission into Crown casino’s operations in Victoria is set to begin. The inquiry, to be chaired by former Federal Court judge Raymond Finkelstein QC, will hold an opening hearing on Wednesday at 10am. It is expected to run for an hour and will be live-streamed. The inquiry will look at…
Aussies tested again
Aussies tested again Consumer confidence; CBA credit/debit card lending East Coast floods: The Insurance Council of Australia has “declared a Catastrophe for large parts of NSW following the devastating storms and flooding of the last few days.” Consumer confidence: The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence rating fell by 0.5 per cent to 110.4 (long-run average…
Post tweaks its company credit card rules
CANBERRA, AAP – Australia Post has lowered the limits on its corporate credit cards following its luxury watch scandal that resulted in its former boss resigning. Christine Holgate quit as chief executive officer in November last year after it was revealed she spent almost $20,000 on Cartier watches to reward senior executives at the government-owned…
Economic review: A hard bump ahead?
The vast arsenal of fiscal, monetary and legal measures used by Australian governments to offset the COVID-induced economic crisis have worked well. They did not prevent a recession (popularly defined as two quarters of negative GDP growth) but things could have been much worse. What is particularly interesting is that the expected consequences have not…
ASIC chair Shipton awaits replacement hunt
CANBERRA, AAP – Australia’s corporate regulator is pleased to be back in the chair but has remained mum on who might replace him. Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman James Shipton was in January cleared of misconduct after an expenses investigation, but will still resign. An investigation made no adverse findings against him over $118,557…
Aust shares down, AUD rises on job figures
SYDNEY, AAP – Australia’s share market was a little lower, while the Aussie dollar picked up after a big drop in the unemployment rate in February. The S&P/ASX200 benchmark index was lower by 16.3 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 6778.9 at 1200 AEDT on Thursday. The All Ordinaries was lower by 13.4 points, or…
