The Nationals launch a regional listening tour to find out how to win next election

The Nationals leader David Littleproud has launched a national regional listening tour to listen and learn from regional voters, particularly those who left the party at this year’s election. Mr Littleproud said the party had to be honest about the election result and he genuinely wanted to hear from regional locals, particularly female voters and […]

Machine safety compliance visits underway as Customer Service NSW officers investigate

SafeWork NSW Inspectors have begun visiting manufacturers throughout the Sydney metropolitan area to ensure machine safety, a leading cause of workplace fatalities and injuries in the sector. SafeWork Executive Director Compliance and Dispute Resolution Matt Press said with the post COVID-19 rebirth of manufacturing in Australia, it was timely reminder to businesses to think about […]

Household spending hit with narrow rise as interest rates begin to bite

The CommBank Household Spending Intentions (HSI) Index rose by 0.8% in August to 115.5, highlighting the momentum in the Australian economy, higher inflation pressures and the impact of the RBA’s monetary policy tightening. The index – which combines Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) payments data and Google Trends search information – saw increases in the categories on […]

TIO Annual Report shows poor mobile coverage still an issue for telco users

In the last financial year ending 30 June 2022, residential consumers and small businesses made 79,534 complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO), highlighted in the Annual Report 2021-22 published today. Download the TIO Annual Report 2021-22 Problems about connection delays, failing to cancel a service, and billing issues have improved compared to last year […]

Banks announce rate changes following the RBA cash rate increase to 2.35%

Following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) decision to raise the official cash rate by 0.50% per annum (p.a.), most big banks are expected to lift interest rates on variable loans by 0.50% on 16 September 2022. CBA has already confirmed it will lift its home loan variable interest rates by 0.50% p.a., effective 16 […]

Farming exports forecast to reach a record $70.3 billion from a $81.8 billion crop season

Exceptional growing conditions and high global prices are continuing to benefit our local agricultural production and exports. A report released today is forecasting agricultural export earnings to climb to a record $70.3 billion for 2022-23, that’s almost 50% more than what it was 10 years ago after accounting for inflation. ABARES Executive Director Dr Jared […]

CFMEU and Hutchinson to pay penalties of $1.35 million for boycott conduct

The Federal Court has today ordered the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) and construction company J Hutchinson Pty Ltd (Hutchinson) to pay penalties of $750,000 and $600,000 respectively for boycott conduct in breach of competition laws, in proceedings brought by the ACCC. This follows the Court’s earlier finding that the CFMEU and […]