- Opinion
- Chanticleer
The big worry facing Australia’s bullish CFOs
Australia’s CFOs are readying for a bumper 2022. But skills shortages, particularly for tech talent, have emerged as a major hurdle.
Why staff shortages at EY and PwC have become Westpac’s problem
Finance chiefs, who often hunt in consulting firms for digital workers, called for international borders to reopen to skilled migrants to relieve staffing pressures.
Qld to reopen border to NSW and Victoria on Monday
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the border reopening on December 13 would allow families to be reunited for Christmas.
- Live
- Need to Know
WA loses fifth Ashes Test due to border rules
Perth has been stripped of hosting the Ashes Test in January; Queensland will bring forward its border reopening to December 13; NSW up to 25 omicron cases. Follow updates here.
Inflation to edge higher in coming months
Inflation will move further into the Reserve Bank of Australia’s target band in coming months, as global price pressures persist longer than expected.
Tax Office could be given phone bugging powers
The federal government plans to overhaul electronic surveillance laws, which have not kept up with modern technology.
ASX shakes off tech rout to eke out 0.1pc gain
The Australian sharemarket staged a late rally after spending most of Monday’s session in the red. Metcash jumped 7.3 per cent on its half-year results.
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cfo live
Inflation, interest rates, infection a curb on returns in 2022: UBS
Richard Sleijpen, boss of capital markets for UBS Australasia, says a repeat of the $350 billion M&A boom in 2021 is unlikely next year.
![“We’ve become much more deliberate and targeted in how we get the best out of it [flexible working],” Ms McPherson said.](http://web.archive.org./web/20211206071341im_/https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_0.2354%2C$multiply_3%2C$ratio_1.777778%2C$width_1059%2C$x_71%2C$y_0/t_crop_custom/c_scale%2Cw_280%2Cq_52%2Cf_auto/655ca7689a3ec4730b54b65b6f4b76678baebccc)
Executives hope ‘anchor days’ will revive office culture
A more “deliberate and targeted” approach to flexible work planning is needed to ensure workplace culture can continue to thrive post-pandemic, CFOs say.
ASIC raises the heat on greenwashing IPO hopefuls
As part of its increased surveillance of climate-related disclosures and net zero targets, ASIC wants listing candidates to go from big statements to actual plans.
The CFO solutions to get productivity and economic growth going
Politicians should invest in regional transport, housing and internet infrastructure, to help rural towns manage the influx of city escapees, executives say.
Walking the ESG walk: GPT, Oz Minerals, Aurizon make early strides
Green issues have nudged aside financial issues and moved from the fringe to front and centre of discussions between listed companies and investors.
Podcast | How Australia’s top entrepreneurs built their fortunes and what they learnt along the way.
Companies
Payments platform for overseas students puts out the welcome mat
With international students landing back on Australian shores, Cohort Go has shaken off the pandemic gloom as it looks to growth.
Bapcor CEO makes sudden exit after boardroom strains
Lawyers have been hired as tensions between the chairman and CEO Darryl Abotomey escalated to a point where it was unworkable.
Australian exporters milk LNG price surge
Two LNG cargoes have been shipped from Queensland that could have been worth more than $180 million each.
Boral sells US fly ash business for $1b
The Kerry Stokes-controlled Boral has now completely unwound the US expansion strategy of previous CEO Mike Kane.
Energy retailers gear up for ‘open energy’ data rights
Energy companies are racing to build systems that adhere to new broader consumer data rules, but industry insiders say they’re lagging behind.
Metcash interim profits rise 3pc on lockdown shopping
The boom in local and regional spending by shoppers during the pandemic has boosted sales at Metcash’s supermarket, liquor and hardware chains and allowed it to raise its interim dividend.
- Exclusive
- Retail
Target looks to Amazon tech to spark post-lockdown rebound
Target has been a laggard for Wesfarmers throughout the lockdown era but is looking to an injection of digital smarts to try to get registers ringing.
Companies in the News
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Markets
$A and $NZ slugged by omicron outbreak
Uncertainty brought on by a new variant weighs on the Australian and NZ dollars, while markets anticipate aggressive US interest rate tightening.
Investors brace for ‘significant stress’ as stimulus recedes
Scaling back of pandemic-era bond buying triggers concerns over volatile markets around the world.
- Live
- Markets Live
ASX rallies late; Afterpay, Zip lead tech stock rout
Australian shares ended higher; Sigma slashes profit guidance; Boral sells fly ash business for $1b; Bapcor board forces CEO into early retirement. Follow the latest here.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Why investors are more uncertain about 2022
UBS deal maker Richard Sleijpen told CFO Live the three Rs of 2021 - rotation, reflation and recovery - have given way to a different picture dominated by three Is - inflation, interest rates and infection.
M&A, electric vehicle boom drive new look ASX
Lithium producer Orocobre was added to the S&P/ASX100 and Liontown Resources to the S&P/ASX200. Former market darlings Kogan and Redubble drop out of the 200.
Opinion
The skewed morality of pharmacy owners
Woolworths and Wesfarmers’ bids for API are an opportunity to break a system that favours a small group of well-off pharmacists.
Senior correspondent
Different tracks, same destination in race for The Lodge
As Anthony Albanese laid out policy at a full-scale campaign rally, Scott Morrison hammed it up for the supercar crowd at Bathurst.
Political editor
Albanese’s embrace of unloved TAFE is a master stroke
Filling in the skills shortage at home rather than through migration could resonate with post-pandemic voters.
Contributor
SA must hold its nerve on the border
With a double-jabbed rate of 82 per cent in South Australia, there is no evidence so far to justify an overreaction to the emergence of the more infectious omicron variant.
Editorial
Climate action need not cost the earth
The biggest climate cost to Australia would be swimming against the tide of what our own states and the rest of the world are doing.
Contributor
Voluntary climate action won’t reach net zero
‘Technology not taxes’ is not enough. A price on carbon is needed to make more expensive lower-emissions innovations the cheaper option.
Contributor
Politics
Morrison backs ‘Gladys for Canberra’ push
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the former NSW premier would be welcome in federal politics, blasting the anti-corruption watchdog’s treatment of her as ‘shameful’.
Merged mega fund could overtake AustralianSuper for size
The $230 billion mega fund resulting from the QSuper and Sunsuper merger, named Australian Retirement Trust, could become the country’s biggest super fund.
Birmingham warns of fiscal policy ‘tightrope’
The Morrison government says fiscal strategy will move to budget repair after the election and trying to pay down debt and deficit while keeping the economy growing will be akin to walking a tightrope.
Isolation, economic woes check China’s regional clout: Lowy
The Lowy Institute’s annual Asia Power Index has detected an upswing in US influence after Joe Biden assumed the presidency.
Albanese makes his pitch: renewal not revolution
Anthony Albanese has assured voters a change of government would improve their lives, not create more upheaval.
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World
Ousted leader Suu Kyi sentenced to four years in prison
The sentencing was the first in a series of cases in which the 76-year-old Nobel laureate is being prosecuted since the army seized power on February 1.
Shift to electric vehicles could imperil 500,000 EU jobs
Hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost in the five years before 2035, according to a poll of almost 100 companies.
US to declare diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics
The US is poised to announce a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, CNN reports, a move that will escalate tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Lawmakers past and present honour Bob Dole’s ‘extraordinary life’
President Joe Biden said one of his first conversations with someone outside the White House following his inauguration was with Dole, whom he regarded as a longtime friend.
- Opinion
- World elections
Fairness, justice tropes leave South Korean voters cynical
A presidential race between the ruling party’s Lee Jae-myung and the main opposition party’s Yoon Seok-youl could be decided by disenchanted 20- and 30-somethings.
Property
Pelligra tees up $50m for Kangaroo Island recovery
The investment in a new links golf course on Kangaroo Island follows the devastating bushfires in January 2020 which burnt out more than half the island.
‘They could have bought better two to three years ago’
Eastern states investors are returning to Perth and making the most of a tight rental market. But prices are recovering fast.
Macquarie exec leads Mosman bonanza with $23m house sale
Peter Warne has sold his home on Sydney’s lower north shore, the strongest sale in the well-heeled harbourside suburb.
More rent rises tipped as industrial vacancy rates hit record lows
Vacancy rates have never been lower in Australia’s industrial sector, with demand increasing through the back half of 2021.
Goldman Sachs backs disability housing in $137m deal with Synergis
Disability housing has grown into a $2.5 billion asset class over five years and could expand a further fivefold to meet the needs of 28,000 young people.
Wealth
- Opinion
- Inheritance
Trusts that will cut tax and keep wealth in the family
Testamentary discretionary trusts are a good way to transfer wealth between generations in a tax-effective way and protect assets from relationship breakdowns.
- Opinion
- Interest rates
What RBA’s ‘real’ rate policy means for investors
Investors need to understand the real reasons for the RBA’s interest rate settings so they can forecast when rates will rise and set their portfolios appropriately.
Private jets are in short supply as billionaire economy booms
The hunger for pricey jets is just the latest example of the booming billionaires economy, where demand for mansions, boats and many collectibles has surpassed pre-Covid levels.
Technology
- Opinion
- Review
Can Microsoft’s Surface Duo 2 beat folding phones?
Like Fold 3, the new device from the maker of Windows opens up to reveal an enormous amount of screen for getting more stuff done than a regular handset can.
Unicorn Atlassian rival kicks off Australian hiring spree
NASDAQ-listed workplace and collaboration software firm Monday.com will launch a hiring tear in the region, with plans to double its staff over the next year.
Tesla just launched a ‘Cyberquad’ vehicle for kids
The $2700 four-wheel all-terrain bike, inspired by the design of Cybertruck, features LED light bars and is suitable for children aged eight and up.
Work & Careers
Private school boys need to stop behaving badly
Gender oppression is seemingly inextricable from the social practices that elite private boys’ schools both advocate and rely on for positional advantage in schooling markets.
Careers on hold as researchers wait for grants
The Australian Research Council has hit a dubious 30-year record, with the latest funding round yet to be announced.
Life & Luxury
Why this director and rocker always keeps his shades on
Former Violent Femmes bass guitarist Brian Ritchie is now the artistic director of Mona Foma – and an avid collector of eyewear.
Groundswell gives everyone the chance to be a climate activist
Australia’s first giving organisation dedicated to funding high-impact environmental advocacy makes it easier to do something positive.
Meet the exec whose cargo bike replaced the family car
Neometro director Lochlan Sinclair has four bikes, one of which is not at all practical in Italy. He answers our Time Out Q&A.
The Best TV Shows of 2021
From Succession to Mr In Between, the best in television this year offered ingenuity, humour, defiance and hope.
Overweight men at added risk of thyroid cancer, new study
Big data study shows two out of five thyroid cancers in men are attributable to their body weight.
