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Julian Assange released, flies from UK
The WikiLeaks founder will return to Australia after agreeing to plead guilty to a single count of illegally disseminating national security material.
- Live
- Need to Know
Assange freed on bail, on plane to Pacific court hearing
Julian Assange on way to Northern Mariana island court hearing; chemists already selling vapes says Butler; disability reform delays could cost over $1b. Follow the latest news here.
The ‘magic and mundane’ leadership style of award winner Danielle Wood
The chairwoman of the Productivity Commission was selected as the overall winner for her contributions to economic policy and a preparedness to take an unpopular position in key national debates.
- Exclusive
- Superannuation
New blow to Labor’s tax hit on super
Government plans to lift the tax rate on super accounts of more than $3 million have suffered a blow, with key Senate crossbenchers opposed to the changes.
- Live
- Markets Live
ASX gains, CBA scales record high, Collins Foods soars
Shares rebound; Energy & Minerals Group quits Coronado bid; ResMed dives 11pc in the US; Qantas buys 14 DeHavilland aircraft; Healius updates earnings guidance.Follow updates here.
Banks’ pullback from offices opens door for non-bank lenders
With the bank sector reducing exposure to assets like commercial property, residential subdivisions and tourism, alternative players can now grab them.
- Opinion
- Nuclear energy
My nuclear talk was cancelled. Here is what I would have said.
My presentation to Engineers Australia would have outlined why a nuclear-based energy system would cost consumers half as much with four times fewer emissions, writes Robert Parker.
Wealth Generation: News and views to help aspirational investors grow their wealth. In your inbox every Wednesday.
tuesday tech
Super funds to be forced to back start-ups as ‘zombie’ failures mount
Employment Hero chief executive Ben Thompson has proposed a novel aid for the flagging start-up sector: reserving one per cent of superannuation money for it.
Telstra looks to cash out of venture capital investments
Telstra Ventures has changed its name to Titanium Ventures, as the telco mulls selling its venture capital investments.
- Exclusive
- Quantum Computing
Cashed-up Diraq says it can win the quantum computing race
It hasn’t got as much money as government-backed PsiQuantum, but the UNSW start-up says it makes up for that in qubit size, as it banks a big funding round.
- Digital Life With John Davidson
- Digital Life
Back from the dead, the Windows laptop is better than ever
Microsoft’s new Surface Pro 11 marks the beginning of a new era in portable computers, where Windows computers are at least as good as their MacBook rivals, and in many ways better.
- Exclusive
- Funding
Start-up funding bounces back, as two-speed sector emerges
New data shows early signs that the tech funding winter is thawing, with Aussie tech deals up 30 per cent on this time last year.
women in leadership
What’s your best career tip? Award winners share theirs
Lead with compassion, don’t assume you know all the answers, and play to your strengths: winners in the Women in Leadership Awards share advice that has helped them.
‘What she’s doing is shaping not just Telstra, but Australia’
Cybersecurity boss Narelle Devine, the winner of the Tech & Telco category, uses lessons from a decade in the Navy to fight off international hacking attacks.
‘You need to trust your gut’: How to build an empire
The founder and CEO of MCo Beauty, the winner of the Retail category, knows she is underestimated. It’s what drives her to succeed.
Versatile risk-taker who shines when the going gets tough
Washington H Soul Pattinson’s Jaki Virtue swears by the power of ‘unknown sponsorships’, as she takes out the Financial Services - Non-banking category.
- Opinion
- Women in Leadership
‘Inclusion, resilience, empathy’: How modern leadership is changing
Modern leadership is about more than successfully deploying skills and industry expertise – it strongly encompasses the people side, writes Patricia McKenzie.
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Companies
KFC eaters are cutting back as economy slows
Collins Foods runs 279 KFC outlets in Australia and says same-store sales have gone backwards in May and June, but Taco Bell, a small rival to Guzman y Gomez, is making minor headway.
Czech coal baron fails to get FIRB approval to buy Australian miner
Pavel Tykac’s family office, Sev.en Global Investments, had signed an agreement in September to acquire 51 per cent of Coronado Global Resources.
- Analysis
- Fashion retail
Cettire downgrade cracks market’s brittle trust
New battlegrounds have been drawn after a shock profit downgrade halved Cettire’s sharemarket value, writes Jonathan Shapiro.
Myer outlines massive expansion plan with Just Jeans, Jay Jays buy
The department store has proposed acquiring several brands owned by Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments, its largest shareholder, in a bid to trigger growth.
Wind ‘drought’ hits power supply despite investment billions
Generation from wind farms in the National Electricity Market since April 1 is roughly flat compared with the same quarter in 2021 despite 2500MW of capacity being added.
Cettire plunges 50pc on profit downgrade as luxury pinch strikes
Cettire blamed a challenging environment in online luxury fashion for a big earnings miss that sent its share price tumbling.
Metcash’s better than expected food results soothes hardware pain
Households are cutting back on restaurant visits and hunting for food on special at the group’s IGA stores, but Total Tools is being hit by the housing construction slide.
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Markets
Vision Super buys up Whitehaven shares
The fund, which sells itself to customers as environmentally conscious, has watered down its climate investment promises as “green hushing” continues to rise.
What happened overnight? Nvidia’s rout gathered momentum
Australian shares were set to open higher. Oil retook $US86 a barrel. Nvidia shed 6.7 per cent. Bitcoin tumbled nearly 8 per cent, trading below $US59,000. The S&P 500 slipped.
ResMed sinks as drug trial sparks Ozempic-style sell-off
New results from Eli Lilly’s weight-loss treatment have traders reaching for the sell button, but analysts aren’t so sure.
Wall Street’s record rally built on ‘shaky foundations’
The AI-powered surge in the US sharemarket has lifted the S&P 500 by 32 per cent from its October lows, but equity strategists warn not everything is so rosy under the hood.
Why now’s a good time to visit Europe
French political turmoil is good news for Australians heading to Europe with the dollar trading at its highest level against the euro in a year.
Opinion
Japan’s LNG diplomacy is in Australia’s national interest
Any move to curb LNG exports that undermine Australia’s reputation would not just threaten new gas projects but damage Australia’s green superpower hopes.
Editorial
Unstable France could trigger the next euro crisis
Runaway budget deficits and a confrontation with Brussels and Berlin is a formula for trouble.
Columnist
Why this is a practical, workable supermarket code of conduct
The new code offers the best of both a mandatory and voluntary system of compliance for the supermarket giants.
Former Labor minister and economist
There’s nothing funny about LinkedIn’s ‘weird’ makeover
If the professional social network is now a place for personal posts, why isn’t it funnier?
Contributor
My nuclear talk was cancelled. Here is what I would have said.
My presentation to Engineers Australia would have outlined why a nuclear-based energy system would cost consumers half as much with four times fewer emissions.
Nuclear advocate
It’s bubbles like AI that make the tech world go around
From telegraph fever to the first internet bust, irrational over-investment creates profitable technology businesses that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.
Technology investor
Reports
Executive education - Microcredentials
A growing number of employers are developing short, sharp courses known as microcredentials in collaboration with tertiary institutions.
Politics
Fruit and vegetable price transparency needed: Woolies
The supermarket giant says progress on an industry or government-led review into the prices paid to suppliers is overdue.
‘Not tobacconists’: Pharmacists reject Labor-Greens deal on vapes
Health Minister Mark Butler on Monday backflipped on plans to mandate doctors’ prescriptions for all vape sales but said the government would still limit their sale to pharmacies.
Saving less and spending less: why Australian households are unique
Australians are saving much less than their global peers as mortgage repayments and tax bracket creep eat into disposable incomes.
NDIS delay to cost $1.1b as senators jet off to Brazil
Disability Minister Bill Shorten warns that a Coalition proposal to delay the government’s NDIS overhaul by two months will cost taxpayers $137 million per week.
Social media ‘ripping at’ social fabric: O’Neil
The Home Affairs Minister will issue bruising criticism of social media platforms and the use of opaque algorithms to “germinate and grow” bigotry online.
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World
China’s faltering tech giants push workers to the limit
As executives across the industry face a new reality of low growth, rising competition and investor apathy, many are making tough demands of those staff they keep.
Japan-Australia ties ‘as much about security as business’
“The Japan-Australia relationship has become broader and more sophisticated than before,” Tokyo Gas chairman Michiaki Hirose says.
- Analysis
- Regional security
Why China is using axes, fists to fight border disputes
Experts say that China’s use of simple weapons rather than firearms has been a tactical choice, but it may not always prevent escalation.
Netanyahu says Gaza intense fighting close to ending
The Israeli PM says the new stage would offer a chance to move forces to the north to where tensions with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have been growing.
- Analysis
- World elections
Growing ‘gamble-gate’ threatens to bury Rishi Sunak
A fourth Tory staffer is being probed for betting on the timing of the election, in a scandal that has engulfed the PM’s party just two weeks from polling day.
Property
WeWork’s exit opens opportunity for new co-working hub
The owner of 66 King Street in Sydney’s CBD has taken over the space from WeWork and decided to run his own co-working office there under a belief that he can do it better.
The 10-minute, $1.5m sale that was an afterthought
An interstate buyer paid $835,000 for in investment block of land, sight unseen. When they did come to see it, they bought the neighbouring block, too.
- Exclusive
- Superannuation
Keystone lent money to director’s $300m Port Douglas resort dream
Keystone Asset Management, under ASIC investigation, lent money to companies associated with a director’s controversial plan to develop an “uber five-star luxury” resort in Port Douglas.
Tiny Sydney studio sells for $425,000 as clearance rate slides
A buyer from Dubbo snapped up one of Sydney’s smallest homes for just $425,000, but the city’s clearance rate fell to just 63 per cent, according to Domain.
Aviation exec to sell Provence-style vineyard in the Adelaide Hills
A $7 million luxury vineyard escape has joined the Adelaide Hills market complete with ornamental lake and Provence-style homestead.
Wealth
How anyone can turn $5000 into more than $400,000
Building wealth can be simple if you stay disciplined. Here are six essential lessons for share investors.
- Opinion
- Company tax
The ATO ‘loan’ rules all wealthy families should know
Complex Division 7a penalties on some trust payments to companies are still catching many by surprise – even though they started almost 30 years ago.
Can I do anything to maximise my tax return this close to June 30?
Though the end of the financial year is just days away, there are still some last-minute ways small businesses can reduce their tax liabilities.
Technology
- Opinion
- Digital Life
With the new Surface Laptop, Microsoft catches the MacBook
Microsoft has finally done it. It has broken free from Intel and produced a laptop right up there with Apple’s hitherto incomparable MacBook Air.
- Exclusive
- AI
Aussie brothers’ AI firm worth $120m as big name backers invest
Melbourne-based Affinda has built AI-based software used by numerous big companies around the world, it has doubled its valuation in 18 months with well-known investors.
Robotic friend company raises $3 million to build Abi
The Funded blog is the home for news on the tech deals that are done in Australia, as soon as we hear about them.
Work & Careers
Mining’s push for gender diversity threatened by ‘Andrew Tate’ effect
A belief that women are being promoted based on gender, not ability, has permeated to middle management and board level, according to some female leaders.
CEO pay goes green, but details lacking on performance measures
It’s one thing to set CEO remuneration based on climate change goals; it’s another to be able to properly measure them.
Life & Luxury
How the million-dollar wardrobe became the new fashion must-have
Got the wine cellar and the infrared sauna? Maybe it’s time to rethink the closet.
Australia on brink of World Cup disaster after India loss
Australia’s hopes of winning the T20 World Cup hang by a thread after a drop-catch horror show against India, and only a Bangladeshi miracle can save them.
Seven shows you must see in July
From Dracula to Hamilton, to a gallery tour led by a cat – yes, a cat – here is Life & Leisure’s monthly selection of unmissable shows around the country.
The California wine hot spot that locals have only just discovered
The little-known Santa Ynez Valley behind Santa Barbara offers a delicious mix of ambitious restaurants and small-town vibes.
An insider’s guide to sake – and how to buy Japan’s best
A journey exploring the wild side of the traditional Japanese drink, and meeting those who make it, offers fresh perspectives on the fermented rice brew.