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    Join entrepreneurs and founders, as they share insights and strategies, to help your business thrive.

    Full coverage here.

    Wind power generation for the June quarter could hit its lowest since 2017 despite many new wind farms.

    ‘Dark doldrums’ hits wind power supply

    A “drought” in wind power generation, described by the German word dunkelflaute meaning “dark doldrums”, has surprised the market and contributed to a squeeze on east-coast gas supplies inflating wholesale prices.

    Julian Assange after being released from Belmarsh Prison.

    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.

    Women in Leadership award winner Danielle Wood.

    The ‘magic and mundane’ leadership style of 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.

    ‘Nonsense’: Founder slams idea wealth can be created while ‘sitting on the beach’

    Honey Insurance boss Richard Joffe says despite funding issues, Australia can be an attractive market for founders, but people have to work like Olympians.

    ‘We want him brought home to Australia,’ Albanese tells Parliament

    Albanese wants Assange brought home; push for life-balance out of control, says Yarger; chemists already selling vapes says Butler. Follow the latest news here.

    ASX rallies 1pc, CBA scales record high, Collins Foods jumps

    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.

    China’s faltering tech giants push workers to the limit

    As Chinese technology executives face a new reality of low growth, rising competition and investor apathy, many are making tough demands on staff.

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    WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

    Siobhan Toohill, Westpac’s chief sustainability officer, is leaving Westpac to pursue a new challenge. “Challenging times can present the greatest opportunities for impact,” she says.

    The ‘utterly shocking’ moment that made Westpac leader want to flee

    Siobhan Toohill, the winner of the Financial Services - Banking category, faces a new frontier after 10 years leading Westpac’s sustainability efforts, including convincing the board to ditch new oil and gas projects.

    Ingrid Maes, CEO of W23 Global; Tammy Medard, managing director of ANZ’s Institutional in Australia and PNG; Alison Telfer, country head Australasia for UBS Asset Management.

    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.

    Entrepreneur Summit

    Flying Fox Ventures’ Kylie Frazer and Employment Hero chief executive Ben Thompson agreed the market had returned to normal.

    Super funds ‘should be forced’ to back start-ups

    Employment Hero chief executive Ben Thompson has proposed a novel aid for the flagging start-up sector: reserving 1 per cent of superannuation money for it.

    Employment Hero co-founder Ben Thompson put the big idea out there on Tuesday.

    1pc of your super for venture capital? Add it to the list

    Everyone wants a piece of the $3.9 trillion super system and now we can add venture capital. The problem is, it is not the government’s money to redirect.

    James Tynan says younger VC funds could have a hard time raising new capital.

    Top VC admits Aussie funds will struggle to raise capital

    New venture capital funds will be the next casualties of the tough capital raising environment, even if they’re performing well, a Square Peg partner says.

    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.

    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.

    Get the front page and latest edition of the Financial Review as it was printed, delivered to your inbox every morning.

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    Companies

    Czech entrepreneur and investor Pavel Tykac.

    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.

    KFC

    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.

    Cettire shares traded lower on Tuesday.

    Brokers turn on Cettire after profit downgrade

    The company’s shares fell again on Tuesday as analysts doubted whether a soft luxury market was the only cause of its dramatic downgrade.

    Olivia Wirth was appointed executive chair of Myer earlier this year.

    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.

    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.

    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.

    ASX-listed uranium miner seeks to build $5.26 billion global giant

    Paladin Energy has pitched a takeover of Toronto-listed Fission Uranium to bring its proposed Canadian mine into production by 2029 to meet global demand. 

    Companies in the News

    Search companies

    View stories and data from an ASX listed company

    Markets

    Michael Ullmer (left), the outgoing chairman of Lendlease, and chief executive Tony Lombardo.

    Woolworths, CSL among ASX giants that should sell foreign assets

    A wave of Australian companies are ditching their overseas businesses to bring capital back to Australia. MST Marquee says there are more that should do the same.

    Nvidia, briefly, became the world’s most valuable company last week.

    Nvidia share slide erases $646b in market value

    Shares in the semiconductor maker have tumbled more than 10 per cent, putting it back below the $US3 trillion market-cap threshold.

    Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

    Nvidia’s murky AI future isn’t reflected in its price

    Despite the recent sell-off, Nvidia’s shares have still surged some 4000 per cent over the past five years. It’s clearly a great business, but is it a great investment?

    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.

    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.

    Opinion

    Unstable France could trigger the next euro crisis

    Runaway budget deficits and a confrontation with Brussels and Berlin are a formula for trouble.

    Why South China Sea is the flashpoint that could spark war

    The worry for Australia is that rather than Taiwan, the worsening situation in the seas east of Asia is more likely to entangle it in a great power conflict.

    Bec Strating

    International relations expert

    Bec Strating

    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.

    The AFR View

    Editorial

    The AFR View

    The big lie of the big-stick code is lower grocery prices

    By adding cost and complexity, these reforms may well increase the cost of doing business and this could be passed on to consumers at the checkout.

    Robert Hadler

    Consultant

    Robert Hadler

    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.

    Craig Emerson

    Former Labor minister and economist

    Craig Emerson

    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?

    Emma Jacobs

    Contributor

    Reports

    Executive education - Microcredentials

    A growing number of employers are developing short, sharp courses known as microcredentials in collaboration with tertiary institutions.

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    Politics

    The Callide C power station.

    Qld to force public buyout of scandal-plagued Callide C power station

    Queensland will force a buyout of Callide C power station after a damning report cited alarming safety risks behind the catastrophic explosion in 2021.

    The grocery sector code of conduct will become mandatory.

    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.

    Singapore has not had a lot of luck weeding out vapes.

    ‘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.

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    World

    Mathias Cormann did “some work” for Luke Sayers after leaving government.

    Global tax war fears as landmark deal set to fail

    Champions of digital taxes have started taking unilateral steps after losing faith in the OECD-backed treaty to overhaul taxation of big multinationals.

    Director and Chairperson of the Board of Tokyo Gas Co.,Ltd. Michiaki Hirose poses for photographs at the company headquarters in Tokyo, Japan.

    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.

    Chinese Coast Guard hold knives and machetes as they approach Philippine troops on a resupply mission in the Second Thomas Shoal.

    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.

    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

    Phil George with Jacqui Pires of King Street Studios

    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 810-square-metre corner site in an area with residential zoning for a 15-metre building at 11-13 Stevens Street in Gold Coast’s Southport sold by private treaty for $1.5 million. It was bought by the buyer of the neighbouring 15 Stevens Street site. 

    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.

    Artwork of Chiodo Corporation’s proposed $300 million Port Douglas resort.

    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.

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    Wealth

    The most important thing an investor can do to take advantage of compound interest is to start as young as possible.

    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.

    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

    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

    Deshnee Naidoo: “We are always taken back to the way things were rather than where they need to go.”

    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.

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    Life & Luxury

    Interior designer Shona McElroy steps into a robe she designed for a Sydney client.

    How the million-dollar wardrobe became the new luxury must-have

    Got the wine cellar and the infrared sauna? Maybe it’s time to rethink the closet.

    Travis Head was Australia’s highest-scoring batter with 76 runs.

    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. O nly a Bangladeshi miracle can save them.

    Cooking with whole foods is preferable to ultra-processed products.

    16 small changes to make to your diet that will help you live longer

    From savoury breakfasts to sardines, these life-lengthening diet tweaks could give your health the boost it needs.

     **DIGITALLY ALTERED** Zahra Newman is starring in Dracula, the third in Sydney Theatre Companys gothic trilogy. Photographed on June 17, 2024. Photo: Dominic Lorrimer

    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.

    From the gallery