
BREAKING NEWS Mr Potato collapses: Popular fast food chain goes into liquidation
The Adelaide-based franchise was appointed Phil Robinson of Deloitte as liquidator at a court hearing on Friday for wind-up action brought by the ATO over a $151,000 debt.
Miss Universe entrant Jess Davis, who founded the chain with husband Tyson Hoffman, aka Tyson Finau, who played for the 36ers NBL team, is the sole director of Mr Potato Management.
More to come.
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Salim Mehajer walks free from jail: Disgraced property developer swaggers out through the razor wire in blue suit to go and live with his mum and dad because he's broke
Bankrupt property developer and disgraced former politician Salim Mehajer has walked free after five years in jail to live with his parents because he's flat broke. The one-time millionaire who flaunted his wealth with an extravagant wedding and luxury marble mansion swaggered out from behind the razor wire of a western Sydney prison on Friday. Wearing a blue suit, and his white teeth bared in a dazzling smile XX, the 39-year-old fraudster strolled out of the John Morony Correctional Centre at Windsor without a care in the world - but a very long list of parole conditions. The new parolee looked upbeat as he jumped in a waiting blacked out limo and sped through the prison gates, but faces a strict regime of reporting daily to his parole officer. The eldest of Amal and Mohamad Mehajer's eight children, he will be relying on his parents' support if he follows through on his plan to rebuild his failed property empire. The former Auburn council deputy mayor has been in prison since November 2020, when he was hailed for lying to a court, and has served back-to-back sentences for multiple offences. The NSW State Parole Authority (SPA) decided last month to grant his release m parole on conditions including that he undergo drug and alcohol testing, participate in domestic violence programs if directed and not communicate with any Outlaw Motorcycle Gang bikies or associates. He is also banned from contacting his DV victim or entering the Central Coast. Mehajer was declared bankrupt during a previous prison stint in 2018 when his property business, SM Project Developments, was liquidated. Creditors included the Australian Taxation Office and the company which built the marble staircase at his former lavish home in Frances Street, Lidcombe. He was locked up again in 2020 after he was found guilty of two counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of making a false statement under oath. While behind bars in 2023, Mehajer was again convicted in separate trials for unrelated fraud and domestic violence offences. A jury found Mehajer guilty of multiple counts of assault, one count of intimidation and one count of suffocation relating to his abuse of an ex-partner, and he was sentenced to a maximum of seven years and nine months in jail. He was convicted of assaulting the victim by punching her in the head in his car, suffocating her with his hand over her nose and mouth until she passed out, crushing her hand as she held her phone and threatening to kill her mother. At a further trial while he was in jail, he was found guilty by a jury of fraud on two counts each of making a false document and using a false document. The jury convicted him of creating false statutory declarations and affidavits by forging the signatures of his solicitor, Zali Burrows, and one of his six sisters. Mehajer overcame a raft of objections, including the risk of him reoffending, his refusal to change his attitude and his continued denial of some of his crimes. In granting him a release, SPA said Mehajer had completed all possible programs in prison. It determined his rehabilitation was better served in the community under the supervision of a psychologist and community corrections officers. His parole conditions include being of good behaviour, and ongoing treatment from a private psychologist. Mehajer first made headlines with his over-the-top wedding in 2015, when a reported $1million of gaudy excess closed off a Sydney street. Mehajer and his young bride 'Aysha' - former Wollongong beautician April Learmonth - were married amid a procession of Harley Davidsons, rented Lamborghinis, a helicopter overhead, and a reception with 10,000 red roses and gold-dusted desserts. The flashy party had been delayed until Salim's own father made his exit from prison, after being released early from a maximum three and half years stint in prison. Mohamad Mehajer was convicted of conspiring to defraud the National Australia Bank of more than $3 million after attempting to bribe a bank employee to approve a loan that overstated the value of the family property company. Mehajer staged a car crash in 2017 which led to him pleading guilty to 22 charges, including perverting the course of justice, and making a false call for an ambulance Salim's marriage lasted a year. In 2016, Aysha took out a restraining order against him, and thereafter the attention-seeking fraudster became embroiled in legal and financial troubles. Now its his dad's turn to help Salim, who he has previously described as 'the brain' of the family and 'the head of the family'. In 2024, Salim pleaded guilty to his role in a bizarre car crash he had set up to avoid attending court on another matter, a stunt he was caught out on partly because of CCTV capturing his distinctive leg tattoos. Mehajer pleaded guilty to 22 charges, including perverting the course of justice, making a false representation resulting in a police investigation, making a false call for an ambulance and negligent driving.


Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
BHP fourth-quarter iron ore output beats estimates on Pilbara strength
July 18 (Reuters) - BHP Group ( opens new tab on Friday reported better-than-expected iron ore output for the fourth quarter and hit the upper end of guidance for both iron ore and copper output in fiscal 2025, helped by supply-chain strength at its central Pilbara hub. The company had undergone a debottlenecking exercise at its Pilbara operations after the ramp-up of the South Flank mine last year. That helped boost its output in the June quarter, offsetting a weak March quarter that was impacted by two tropical cyclones. In fiscal 2025, BHP produced 290 million metric tonnes (Mt) of iron ore, at the upper end of its full-year forecast of 282 Mt to 294 Mt. It expects to produce between 284 Mt and 296 Mt in fiscal 2026. The world's largest listed miner said iron ore production from those operations on a 100% basis was 77.5 Mt in the three months ended June 30, up from 76.8 Mt a year earlier. That beat a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 75.90 Mt. BHP's total copper production was 2.02 Mt for fiscal 2025, at the upper end of its guidance range and in line with a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 2.0 Mt.


Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Australia's unemployment rate highest since 2021
Australia's unemployment rate has shot up to the highest level since late 2021, when Sydney and Melbourne were emerging from Covid lockdowns. The jobless rate of 4.3 percent in June was the highest since November 2021, with 33,600 people losing their jobs and boosting the prospect of an August rate cut. This occurred as the number of full-time jobs fell by 38,000 while 40,000 part-time jobs were created, signaling a sharp drop in working hours. Canberra, the home of federal public servants, had Australia's lowest jobless rate of 3.6 percent. This was a result of federal government spending hitting the highest level since 1986 outside of the pandemic. Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said public sector job growth was holding up as private sector demand for labour weakened. 'For over a year, there has been negligible job growth in the private market sector, with government-supported employment in the public and non-market sectors doing the heavy lifting,' he said. 'A rise in unemployment to its highest level since the pandemic points to the impact that our weak private sector is having on the labour market. 'With the private market sector accounting for two-thirds of employment in Australia, it was inevitable that its sustained weakness would eventually spill over to the broader labour market. It appears this problem is now coming home to roost.' Unemployment was higher than average in New South Wales and Victoria where migrant numbers are highest. 'Excessive migration has played a significant role in pummelling Australia's economic productivity ,' Institute of Public Affairs deputy executive director Daniel Wild said. 'It has created extended periods of negative per capita economic growth, and exacerbated the housing and rental crises. Australia's unemployment rate also rose for the first time since December even though the Reserve Bank had cut interest rates in February and May. The latest jobless data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics is also worse than the RBA was forecasting in its May statement on monetary policy , with the 4.3 percent figure slightly higher than the 4.2 percent level it had predicted. The bad news on the labour market could make the Reserve Bank more inclined to cut rates on August 12 should upcoming June quarter inflation data show a moderation in underlying price pressures. KPMG chief economist Brendan Rynne said the fact that 34,000 more people are looking for work would make a rate cut next month more likely. 'While quarterly inflation data is still a week or so away, today's data will reinforce the weakness that is continuing within the private side of the Australian economy , and even by itself should be enough for the RBA to drop the cash rate at its next meeting,' he said. The RBA surprised financial markets earlier this month when it kept the cash rate on hold at 3.85 percent. Governor Michele Bullock argued the underlying inflation rate of 2.9 percent was still too high in the March quarter, even though it is within the RBA's two to three percent target. AMP economist My Bui said just 2,000 new jobs were created in June, compared with market expectations of 20,000, which suggested the labour market was softening, with employers mainly hiring new part-time staff. 'Today's jobs data suggests a potentially broad weakening in the labour market,' she said. 'The composition of jobs gains was also weak.' This also suggested unemployment was now at a level less likely to fuel inflationary wage increases. 'We believe that the state of the Australian labour market is more balanced than tight and is not a source of inflationary pressures, warranting a rate cut in the August meeting,' Ms Bui said. AMP is expecting the RBA to cut rates in August, November, February and May, which would take the cash rate down to 2.85 percent for the first time since December 2022. That is slightly more optimistic than the futures market pricing for a 3.1 percent cash rate by early next year. Victoria was by far Australia's worst performing labour market with the highest jobless rate of 4.6 percent, even though Melbourne receives a large share of overseas migration . New South Wales and South Australia had higher-than-average jobless rates of 4.4 percent. Queensland and Western Australia had below-average rates of 4.1 percent. The Australian Capital Territory, the home of federal public servants in Canberra, had the lowest jobless rate of 3.6 percent, which was better than Tasmania's 3.8 percent level and the Northern Territory's 3.9 percent. National unemployment has risen despite rapid population growth, with 447,620 migrants moving to Australia on a permanent and long-term basis in the year to May. This was 33.6 percent higher than the 335,000 level Treasury forecast for the 2024-25 financial year that ended in June.