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News.com.au
27 minutes ago
- News.com.au
‘How is this fair?': Transport for NSW staff question 950 job cut move during livestream
NSW government workers facing the possibility of being jobless just before Christmas have been left with more questions than answers following an all-staff livestream meeting. Last week, Transport for NSW staff were informed via email that 950 Transport Senior Service Manager (TSSM) and Award positions would be cut, with the changes expected to be finalised by the end of 2025. Only office staff are in the firing line for these job cuts, with frontline roles exempt from the restructure. This is in addition to the previously announced reduction of 300 Senior Executive roles, more than 200 of which have already been delivered. In the email, Transport for NSW secretary Josh Murray said he knew the news would be 'significant and concerning' for many people. The move is part of a bid to save $600 million in costs and 'get back to a model that is sustainable long term'. On Friday, more than a week after the announcement, Mr Murray held an all-staff livestream in order to provide employees with more information and answer questions. 'I know there are a lot of very specific questions as well as some general understanding that we want to dig into and we are dedicated to answering your questions and to have that conversation,' he said. Mr Murray said there was 'no glossing over' the fact that Transport for NSW is facing significant cost pressures, claiming the organisation has been 'living beyond our means' in recent years. Over the last five years an extra 3000 workers had been hired during and after the Covid period. Addressing the restructure, Mr Murray said a detailed branch design will commence this month, with the aim to have all Transport for NSW branches determined by the end of the year. However, it seems some of the 3500 staff who joined the livestream weren't impressed with the secretary's almost 40-minute long speech. One Transport for NSW employee, who wished to remain anonymous, told that the explanations provided by Mr Murray made things 'as clear as mud'. '(He) basically said a whole lot of nothing,' they said. The employee revealed that just two minutes was left for questions at the end of the livestream. They ended up choosing just one question to answer from the many that were posted in the online forum, claiming many of the others had already been addressed. The question related to whether the 950 number would include 'current fixed term labour hire positions that might be coming to an end'. In his response, Mr Murray said the 'buckets' for labour hire or consultancies have 'already been set targets'. And, while they do intend to make further reductions in those areas, they have been 'open' about the fact that it will be TSSM and Award roles that will be impacted. He added that, if during the process they discover areas where changes can be made that would make a real impact to the ongoing costs of the organisations, then 'of course' it would be prioritised over the impacts to TSSM and award roles. has been provided some of the questions posted by staff that were receiving the most 'likes' in Q&A forum during the stream. One employee pointed out the job cuts relating to senior executive staff were announced 'well in advance' and have taken over a year to be implemented, with the process still ongoing. 'In contrast the job cuts affecting TSSM and award roles were announced abruptly over email with very short notice and are expected to be completed by the end of December 2025,' they wrote. 'Had we been given notice earlier we would have had sufficient time to explore better opportunities. How is this fair? Why weren't we informed sooner?' The employee continued, stating staff had been asking for clarity for a long time but had been 'repeatedly told and reassured that there would be no impact on award or TSSM'. 'This sudden decision directly contradicts those assurances. It is deeply concerning and raises serious questions about transparency and communication and transport core values,' they wrote. Another person questioned why the initial announcement on the job cuts was circulated via email and not livestream, noting a lot of staff found out through the media. One employee questioned why Transport for NSW wasn't using working from home as a way to save costs without losing staff. 'WFH flexibility is a win-win for transport and its employees as it keeps the workforce happier which is more important than ever right now, but also reducing office cost. If 'all avenues are being explored', surely this is a priority,' they wrote. Another staff member asked for clarification whether fixed term contract roles would be included in the 950 figure. 'We have been advised that fixed term employees are considered 'out of scope' but that contracts will not be extended beyond the end dates. This affects 1800 people,' they wrote, pointing out this suggests these job losses 'are in addition to the 950 roles flagged'. At the end of the meeting, Mr Murray said all the questions would be addressed, with answers provided 'through the Q&A process'. NSW Public Service Association (PSA) has slammed Transport for NSW over the latest job cuts announcement, claiming more cuts could instead be made to Senior Executive staff in order to spare other employees. 'While TfNSW and the NSW Government crow that they have cut 200 Senior Executives already, the fact is there are still substantially more senior executives employed in Transport than any other Department,' the union said in a statement on Friday. 'With over 1000 TSSE's they have nearly three times the amount of senior executives within Health, despite having a quarter of Health's workforce. 'The PSA continues to call on the NSW Government to stop their protection racket for senior executives, have a look at their numbers again, and if they need to make $279 million in internal labour savings, continue reducing the size of their Senior Executives to avoid job cuts for Award staff.'
News.com.au
27 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Lunch Wrap: ASX slips heavily, Novonix scraps graphite spin-out
Banks, tech and health take a dive ResMed surged after smashing earnings The ASX 200 was down by 0.75% at lunch time in the eastern states, with investors firmly in risk-off mode. Only miners and utilities put up a fight. Everywhere else, it was a mess. Health stocks were out of breath, tech looked like it had skipped leg day, and the big banks all sagged under the weight of global tariff fears. It's the kind of day where even the good names get dragged through the mud. Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA), National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB), WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) and Xero (ASX:XRO) all retreated. This all followed another tariff tantrum from Donald Trump. Canada just got hit with a jump from 25% to 35%, and new levies were slapped on Thailand, Cambodia, Taiwan and Switzerland. Australia, somehow, managed to dodge the full swing, for now. But with tariffs pushing up import prices, bets on US rate cuts just got punted out to October. In the large caps space, conglomerate Washington H Soul Pattinson (ASX:SOL) nudged lower despite lifting its dividend again - its 27th annual increase, if you don't mind. Downer EDI (ASX:DOW) bagged a fresh $220 million defence deal, and ResMed (ASX:RMD) surged after smashing earnings expectations with a 37% jump in profit. ResMed reckons it will keep growing even with Ozempic and its weight loss-pill mates nipping at the edges of the sleep apnoea market. Gold producer Bellevue Gold (ASX:BGL) climbed after setting bullish production guidance of up to 150,000 ounces in FY26. Meanwhile, Novonix (ASX:NVX) and Lithium Energy (ASX:LEL) have pulled the plug on the Axon Graphite IPO and the Mt Dromedary deal, citing weak market conditions. Novonix is now reviewing next steps for Mt Dromedary, and its directors have resigned from the Axon board. Shares were flat. ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for August 1 : Security Description Last % Volume MktCap CYQ Cycliq Group Ltd 0.005 150% 7,878,960 $921,033 DMG Dragon Mountain Gold 0.013 117% 725,258 $2,368,030 1AE Aurora Energy Metals 0.081 62% 1,792,535 $8,953,187 LNR Lanthanein Resources 0.002 50% 17,675,218 $3,734,001 RLG Roolife Group Ltd 0.004 33% 70,872 $4,778,344 AON Apollo Minerals Ltd 0.009 29% 150,000 $6,499,198 4DX 4Dmedical Limited 0.300 25% 9,364,191 $111,729,714 CTN Catalina Resources 0.005 25% 200,000 $9,704,076 GSM Golden State Mining 0.010 25% 252,061 $2,234,965 MEL Metgasco Ltd 0.003 25% 125,337 $3,674,173 PIL Peppermint Inv Ltd 0.003 25% 200,090 $4,602,180 QXR Qx Resources Limited 0.005 25% 5,200,000 $5,241,315 VRC Volt Resources Ltd 0.005 25% 4,040,000 $18,739,398 LKY Locksleyresources 0.130 24% 26,437,175 $19,250,000 8CO 8Common Limited 0.026 24% 1,176,072 $4,705,993 SPG Spc Global Holdings 0.405 23% 75,363 $63,684,021 IR1 Irismetals 0.110 22% 522,009 $16,016,344 DTM Dart Mining NL 0.003 20% 6,303,558 $2,995,139 RAN Range International 0.003 20% 1,846,960 $2,348,226 GBE Globe Metals &Mining 0.052 18% 685,582 $30,564,732 EXL Elixinol Wellness 0.020 18% 340,750 $3,913,254 STM Sunstone Metals Ltd 0.020 18% 23,846,808 $104,874,083 CCO The Calmer Co Int 0.004 17% 143,000 $9,034,060 CHM Chimeric Therapeutic 0.004 17% 768,284 $9,747,370 HPC Thehydration 0.015 15% 116,666 $5,600,412 Dragon Mountain Gold (ASX:DMG) surged after revealing that it has repaid its October 2024 convertible loan and interest in full, using funds from a new loan provided by an unrelated major shareholder. The move clears the slate and gives DMG more flexibility for future capital raising, as well as assessing new or existing project opportunities. Aurora Energy Metals (ASX:1AE) says Eagle Energy Metals, which holds an option over its Aurora Uranium Project (AUP) in Oregon, is planning to list on the Nasdaq via a SPAC merger with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. II. If the deal goes through, Aurora will receive US$16 million in Eagle shares, with more to come via milestones and a 1% royalty on future uranium production. Locksley Resources (ASX:LKY) has locked in a heavily oversubscribed $5.3 million raise at $0.095 a share, with strong backing from institutional investors led by Tribeca Investment Partners. The fresh funds will go into drilling high-grade antimony and rare earths at its Mojave project in California, progressing downstream processing in the US. LKY says the raise is a big vote of confidence in its US critical minerals strategy, with more than a dozen new institutions joining the register. Settlement is expected around August 6, with the raise split across two tranches – one already approved, and one pending shareholder tick. ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for August 1 : Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap PAB Patrys Limited 0.002 -25% 74,887 $4,731,620 ROG Red Sky Energy. 0.003 -25% 3,106,371 $21,688,909 SYR Syrah Resources 0.275 -24% 12,731,271 $376,567,220 SPX Spenda Limited 0.006 -20% 32 $34,614,116 1TT Thrive Tribe Tech 0.008 -20% 153,010 $1,015,864 GGE Grand Gulf Energy 0.002 -20% 21,282,858 $7,051,062 KNG Kingsland Minerals 0.105 -19% 127,677 $9,432,918 OKJ Oakajee Corp Ltd 0.048 -17% 349,874 $5,303,870 ALM Alma Metals Ltd 0.005 -17% 1,985,774 $11,104,423 ID8 Identitii Limited 0.005 -17% 890,791 $4,668,081 VEN Vintage Energy 0.005 -17% 2,587,531 $12,521,482 LSR Lodestar Minerals 0.016 -16% 728,056 $7,554,219 AIV Activex Limited 0.011 -15% 383,554 $2,801,534 BDM Burgundy D Mines Ltd 0.028 -15% 1,505,337 $46,903,965 YRL Yandal Resources 0.115 -15% 775,878 $41,746,723 GTR Gti Energy Ltd 0.003 -14% 6,150,000 $13,029,292 PLC Premier1 Lithium Ltd 0.006 -14% 330,372 $2,576,424 USL Unico Silver Limited 0.340 -13% 3,032,364 $170,798,064 OD6 Od6Metalsltd 0.021 -13% 577,267 $3,851,231 TX3 Trinex Minerals Ltd 0.110 -12% 516,223 $5,835,180 BEO Beonic Ltd 0.265 -12% 30,000 $21,258,302 MVP Medical Developments 0.540 -11% 71,639 $68,721,578 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Pure Hydrogen (ASX:PH2) looks to focus on battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles along with hydrogen equipment, proposing a name change to Pure One. LAST ORDERS DY6 Metals (ASX:DY6) has welcomed Dr Moses Ndasi as in-country manager for Cameroon, bringing more than 20 years' experience in minerals and mining throughout Africa with him. DY6 has also promoted Troth Saindi to exploration manager for Africa, Geoffrey Banda to project geologist, Africa, and Corné Coetser will transition to senior exploration geologist. HyTerra (ASX:HYT) has drilled the McCoy 1 well at the Nemaha hydrogen and helium project in Kansas to a total depth of 5562 feet, on time, within budget, with no safety incidents. McCoy 1 will be converted to an appraisal well over the coming days with a workover rig to proactively monitor the well and evaluate flow test viability. Arika Resources (ASX:ARI) has tapped geologist Steve Vallance as technical director, leveraging his 35 years' experience in gold and nickel sulphide deposits. He most recently served as chief exploration geologist for Jubilee Mines, where he co-led discoveries that eventually led to a $3.3b acquisition by Xstrata Nickel. Star Minerals (ASX:SMS) has advanced four separate permitting studies to the final draft stage, preparing to submit formal applications for flora and fauna, subterranean fauna, and hydrogeology and hydrology assessments and a geological and geotechnical report. With only a few permits left to obtain, SMS says its mining approval application is nearing completion. At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While DY6 Metals, HyTerra, Arika Resources and Star Minerals are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.
News.com.au
44 minutes ago
- News.com.au
The hydrogen dream lives on for these ASX players
Pure Hydrogen delivered a second straight quarter of positive cash flow for the June quarter HyTerra transitioned from exploration planning to execution at its flagship Nemaha asset BPH Energy focused on building production facilities in the US and India to produce turquoise hydrogen and a carbon composite While a global hydrogen economy has yet to materialise, there is still enough potential in the sector to fill the dreams and hopes of ASX companies. Despite the challenges, companies in the space have kept moving with the launch of zero emissions vehicles, locking in international hydrogen equipment supply agreements, carrying out exploration programs in search of naturally occurring hydrogen, and much more. Here's our latest wrap of the key milestones achieved by ASX-listed hydrogen companies this quarter. Pure Hydrogen has experienced its second consecutive quarter of positive cash flow, with net flows topping $409,000 for the June quarter as it continued to advance its commercialisation strategy for its clean energy fleet. This was marked by new distribution agreements in the Americas for both vehicles and hydrogen infrastructure, alongside the sale and delivery of vehicles in domestic and international markets. Key milestones included the expansion of a global distribution agreement with GreenH2 LATAM, advising PH2 is the preferred supplier of hydrogen equipment for two infrastructure projects in Mexico, and the granting of a 15-year Potential Commercial Area (PCA) over the Windorah gas project in the Cooper Basin – extending the PCA until June 2040. Post quarter end, the clean-tech company expanded its vehicles sales pipeline, marked its first sale of an Australian-assembled zero emission HFC garbage truck into the US market, and continued progressing its distribution agreement with FRN Enterprises SAS. At the end the end of June, Pure Hydrogen held cash of $2.7m and remains well capitalised to support long-term growth and diversification. HyTerra Limited (ASX:HYT) HyTerra, the first stock to list on the ASX with a focus on naturally occurring hydrogen, reached a turning point during the quarter when it transitioned from exploration planning to execution at its flagship Nemaha asset in Kansas, US. The company said this was a period defined by simultaneous operations which is testimony to the experience levels within the HyTerra team. HyTerra executed two back-to-back wells and two geophysical surveys on time and on budget and decided to add a third well – McCoy 1 – to the drilling sequence. Hydrogen concentrations of up to 96% hydrogen and 5% helium were recorded in mud gas during drilling at Sue Duroche 3, while hydrogen concentrations of up to 16% hydrogen and 4% helium were recorded in mud gas during drilling Blythe 13-20. The company says results from these programs will underpin prospect generation for its next phase of exploration. BPH Energy (ASX:BPH) BPH Energy has a 16.2% direct interest in Clean Hydrogen Technologies (CHT), which has developed its capabilities to a stage where it has proven consistently in its pilot plant it can produce two products – turquoise hydrogen and a carbon composite made from majority CNT (carbon nanotubes) and CNF (carbon nano-fibres). The next stage is to build production facilities in the US and India, both being highly industrial markets with demand for CHT's products. CHT is now looking to source the funding required to build its plant in the US and India, where within three to four months of minimal funding (US$2.5m) it will start producing income, initially in India and then the US, its primary market.
