ASX 200 bolstered on Tuesday following RBA rate cut
Sky News Business Editor Ross Greenwood says the local markets had 'fully anticipated' the Reserve Bank's quarter of a per cent rate cut.
Australians have been delivered the second rate cut of 2025 in some much-needed financial relief for millions of cash-strapped mortgage holders.
'The overall stockmarket took off at the outset ... and held onto those gains,' Mr Greenwood said.
The ASX 200 closed up 0.58 per cent on Tuesday.
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ABC News
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Tiny SA town buys disused primary school for $1.10, transforms it into op shop
If you have travelled along South Australia's Mallee Highway, there is a good chance you have driven past the tiny township of Geranium. Standing on the sleepy main street, there are remnants of what used to be a vibrant and bustling primary school. But beyond the bitumen road and through weathered school gates, a resident is putting smiles on people's faces one clothing rack at a time through her new opportunity shop. Set to the sound of a crackly Neil Diamond record, local of 40 years Marg Smith has made it her mission to turn sadness into spirit and help Geranium blossom once again. When Geranium Primary School closed its doors three years ago due to dwindling enrolment numbers, it shut a century-old chapter for the region. What was once a busy country town with one of the state's largest area schools now has a population of just over 80 residents. "My husband and our five children all went to school here, and I was [working] here when it closed, so it was tough." But through the hardships, Ms Smith has reinvigorated the space and turned an old design and tech room into a welcoming place for all. "The primary school was transferred to the community for $1.10 as an in-kind gesture from the state government … I think the 10 cents was for GST," Ms Smith chuckled. Since opening its doors just over a month ago, the store has welcomed people from far and wide. Interstate traveller Annette Swaby stumbled across the store accidentally. "We were travelling from Murray Bridge back home to Bairnsdale, Victoria when we came across the Geranium Op Shop," she said. "The people here are so friendly and nice, and it has been so delightful." Pinnaroo local Rita Francis travelled to Geranium for a special visit. After chatting with Ms Smith, the two women soon realised they had both grown up in the same village in Papua New Guinea. "How's that!" Ms Smith gasped. "I always used to love going to op shops because you just never knew what you might find, and now here in Geranium, you don't know who's going to walk through the door. While most of the money raised for the store will go towards facility maintenance and helping grow the community hub, Ms Smith hopes she can also donate funds to causes close to her heart. Ms Smith hopes the op shop will continue to lift up the community even as the town's numbers dwindle. "[The] primary school was once the focal place for Geranium, and now it's coming around full circle," she said. "I think we're a gem and a treasure. "We are small and we're getting smaller but just like Dr Seuss says, 'A person's a person, no matter how small' and so I think a community is a community, no matter how small."
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Grilling season demand for Aussie beef outweighs Trump tariffs
It has been more than two months since Donald Trump's "liberation day" tariffs were announced, which included a 10 per cent tariff on imported Australian beef. But US demand for lean beef has far outweighed the tariff and exports have been surging. "In terms of volume, I don't think Trump's tariffs have had an impact at all," Rabobank analyst Angus Gidley-Baird said. "Year to date, beef exports are up over 30 per cent and if we continue at this pace, we'll go very close to pushing our quota limit for the first time (which is about 450,000 tonnes)." According to Meat and Livestock Australia, 167,722 tonnes of beef have been shipped to the US so far this year, which is up 32 per cent. Beef exports to China are also rising, with 117,341 tonnes exported, up 30 per cent on last year. General manager of meat processing company, The Midfield Group, Dean McKenna, said Donald Trump's tariffs were "one of the best things" that had happened to his business. "I wish he went 50 per cent [tariff]," he told Queensland Country Life. The United States cattle herd is at its lowest point since the 1950s because of drought. The supply of lean beef for America's famous hamburgers is tight. Going into its summer "grilling season" the United States has been relying on beef imports, which has coincided with Australia producing record amounts. "The US needs a lot [of lean beef] and Australia has a lot to sell, especially the way the prices are at the moment," Mr Gidley-Baird said. US cattle and beef prices are at record highs and are expected to rise further in 2026, making imported Australian beef very competitive — despite the 10 per cent tariff. According to Rabobank the average finished cattle price in the US is over $US4.50 a kilogram live-weight ($A6.92/kg), compared to about $US2.25 a kilogram for Australian cattle ($A3.46/kg). Beef made headlines on Friday, when it was suggested Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was willing to "loosen or compromise biosecurity rules" for US beef imports. A claim the PM quickly denied. As previously explained by ABC Landline, Australia does not have a ban on United States beef, as long as it comes from cattle born, raised and slaughtered in the US. The Australian government has been assessing a request from the US to expand its access, to include beef from cattle that it has imported from Mexico and Canada and then slaughtered in the US. Yet at the moment, the US has a ban on importing Mexican cattle because of an exotic pest called new world screwworm. Cattle Australia chief executive, Chris Parker, said the US would need to prove it can be like Australian beef exporters, which adhere to strict traceability standards. "Our position is that the US needs to be able to demonstrate it can either trace cattle born in Mexico and Canada, or has systems that are equivalent to Australia's traceability, before imports of meat could occur from non-US cattle," he said. Australia has not imported any beef from the US since 2005 for a few reasons including price. Australia also has plenty of its own beef. In 2024, Australia produced more beef than ever before, turning off 2.57 million tonnes of beef, of which a record 1.34 million tonnes was exported around the world. So imagine if Australia exported iron ore for $100 a tonne and was then criticised for not importing American iron ore for $200 a tonne. As meat analyst Simon Quilty recently told Landline, importing US beef is not viable. "I don't see us being swamped by American beef, in fact I'd say for the next five years, even if the US had open access, we'd see next to nothing coming out of America." Watch ABC TV's Landline at 12:30pm on Sunday or on ABC iview.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Woman who lost money to real estate agent Sarah Dougan welcomes fraud sentencing order
A woman who lost money in a Byron Bay real estate fraud case has vowed to be in court when the real estate agent responsible is sentenced. Now living in the United States, former Belle Property Byron Bay director Sarah Dougan lost her appeal to be sentenced remotely after pleading guilty to charges of fraud. The Supreme Court has ordered Dougan to return to Australia. "I am a firm believer that if you commit a crime, then you should pay for it," Robyn Quickenden, a former nurse, said. "I want to look her in the eye." The NSW Department of Fair Trading began investigating Dougan in 2011 after complaints about conveyancing transactions and missing funds. At the time, Dougan was one of the directors and company secretary of Belle Properties Byron Bay (BPBR Pty Ltd) with control of the trust account. An estimated $540,000 was misappropriated from the trust account. Some of that money belonged to Ms Quickenden, who sold her home through the Belle Properties Byron Bay franchise when it was held by Dougan. As a single woman preparing for her retirement, Ms Quickenden said the home was an important asset and the missing funds meant she could not buy another property. "It affected my mental health and was such a struggle because I was on my own and I had to worry about getting the money back," she said. "It changed the trajectory of my life." In 2013, a warrant was issued for Dougan's arrest on fraud charges but she was living in the United States. The NSW Department of Fair Trading has pursued Dougan since, trying to have the former real estate agent return to Australia for sentencing. After pleading guilty in 2020 and 2021, Dougan faces the possibility of a custodial sentence. Dougan was not present at a 2023 hearing, but made an application to attend by audiovisual link from the United States. The application listed personal reasons why the mother of five could not attend the hearing in Australia, including that she is now the CEO of a company in charge of 70 employees. Magistrate Peter Feather dismissed the application, stating: "I am satisfied in the circumstances that I have set out the serious nature of these offences, the fact that there is a real prospect of the accused serving a sentence of imprisonment, that the sentencing will be more conveniently undertaken in a courtroom." A sentence of imprisonment generally starts the day it is imposed. Dougan's absence would mean she could not immediately be taken into custody if she were ultimately given a custodial sentence. In May this year, Dougan appealed the 2023 finding in the Supreme Court, applying a second time to appear by audiovisual link from the United States. Now that appeal has also failed. In a statement, NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Natasha Mann was adamant Ms Dougan should return to Australia to be sentenced. "The defendant pleaded guilty to serious charges involving a significant amount of money being held in trust for consumers, so it is entirely appropriate the sentencing for those offences occurs in NSW in person," she said. According to court documents, in late 2020, Sarah Dougan repaid the Property Services Compensation Fund around $374,000. Ms Quickenden said she was still traumatised by her experiences. "I actually feel sorry for her [Dougan] because she now has children, but I don't think that allows you to walk away and not pay for what you did," Ms Quickenden said. She said her money was eventually returned through the NSW Department of Fair Trading's insurance scheme. When Dougan signed the franchise for Belle Properties Byron Bay, she was well established in the Sydney real estate scene. Group CEO of Belle Properties Peter Hanscomb welcomed the latest court decision. "I am quite happy to see her held to account," Mr Hanscomb said. He said there was no indication of any issues with Dougan when she was first awarded the franchise. "She had been highly recommended by executives of LJ Hooker where she was a representative of their financial services arm for six years," he said. Mr Hanscomb said she only held the franchise for four months before concerns were raised, and he went to Byron Bay to investigate. "Within a week she had been removed from the franchise," he said. Dougan's case is not the only real estate scandal to rock Byron Bay's property market. In 2009, Nicolette van Wijngaarden set out to market high-end luxury properties in the tourist region through the company she founded, Unique Estates. Between 2016 and 2018, Ms van Wijngaarden took client deposits and rent money from trust accounts, estimated to add up to around $3.6 million. In 2019, she faced 15 charges, 10 of which related to dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception. The 44-year-old was sentenced to three years and six months in jail after pleading guilty to fraud.
