Carter Holt Australia writes off $33m
In financial statements filed to the Australian
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Newsroom
7 hours ago
- Newsroom
On rate capping, lessons from across the Tasman
A move to cap council rates in the style of Australia could punish the councils that have worked hardest to keep their rates low. That's the warning from experts in Victoria as Local Government Minister Simon Watts works on a plan to tackle soaring rate rises here. Rate capping, or rate pegging, has been in force in New South Wales and Victoria for several years and is loosely based on the rate of inflation or the consumer price index. Victoria's rate cap this year is set at 3 percent, while NSW has a wider range from 3.6 percent to 5.1 percent. In both states councils can apply for higher caps but the process is complicated and deeply controversial with ratepayers. Watts is looking closely at the Australian model as a way to control runaway, double-digit increases, but Victoria Municipal Authority president Jennifer Anderson says that an across-the-board cap could damage councils that have kept rate increases down and reward those that have imposed hefty increases. 'Rate capping is here to stay. It does offer a sense of security to the community,' says Anderson. It was brought in 10 years ago after outcry from ratepayers over years of big rate rises. 'The difficulty was [that] the base from which you've taken it will vary from different councils. So there may have been councils that were working off a low base because they hadn't put their rates up very much, versus some councils that may have had higher rates to begin with and more reserves when they brought it [rate capping] in,' she says. It has meant that many smaller councils are now seriously underfunded because they had less money to start with. Anderson says pegging it to the CPI or rate of inflation is also problematic. 'The difficulty for councils is we're not like a home base where it's a shopping basket of the cost of bread and eggs and milk. 'We've got many other costs that aren't based on CPI.' Australian local body journalist Michael Giles agrees that ratepayers have embraced Victoria's Fair Go Rates scheme but there are unfair elements of it that the New Zealand Government should be aware of. 'These [New Zealand] councils that are increasing by 15 percent, that'll be locked in, so that any increases in following years of 2 and 3 percent, that just goes on top of those hefty increases that those local councils have brought in at the time,' he says. Giles, the publisher of the South Gippsland Sentinel-Times in Wonthaggi, has covered local government for 40 years and says his capped rates bill does not cover everything. He also has to pay a waste levy and an emergency services levy. That differs from the NSW rate peg formula which includes the emergency services levy and takes into account population growth in the council area. Councils that have applied for variations on the caps or pegs have faced angry revolts from residents, including one Sydney authority where ratepayers rallied over an attempt to raise its rates by 40 percent over three years and another that voted to raise them by 87 percent over two years. In Victoria, Anderson says the rules have also made it too difficult for councils to apply for variations to the cap. 'The mechanism through which it has been delivered and the difficulties that councils face when they need to apply for variation, there are things that could be approved there to make it a more workable system that the community can understand and it makes the councils more financially sustainable to provide the services that the communities expect them to provide.' She says many councils in a funding crunch are starting to cancel services, such as aged care. After 10 years of rate capping in Victoria, Giles says councils and ratepayers will start to feel the cumulative effect of lower rates incomes. 'I think we're coming to a squeeze point,' he says. 'The sorts of things communities want to see – sports facilities, swimming pools, other increases in lifestyle infrastructure – these things are getting further and further away from local councils to deliver because of that cost squeeze.' Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here. You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.
NZ Autocar
a day ago
- NZ Autocar
Mitsubishi ASX goes turbopetrol for next generation
Official Australian documents have revealed turbopetrol power is coming for Mitsubishi's next ASX small SUV. Go Auto reports that the engine is the same as that in Renault Captur. And that would be a turbocharged 1.3L IL4 developing 113kW/270Nm. It pairs with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and the output drives the front wheels. This would seem to be the only engine option for Mitsubishi Motors Australia. Overseas models get a Nissan hybrid alternative, amongst others. Mitsubishi Motors Australia says that the second-generation ASX will launch before the end of the year. It is likely to come in three trim levels. Based on what other markets get, the 2025 Mitsubishi ASX will feature 17- and 18-inch alloy wheels, a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, a 10.4-inch central infotainment touchscreen, wireless smartphone connectivity, and a suite of active and passive safety systems. The Mitsubishi ASX is said by Mitsubishi Motors Australia to bring 'a sophisticated, stylish and technology-laden vehicle to the Australian market'. Check out our review of the Mitsubishi Triton VRX. Mitsubishi Motors Australia chief executive officer Shaun Westcott, said: 'The new Mitsubishi ASX blends thoroughly modern design and a dynamic driving experience for the next generation of ASX customers.' 'We look forward to sharing more details of this intriguing new SUV as we move closer to its market launch in 2025.' The new ASX production facility is in Valladolid, Spain. Renault builds it alongside the Captur. A price hike is likely because the model is built on the other side of the world. MMNZ said that at the stage it has no plans to introduce the Gen II ASX here. However, a spokesperson did add: 'We will have some new model announcements to make later this year.'
Techday NZ
a day ago
- Techday NZ
Agentic AI is Australia's unrealised productivity lever
As ongoing Productivity Commission reports show, Australia's flat productivity is a persistent national challenge, so much so that the Labour government is hosting a three day industry roundtable focused on restarting our economic engine. If productivity is corrected, the Productivity Commission estimated that it would leave the average Australian worker $14,000 better off by 2035. However, simply working harder isn't the answer. The latest ABS Labour Force data highlights that Australians are working ever more hours. We collectively clocked 2 billion hours in July 2025, which is a 2.1% annual increase. Yet, our national productivity stagnates. Instead, we should be working smarter. As the Economic Reform Roundtable convenes in parliament, it's positive to see the Treasurer put more emphasis on AI as a key lever to solving Australia's productivity deficit - estimating AI could add more than $116 billion to the economy over the next decade. But the national conversation is still catching up to reality. While policy debates dwell on generative AI, the frontier has already evolved to agentic AI: systems that plan, action, and collaborate with humans across workflows. The risk isn't moving too fast; it's moving too slow and falling behind the global status quo. With Microsoft's Work Trend Index 2025 showing that 81% of business leaders globally expect AI agents to be part of their strategy in the next 12–18 months, it's crucial for Australian industry and government to recognise agentic AI as a critical asset in not only course-correcting our productivity, but moving us ahead economically too. However, like any transformational technology, the fundamental challenge is skills; agentic AI requires new skills and a rethink to how we approach work. Fortunately, there's already a lot the white collar workforce can learn from how the software development world has reinvented itself with agentic AI. Software development's blueprint for agentic AI success The software development industry provides a powerful blueprint for agentic AI adoption, particularly for a market like Australia that suffers a perpetual tech skills shortage which puts consistent pressure on developers to deliver more and more. AI coding agents are opening up doors for human developers to have their own agent-driven team, all working in parallel to amplify their work. Technical teams are now able to assign tasks that would typically detract from deeper, more complex work, allowing developers to focus on high-value coding tasks that have the most impact. We've seen a profound impact on the use of GitHub Copilot's agentic capabilities, with many now using the tool in their day-to-day work. Australian industry leaders like Commonwealth Bank, EY, and MYOBhave embraced AI-assisted software development, leading to surging productivity gains. More broadly, between 60-75% of developers report feeling more fulfilled and less frustrated when using GitHub Copilot - a metric businesses shouldn't take for granted when striving to maximise productivity. By taking on repetitive, time-consuming tasks asynchronously, AI agents free developers to focus on what matters: solving problems, delivering value, and building products at scale. What once took days now takes hours, turning release cycles from marathons into sprints, offering up a surefire way to reshape the productivity puzzle. What can businesses learn from this? Employees who are empowered with AI,integrating it deeply into their workflow, emerge with greater ambition, sharper technical fluency, and higher job satisfaction. The evidence shows that developers aren't writing less code; they're orchestrating more complex, system‑level work, and this should provide an exciting example for businesses to follow. It will take a lot of 'unlearning' at the senior manager level (and a lot of trust in employees) but a 'reimagining of work' across a business' workforce will open creative and innovative doors that have probably not been conceived of yet. For this opportunity to be harnessed across Australia's economy however, we need to instill these skills in future generations; 'managing AI' should be a fundamental skill every citizen learns. AI education is the key to empowering an innovative society We can't expect graduates to thrive in an AI-driven economy if they haven't learned with AI. It's the equivalent of trying to prepare the future workforce to work with computers, apps, and other modern digital means, and then handing them a pencil. Australia has taken an important first step with the Australian Framework for Generative AI in Schools, recently endorsed by education ministers in June 2025. But a framework centered on GenAI alone is already being outpaced by the next frontier with agentic AI. Students should be given the opportunity to learn about AI as a dedicated subject in school curriculums. They should be taught to brief, supervise, and evaluate autonomous systems: the very skills that will be critical to their future jobs on day one. Never before has technology been so ubiquitous and instrumental in the future of the economy - leaving it out of early learning would not only do a disservice to students, it's also not conducive to a competitive economy. This isn't a theoretical risk either. Australia is already struggling to attract and retain AI talent. We lean heavily on skilled migration for advanced roles; we punch above our weight in research output but capture only a sliver of AI patents, a clear sign of a commercialisation gap. Too many talented graduates, including those who've helped build world-class systems, are taking their skills offshore. The fix is straightforward: create clear, supported pathways from classroom to career so students can learn, build, live, and work in Australia. As we await tangible policy following the Economic Reform Roundtable, it's imperative that both government and industry understand one thing: productivity is intrinsically linked to economic growth - and AI sits at the heart of this. If Australia wants to compete, the choice is simple: reinforce agentic AI as a productivity lever and reinvest in the human capability that unlocks it. While the Roundtable can set the direction, what remains is the will to link policy with practice so investment and education moves together toward reversing the trend of declining national productivity, and making our economy world-leading with AI.
