No llama drama, as Australian alpacas pack a punch
She's a queen among the herd of 150 alpacas at Forestglen Alpaca Stud on the picturesque plains of Millthorpe in central western NSW.
Nearby is Goodness Gracious, a newborn named for the surprising splashes of chocolate brown and white on her fleece.
Remy roams with Rock 'n' Roll, Momo and Antarctica, while Talk To Me has just given birth to a snowy white girl called Rumour Has It.
The curious creatures appear to kiss their young and affectionately nuzzle each other on their long necks while quietly feeding in the afternoon sun.
The stud, managed by Jennie Carey and her daughter Alexandra Staples, was established in the early 1990s, soon after Australia's first flocks of alpacas were imported from South America.
Ms Carey's mother Maureen began alpaca showing and breeding after spotting the exotic animals at a field day.
She was besotted with their "big beautiful eyes" and adorable babies, Ms Carey told AAP.
"It was love at first sight and the love affair has never really finished," she said.
The Australian Alpaca Association, which represents more than 1000 breeders, is hoping the nation's consumers will be wooed by the woolly animals too.
The industry is celebrating its 35th year with National Alpaca Week from May 10, complete with a campaign encouraging people to buy products made from the unique fleece.
The association's president Brett Fallon, who operates a stud in Albany, WA, said alpaca fibre has many appealing qualities.
"It's very warm ... it has a silky feel to it and a natural lustre that is hard to replicate," Mr Fallon said.
Australia's alpaca industry was identified by research and development body AgriFutures as an emerging market in 2023.
With demand for quality and luxurious fibres here and overseas, the industry has enormous potential to grow, its report said.
The association is working to educate and support small-scale farmers to harvest fleece in a bid to bolster the market.
Some farmers may only keep a few alpacas - sometimes as pets or as guard animals for other stock - but there is still money to be made in the fibre.
"When it starts to scale up, that's when you start to get better returns," Mr Fallon said.
Bags of fleece line the shed walls at Forestglen, along with racks of show ribbons.
The stud's fleece has won supreme champion at the Sydney Royal Easter Show eight times.
"Because it lacks the lanolin that sheep wool has, it has a magical feel," Ms Carey said.
It's not just the fleece that's magic.
Alpacas are known to be easier on the land than cattle and sheep, allowing pastures to bounce back from grazing and drought.
And with their hooting call, they can expertly ward off foxes trying to prey on new lambs.
Forestglen has sold about 900 alpacas to farmers who use them as guardians.
Ms Carey trains the alpacas to respond to clapping, which also helps farmers herd sheep.
"They're the leaders, they're the bosses, they must be obeyed," she said.
But ignore the stereotypes about spitting, cranky alpacas.
They are, after all, "great big puffballs", Ms Carey said.
"I find them to be quite gentle."
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The Advertiser
18 hours ago
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That could include a streamlined national clearance process for workers in aged care, the NDIS, veterans' care and the early childhood education sector. Economists and business groups have joined the prime minister in insisting an upcoming economic roundtable can still produce big ideas. Leaked Treasury advice reportedly showed a list of proposals to be reviewed by cabinet after the meeting of business, union and other leaders at a productivity roundtable on Tuesday. Among them were proposals to speed up approval times for housing and reduce environmental red tape, according to the ABC. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese denied the result of the summit had been locked in before it began. "You'd expect Treasury to be giving advice about a forum that's about the economy," he told reporters in Brisbane on Thursday. "Next week, though, is an opportunity for people to advance their ideas, to advance policies, and that's a really constructive thing." 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"Those that have been reported today are just a few of the many ideas which have been put to us and they're all welcome on the table," he said. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said the coalition would examine suggestions from the roundtable, but had concerns about how the event was being handled. "I wonder whether people who are attending this roundtable are indeed wasting their time," she said. "What we won't do is accept an agenda that raises taxes on hardworking Australians, particularly because that's exactly what the government promised it would not do." Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said the roundtable would be a "legacy moment" for reform. "It is Treasury's role to provide advice to the government and that is the case here - and we shouldn't assume it automatically becomes government policy. They are doing their job," he told AAP. "Next week's roundtable is an opportunity for the government and, while it may not be getting consensus, it will give clear understandings around the big challenges that we face around productivity and investment." Part of the reason productivity growth has been so poor is because competition has fallen since the mid-2000s, costing Australia up to $3000 per person, the Reserve Bank found in a report released on Thursday. If Australia could get competition back to where it was two decades ago, it could boost productivity by one to three per cent, said report authors Jonathan Hambur and Owen Freestone. The Productivity Commission released its final report before the summit, calling for a national screening system for care workers, greater collaboration between health services and a major shift towards preventive health investment. Commissioner Alison Roberts said care was a rapidly growing sector and proposed reforms would seek to break through the government's siloed approach to decision-making. The interim report urges the government to better align quality and safety regulations across the care economy. That could include a streamlined national clearance process for workers in aged care, the NDIS, veterans' care and the early childhood education sector. Economists and business groups have joined the prime minister in insisting an upcoming economic roundtable can still produce big ideas. Leaked Treasury advice reportedly showed a list of proposals to be reviewed by cabinet after the meeting of business, union and other leaders at a productivity roundtable on Tuesday. Among them were proposals to speed up approval times for housing and reduce environmental red tape, according to the ABC. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese denied the result of the summit had been locked in before it began. "You'd expect Treasury to be giving advice about a forum that's about the economy," he told reporters in Brisbane on Thursday. "Next week, though, is an opportunity for people to advance their ideas, to advance policies, and that's a really constructive thing." The government has ruled out major changes in some areas, including tax policies, before the three-day summit despite calls for widespread reform to bolster Australia's lagging productivity rates. Independent economist Saul Eslake said suggestions the roundtable's outcome had been agreed upon because of the leaked document should be disregarded. "It's standard Treasury practice to brief its minister for any serious discussions or conversations he might be about to have," he told AAP. "It would be astonishing if Treasury wasn't at least thinking about how the treasurer should respond to some of the ideas that have been flagged by participants in the summit that they're going to put." The advice should not be read as particular policies getting a green light, Mr Eslake said. Treasurer Jim Chalmers also dismissed concerns the summit's outcomes had been pre-empted. "Those that have been reported today are just a few of the many ideas which have been put to us and they're all welcome on the table," he said. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said the coalition would examine suggestions from the roundtable, but had concerns about how the event was being handled. "I wonder whether people who are attending this roundtable are indeed wasting their time," she said. "What we won't do is accept an agenda that raises taxes on hardworking Australians, particularly because that's exactly what the government promised it would not do." Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said the roundtable would be a "legacy moment" for reform. "It is Treasury's role to provide advice to the government and that is the case here - and we shouldn't assume it automatically becomes government policy. They are doing their job," he told AAP. "Next week's roundtable is an opportunity for the government and, while it may not be getting consensus, it will give clear understandings around the big challenges that we face around productivity and investment." Part of the reason productivity growth has been so poor is because competition has fallen since the mid-2000s, costing Australia up to $3000 per person, the Reserve Bank found in a report released on Thursday. If Australia could get competition back to where it was two decades ago, it could boost productivity by one to three per cent, said report authors Jonathan Hambur and Owen Freestone. 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Among them were proposals to speed up approval times for housing and reduce environmental red tape, according to the ABC. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese denied the result of the summit had been locked in before it began. "You'd expect Treasury to be giving advice about a forum that's about the economy," he told reporters in Brisbane on Thursday. "Next week, though, is an opportunity for people to advance their ideas, to advance policies, and that's a really constructive thing." The government has ruled out major changes in some areas, including tax policies, before the three-day summit despite calls for widespread reform to bolster Australia's lagging productivity rates. Independent economist Saul Eslake said suggestions the roundtable's outcome had been agreed upon because of the leaked document should be disregarded. "It's standard Treasury practice to brief its minister for any serious discussions or conversations he might be about to have," he told AAP. 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The Productivity Commission released its final report before the summit, calling for a national screening system for care workers, greater collaboration between health services and a major shift towards preventive health investment. Commissioner Alison Roberts said care was a rapidly growing sector and proposed reforms would seek to break through the government's siloed approach to decision-making. The interim report urges the government to better align quality and safety regulations across the care economy. That could include a streamlined national clearance process for workers in aged care, the NDIS, veterans' care and the early childhood education sector.
West Australian
a day ago
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Interest rates Australia: Further rate cuts by Reserve Bank at risk as rent pushes up inflation
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The Advertiser
a day ago
- The Advertiser
Further rate cuts at risk as rent pushes up inflation
Rising construction costs and rental increases may prove to be stumbling blocks for further rate cuts from the Reserve Bank. The latest data from Cotality shows there are concerns for housing inflation and its knock-on effects off the back of rental re-acceleration picking up in state capitals for the first time in two years. The capital city rental value index has increased by three per cent to July 2025, up from 2.7 per cent a month before, according to Cotality's August monthly housing chart pack. That has marked the end of 16-straight months of moderating or stable rental growth. It was a trend worth keeping an eye on, Cotality economist Kaytlin Ezzy said. "The re-acceleration that we've seen in rent value growth and construction costs more recently are an indication that maybe the housing component of inflation has sort of hit its floor in terms of the pace of growth," she told AAP. "And that we would see that component of the CPI basket shift higher moving forward. "If it does continue to trend higher, it could put future rate cuts at jeopardy." The consumer price index (CPI) basket is goods and services used to track changes in cost of living. The housing component made up more than one-fifth of the basket and rents accounted for 6.6 per cent, Ms Ezzy said. Another concern for housing inflation is an uptick in construction costs shifting to 2.9 per cent to June 2025, from 2.6 per cent in the 12 months to June 2024. Labour was a major factor in driving increased construction costs, Ms Ezzy said. "We recently put out our CCCI Index report, which covers off the increase in construction costs over the June quarter ... it does suggest that we are seeing a little bit more pressure in construction costs, particularly residential projects competing for that labour with infrastructure projects," she said. Sydney and Brisbane have led the re-acceleration in capital city rental growth with their unit markets driving the uptick. Annual changes in dwelling rents in the NSW capital have gone from a recent low of 1.8 per cent to 2.4 per cent in the 12 months to July. Brisbane's annual rental trend has risen by 1.4 percentage points following lows in February of 3.2 per cent to 4.6 per cent. Melbourne's healthy flow of new housing stock to the market had kept the trend in rent growth a little bit lower in recent years, Ms Ezzy said. The Reserve Bank cut interest rates for a third time in six months on Tuesday. Rising construction costs and rental increases may prove to be stumbling blocks for further rate cuts from the Reserve Bank. The latest data from Cotality shows there are concerns for housing inflation and its knock-on effects off the back of rental re-acceleration picking up in state capitals for the first time in two years. The capital city rental value index has increased by three per cent to July 2025, up from 2.7 per cent a month before, according to Cotality's August monthly housing chart pack. That has marked the end of 16-straight months of moderating or stable rental growth. It was a trend worth keeping an eye on, Cotality economist Kaytlin Ezzy said. "The re-acceleration that we've seen in rent value growth and construction costs more recently are an indication that maybe the housing component of inflation has sort of hit its floor in terms of the pace of growth," she told AAP. "And that we would see that component of the CPI basket shift higher moving forward. "If it does continue to trend higher, it could put future rate cuts at jeopardy." The consumer price index (CPI) basket is goods and services used to track changes in cost of living. The housing component made up more than one-fifth of the basket and rents accounted for 6.6 per cent, Ms Ezzy said. Another concern for housing inflation is an uptick in construction costs shifting to 2.9 per cent to June 2025, from 2.6 per cent in the 12 months to June 2024. Labour was a major factor in driving increased construction costs, Ms Ezzy said. "We recently put out our CCCI Index report, which covers off the increase in construction costs over the June quarter ... it does suggest that we are seeing a little bit more pressure in construction costs, particularly residential projects competing for that labour with infrastructure projects," she said. Sydney and Brisbane have led the re-acceleration in capital city rental growth with their unit markets driving the uptick. Annual changes in dwelling rents in the NSW capital have gone from a recent low of 1.8 per cent to 2.4 per cent in the 12 months to July. Brisbane's annual rental trend has risen by 1.4 percentage points following lows in February of 3.2 per cent to 4.6 per cent. Melbourne's healthy flow of new housing stock to the market had kept the trend in rent growth a little bit lower in recent years, Ms Ezzy said. The Reserve Bank cut interest rates for a third time in six months on Tuesday. Rising construction costs and rental increases may prove to be stumbling blocks for further rate cuts from the Reserve Bank. The latest data from Cotality shows there are concerns for housing inflation and its knock-on effects off the back of rental re-acceleration picking up in state capitals for the first time in two years. The capital city rental value index has increased by three per cent to July 2025, up from 2.7 per cent a month before, according to Cotality's August monthly housing chart pack. That has marked the end of 16-straight months of moderating or stable rental growth. It was a trend worth keeping an eye on, Cotality economist Kaytlin Ezzy said. "The re-acceleration that we've seen in rent value growth and construction costs more recently are an indication that maybe the housing component of inflation has sort of hit its floor in terms of the pace of growth," she told AAP. "And that we would see that component of the CPI basket shift higher moving forward. "If it does continue to trend higher, it could put future rate cuts at jeopardy." The consumer price index (CPI) basket is goods and services used to track changes in cost of living. The housing component made up more than one-fifth of the basket and rents accounted for 6.6 per cent, Ms Ezzy said. Another concern for housing inflation is an uptick in construction costs shifting to 2.9 per cent to June 2025, from 2.6 per cent in the 12 months to June 2024. Labour was a major factor in driving increased construction costs, Ms Ezzy said. "We recently put out our CCCI Index report, which covers off the increase in construction costs over the June quarter ... it does suggest that we are seeing a little bit more pressure in construction costs, particularly residential projects competing for that labour with infrastructure projects," she said. Sydney and Brisbane have led the re-acceleration in capital city rental growth with their unit markets driving the uptick. Annual changes in dwelling rents in the NSW capital have gone from a recent low of 1.8 per cent to 2.4 per cent in the 12 months to July. Brisbane's annual rental trend has risen by 1.4 percentage points following lows in February of 3.2 per cent to 4.6 per cent. Melbourne's healthy flow of new housing stock to the market had kept the trend in rent growth a little bit lower in recent years, Ms Ezzy said. The Reserve Bank cut interest rates for a third time in six months on Tuesday. Rising construction costs and rental increases may prove to be stumbling blocks for further rate cuts from the Reserve Bank. The latest data from Cotality shows there are concerns for housing inflation and its knock-on effects off the back of rental re-acceleration picking up in state capitals for the first time in two years. The capital city rental value index has increased by three per cent to July 2025, up from 2.7 per cent a month before, according to Cotality's August monthly housing chart pack. That has marked the end of 16-straight months of moderating or stable rental growth. It was a trend worth keeping an eye on, Cotality economist Kaytlin Ezzy said. "The re-acceleration that we've seen in rent value growth and construction costs more recently are an indication that maybe the housing component of inflation has sort of hit its floor in terms of the pace of growth," she told AAP. "And that we would see that component of the CPI basket shift higher moving forward. "If it does continue to trend higher, it could put future rate cuts at jeopardy." The consumer price index (CPI) basket is goods and services used to track changes in cost of living. The housing component made up more than one-fifth of the basket and rents accounted for 6.6 per cent, Ms Ezzy said. Another concern for housing inflation is an uptick in construction costs shifting to 2.9 per cent to June 2025, from 2.6 per cent in the 12 months to June 2024. Labour was a major factor in driving increased construction costs, Ms Ezzy said. "We recently put out our CCCI Index report, which covers off the increase in construction costs over the June quarter ... it does suggest that we are seeing a little bit more pressure in construction costs, particularly residential projects competing for that labour with infrastructure projects," she said. Sydney and Brisbane have led the re-acceleration in capital city rental growth with their unit markets driving the uptick. Annual changes in dwelling rents in the NSW capital have gone from a recent low of 1.8 per cent to 2.4 per cent in the 12 months to July. Brisbane's annual rental trend has risen by 1.4 percentage points following lows in February of 3.2 per cent to 4.6 per cent. Melbourne's healthy flow of new housing stock to the market had kept the trend in rent growth a little bit lower in recent years, Ms Ezzy said. The Reserve Bank cut interest rates for a third time in six months on Tuesday.
