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What you need to know as Powerball jackpot soars to $100m

What you need to know as Powerball jackpot soars to $100m

News.com.au2 days ago

A staggering $100m jackpot will be up for grabs next week after no claims were made for the Powerball division one prize in Thursday night's draw.
This is the first time the top prize has reached this amount since November 2024, and the 12th time Powerball has offered a $100m jackpot in the game's 29-year history.
This year alone, eight Powerball division one winners have taken home more than $210.8m – three in Queensland, two each in NSW and Victoria, and one in Western Australia.
Last year, a man from South Australia claimed a whopping $150m, the game's biggest individual lottery win in Australia.
While there were no division one winners on Thursday night, six lucky Aussies took home $127,979 each in the division two prize pool.
The winning numbers were 1, 30, 12, 34, 24, 9, 6 and the Powerball 10.
Tickets for the upcoming Powerball are available for purchase until 6pm next Thursday in-store, online or via the Lotto mobile app.

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Commonwealth Bank soars past $300 billion value but experts have concerns
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  • News.com.au

Commonwealth Bank soars past $300 billion value but experts have concerns

Commonwealth Bank shocked the world this week when its value topped an eye-watering $300 billion, dwarfing even Wall Street's biggest banks and outpacing its Australian competitors. For some perspective, the staggering rise of CBA puts it well above the combined value of two of the big four banks in Australia — Westpac and National Australia Bank. It also becomes an outlier as the first ever ASX-listed company to be valued at more than $300 billion and is the most expensive bank stock in the history of the world thanks to a 49 per cent rise in the past 12 months. But experts say not all is as it seems. One says CBA is completely overvalued and the $300 billion figure ignores 'anemic earnings growth'. Share trader author Alan Hull told Commonwealth Bank shares are 'a risky share to be buying'. 'Smart money is not buying CBA,' he said. 'It's seriously overvalued. It's earnings growth is anemic. The current divident yield is 3.74 per cent including tax imputations. 'It's overpriced, which means it's a risky share to be buying and it's only yielding 3.74 per cent.' He credits CBA's exponential rise to a 'popularity competition'. 'The share price is going up simply because the share price is going up. If you look at the price of CBA shares, it's exponential. It's price feeding on price. I buy CBA, I tell you about CBA, price goes up 10 per cent. You buy CBA, price goes up another 10 per cent and you tell all your mates. 'We've also got new money coming in. Dumb money starts coming into the market and what do they buy? All the new dumb money is buying CBA. That's all it is. There's nothing going on here that is a secret.' He said all the major shares are running 'because that's all that dumb money knows'. 'That's the moron portfolio and at the top of the moron portfolio sits CBA.' So what happens now? Mr Hull has a prediction. 'It'll get to $200 a share and you'll probably see a correction,' he said. 'Do I think it could go up? Yeah. 'But a big correction is coming. It's literally 50 per cent overpriced. So when it corrects, it's going to be a big correction. It's trading a fair distance away from its underlying fundamentals.' Chief economist at AMP, Shane Oliver, told Commonwealth Bank is benefiting from a number of different factors — one of which being a less hostile US President Donald Trump. 'Its rise lately has mostly been driven by the same factors as the broader market, (including) an easing in concerns about Trump's tariffs and increased expectations for interest rate cuts, which are seen as positive for the banks,' he said. 'That said there also appears to be an element of momentum by which past relatively strong performance appears to be driving expectations that this will continue, resulting in ongoing strong relative demand for its shares.' Mr Hull said CBA is doing nothing different to the other big banks in Australia 'apart from being more popular'. 'It's a popularity competition,' he said. 'CBA is first, ANZ is second and Westpac and NAB are third.' In its latest results, Commonwealth Bank made $9.48 billion after tax, while Westpac made $7 billion, NAB made $6.96 billion and ANZ made $6.53 billion. Kevin Doodney, an Australian housing futurist at the High Yield Property Group, told in April that 'the big four Australian banks make up four of the eight most profitable banks in the world'. 'They are making that money from a population of just 27 million people. There's 8 billion people out there, for Christ's sake. 'What the Australian public needs to ask is, how on Earth can that be possible? Because, I think the Australian people are going to look at that and go, nah, that's not possible.' Mr Doodney said successive federal governments and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) have justified these profits made in the banking sector because they have called for a 'robust banking system'. 'I'm calling bulls**t on that, because my attitude is that, you know, for the first time in history, affordable housing is becoming a serious issue for any government, and you've got to look at who's making the money out of that, between either the government themselves or the banking system,' he said.

Coalition sticks to defence spending pledge but won't say how it'll pay for it
Coalition sticks to defence spending pledge but won't say how it'll pay for it

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Coalition sticks to defence spending pledge but won't say how it'll pay for it

The Coalition remains committed to lifting defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP but won't detail where the money will come from, as the shadow finance minister suggested the opposition would be open to considering broader tax reform. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to meet with Donald Trump on the sidelines of G7 summit next week, amid pressure from the United States to increase defence spending from the current level of 2.04 per cent to to 3.5. Trade Minister Don Farrell on Sunday said the government was committed to a "significant uplift in the amount of defence spending". "We're focused on what Australia needs to do and we'll make our decisions based on what's in our national interest," he told Sky News. The Coalition went to the election promising to earmark an additional $21 billion for the military between now and 2030, almost double what Labor had pledged. Appearing on Insiders on Sunday, Shadow Finance Minister James Paterson said the Coalition's target of 3 per cent of GDP in a decade had not changed since the party's devastating election loss last month. "The exact profiling of that increase is something that we'll determine through the policy process and closer to the next election. We'll be completely up front and transparent about that," he said. "But yes, we have an objective of reaching the 3 per cent of GDP because we think it is in our national interest." Senator Paterson said the Coalition had three years to outline where that additional funding would go, but listed some potential areas for investment as recruitment and retention, a munitions stockpile, northern military bases, air and missile defence and drones. "There is no shortage of good things we could spend on that would increase our ability to defend ourselves and safeguard our sovereignty," he said. But he would not be drawn on where the money to pay for the increase would come from, saying that work would occur over the coming years. Senator Paterson did suggest the opposition was open to a discussion about the way superannuation is taxed, despite its rejection of the government's plan to double the tax on super balances above $3 million from 15 to 30 per cent. "We're happy to contemplate tax reform. We're happy to talk to the government about tax reform. But we are not interested in increasing taxes, because I don't think that that is what the Australian economy needs right now," he said. "If the government was genuinely serious about a broad-based tax reform process, then we'd be up for that conversation. Now, the government has to take the first steps there." US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked Defence Minister Richard Marles to increase spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP "as soon as possible" on the sidelines of a dialogue in Singapore this week, according to a statement from the US Department of Defense. Mr Hegseth had previously made similar requests, but it was the first time the administration nominated an exact figure. Negotiations with the United States over Mr Trump's 10 per cent tariffs on Australian exports continue, with the subject likely to dominate the anticipated meeting between Mr Albanese and Mr Trump. Access to Australia's critical minerals has been put forward as a potential bargaining chip as Australia continues to push for an exemption. The Coalition had previously said they would oppose Labor's plan to acquire stockpiles of critical minerals from commercial projects, to be held in a national reserve and made available to domestic industry and international partners. But Senator Paterson told Insiders it "might be necessary" for the government to support the mining and processing of critical minerals. "We're very happy to see what the government is proposing here. I can't commit to it in principle without having seen the details, but we're certainly open to it," Senator Paterson said. "Any sensible steps that represent an economic opportunity for Australia and an opportunity for us to demonstrate that we are a good alliance partner of the United States is something that we would offer bipartisan support to." Mr Farrell said Australia had offered the United States "an expanded arrangement in regards to critical minerals" as part of efforts to secure an exemption from the tariffs, which came into force in April. The trade minister met with his American counterpart, trade representative Jamieson Greer, in Paris last week, where he said he made clear that Australia wanted "all of the tariffs removed, not just some of them". "The position I put to Jamieson Greer is that the tariffs the United States has imposed on Australia are unjustified."

WA emissions have risen but premier insists it's necessary in global fight against climate change
WA emissions have risen but premier insists it's necessary in global fight against climate change

ABC News

time4 hours ago

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WA emissions have risen but premier insists it's necessary in global fight against climate change

Western Australia's gas is a golden ticket, a sought-after transition fuel helping to displace coal in Asia and lower global emissions. At least that's the story WA Premier Roger Cook has been selling. Amid public backlash to the federal government's decision to approve a 40-year extension to Woodside's North West Shelf Karratha gas project, something the WA Government green lit in December, the premier is sticking to his talking points. The project's extension is good for the economy, it's good for jobs, it's good for regional WA — and it's good for the energy transition, he says. His good friend, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, was on the same page last week, praising the North West Shelf extension before Tuesday's federal cabinet meeting in Perth. "The people I've met in Karratha support jobs and support economic activity… I went to Karratha during the election campaign," Mr Albanese said. "I understand that this great state isn't just about Perth, it's about jobs." Environment advocates disagree. They're concerned about what the project's emissions will mean for the world, and for WA's climate targets – a concern dismissed by supporters. "I obviously speak to the gas companies and I speak to their customers and their customers have said very clearly to me, for instance Japan… we want to get from 39 per cent profile for coal fire power in our grid down to 19 per cent," Mr Cook said last Tuesday. "The only way we can do that is by utilising gas." The WA Greens say the North West Shelf puts the state on the path to becoming Australia's "climate change capital," especially given new data shows WA's greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 were going in the wrong direction. Figures from the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water found WA's emissions are now almost 17 per cent above 2005 levels and rising, ahead of other mining states like Queensland. It means the state is bucking the national trend, with Australia's overall emissions falling 27 per cent over the same period. "The Cook Labor government knows these numbers and they just don't care," new Greens MLC Sophie McNeill said at a rally last Wednesday. But WA is planning to bring its emissions down, right? Maybe – but it might not be any time soon. "What's more important is that we bring down global emissions," Mr Cook said last Thursday. Part of that role, the Premier says, is to provide gas to countries moving away from coal but who aren't replacing it directly with renewables. It's part of the reason why he has pulled back on previous plans to legislate state climate targets, saying it could 'shackle' the state from helping the world. 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'Gas can assist [greenhouse gas emission] mitigation during the period when carbon prices or equivalent signals are strong enough to force high renewable electricity generation shares,' it found. 'Until the carbon price reaches that level their impact on emissions reduction is either negative or neutral.' Energy Finance Analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, Kevin Morrison, also doubts the WA government's views. He said while gas would play a role in the energy transition, 'there's no sign of it replacing coal', and that it is still emissions-intensive when being exported, as much of WA's gas is. 'It has got to be frozen, then it's a ship, it burns a lot of fuel as it's going over thousands of kilometres, and then it's reheated at the other end,' he said. 'All that together really adds up to a fair bit of emissions.' Mr Morrison was particularly doubtful of Cook's claims Japan needed WA's gas to decarbonise, pointing to IEEFA research that Japan onsold much of the gas it purchased from Australia. Tensions over the role WA has to play in decarbonising the world are not going away anytime soon. Demonstrations have continued for the second week as climate activists protest the North West Shelf extension and its impact on rising emissions. Conservation Council WA community organiser Victoria Pavy helped organise the snap national day of action event in Perth last Wednesday. "We know that from 2026 onwards there's a projected global gas glut, so it's going to be harder and harder for Australia to actually sell our gas and there's a lot more supply than demand," she said. Australian Youth Climate Coalition WA organiser Jordan Rowand agrees. "[In] every other state, their emissions have gone down since 2005, so the work that we have to do in Western Australia is a lot… we have some big fights ahead of us," they said. History will judge whether the WA government is chasing a real golden ticket or something closer to fool's gold.

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