Alinta Energy says it is ‘open to exploring options' with rivals
Any deal between the two companies would allow for a partial exit of their separate Hong Kong-based owners while creating a stronger third supplier to take on industry heavyweights Origin Energy and AGL Energy.
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Sydney Morning Herald
6 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Aussie dollar hits eight-month high as shares slide; Macquarie down, Fortescue jumps
The heavyweight miners were mixed, with BHP down 0.6 per cent, South32 down 0.6 per cent, but Rio Tinto up 0.3 per cent. Santos slipped 1.4 per cent and Boss Energy fell 6.4 per cent, one of the day's worst performers. The lifters Healthcare was the only sector in the green, up 1 per cent, with CSL 1.5 per cent stronger. Clarity Pharmaceuticals surged 10.2 per cent, Neuren Pharmaceuticals 9 per cent and Mesoblast 8 per cent, three of the strongest performers. Three of the big four banks finished higher. NAB added 1.2 per cent, Westpac gained 0.5 per cent, Commonwealth Bank – the biggest stock on the index – rose 0.1 per cent. ANZ fell 0.4 per cent. Mining giant Fortescue, chaired by billionaire Andrew Forrest, jumped 4.3 per cent after it revealed on Thursday it had shipped a record volume of the steel-making material iron ore from its mines in Western Australia in the year to June 30. Despite an economic downturn cooling demand from steel mills in China, by far the biggest buyer of Australian iron ore, Perth-based Fortescue said it had shipped 55.2 million tonnes of iron ore in the three months through June, taking its full-year volume to an all-time high of 198.4 million tonnes. Pexa Group soared 16.5 per cent to a nearly three-year high of $15.09 after the digital property exchange announced leading UK bank NatWest had agreed to facilitate future remortgages on Pexa's platform. The lowdown The local sharemarket lost ground after slightly hawkish comments by Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock, while the local currency climbed to an eight-month high. Bullock reiterated the bank's gradual monetary tightening in recent years was aimed at getting inflation under control without causing unemployment to rise excessively. Tightness in the labour market was a key concern of Australia's central bank as standing in the way of more rate cuts, but conditions were easing in line with expectations, Bullock said in a speech to the Anika Foundation. A 'measured and gradual' approach to policy easing was appropriate, Bullock said, adding that labour demand remained strong while core inflation was easing gradually. Loading NAB head of market economics Tapas Strickland said the speech leaned slightly hawkish and showed that an August rate cut was not a done deal. A second-quarter inflation readout that will be released on July 30 would be important, he said. Bullock's remarks led three-year government bond yields to extend gains, adding about 3 basis points to trade at 3.48 per cent. That's a 7-basis-point increase on the day. The Australian dollar also extended gains to be 0.3 per cent higher Risk currencies, including the Australian dollar, had benefited from a risk-on tone overnight as trade tensions eased, said NAB economist Pat Bustamante. Loading Financial markets are betting the Reserve will cut two more times this year while paring back the probability of a third reduction to 40 per cent, down from 76 per cent on Wednesday. Markets were paying close attention to various tariff negotiations, and global equities continued their rally as bulls drew fresh conviction from signs the US may strike more trade deals soon after clinching a pact with Japan. Overnight, US stocks set more records. Shares jumped in Tokyo, where the Nikkei 225 rallied 3.5 per cent after Trump announced a trade framework that would place a 15 per cent tax on imports coming from Japan. That's lower than the 25 per cent rate that Trump had earlier said would kick in on August 1. 'It's a sign of the times that markets would cheer 15 per cent tariffs,' said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. 'A year ago, that level of tariffs would be shocking. Today, we breathe a sigh of relief.' Locally, the federal government on Thursday revealed it would lift biosecurity restrictions on US beef as it seeks a way to dampen the blow of Trump's volatile tariff regime. Cattle producers were left blindsided by the decision, even though the level of US product arriving in Australia is expected to be very low. It has been suggested Australia will use the easing of rules to argue its case for the US to wind back 50 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium and Trump's threat to impose a 200 per cent tariff on pharmaceuticals. Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said the decision was a purely scientific one. Trump in April singled out the beef trade disparity with Australia after Australian beef exports to the US surged last year, reaching $4 billion amid a slump in US beef production.
Sydney Morning Herald
8 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
A new book aims to fix housing affordability, but there's a better solution for Victoria
Melbourne's time in the property price doldrums could be over, ending a dream run for first home buyers in the Victorian capital. But it wasn't only the politics of Abundance, the economics book that's sitting on the nightstands of federal cabinet members, that got us there. The new book by US-based journalists Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein calls for deregulation to ease supply-side restrictions on housing and other vital industries to make houses (as well as healthcare and clean energy) more affordable, accessible and abundant. It doesn't deviate from conventional economic wisdom in this regard, and it's been widely read in Canberra. Its ideas are likely to be part of the discussion at next month's productivity summit. Australia's political system already has a neoliberal consensus; there is bipartisan support to grow the economy by making it easier for corporations to do business and for capital to flow. This same logic is already applied to the housing market, visible in our recent preference for supply-side solutions. One key area where Thompson and Klein hit the nail on the head, however, is the negative effect that restrictive zoning has on housing supply. Victoria has been building more new homes per person than NSW for years, but, like much of Australia, it still faces challenges from local councils to promote infill development and improve housing access in inner Melbourne. It's against this backdrop that the latest house price figures were released on Thursday. Victoria's affordability achievement was modest; house prices in Melbourne are 2.7 per cent below their December 2021 peak on Domain data, but remain unaffordable to most. Melbourne's median is $1,064,000, Sydney's is $1,722,000, and Brisbane's $1,060,000. However, lending data show first home buyers made use of the 3½-year window to purchase. Loading 'It was good, it has to be seen as good, prices did come down a bit,' AMP chief economist Dr Shane Oliver says. 'That would have provided some opportunities for first home buyers that they wouldn't have otherwise had. 'But affordability is still relatively poor in Victoria, it's just not as bad as some other places – Sydney, Brisbane and even Adelaide.'
The Advertiser
10 hours ago
- The Advertiser
'Respect we deserve': Hunter mining manufacturing workers walk off job
Manufacturers have walked off the job to call for better pay at Komatsu Rutherford, but workers say the company won't budge. Over the past three weeks, about 90 workers at the Hunter-based site have participated in industrial action after failed bargaining meetings. Komatsu, a construction and mining equipment business, proposed a lower pay increase than sites that do similar work, union members said. Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) organiser Nathan Clements said members had been negotiating with the company since February without a resolution. "Workers are walking off the job, removing their labour to show dissatisfaction at the company's offer," Mr Clements said. He said workers had put down their tools four times in the past three weeks for anywhere between one to four hours. Thursday, July 24, was the latest work stoppage action. Similar to Komatasu's Moss Vale, NSW, and Rockhampton, Queensland sites, workers at Rutherford mostly remanufacture underground mining equipment, Mr Clements said. "The company is offering them a lower increase compared to those other two sites to effectively do the same work," he said. Moss Vale and Rockhampton were offered 15 to 16 per cent pay increases over a three-year term agreement. Rutherford was initially offered 13 per cent, which dropped to 11 per cent in the face of industrial action, Mr Clements said. "We didn't think that this was too controversial of a position," he said. "We are happy to work with the company in recognition of some of their concerns but there hasn't been an appetite from the company for that." Mr Clements said the company had expressed concerns about market insecurities when considering pay rises. "We have tried to meet a middle ground where we operate on a shorter-term agreement, but that was rejected," he said. Komatsu Rutherford union delegate Kim Boman said they chose to strike on Thursday as they were told high-level executives were coming by. "We are all working under the same banner, we all want a bit of parity and equality across the sites," he said. "I think it's a little bit discriminatory. I don't think it's showing the respect we deserve." He said they also wanted to bring all three sites onto the same agreement and see improvements in overtime pay. "In the last meeting with the company, they weren't really in a bargaining position; there was no headway made,: he said. Komatsu Hunter Valley declined to comment when contacted by the Newcastle Herald on Thursday. Manufacturers have walked off the job to call for better pay at Komatsu Rutherford, but workers say the company won't budge. Over the past three weeks, about 90 workers at the Hunter-based site have participated in industrial action after failed bargaining meetings. Komatsu, a construction and mining equipment business, proposed a lower pay increase than sites that do similar work, union members said. Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) organiser Nathan Clements said members had been negotiating with the company since February without a resolution. "Workers are walking off the job, removing their labour to show dissatisfaction at the company's offer," Mr Clements said. He said workers had put down their tools four times in the past three weeks for anywhere between one to four hours. Thursday, July 24, was the latest work stoppage action. Similar to Komatasu's Moss Vale, NSW, and Rockhampton, Queensland sites, workers at Rutherford mostly remanufacture underground mining equipment, Mr Clements said. "The company is offering them a lower increase compared to those other two sites to effectively do the same work," he said. Moss Vale and Rockhampton were offered 15 to 16 per cent pay increases over a three-year term agreement. Rutherford was initially offered 13 per cent, which dropped to 11 per cent in the face of industrial action, Mr Clements said. "We didn't think that this was too controversial of a position," he said. "We are happy to work with the company in recognition of some of their concerns but there hasn't been an appetite from the company for that." Mr Clements said the company had expressed concerns about market insecurities when considering pay rises. "We have tried to meet a middle ground where we operate on a shorter-term agreement, but that was rejected," he said. Komatsu Rutherford union delegate Kim Boman said they chose to strike on Thursday as they were told high-level executives were coming by. "We are all working under the same banner, we all want a bit of parity and equality across the sites," he said. "I think it's a little bit discriminatory. I don't think it's showing the respect we deserve." He said they also wanted to bring all three sites onto the same agreement and see improvements in overtime pay. "In the last meeting with the company, they weren't really in a bargaining position; there was no headway made,: he said. Komatsu Hunter Valley declined to comment when contacted by the Newcastle Herald on Thursday. Manufacturers have walked off the job to call for better pay at Komatsu Rutherford, but workers say the company won't budge. Over the past three weeks, about 90 workers at the Hunter-based site have participated in industrial action after failed bargaining meetings. Komatsu, a construction and mining equipment business, proposed a lower pay increase than sites that do similar work, union members said. Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) organiser Nathan Clements said members had been negotiating with the company since February without a resolution. "Workers are walking off the job, removing their labour to show dissatisfaction at the company's offer," Mr Clements said. He said workers had put down their tools four times in the past three weeks for anywhere between one to four hours. Thursday, July 24, was the latest work stoppage action. Similar to Komatasu's Moss Vale, NSW, and Rockhampton, Queensland sites, workers at Rutherford mostly remanufacture underground mining equipment, Mr Clements said. "The company is offering them a lower increase compared to those other two sites to effectively do the same work," he said. Moss Vale and Rockhampton were offered 15 to 16 per cent pay increases over a three-year term agreement. Rutherford was initially offered 13 per cent, which dropped to 11 per cent in the face of industrial action, Mr Clements said. "We didn't think that this was too controversial of a position," he said. "We are happy to work with the company in recognition of some of their concerns but there hasn't been an appetite from the company for that." Mr Clements said the company had expressed concerns about market insecurities when considering pay rises. "We have tried to meet a middle ground where we operate on a shorter-term agreement, but that was rejected," he said. Komatsu Rutherford union delegate Kim Boman said they chose to strike on Thursday as they were told high-level executives were coming by. "We are all working under the same banner, we all want a bit of parity and equality across the sites," he said. "I think it's a little bit discriminatory. I don't think it's showing the respect we deserve." He said they also wanted to bring all three sites onto the same agreement and see improvements in overtime pay. "In the last meeting with the company, they weren't really in a bargaining position; there was no headway made,: he said. Komatsu Hunter Valley declined to comment when contacted by the Newcastle Herald on Thursday. Manufacturers have walked off the job to call for better pay at Komatsu Rutherford, but workers say the company won't budge. Over the past three weeks, about 90 workers at the Hunter-based site have participated in industrial action after failed bargaining meetings. Komatsu, a construction and mining equipment business, proposed a lower pay increase than sites that do similar work, union members said. Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) organiser Nathan Clements said members had been negotiating with the company since February without a resolution. "Workers are walking off the job, removing their labour to show dissatisfaction at the company's offer," Mr Clements said. He said workers had put down their tools four times in the past three weeks for anywhere between one to four hours. Thursday, July 24, was the latest work stoppage action. Similar to Komatasu's Moss Vale, NSW, and Rockhampton, Queensland sites, workers at Rutherford mostly remanufacture underground mining equipment, Mr Clements said. "The company is offering them a lower increase compared to those other two sites to effectively do the same work," he said. Moss Vale and Rockhampton were offered 15 to 16 per cent pay increases over a three-year term agreement. Rutherford was initially offered 13 per cent, which dropped to 11 per cent in the face of industrial action, Mr Clements said. "We didn't think that this was too controversial of a position," he said. "We are happy to work with the company in recognition of some of their concerns but there hasn't been an appetite from the company for that." Mr Clements said the company had expressed concerns about market insecurities when considering pay rises. "We have tried to meet a middle ground where we operate on a shorter-term agreement, but that was rejected," he said. Komatsu Rutherford union delegate Kim Boman said they chose to strike on Thursday as they were told high-level executives were coming by. "We are all working under the same banner, we all want a bit of parity and equality across the sites," he said. "I think it's a little bit discriminatory. I don't think it's showing the respect we deserve." He said they also wanted to bring all three sites onto the same agreement and see improvements in overtime pay. "In the last meeting with the company, they weren't really in a bargaining position; there was no headway made,: he said. Komatsu Hunter Valley declined to comment when contacted by the Newcastle Herald on Thursday.
