Latest news with #Industry
Sky News AU
15 hours ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Labor Minister Tim Ayres calls on Fortescue to repay $60m of taxpayer funds for failed green hydrogen project in Gladstone
Labor is seeking back the tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer funds it injected into Fortescue's failed green hydrogen project after the major company flipped on the beleaguered energy source. The Andrew Forrest-owned energy and mining giant on Thursday revealed it was scrapping green hydrogen projects in Queensland's Gladstone and the United States' Arizona. The Queensland plant has received about $60m in federal and Queensland government support and was opened 12 months before Fortescue canned the operation. While the company blamed the collapse of the Arizona facility on the shift in policy from the Trump administration, the Albanese government has earmarked billions of taxpayer dollars into green hydrogen in Australia. The recent shift is a blow to Labor's net-zero plans, which include a Hydrogen Production Tax Incentive as part of its Future Made in Australia Act. More than $6.5 billion will go toward the scheme, which provides $2 per kilogram of renewable hydrogen produced between 2027-28 and 2039-40. A spokesperson for Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayres said the government was hoping Fortescue would return the taxpayer funds it provided to fuel green hydrogen production in Australia. Labor has called on Fortescue to repay the millions of dollars it was given for a now-failed green hydrogen project. Picture: Getty Images A spokesperson for Mr Ayres said Labor would like Fortescue to repay the public funds. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman 'The decision not to proceed the PEM50 Hydrogen plant in Gladstone is a commercial matter for Fortescue,' the spokesperson said. 'However, if Fortescue does not proceed with the delivery of the MMI-funded Gladstone Electrolyser facility project it would be reasonable for the government to seek reimbursement for where the grant agreement hasn't been fulfilled.' Fortescue has not committed to ruling out repaying the taxpayer funds as it continues discussions with both the Queensland and federal governments. 'We are in active discussions with both governments on the future use of the land and the assets that have been invested in. As these are confidential discussions, it would be inappropriate to disclose details,' a spokesman said. The failure of the two projects will blow a US$150m ($227m) hole in the energy and mining giant's financial results. On the US project's failure, Fortescue chief executive of growth and energy Gus Pichot told analysts the shift away from green energy under US President Donald Trump hurt the project's viability. 'A shift in policy priorities away from green energy has changed the situation in the US,' Mr Pichot said. 'The lack of certainty and a step back in green ambition has stopped the emerging green energy markets, making it hard for previously feasible projects to proceed. 'As a result, we cannot proceed with our investments as they stand, and will explore future opportunities for our site in Arizona.'
Business Times
a day ago
- Business
- Business Times
Malaysia targeting lowest possible tariff rate in US talks, trade minister says
[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia is aiming for the lowest possible tariff on goods exported to the US, its trade minister said on Thursday (Jul 24), denying reports that it is targeting a rate of 20 per cent. Malaysia is facing a 25 per cent tariff on its goods unless it can reach a deal with Washington by Aug 1. Fellow South-east Asian countries Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia have each reached their own agreements, with the Trump administration placing a 20 per cent tariff on Vietnamese exports, and 19 per cent on Philippine and Indonesian goods entering the US. Malaysia's Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said several sticking points remained in the US talks, particularly on non-trade barriers, but discussions were progressing well and on track to meet the August deadline. 'On balance, I think we can get to a number which we feel is fair for both parties,' he told a press conference. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter, that Malaysia was seeking a tariff of about 20 per cent, which Tengku Zafrul denied. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 8.30 am Asean Business Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies. Sign Up Sign Up 'As low as possible... the target of 20 per cent is not the target, the target is lower than that,' he said. He said there were certain concessions Malaysia was unable to make as they may be detrimental to local industries, but the country was considering every demand that would help it complete the negotiations. He did not elaborate on what the concessions would be. Tengku Zafrul has previously said Malaysia was unwilling to cross certain 'red lines' in the talks, referring to US demands that he said encroached on domestic interests and national sovereignty. REUTERS
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Rachel Reeves' matchmaker moment
Finance bros and gals are often seen oozing confidence as they strut their stuff around the streets of the City of London, imagining they're the main characters on hit show Industry. But it would be a mistake to assume these investor strategists, expert consultants and risk analysts are libertarian dreamers, swashbuckling Reagan fanatics and small-state government-haters. They may not like to admit it, but sometimes they are just desperate for the helping hand of lawmakers. Uncertainty is the favourite refrain of analysts – unhelpfully for readers – to signal their desire for the state to do something. Lack of direction, clarity and objective are other complaints made by top lobby groups and pension funds against the government. Enter Rachel Reeves. The Chancellor is rushing to take advantage of this craving for more assistance. She is keen to rebuild her reputation as a 'pro-business' policymaker and capitalise on bond markets' emphatic endorsement of her 'iron-clad' fiscal rules. Over recent weeks, the government has been doing what it can to settle nervous investors without touching the public purse. Wooing the City It began with the Mansion House Accord, a declaration directing pension funds to invest five per cent of assets domestically. Then came the infrastructure strategy and industrial strategy, which gave a futuristic label to the UK's eight high growth sectors (IS-8). Finally, when she stood up to give her Mansion House speech,swooning the wishful libertarians in the City by claiming regulation was a 'boot on the neck of businesses', Reeves signalled the government would take a more active role in moneymakers' world by creating a concierge service for wealthy investors and a support platform for fintechs. Other departments have taken similar steps in the dash for higher growth. The Ministry of Defence has created a scheme, the Defence Tech Scaler, to link ideas from researchers with software and AI suppliers. The Foreign Office's diplomats are now briefing top executives on geopolitical risk to provide 'straight from the source' insight while providing companies with an alternative to 'expensive' consultants. As a result, Labour has become businesses and investors' consultant-in-chief and Rachel Reeves has become City investors' designated matchmaker. These initiatives have disappointed actual free-market advocates. Rightwing think tank wonks have pointed to page 106 in the government's industrial strategy as evidence that the state was itself deciding where growth would take place, rather than the market. The diagram, researchers say, show there is no stage of a UK firm's journey to scaling up where it is free from the shackle of state subsidies. Top businesses may cease to become dependent on deals it has struck with investors and instead look to be propped up by taxpayers via UK Research and Innovation, the British Business Bank, the National Wealth Fund or UK Export Finance. Talk around the Mansion House Accord was also undermined by the fact Labour gave itself backstop powers to force pension funds to invest five per cent of their assets in the UK. Sir Nicholas Lyons, architect of the earlier Mansion House Pact, suggested before the agreement was struck that the government should 'retain the threat of mandation' to put pressure on pension funds. But Scottish Widows owner Lloyds saw through that threat. The banking group's chief executive, Charlie Nunn, likened the government's actions to communist China's capital controls. Some investment firms and leading advisory companies also fear the government is stomping on its toes. Chief executives have privately questioned whether the Office for Investment, the new body led by Darktrace founder and now investment secretary Poppy Gustafsson, can operate a concierge service more effectively than private firms. Jeremy Savory, chief executive of Savory & Partners, a citizenship advisory for high net worth individuals, told City AM that 'investors know where London is' and any 'paranoia' that wealthy investors were no longer flocking to the capital city was because it was not as attractive as it once was. He questioned the concierge service's raison d'être: 'Will it be as attentive as a specialist advisor who can hold the hand of a visa applicant every step of the way?' Rachel Reeves' struggles Despite attempts by the British state to compete and perhaps replace services that already exist in the private sector, the government has never relied so heavily on management consultants to deliver its promises. Data by the public sector contract platform Tussell revealed that government spending on consultants rose by over £150m during Labour's first year despite a pledge to halve the amount splashed out on advisers. And so, Rachel Reeves has sweet-talked investors without mentioning spending – or taxation. It may have come as a relief to City veterans to see the Chancellor laugh off a suggestion by Liberal Democrat peer Lord Razzall to tax banks and tech companies more to fund spending. '[It's] maths like that that got us into the problems we are in today,' she said. Treasury officials at least told The Sunday Times over a month ago they were at least considering a levy on dividend payments and raising the surcharge on bank profits. In weeks since then, everything from a tax on wealth to hitting capital gains has been suggested by Labour backbenchers and influential think tanks, sending lobby groups into a frenzy ahead of expected £30bn tax hikes in the autumn. Her ambition to support top executives with a number of pro-business bodies or initiatives has certainly been welcomed by top investors, with the expected creation of a visa dedicated to luring foreign investors likely to make City bosses giddier about the future of the UK economy. But the fear of another economic setback from another mega tax raid this autumn prevails among most investors. Ideologues meanwhile argue that the damage has already been done, with government intervention in the private sector having become normalised well before Labour came to power. Without growth in the short-term, Rachel Reeves may have nothing to show for all her matchmaking efforts. Sign in to access your portfolio
Zawya
a day ago
- Business
- Zawya
Efforts to boost Bahrain's industrial sector stressed
Bahrain - Industry and Commerce Minister Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro emphasised the ministry's ongoing efforts to boost the growth of the industrial sector in line with the Industrial Strategy (2022-2026) and also highlighted the endeavour to develop a supportive legislative and technical environment to attract quality industrial investments. The minister was speaking as he visited Yokogawa Middle East and Africa, a subsidiary of Japan's Yokogawa Electric Corporation, and Mueller Middle East, both located in the Bahrain International Investment Park. The visit aimed to review operations, production stages, and future expansion plans, reflecting the sector's growth and its contribution to the national economy. He commended the park's role in attracting value-added projects and highlighted the strong capabilities of national industries, especially in advanced technologies and skilled manpower. He noted that the food and metal industries are key promising sectors that support food security and economic diversification. Mr Fakhro also commended the efforts of factory management and highlighted the ministry's commitment to providing all necessary support and incentives to strengthen Bahrain's position as a strategic industrial and commercial hub in the region. Mueller Middle East is the region's first copper tube manufacturer, while Yokogawa provides advanced solutions for various industries, including energy, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and food. Copyright 2022 Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Pierce Brosnan is Brendan Ingle in 'Prince' Naseem Hamed biopic Giant
The first trailer for Giant, the biopic of former world featherweight champion 'Prince' Naseem Hamed, starring Pierce Brosnan as his Dublin-born boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, has been released. Amir El-Masry (A Haunting in Venice, SAS: Rogue Heroes, Industry) stars as Naseem 'Naz' Hamed opposite Brosnan in the film, which is written and directed by Rowan Athale (The Rise, Gangs of London, Strange But True). Giant is executive produced by Rocky star Sylvester Stallone. The synopsis says Giant is "based on the remarkable real-life story of legendary British Yemeni boxing champion 'Prince' Naseem 'Naz' Hamed". "Charting his inspiring rags-to-riches underdog tale from his humble beginnings in Sheffield to becoming champion of the world and a global sporting icon in the 1990s, the film explores the unlikely and tender relationship between Naz and his Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle; and the instrumental role that Ingle played on his road to success," the synopsis continues. Brendan Ingle, who trained numerous world and European champions, died in Sheffield in May 2018 after a brain haemorrhage. He was 77. Paying tribute after Brendan Ingle's death, Naseem Hamed said: "I can honestly say that if it were not for Brendan Ingle, I would not have achieved all I did in the sport of boxing."
