Latest news with #RenjuJose
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Australia raises minimum wages by 3.5% as inflation eases
By Renju Jose and Stella Qiu SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia's independent wage-setting body on Tuesday raised the national minimum wage by 3.5% effective July 1, a real wage increase for about 2.6 million workers on the lowest pay as inflationary pressures ease in the economy. The minimum rate will rise to A$24.94 ($16.19) per hour, resulting in an extra A$1,670 in a year for full-time employees, according to the Fair Work Commission's (FWC) annual review. Headline consumer price inflation held at 2.4% in the first quarter, comfortably within the Reserve Bank of Australia's target band of 2% to 3% and having come down from the 7.8% peak in late 2022. FWC President Adam Hatcher said the decision could help many workers to recoup the loss of their real income over the last few years due to high living costs. "If this opportunity is not taken in this annual wage review, a loss in the real value of wages which has occurred will become permanently embedded ... and a reduction of living standards for the lowest paid in the community will thereby be entrenched," Hatcher said. Last year, the FWC increased minimum wages by 3.75% but that was largely in line with inflation. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) described the wage increase as "a great outcome" for employees on minimum wages, who it said suffered the most when inflation soared after the COVID-19 pandemic. "Our lowest-paid workers are getting ahead again," ACTU Secretary Sally McManus told reporters. The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates to a two-year low last month as cooling inflation at home offered scope to counter rising global trade risks, and left the door open to further easing in the months ahead. At the same time, the labour market has remained surprisingly resilient, with the jobless rate hovering at 4.1% for over a year now. Employment gains have been driven by a surge in public sector jobs, with still tepid wage growth suggesting few risks of a damaging wage-price spiral. ($1 = 1.5401 Australian dollars)
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Zealand defers vote on rare suspension of Indigenous lawmakers
By Renju Jose SYDNEY (Reuters) -The New Zealand government on Tuesday deferred a vote over the rare suspension of three Indigenous lawmakers from parliament for performing a haka, the Maori ceremonial dance, during the reading of a contentious bill last year. A parliamentary privileges committee last week recommended temporarily suspending three Te Pati Maori parliamentarians for acting in "a manner that could have the effect of intimidating a member of the house." The Te Pati Maori members performed the haka last November ahead of a vote on a controversial bill that would have reinterpreted a 184-year-old treaty between the British and Indigenous Maori that still guides policy and legislation. Co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi should be suspended for 21 days and representative Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke for seven days, the committee said. Chris Bishop, the leader of the house, said delaying the vote would allow the suspended members to participate in the federal budget on Thursday. The vote will take place following the budget, he said. "Deferring consideration of the debate means all members will have the opportunity to debate and vote on the budget," Bishop said. Several protesters gathered outside the parliament in Wellington for the vote over the suspensions, and New Zealand media reported they might perform a haka in support of the Maori lawmakers. Judith Collins, who heads the privileges committee and serves as attorney-general, told parliament that the haka forced the speaker to suspend proceedings for 30 minutes and that no permission had been sought to perform it. "It's not about the haka ... it is about following the rules of parliament that we are all obliged to follow and that we all pledged to follow," Collins said. Suspending lawmakers is rare in New Zealand's parliament, with the last occasion in 1987, according to media reports. The opposition Labour party called for a compromise and proposed censure instead of suspension. The committee's proposal is "totally out of line with existing parliamentary practice and is disproportionate to the allegations," opposition leader Chris Hipkins said. "We have never seen a sanction of this nature in New Zealand's history before ... it is disproportionate. A sanction is appropriate, this level of sanction simply is not." The haka was traditionally a way for Maori to welcome visiting tribes or to invigorate warriors ahead of battle. It is now performed at important events as well as ahead of matches by New Zealand's rugby teams.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Zealand boosts movie production incentives after Trump's 100% tariff plan
By Renju Jose SYDNEY (Reuters) -New Zealand will allocate more budget funds to give rebates to foreign studios for filming movies in the country - a move which follows U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of 100% tariffs on films made outside the United States. New Zealand, where the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy was shot, has become a popular filming location for Hollywood movies due to lower costs and government incentives. "We are sending a clear message to the world: New Zealand is the best place in the world to make movies. Bring your productions here to take advantage of our talent and locations," Finance Minister Nicola Willis said in a statement. When announcing the 100% tariffs this month, Trump said Hollywood was dying a "very fast death" due to incentives offered by other countries. An additional NZ$577 million ($339 million) will be injected into next week's federal budget to sustain New Zealand's International Screen Production Rebate scheme. That comes despite the government's proposed cuts to baseline spending as tax revenue shrinks. Under the rebate programme first introduced in 2014, eligible productions can access a cash rebate of 20% for production costs of more than NZ$15 million for feature films, and NZ$4 million for television shows. "While industry incentives are not generally our favoured approach, the reality is we simply won't get the offshore investment in our highly successful screen sector without continuing this scheme," Willis said. New Zealand's film sector employs about 24,000 people and generates NZ$3.5 billion annually, with around a third of revenue coming from the United States, its foreign ministry said in a March 2025 report. Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom provide more generous incentives than New Zealand, Willis also said. ($1 = 1.7030 New Zealand dollars) Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Zealand to increase redress payments for victims of abuse in state care
By Renju Jose SYDNEY (Reuters) - The New Zealand government said on Friday it would spend NZ$774 million ($457 million) in its 2025 budget for redress and compensation for hundreds of thousands of children, young people and vulnerable adults who were abused in state care. A public inquiry last year found some 200,000 children and vulnerable adults in state and faith-based care experienced some form of abuse from 1950 to 2019, forcing Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in November to offer an historic national apology to victims and their families. "We know there is nothing we can do to take away the pain of survivors," Erica Stanford, the lead coordination minister for the government's response to the inquiry, said in a statement. "But the government has committed a significant investment ... to improve the redress system and strengthen the care system to prevent, identify, and respond to abuse in the future." The average compensation payment for new claims will be raised to NZ$30,000 ($17,703) from NZ$19,180, and more money will be provided for survivors who suffered extreme abuse, while processing of claims will be sped up from 2027 to cut wait times, the statement said. The redress does not include claims that sit with school boards, faith-based organisations, or other non-state providers, it said, adding the government will be receiving further advice on those later in the year. Those from the Indigenous Maori community in state and foster care institutions were especially vulnerable to abuse, findings in the public inquiry noted last year. The inquiry commissioned in 2018 was expanded to include churches and other faith-based institutions, following calls from victims and others. Pope Francis, who died last month, had met abuse victims in several parts of the world during his 12-year papacy and made addressing the issues a priority after historical revelations of abuse from Chile to New Zealand. Francis created the Vatican's first anti-abuse commission, became the first pope to expel a cardinal from the priesthood for sexual abuse and installed a global system for Catholics to report suspicions of abuse or cover-ups by bishops. The Catholic church on Thursday elected Cardinal Robert Prevost, who has spent most of his career as a missionary in Peru, as a successor to Francis, becoming the first U.S. pope and taking the name Leo XIV. In an interview with the Vatican News website in 2023,Prevost said the Church must be transparent and honest indealing with abuse allegations. But SNAP, a US-based advocacy group for victims of clerical sex abuse, expressed "grave concern" about his election, renewing accusations that Prevost failed to take action against suspected predatory priests in the past in Chicago and in Peru. ($1 = 1.6946 New Zealand dollars)
Japan Today
01-05-2025
- Business
- Japan Today
Australia's Labor party likely to retain power as Trump concerns weigh, polls show
By Renju Jose Australia's center-left Labor government is likely to retain power in a close-run national election this weekend, two opinion polls showed on Thursday, with voters ranking U.S. President Donald Trump's policies among their top concerns. A RedBridge-Accent poll published by News Corp newspapers on Thursday showed Labor leading 53%-47% against the conservative Liberal-National coalition under Australia's two-party preferential voting system, where votes are distributed until a winner is declared. Labor could win the election in its own right or form a minority government, the RedBridge poll said, marking a reversal of sentiment from February, when voters wanted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese out of office. The lift in support for Labor late in the campaign is driven by Millennials and Generation Z voters, with one in five saying they had changed their mind, the RedBridge poll said. Millennials and Generation Z voters make up 43% of the 18 million people enrolled under Australia's mandatory voting system, outnumbering the powerful baby boomer bloc. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberals staged a major political comeback to retain power in Canada's election, fueled by a backlash against Trump's policies and his comments on making Canada the 51st U.S. state. About 48% of Australian voters picked the uncertainties triggered by Trump as one of their top five concerns, while 42% remained wary of the opposition's plans to build seven nuclear plants across the country to help replace coal-fired power. The online poll of 1,011 voters was conducted between April 24 and 29. Opposition leader Peter Dutton has campaigned on several policies seen widely as emulating Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) set up by Elon Musk, though he later abandoned a policy that would have required government workers to return to the office full time. Comparisons with Trump and his policies have dragged down Dutton's popularity in Australia, where a poll last month showed Australians' faith in the United States had hit an all-time low. A separate YouGov poll released on Thursday predicted a Labor majority, with the party likely winning up to 85 seats in the 150-seat lower house and the opposition facing a net loss of 11 seats, its worst performance since 1946. Albanese has been downplaying the poll results, saying it would be a close campaign. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
