Latest news with #WesternAustralia-based
Sky News AU
19-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Finance Sector Union demands Commonwealth Bank of Australia justify job cuts after posting multi-billion dollar profit
The Finance Sector Union (FSU) has torn into Commonwealth Bank of Australia for slashing more than 150 roles just days after revealing a $2.6 billion quarterly profit in the latest skirmish between the major union and Australia's largest bank. CBA told workers 163 positions at the company will go, with 105 coming from the company's main arm and 58 from its Western Australia-based subsidiary Bankwest. The FSU said the bank told staffers about the cuts within days of revealing a six per cent profit increase in the March quarter over the same quarter last year. Of the 105 CBA jobs lost, 90 are located in New South Wales, while the remainder are in Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and Queensland. Jason Hall, the FSU's National Assistant Secretary, said the recent job losses brings the total cuts across CBA and Bankwest in the past year to almost 800. 'While CBA's profits have swollen in the past year, they have sacked almost 800 workers in piecemeal announcements, no doubt in the hopes that these smaller job numbers wouldn't be widely noticed,' Mr Hall said in a statement. 'CBA has provided insufficient detail about the latest job cuts to enable genuine consultation. The FSU has written to the bank seeking more information on the rationale for the cuts and the impact on remaining teams. 'CBA and Bankwest workers deserve job security but with announcements of job cuts every couple of months, they are instead wondering when and where the next axe will fall.' Mr Hall said the latest cuts are mainly in customer service roles and the job losses at Bankwest are 'particularly concerning' after CBA committed to 500 new roles in WA. 'Now these latest round of Bankwest cuts mean CBA has slashed almost 150 Bankwest jobs since the start of the year,' he said. 'CBA must explain to its workers and customers how it can justify these actions after another quarter of hefty profits.' A CBA spokesperson said the major bank has hired almost 3,000 people since the start of the year and is investing more than $2b this financial year in the bank's operations. 'Like many organisations, we regularly review how we are organised to deliver the best experiences and outcomes for our customers,' the CBA spokesperson said. 'That means some roles and work can change. Our priority is always to redeploy or reskill for a new role or opportunity wherever possible.' The fresh sackings follows the FSU demanding answers from CBA over the axing of 164 jobs from the bank's technology division. Just weeks after this, the FSU hit out over plans to axe 90 roles at Bankwest.
AU Financial Review
15-05-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Sanjeev Gupta's Whyalla port row gives contractor a $113m headache
Mining contractor NRW has warned of a $113 million impairment from a messy dispute over who controls the Whyalla port near the loss-making steelworks seized from Sanjeev Gupta's empire in February. NRW shares plunged by more than 8 per cent in early trade on Thursday after the Western Australia-based company came out of a trading halt on the ASX.
Sky News AU
08-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Peter V'landys takes dig at AFL as Perth Bears confirmed to enter the NRL in 2027, adding competition to Western Australia's sport sector
Fans of the fallen NRL side the Bears have rejoiced with Perth confirmed to be the new home of the beloved club as it will return to the competition in 2027. The announcement the Perth Bears would be joining the NRL in under two years' time marks the first time a Western Australia-based rugby league club will be playing in the top grade in 30 years after the Western Reds who competed from 1995 to 1997. It will also mark the return of the Bears after a two-and-a-half decades long exodus since they were booted from the competition at the end of the 1999 season. The confirmation of the NRL's expansion has not made everyone happy though, as it appears to have reignited the code war with the AFL in turn. Seven West Media's paper The West Australian published the headline on the front page "THE BAD NEWS BEARS", adding: "Rugby-mad Roger Cook forces WA taxpayers to pay Sydney's NRL rejects $65m to play in Perth". The media conglomerate has an allegiance to the AFL, especially after Seven signed a broadcast rights deal with the AFL and Foxtel for $4.5 billion from 2025 to 2031. Channel 9 will be broadcasting some NRL games when they are played in Perth, adding some competition for viewership with the AFL. The AFL currently has two Western Australia-based teams - the West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers - which both play at the 61,000 Optus Stadium. When asked about the local media coverage of the Bears announcement, Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V'landys said he felt it had been biased against the NRL, and warned the AFL should be worried about the competition the code is set to bring to the state. "I think the media coverage has been a bit biased, in the sense that the main newspaper here is owned by Seven West Media, that has the AFL rights, let's be quite frank," he told reporters on Thursday at Perth's HBF Park, set to be the home ground of the Bears. "They don't want us to be here, because they realise we're going to be competitive and we're going to take some of the lunch, and we eat a lot so we'll be taking a fair bit of their lunch." At the press conference on Thursday, Mr V'landys said there would be a $50 million return on investment to the WA government. 'It's a gold mine,' Mr V'landys said. 'It's going to have a massive return to the government here... our figure was a $50 million (annual) return. 'The beauty of this team is you're going to have 200,000 members coming from NSW for the Bears. And the Bears are a very tribal club and (the fans) will travel.' WA Premier Roger Cook said "every dollar of WA government support" will be spent in WA to "develop the game". The agreement with the NRL includes $65.6 million in financial support from the government over seven years, with the Premier predicting WA taxpayers to benefit from the return on investment.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Alarm as magpie filmed exhibiting strange behaviour: 'It's not normal'
An Australian magpie has been discovered exhibiting behaviour so strange, alarmed experts have taken the wild bird into care. One video shows it rolling around on its back like a cat and playing with a pen. In another, it can be seen fearlessly perching on his rescuer's leg and feeding from their hands. 'Three nights ago, I was putting the rubbish out and he just flew really fast towards my shoulder, but he misjudged the distance. Then he stopped and jumped on me. This isn't normal behaviour for a wild bird,' licensed bird rescuers Paula and Bridgette Powers told Yahoo News. The twins believed the juvenile magpie had been raised to associate humans with food, and that's why it approached them. 'He just wanted help, the poor little thing,' they said. The Powers sisters have decades of experience rehabilitating native birds and were mentored by the late Steve Irwin. They suspect the magpie, who they've named Sky, may have been dumped or dropped over the fence at their Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue shelter on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. Related: 🏡 Desperate plea to Aussies after sick magpie found in home Registered wildlife carers are trained to rear orphaned or abandoned wildlife using specialised practices that prevent them becoming attached to humans or other domestic animals living in their homes. It could take months to rehabilitate the magpie so it becomes wild again. Problems with members of the public taking magpies from the wild occur across the country. When Western Australia-based Yas Hunter began working in wildlife rehabilitation close to 20 years ago, she'd see four or five humanised magpies admitted annually. But over the last three years that number has skyrocketed, and in 2024 the practice she managed treated 35. 'These are not magpies that are just a little bit humanised and come up to people for food like a lot of the urban magpies do. These are magpies with clipped wings. They land on people's shoulders thinking they're part of the human family so they have issues socialising with wild magpies,' she told Yahoo News. 'These are birds that cannot be easily released into their wild magpie family and they need to undergo a lot of rehabilitation.' 🐕 Call for answers after poison found buried in endangered predator's habitat 🦎 Stop work at airport after warning project will be 'nail in the coffin' for threatened animal 🍽️ Rare species to be served up to Aussie diners as certified 'sustainable' meal Taking home wild birds and not surrendering them to a licensed wildlife rescuer, carer, or vet is generally illegal in Australia. In 2024, Yahoo wrote about two of the humanised birds admitted to Hunter's clinic, Potato and Mildred. And the very different outcomes of their journeys highlight the problem of taking a bird from the wild can cause. 'We lost Potato. She had an underlying fungal infection in her body, aspergillosis. We picked up on it early and started treating her, but unfortunately she couldn't be saved,' Hunter said. While Aspergillus is found naturally in the environment, animals kept inside with poor ventilation can become more susceptible to the fungus. Potato's care team suspect the stress of her confinement likely caused her immune system to weaken, leaving her unable to fight the infection. 'She was taken from the wild, her wings were deliberately clipped and she was forced into a yard with a dog. She was terrified of humans and dogs, so it was devastating for her,' Hunter said. Mildred's fate was a happier one. She came into care at the same time as Potato, and after months of care she was released this week with a large flock of surrendered pets. 'We're just so proud of Mildred, she was one of the most humanised birds. She was scared of being outside, she was scared of the sun, and if another bird flew over her she would scream and hide. It took a good 12 months, and she no longer wants anything to do with humans,' Hunter said. 'Downright depressing' is how Hunter describes the ongoing saga of Australians taking magpies from the wild. Some people who have surrendered humanised birds have told her they were inspired by the Peggy and Molly social media accounts, which feature a "wild" magpie interacting with pet dogs. While the page's creators do not encourage followers to take birds from the wild, some misguided fans have tried to recreate what they've seen on the internet at home. 'These birds could have had a great life with their family, and not had to go through a year of rehabilitation,' Hunter said of birds taken from the wild in Western Australia. 'I'm not sure what we're getting wrong in terms of education. People don't seem to understand what they should do if they encounter wildlife. They seem to think they can do whatever they like with a wild animal.' Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
