Category Archives: Business

Australia news live: Natasha Fyles resigns as Northern Territory chief minister; PM to visit north Queensland flood zones on Thursday

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Follow the latest updates live

Communities urged to exercise caution amid ‘huge volumes of water’

QFES commissioner Steve Smith has also made some comments on the flood situation up in Queensland.

There’s still huge volumes of water moving down through the systems, so at different points on the water, in the water catchments, they’re going to have rises. So we need people to stay informed, and they’ve done a great job in doing that. So we want that to continue with the support from community.

No. So we have commenced a search and rescue investigation into that. Degarra was one of the communities we couldn’t get into yesterday, but we have been speaking to a local man where there were a number of rescues completed yesterday in Degarra. So we have dispatched the water police vessel this morning, which left in the early hours of this morning and is on the way to that location. And in addition to that, we’ve now got rescue helicopters going that way as well.

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Gina Rinehart launches joint bid for lithium miner amid demand for electric vehicles

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The $1.7bn offer for Azure Minerals comes during a rush of dealmaking for the metal used in batteries

Gina Rinehart has teamed up with a Chilean miner to take control of a prized lithium asset in the mineral-rich Pilbara, creating a path for Australia’s richest person to become a major producer of the key metal used in electric vehicle batteries.

Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting and Sociedad Quimica y Minera (SQM) lodged a $1.7bn bid for Azure Minerals, according to a stock exchange announcement on Tuesday.

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Octopus Energy raises $800m and aims to create 3,000 green jobs in UK

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Extra cash values firm at nearly $8bn, as it says it has greater share of home electricity market than British Gas

Octopus Energy has raised $800m (£630m) from its shareholders in a move that values the company at nearly $8bn, weeks after it became Britain’s biggest power supplier.

Its existing investors, which include Japan’s Tokyo Gas and Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management, have ploughed in extra cash as the value of the utility company surged by 60% since its last fundraising round two years ago.

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Judge throws out Kabwe lead-poisoning case against Anglo American mining

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South African court dismisses huge class-action lawsuit over toxic legacy of mining at Broken Hill in Zambia between 1925 and 1974

A South African court has thrown out a case brought against the multinational mining company Anglo American on behalf of 140,000 Zambian women and children, who allege they have suffered lead poisoning from one of its mines.

The lawsuit, one of Africa’s largest class-action cases, was filed in October 2020, accused Anglo American of negligence over its alleged failure to prevent widespread lead poisoning in the Zambian town of Kabwe, where its South African subsidiary is alleged to have played a key role in running a large mine from 1925 until 1974.

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Two in five Australians had flight cancelled or delayed over 12 months, survey says

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Choice poll also finds less than half of all flight refunds are received within a month as government considers additional regulation

Less than half of Australians who seek a refund for a cancelled flight receive it within a month while one-fifth of those seeking a refund wait more than six months, a poll has found, as the government considers a compensation scheme and a passenger bill of rights.

The consumer advocate Choice also found, in a survey of about 9,000 Australians, that two in five respondents had a flight cancelled or delayed in the 12 months between October 2022 and this year.

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UK telecoms firms told to safeguard at-risk customers in switch to digital landlines

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Minister’s move follows reports of pensioners left unable to call for help

Telecoms providers have been forced to pause plans to impose digital phone lines on vulnerable customers after reports of pensioners left unable to call for help during power cuts.

Companies including BT and Virgin Media have been forced by Michelle Donelan, the technology secretary, to sign a charter to safeguard at-risk households during the nationwide switchover from analogue to internet-based landlines.

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Nippon Steel to acquire Pittsburgh-based US Steel for $14.1bn

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All-cash deal will see company keep name and headquarters in Pittsburgh, where it was founded in 1901

US Steel, the Pittsburgh steel producer that was once the world’s largest company and played a key role in the nation’s industrialization, is being acquired by Nippon Steel in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $14.1bn.

The price tag for US Steel is nearly double what was offered just four months ago by rival Cleveland Cliffs. US Steel, which rejected that offer, confirmed the offering price from Nippon early on Monday.

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Rishi Sunak taking Michelle Mone case ‘incredibly seriously’

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PM’s comments come as Labour calls for Commons statement about Tory peer who admits lying to media over links to PPE firm

Downing Street takes the case of Michelle Mone “incredibly seriously”, Rishi Sunak has said, as Labour called for a Commons statement after the former Tory peer admitted she lied when denying involvement with a company that won UK government deals to provide personal protective equipment during the pandemic.

Pressure is increasing for action on Mone, who had repeatedly denied a connection to PPE Medpro, which made millions of pounds in profits during the pandemic, but conceded in an interview on Sunday that she had been untruthful.

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BP halts oil and gas shipments through Red Sea after rebel attacks

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Energy company follows decisions by five big shipping firms as Houthi militants step up attacks on vessels

BP has halted all shipments of oil and gas through the Red Sea after an increase in the number of attacks on cargo ships by Houthi militants in Yemen, including a strike on a Norwegian-owned vessel.

The British oil company said on Tuesday that it had paused shipping in the region indefinitely, citing a “deteriorating security situation” amid tensions in the Middle East.

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Hard-up this holiday? Amazon flyer tells workers to ask company mascot for help

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Workers making $17 an hour not impressed by holiday offer from company that just tripled profits to $9.9bn

Amazon is asking workers experiencing hardship to write a letter to its company mascot, Peccy, this holiday season so “some of their holiday wishes can come true”.

A flyer from the Amazon warehouse SWF1 in Rock Tavern, New York, states: “Are you or someone you know facing financial hardship this holiday season? Peccy wants to help! Write a letter to Peccy. If the Peccy team selects you, some of your holiday wishes could come true!”

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L&G opens door for huge US-style bonuses for UK asset managers

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Update to pay policy includes room for ‘necessary flexibility’ to attract best talent to London-listed firm

One of the largest UK pension and insurance firms has opened the door to backing US-style mega-bonuses for London listed companies despite fears that executive pay is fuelling inequality and encouraging “short-term risk taking”.

Legal & General Investment Management has updated its pay policy to say there is room for the “necessary flexibility” needed to attract the best talent. It acknowledges “an increased push” by UK companies towards “remunerations structures that are more closely aligned to US-style pay”.

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Tax ombudsman criticises ATO’s robotax for not considering ‘financial vulnerability’ of recipients

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Karen Payne says the debt notices had triggered a significant increase in complaints, and may require the government implementing a legislative fix

Australia’s tax ombudsman says the government should consider putting time limits on debt collection and ensure that people are not put into hardship after an ATO campaign to resurrect thousands of historical debts caused widespread distress and confusion.

Karen Payne, the country’s top tax bureaucrat in charge of the complaints management service, said the ATO campaign to extract the debts from tax refunds had triggered a significant increase in complaints, and may require a legislative fix.

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Do you know more? Email jonathan.barrett@theguardian.com

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World watches as landmark Jimmy Lai trial set to begin in Hong Kong

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Territory’s global reputation on the line as media mogul and democracy activist finally tried over alleged national security crimes

Hong Kong’s global reputation will be tested this week when the long-delayed trial of the pro-democracy activist and former media mogul Jimmy Lai gets under way.

Lai, who turned 76 in jail this month, is charged with colluding with foreign forces under the national security law, as well as sedition. If convicted, which experts say is highly likely, the British national faces spending the rest of his life in prison.

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Cambridge University reportedly could drop Barclays in favour of greener bank

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UK lender is a major European funder of oil and gas projects and university has said it does not want to back fossil fuel expansion

Cambridge University could cut ties with Barclays after more than 200 years over the bank’s refusal to stop financing new oil and gas projects, according to the Financial Times.

It reported that Cambridge is looking for an institution with robust climate policies to manage “several hundred million pounds” in cash and money market funds – a mandate expected to cover more than £200m in assets and generate about £10m in fees a year.

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Diversity policies face ‘full-out attack’ in 2024, leading HR boss warns

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President of the largest human resources organization in country says national shift following George Floyd’s 2020 murder is fading

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies within US companies will “come under full-out attack in 2024”, the president of the largest US human resources organization in the US has said.

“It’s going to become a hot-button issue this year,” Johnny C Taylor Jr, president and chief executive of the Society of Human Resource Management, told reporters. The national shift to be more inclusive that followed the murder of George Floyd in 2020, and the Black Lives Matter protests that followed, is already fading, he said. “We’re already seeing companies go away from it.”

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Fortnum & Mason online customers hampered by service ‘glitches’

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Online shoppers at the upmarket London grocer complain about being billed twice and being on hold for nearly 90 minutes

Customers of the luxury grocer Fortnum & Mason have been complaining about difficulties placing orders and getting a response from customer services during a busy Christmas period for the retailer.

Some shoppers at the store, which holds a royal warrant and is famed for its Christmas hampers, have taken to social media and review websites to complain about being charged multiple times after repeating transactions thinking they had not gone through.

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‘It’s going to delay the mail’: the fight over Louis DeJoy’s USPS plan

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Trump’s postmaster general appointee is implementing a 10-year austerity plan that will slash jobs and close sorting centers

More than 500,000 workers at the United States Postal Service (USPS) will be handling billions of deliveries through the holidays. For hundreds of them, this may be their last Christmas at their current mail sorting facility and workers are warning the impact on consumers will be severe.

Donald Trump’s appointee as postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, is currently implementing a 10-year “Delivering for America” austerity plan that will slash jobs and close sorting centers.

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Costco sells $100m in gold bars in most recent quarter

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Retailer began selling bars of 24-karat gold online in September, with each release selling out ‘within a few hours’

Known for selling goods in bulk, Costco’s latest such offering – gold bars – has proved a hit, with $100m worth sold in the most recent quarter, Business Insider reported.

With demand for the precious metal rising globally amid the economic uncertainty of the past few years, Costco in September began selling 1oz (28g) bars of 24-karat gold exclusively online, with Costco members eligible to buy two apiece. The retailer has more than 72m paid memberships.

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Australians may get more cost-of-living relief in the next budget, Jim Chalmers says

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Exclusive: Treasurer says government working on measures to ease the squeeze as well as policies to accelerate transition to net-zero emissions

Jim Chalmers has said Australians could receive more help with cost-of-living relief in the budget next May and confirmed the government is working up new policy measures to accelerate the transition to net-zero emissions.

In an end-of-year interview with Guardian Australia following the release this week of the mid-year budget update, the treasurer said the government would consider further interventions to help households between now and the May budget as long as measures didn’t fuel inflationary pressure, which has been moderating.

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Bank of England keeps interest rates on hold as concern about economy grows

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Interest rates will need to stay high for sufficiently long to return inflation to 2% target

The Bank of England has said Britain is facing a tougher job to crush persistently high inflation than other advanced nations, as it kept interest rates on hold at the highest level since the 2008 financial crisis.

Pushing back against expectations in financial markets for a deep round of interest rate cuts next year, the central bank said there was still a long way to go before it could declare victory on inflation, despite a worsening outlook for the UK’s stagnant economy.

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