Weak consumer spending as, people – especially in Germany, the EU’s largest economy – put more into savings
Interest rates went up again across the eurozone on Thursday – probably for the last time during this cycle of hikes that has become a familiar story in the single currency bloc, as it has in the UK and US.
The European Central Bank (ECB) raised its main deposit rate by a quarter of one per cent to 4% – the highest level in the euro’s history.
Continue reading...French supermarket chain labels products that have shrunk in size but cost more before contract talks with suppliers
The French supermarket chain Carrefour has put labels on its shelves this week warning shoppers of “shrinkflation”, the phenomenon where manufacturers reduce pack sizes rather than increase prices.
It has slapped price warnings on products from Lindt chocolates to Lipton iced tea to pressure top consumer goods suppliers Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever to tackle the issue in advance of much-anticipated contract talks.
Continue reading...Exclusive: transparency advocates condemn arrangement as ‘appalling’ while health department refuses to say how much consultancy was paid
The Victorian government paid a consultancy firm that has spent decades working for big tobacco to lead the state’s consultation on changes to tobacco and vaping laws, before the process was abandoned.
The state’s health department has repeatedly declined to say how much KPMG was paid for the work this year and did not answer questions about whether the international firm’s long association with big tobacco and its ongoing work for the industry were declared.
Continue reading...Memberships of the heads of the Reserve Bank and the Productivity Commission further evidence of airline’s soft power among political decision-makers
The incoming Reserve Bank governor, Michele Bullock, and outgoing chair of the Productivity Commission, Michael Brennan, are members of Qantas’s high-end Chairman’s Lounge – an invitation-only perk a top public integrity expert says officials should turn down.
The memberships, contained in the gifts and benefits registers of the agencies, show how the airline has used its soft diplomacy to build relationships in Australia’s most important institutions, including the competition and corporate regulators and aviation safety authority.
Continue reading...Shadow Indigenous affairs minister last spoke at forum alongside Marcia Langton and Josephine Cashman in 2016. Follow live news updates today
We’ll be hearing from Michael Long and the Long walkers very soon.
In other news ahead of us, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price will give an address to the national press club and then she is down for an event with the Australian newspaper later this afternoon.
[It’s an issue that’s been identified across international media and domestically, but we need to make sure that there are absolutely no loopholes or ability for people to think that they can operate contrary to Australia’s national interest.
And so we’re making sure that our laws clearly identify and make it clear to any veteran to any firm former service personnel to public servants that have worked in defence that we take the integrity of our information, our national security information and training very seriously, and that we are going to properly regulate any work that they do for a foreign military or companies associated with them so that we’re protecting our national interest.
Continue reading...Brazilian Indigenous leaders who are fighting a class action suit against BHP over a tailings dam collapse say they face similar struggles to First Nations Australians
A group of First Nations Brazilians taking on the mining company BHP say a voice to parliament will give Indigenous Australians a critical avenue they were not afforded – the chance to consult.
The delegation is visiting Australia to meet with politicians this week amid their multibillion-dollar class action suit against the Australian mining firm over its role in the devastation caused by the Mariana dam disaster in 2015.
Continue reading...Unemployment rate remains steady at 3.7% in a sign that the economy could avoid a hard landing as impact of 12 interest rate rises is felt by households
Employers hired almost 65,000 more workers in August, many more than expected, improving the prospects that the economy will avoid a hard landing but also raising the possibility the Reserve Bank may hike interest rates again.
The unemployment rate last month was 3.7%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. Economists had forecast the economy would add 25,000 jobs in August, which would have left the jobless rate at July’s reported level of 3.7%.
Continue reading...Households could save £400 a year on energy bills via means-tested insulation scheme
Households could save up to £400 a year on energy bills under a new means-tested scheme to insulate more than 300,000 of Great Britain’s draughtiest homes.
The government is spending £1bn on grants for homes that have low energy efficiency ratings and are in lower council tax bands.
Continue reading...Growth in prices still remains far below the decades-high inflation rates that were seen last summer, when rate peaked at 9.1% in June
US inflation in August rose for the first time since June 2022, rising to 3.7% as a sharp increase in energy prices pushed prices up toward the end of the summer.
Growth in prices still remains far below the decades-high inflation rates that were seen last summer, when the rate peaked at 9.1% in June. Still, an increase in inflation means the US economy is further from the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2% and will likely make officials consider pushing interest rates up later this year.
Continue reading...Games creators attack the fees, due for implementation in 2024, as company executive dials back on initial plan
Tech company Unity has sought to clarify its decision to charge a controversial new fee to game developers. A blogpost on its official site last night announced the company would be introducing a “runtime fee”, which would require developers to pay a fixed sum each time a game built using the Unity Engine was installed by a player.
Unity stipulated that the fee would only be chargeable after a game made $200,000 (£160,000) in 12 months and had at least 200,000 lifetime game installs, but developers nevertheless vented outrage on social media.
Continue reading...Dan Rosenfield decides to sit as independent after being nominated by former PM in resignation honours list
Boris Johnson’s former chief of staff Dan Rosenfield has decided not to sit on the Conservative benches following his elevation to the Lords in a move that has outraged some Tories, with one saying it made the former prime minister “look like a chump”.
Rosenfield, a former Treasury official, was one of several ex-aides nominated in June for peerages in Johnson’s resignation honours list.
Continue reading...Boycott would aim to use consumer power to pressure company to negotiate its first union contract
Calls for a consumer boycott of Starbucks are growing amid mounting criticism of the coffee chain’s aggressive union-busting activities.
A boycott, supporters say, would aim to use consumer power to pressure Starbucks to stop its union-busting and illegal actions and to finally negotiate its first union contract.
Continue reading...Increase in nominal spending contrasts with other recent surveys showing consumer confidence was languishing at depressed levels
Spending on the Fifa Women’s World Cup and a jump in education, insurance and petrol outlays nudged national spending higher last month, according to CommBank data capturing the spending of about 7m households.
The household spending insights index picked up 0.7% to 137 in August. Compared with a year earlier, the index was up 2.3%, improving from the 1.9% annual rise in July.
Continue reading...PwC says owner plans to reopen stores under Poundland brand throwing lifeline to as many as 1,800 staff
Poundland is to acquire up to 71 Wilko sites that it intends to reopen under its own brand in a deal that could throw a lifeline to some of the about 1,800 staff who will lose their jobs at the stricken retailer.
Under the deal struck by administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) with Poundland’s parent company Pepco, the sites will be acquired only after all 408 Wilko stores are shut and more than 12,000 staff made redundant.
Continue reading...Doctors and pharmacists concerned that Wesfarmers’ acquisition of InstantScripts could end the notion that ‘health data is sacrosanct’
The integration of a controversial online doctor service alongside Bunnings, Kmart and hundreds of pharmacies in the Wesfarmers portfolio has raised concerns among medical practitioners about potential risks to patient data security.
InstantScripts sprang to prominence during the pandemic, offering an alternative to the GP by generating prescriptions via an online form that was then remotely checked by a doctor. The business covers 300 low-risk drugs that patients can either pick up from a pharmacist or get delivered directly to their home.
Continue reading...Dairy farmers warn the deal could reduce competition and lead to lower prices for producers
The Australian consumer watchdog has delayed its decision on the acquisition by supermarket giant Coles of two major milk processing facilities, which dairy farmers warn would further reduce competition and lower milk prices.
In April, Coles announced it had purchased two fresh milk processing plants from dairy processor Saputo for $105m, subject to regulatory approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
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Continue reading...Jump in borrowers unable to make payments with landlords particularly hit and ‘worse to come’
Mortgage arrears jumped by 13% in the second quarter of the year to the highest level since 2016, according to Bank of England figures that underscore the stress in the UK mortgage market.
Rising interest rates and unemployment over recent months have put pressure on household disposable incomes, forcing some families to cut or suspend their monthly mortgage payments.
Continue reading...The brand’s creative director shot to international fame for creating the Princess of Wales’s wedding dress
Sarah Burton, the creative director of Alexander McQueen who designed the Princess of Wales’s wedding dress, is leaving the fashion house after more than two decades.
In a statement released on Monday, Kering, the brand’s parent company, announced that its show on the 30 September during Paris fashion week will be Burton’s last.
Continue reading...ACT senator wants to move forward with workers’ compensation for PTSD and banning discrimination against employees experiencing domestic violence
Employer groups and the Coalition have backed calls from David Pocock to split Labor’s industrial relations bill and deal with uncontentious parts this year, including workers’ compensation and discrimination law reforms.
The influential crossbencher is considering moving a private senator’s bill to move forward with provisions improving access to workers compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder in the ACT as a priority.
Continue reading...S&P Global’s chief economist Paul Gruenwald believes interest rates will stay elevated for some time
Soft landings, sticky inflation, the dash to decarbonise and great power rivalry including the emergence of India are among subjects exercising Paul Gruenwald, S&P Global’s chief economist.
New York-based Gruenwald, whose career includes stints at the International Monetary Fund and ANZ, was speaking ahead of an economists’ briefing in Sydney on Tuesday.
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