Beef Steaks, Israel and Westpac

Australian News

• Australia and Japan have pledged to deepen cooperation on energy security and climate change during high-level talks.

• After the disruption of football finals in Sydney and Melbourne last week, auction volumes have surged back, more than doubling to 2,436 across capital city markets.

• 1 in 20 mortgaged families are unable to pay for food and power, as the increasing tax rate added a $4B bonus to the federal government.

• Affordable housing schemes for essential workers would generate $45,500 in broader economic benefits per tenant annually due to shorter commute times, more spending on leisure activities, and increased productivity.

• The Reserve Bank says the share of owner-occupiers with variable-rate mortgages whose essential expenses and mortgage costs exceeded their income in July 2023 is estimated to be around 5%, up from around 1% in April 2022.

• Almost 1 in 3 large home builders are losing cash as the construction sector battles against rapidly rising wages and material costs, leading to a surge in insolvencies.

• Revenue NSW is still chasing over 17,000 people who have not paid their Covid hotel quarantine bill, as the government is still owed almost $40M in unpaid fees.

• Australia’s savings buffer is expected to be depleted by March 2024, with consumption to take a hit.

• AU hospitals have failed to recover from Covid lockdowns to lift the volume of elective surgeries sufficient to clear waiting lists, with hip, knee and shoulder joint replacement surgeries down 17.9% in 2022 compared to 2021.

• Compared to last year, beef steaks are 10% cheaper, lamb leg prices are down 13.5%, lamb cutlets are only down 5%, and sausage prices are flat.

• The Fair Work Ombudsman has vowed to use yet-to-be-legislated criminal penalties against employers who deliberately underpay or rip off their workers.

Global News

• The trend of remote working, triggered by the pandemic, is costing Manhattan $US12B ($18.7B) a year, devastating America’s cities and killing London. Meanwhile Tokyo, the largest city in the world, will add about 1.26M square metres of new office space this year, with little trouble occupying it.

• Hamas launched an air, sea and land attack on Israel on Saturday morning (local time), where a reported 200 Israelis were initially killed.

• Spanish police have seized 74 tonnes of stolen olives in the southern province of Seville, the latest theft triggered by soaring prices caused by a dwindling harvest.

• The European Union is considering a proposal that would force tech companies to make their apps less addictive.

Company News

• Vitamin maker Nature’s Care up for sale for upwards of $250M.

• Supermarket wholesaler Metcash is being pressured by thousands of its independent supermarkets, including IGA, to allow for higher margins as they face cost pressures due to steeper rents, energy and wages bills.

• A Federal Court justice is expected to rule shortly on whether Optus can stop a report by Deloitte on its 2022 cyberattack from being released.

• Magellan Financial’s share price plunged 18.5% to $7.18 on Friday as the Sydney-based money manager reported a $4B drop in funds under management in September to $35B.

• Barrenjoey reckons Westpac has hit a “pivotal” moment in its turnaround, and it could finally correct 15 years of under-investment in its technology systems.

• ChatGPT owner OpenAI explores manufacturing its own chips.

Other Picks

• Michelin Guide to start ranking hotels in addition to restaurants.

• ‘Coffee badging’ is the latest workaround for return-to-office mandates.

• FTX co-founder Gary Wang took the stand at Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial on Friday and admitted he and his former MIT roommate committed a multibillion-dollar fraud by secretly shifting customer funds to trading company Alameda Research.

• 16-24 year olds on average spend about 7 hours a day on the internet.

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