🗞️ Liquid glass

Good morning. Meta has launched its first own-brand smart glasses starting at US$299, including a Kylie Jenner edition, timed neatly to beat Apple to market in 2027.

The pitch is that you can now film your entire life from your face, which pairs beautifully with the news that even Instagram has adopted the same glassy "liquid glass" interface look.

The natural endpoint of all this is staring at a screen while standing in nature, then filming the nature through a different screen strapped to your eyes.

All the headlines and more below...

PNG SHUTS OUT ALL AUSTRALIAN CHICKEN AFTER TWO DEAD SEABIRDS TEST POSITIVE FOR H5N1

Papua New Guinea has suspended all poultry imports from Australia after two seabirds on a remote Western Australian beach tested positive for H5N1 over the weekend. Nearly half of Australia's $133M in chicken exports went to PNG last year.

No evidence of mass bird deaths. No cases in commercial farms. But over 100 reports of potentially sick birds have hit the national emergency hotline since the first detection. Inghams has locked down all its WA sites as a precaution.

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

• Headline inflation in Australia has eased to 4% in May as cheaper fuel drags the rate lower, while underlying inflation has risen to 3.6% keeping further RBA rate hikes likely. LINK

• South Australia has confirmed its first H5 bird flu case in a migratory seabird as authorities treat it as an isolated incident while national biosecurity measures remain on high alert. LINK

• The government’s ban on SMSF borrowing for residential property has removed funding that provides about 30% of critical presales for new housing projects. LINK

• ASIC has warned the motor vehicle finance industry to improve oversight of brokers and dealers after a review found rising complaints and consumer harm from poorly monitored car loans. LINK

STAX, THE $52M ACTIVEWEAR BRAND WORN BY J.LO, HAS COLLAPSED INTO RECEIVERSHIP

Stax, the Australian activewear label worn by Jennifer Lopez and Hailey Bieber, has appointed FTI Consulting as receiver after defaulting on loans. The Perth-founded brand was turning over $30M annually and valued at $52M three years ago.

The brand shut 6 of its 8 physical stores this year, including Broadway Sydney and QV Melbourne. It now operates 2 stores and an online business with just over 50 staff. Stax built its name through limited-edition drops with influencers like OnlyFans creator Anna Paul and fitness duo Steph Claire Smith and Laura Henshaw.

Founder Don Robertson started the business in 2015 out of his mother's house after a supplement venture was liquidated. He pivoted to hoodies, then leggings. By 2022, he and his wife Matilda Murray were on the AFR Young Rich List hoping to open boutiques in Paris and Italy.

The activewear market boomed during lockdowns, then flooded with competitors. Rising interest rates and cost-of-living pressure closed the window. Stax is still trading while the receiver works out what's salvageable.

COMPANY NEWS

• Bankwest, the digital challenger brand of CBA, has removed LMI for select professional borrowers with 10% deposits as it targets low-risk high-income customers to rival Macquarie. LINK

• Baby Bunting cut its earnings guidance as weaker recent sales of prams and car safety products hit revenue, although it still expects FY24 net profit growth of up to 64%. LINK

• Humm Group has rejected Credit Corp's rumoured revised 60c per share scheme-only offer as unacceptable after the original 77c or 72c per share proposal collapsed. LINK

• Virgin Australia is set to retain up to $93M in unused COVID-era travel credits as customers face a 30 June booking deadline, despite 90% already being redeemed. LINK

• Rio Tinto expects its lithium business to grow fastest as it works to triple production by 2028 after acquiring Arcadium and integrating global assets amid a recent lithium price crash. LINK

• Nine is negotiating Karl Stefanovic’s exit after his sympathetic podcast interview with far-right activist Tommy Robinson sparked backlash, advertiser boycott threats and concerns over his $1M remaining contract. LINK

2026 AUSCORP SALARY SURVEY

Since late 2022, your employer can no longer stop you discussing your pay. But most people still have no idea what the person next to them earns. We're trying to fix that.

This is our biggest survey yet and the more people who contribute, the harder it gets for anyone to be underpaid without knowing it. Anonymous, takes 2 minutes, and the results go straight back to the community.

TOGETHER WITH

Doga Sydney - Corporate Cuddles & Puppy Yoga

Take what you’re doing offline and circle back on team wellness because real team bonding happens with puppies, not PowerPoint. Give your team an event they’ll actually look forward to with Puppy Yoga or Corporate Cuddles!

CHART OF THE DAY

Prime day? More like Prime week!

ONE MORE SCROLL

Editor’s Pick: Interior design in 2026 will opt for 'curated calm over superficial opulence.

Draft Pick: Ronaldo underlines legacy, importance to Portugal vs. Uzbekistan.

Doctor’s Pick: Yale study finds nearly half of older adults improved with age.

TRIVIA

Everyone seems to be doing incredible things at young ages these days. How old were the youngest people to do the following events:

1. Climb Mt Everest

2. Score a goal at a Men's Soccer World Cup Finals event (not the final itself, just the event)

3. Win a medal at Gymnastics in the Olympics

4. Swim the English Channel

5. Win a tennis grand slam

Answers below

OUR SOCIALS

ANSWERS

1. Jordan Romero (USA) - 13 years, 10 months old (2010)
2. Pelé (Brazil) - 17 years, 239 days old (1958)
3. Dimitrios Loundras (Greece) - 10 years, 218 days old (1896)
4. Thomas Gregory (UK) - 11 years, 333 days old (1988)
5. Martina Hingis (Switzerland) - 16 years, 117 days old (1997)

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