🗞️ Peak deception

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Good morning. In the likely scenario that you climbed Mt. Everest in the last few years, fell ill, and were rescued by helicopter... you were probably scammed by your guide.

Everest guides have been accused of poisoning foreign climbers to force fake rescues, a scheme that has impacted more than 4,700 people.

Finally a good excuse not to climb Mt. Everest.

All the headlines and more below...

NATIONAL FUEL PRICES (Day-on-Day Change)

PVC PRICES UP 30% AS IRAN WAR CHOKES OFF PETROCHEMICAL SUPPLY

PVC plastic, the material in most building pipes and electrical conduit, has jumped more than 30% in price since the Iran conflict escalated. Australia imports roughly 85% of its PVC, mostly from Asia-Pacific suppliers that depend on Middle Eastern feedstock.

China, which normally exports PVC to Australia, is now competing for the same tight supply. Shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz remain partially disrupted, adding freight costs and delays.

Australia's construction sector was already dealing with labour shortages and higher interest rates. PVC is used in nearly every residential and commercial build - builders can't easily substitute it without redesigning systems or getting new approvals.

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

• Electric vehicle sales in Australia hit a record 15,839 in March, taking a 14.6% market share as overall new car sales fell about 3%. LINK

• PVC prices have jumped more than 30% as the Middle East war disrupts petrol and gas supplies, forcing South Australia's Loxton Irrigation Centre to scale back operations and cancel orders. LINK

• A 23-year-old migrant in Perth has been caught in a fake cleaning job scam after a supposed recruiter on Facebook charged him $345 for form processing. LINK

• Indonesia has pledged to keep supplying fertiliser and urea to Australia as Middle East disruptions threaten winter crops, with 1.5M to 2M tonnes available for selective export. LINK

• The Albanese government has issued an emergency draft order enabling the Fair Work Commission to mandate higher freight payments and weekly fuel price reviews as diesel averages above $3 a litre. LINK

• Australian households are set to endure months of elevated fuel, grocery and interest costs as the Middle East conflict, supply chain lags and RBA rate hikes keep inflation pressures high. LINK

• The ACCC has ramped up scrutiny of petrol prices with weekly benchmark reports and executive meetings but has taken no enforcement action as ExxonMobil publicly rejects its pricing allegations. LINK

• The RBA has slashed credit card interchange fees from 0.8% to 0.3% and halved debit fees, undermining bank and airline rewards while creating opportunities for retailer-funded loyalty schemes. LINK

HANDWRITTEN NDIS INVOICES FOR $7,600 ARE BEING PAID WITH NUMBERS CROSSED OUT AND ADDED INCORRECTLY

NDIS providers are submitting handwritten invoices on A4 paper for tens of thousands of dollars, often with numbers crossed out, written over or miscalculated. Kismet, one of the scheme's largest providers, processes about 200,000 NDIS invoices a month. Roughly 30% can't be processed automatically due to illegible handwriting or formatting.

The scheme doesn't require supporting evidence for appointments. No proof the service happened. Many sole traders don't include the 15-digit code specifying what work was done, so Kismet has to guess.

The NDIS now costs over $50B a year, that’s more than Medicare and is on track to overtake Defence.

COMPANY NEWS

• OpenAI, Anthropic and Google have joined forces through the Frontier Model Forum to detect and curb unauthorised AI model distillation in China that US officials say costs Silicon Valley labs billions annually. LINK

• Airwallex has been ordered by Austrac to undergo a sweeping audit over suspected anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing breaches as it serves more than 40,000 Australian business customers. LINK

• CBA has introduced an NFC-enabled ePassport feature that lets Australians open an account and verify their identity in under 1 minute, while enhancing biometric fraud prevention. LINK

• Air New Zealand has consolidated 4% of its May and June flights, affecting about 1% of passengers, as surging jet fuel prices more than double usual levels and push airfares higher. LINK

• Casella Wines has reported its first loss in 13 years with a $5.5M annual deficit as US sales of its Yellow Tail brand slumped nearly 17% amid weaker global wine demand. LINK

• CSL has said most of its US product sales are exempt from new US pharmaceutical tariffs as it invests US$1.5B in Illinois plasma manufacturing LINK

• Kismet has warned that barely legible handwritten invoices for tens of thousands of dollars under the $50B NDIS are rife with fraud risks as the Albanese government faces pressure to cut scheme growth to 5%. LINK

• Wattyl has warned Australian builders and renovators it will lift house paint prices by up to 10% due to higher crude oil costs as other materials also surge. LINK

SALARY VAULT BETA

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CHART OF THE DAY

Hospitality skills training: now and in the future

ONE MORE SCROLL

Editor’s Pick: The CEO’s guide to starting a successful business.

Draft Pick: World No. 2 Jannik Sinner completes the historic sunshine double without dropping a single set, becoming first person since Federer in 2017.

Odd Pick: A professional cornhole player and quadruple amputee is arrested for murder.

BRAINTEASER

Which is the next letter in the sequence: SENTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Answer below

OUR SOCIALS

ANSWER

F for Fourty.
The letters are the first letter of the words seventeen, eighteen, nineteen etc up to thirty nine.

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