🗞️ Temple & Webster, Cinemas and Job Ads

Good morning. Feel like you've been hearing 'fush and chups' & 'Choice as bro' more often lately? That's because New Zealand is experiencing a record high emigration with 700,000 kiwis now living in Australia due to better job opportunities and residency pathways.

Although the big headline coming out of New Zealand this week, you won't find in our wrap up below:

'Health NZ must apologise after a man was circumcised without his consent'. You can always count on New Zealand for a headline.

Feel like you can understand full Kiwi? Test yourself in our Kiwi slang trivia at the bottom of the email.

All the headlines and more below...

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

Houses at $500K discounts in these prestige regions

• House prices in popular regions like Byron Bay have dropped by up to $570,000 since their peak 2 years ago, driven by high interest rates and the return to office work. LINK

• Employers in Australia expect to lift salaries by an average of only 3.8% in FY25. LINK

• Retired Australians are experiencing lower living cost increases compared to working households. LINK

• A quarter of teachers in Australia feel unsafe at work due to physically violent students and volatile parents. LINK

• Surging living costs are making life insurance unaffordable for many Australians, with a study finding more than two-thirds concerned about their ability to pay for coverage. LINK

• Regional shopping centres note increased discounting and promotional activity, impacting earnings growth. LINK

• Public transport services in outer Melbourne are struggling to keep pace with rapid population growth. LINK

• Australia’s taxi industry is struggling to stay competitive against ride-sharing services despite efforts to modernise. LINK

• An early winter freeze and a wind drought have increased coal generation. LINK

• Wage growth in Australia grew 0.8% in Q2 2024 and remained steady at 4.1% over the year to June, with private sector wages slowing while public sector wages increased. LINK

• Australian business conditions improved in July due to a rebound in employment, although business confidence slipped slightly. LINK

• Australian consumer sentiment improved in August as rate fears subsided and tax cuts helped alleviate cost-of-living pressures. LINK

• QLD will appoint a Food Farmers Commissioner to mediate between growers and major supermarkets. LINK

• Despite economic challenges, cinemas remain popular in Australia, with the average ticket price at $16 to $17. LINK

CHART OF THE DAY

Foreigners Pull Record Funds From China

GLOBAL NEWS

People are leaving New Zealand in record numbers as unemployment rises, interest rates remain high and economic growth is anaemic

• New Zealand is experiencing record emigration, with 131,200 people leaving in the year ending June 2024, largely due to high unemployment, interest rates and low economic growth. LINK

• Hundreds have fled Athens suburbs as Greece’s worst wildfire this year spread into the capital, fuelled by gale-force winds. LINK

• Hong Kong's collapsing land sales are threatening the city's funding model, historically reliant on auctioning land to developers as a major revenue source. LINK

• Asian hedge funds are increasing short bets against Australian mining companies, with 15 out of the top 20 most shorted stocks on the ASX being in the resources sector. LINK

COMPANY NEWS

Seek warns of fewer job listings in FY25

• Seek has warned that deteriorating economic conditions in Australia will result in fewer job listings in FY25, after swinging to a full-year loss. LINK

• Temple & Webster exceeded market expectations with a 23% rise in earnings driven by strong online furniture sales. LINK

• Rex Airlines’ administrators revealed that pilot shortages and supply chain issues contributed to the company’s $500M debt. LINK

• EY Australia plans to focus on AI and technology transformation for growth, following a 5.5% annual revenue decline due to weaker demand for consulting services. LINK

• The University of Sydney is implementing a hiring freeze and contract renewals crackdown due to migration reforms and upcoming enrolment caps on international students. LINK

• Virgin Australia is expanding its fly-in, fly-out market in WA, placing a firm order for 8 regional jets from Embraer. LINK

• Cisco will lay off thousands in a second round of job cuts as it shifts focus to higher-growth areas like cybersecurity and AI. LINK

• Challenger reported a 17% increase in net profit before tax, driven by record sales of retirement income products tied to inflation. LINK

• ANZ has scrapped its own AI tool, Z-GPT, in favour of Microsoft’s Copilot for Microsoft 365, purchasing 3,000 new licenses to leverage advanced AI capabilities. LINK

• Evolution Mining confirmed a ransomware attack impacting its IT systems. LINK

• Five senior executives with experience from Meta, Adobe and Google have left Canva as it prepares for its IPO. LINK

• Amazon’s delivery service will be among the first firms targeted under Labor’s new laws for minimum pay and standards in the road transport industry. LINK

• CSL reported a 25% increase in full-year profit. LINK

• Vinyl Group acquired media industry news website Mediaweek for $1M, amid allegations of bullying and sexual harassment against its former owner. LINK

KIWI SLUSH

It’s Game Time

Are you fluent Kiwi? Impress your token Kiwi friend by dropping a few of these terms today.

Do you know all 6 of these already? Test yourself below:

1. Togs

2. Jandals

3. Chilly Bin

4. Bach

5. Skux

6. Twink

Bonus question: What do they call a Bubbler?

Answers below

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ANSWERS

1. Togs = Swimmers
2. Jandals = Thongs
3. Chilly Bin = Esky (makes sense when you think about it)|
4. Bach = Holiday home
5. Skux = Cool person or ladies man
6. Twink = White-out correction fluid
Bonus: Bubbler = Water fountain (simple people)