WA SMEs most bullish in terms of borrowing intentions, Judo Bank report finds

Danielle Le Messurier The West Australian, 10 October 2021 Citadel Medical founder Fin English inside the COVID-19 testing facility at Perth Airport. Credit: Simon Santi/The West Australian WA small and medium-sized businesses are defying pandemic uncertainty to be named the most bullish in terms of new borrowing intentions, with almost two in three seeking new lending or refinance in the …

Why are so many retirees headed for the SMSF exit?

Nick Bruining The West Australian, 11 October 2021 Financial planners are reporting an increase in the number of seniors looking to close down their self-managed super funds. Credit: Image Source/Getty Images/Image Source There comes a time in life when you realise scaling Bluff Knoll in the Stirling Range is not for you. Wheezing and gasping, you make it to the …

Local firms sink $120m on subs

One firm said it had outlaid $3.4m on new systems, equipment and personnel to become a Naval Group supplier. Picture: AFP exclusive Ben Packham FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE CORRESPONDENT The Australian, October 10, 2021 Small and medium enterprises face an estimated $120m hit from the cancellation of the Attack-class submarines, after investing in new systems, equipment, security and personnel to …

Facial recognition for home quarantine a ‘recipe for disaster’

Peter Lewis Director of Australia Institutes Centre for Responsible Technology speaks,at the Domain in Sydney, Australia. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard exclusive David Swan Technology Editor The Australian, October 10, 2021 State governments trialling home quarantine need to take active steps to ensure they are not crossing a new frontier in the surveillance of citizens by using facial recognition …

Union push for more secure jobs, strike rights

MWU national secretary Steve Murphy says 400,000 jobs needed to be created in the manufacturing sector over the next 10 years. Picture: Brian Cassey EXCLUSIVE Ewin Hannan WORKPLACE EDITOR The Australian, October 10, 2021 A key national union will campaign in federal marginal seats for candidates to commit to the creation of 400,000 manufacturing jobs over the next decade, greater …

Bill Leak was a sinner and a saint, but always called it straight

Chris Mitchell Bill Leak, this newspaper’s editorial cartoonist, who died on March 10, 2017. The Australian, October 11, 2021 The inner suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra are a world away from mainstream Australia. They are also where many journalists who work in the national media live. Spending all of Sydney’s latest Covid lockdown largely free on the NSW mid-north …

Woolworths to pay $50m for decade-old underpayments

David Marin-Guzman Workplace correspondent Financial Review, Oct 8, 2021 Woolworths will pay about $50 million to tens of thousands of former and current employees who were underpaid a decade ago, beyond its legal liabilities. The ex-gratia payments bring the supermarket giant’s total remediation costs for its record-high underpayments to $420 million, although it has made provision for as much as …

10 reasons to start an SMSF

What can go right – or wrong – with taking control of your retirement savings. Michael Read Reporter Financial Review, Oct 8, 2021 For some, starting a self-managed super fund (SMSF) could be one of the best financial decisions they ever make. SMSFs can be a cost-effective way to gain control over your retirement savings, purchase real estate and manage …

Childcare subsidy changes to benefit 250,000 Australian families

Ellen Ransley NCA NewsWire, 10 October 2021 7:38AM The expanded subsidy scheme will benefit low and middle income families with two more children in care. iStock Credit: Supplied A quarter of a million Australian families will be more than $2200 a year better off when additional childcare subsidies are introduced early next year. The additional subsidies for families with two …

Jobs in tech go begging as companies miss on recruitment

Technology Council CEO Kate Pounder her home in Canberra. Picture: Jamila Toderas/The Australian Helen Trinca The Deal Editor and Associate Editor The Weekend Australian, October 8, 2021 Kate Pounder says jobs in tech are a no-brainer for people trying to shift careers. The chief executive of the new Technology Council of Australia says the most common pathway into a tech …