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- 28JULY2021-WED
28JULY2021-WED
$1 million funding to support entrepreneurs in bushfire-affected regions
Wednesday 28th July 2021
COVID-19 may have pushed the devastating 2019-2000 bushfires from the public consciousness, but many regional businesses are still recovering. However, the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery (BLER) Package, part of the $4.5 billion bushfire support program co-funded by the Australian and NSW governments, continues to assist regional communities to re-establish their local businesses.
Sydney-based Hero Packaging is quickly becoming a game-changer for online retailers by helping them eliminate plastic from the shipping process and achieve sustainability, one mailer at a time.
The case for neurodiverse hiring is especially compelling given the increasing skills shortages within the technology and startup industry. As borders stay shut, there is a rising IT skills shortage in Australia and New Zealand. Recent research shows a major digital skills gap across Australia’s workforce, with 87 per cent of jobs now requiring digital skills and a need for 156,000 technology workers to keep up with the rapid transformation of businesses. Nevertheless, the neurodiverse population remains a largely untapped talent pool.
The Federal Government has opened up public submissions to help Australia reduce its carbon output under the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF). Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said this morning the government is aiming to develop five new ERF methods in 2022. He said expanding the range of eligible activities under the ERF scheme will help Australia both beat its emissions reduction goals and strengthen its economy.
Superannuation startup and investment platform provider Spaceship has hit $1 billion in funds under management and is on the cusp of having 200,000 customers.The Fintech company is backed by Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes, through his investment vehicle Grok Ventures, alongside venture firm Airtree Ventures and a host of other tech entrepreneurs.
The Reserve Bank of Australia said that the past measures to curb deterioration in lending standards at a time of a housing price boom have been successful.Australia’s financial regulators, including the RBA, have been closely monitoring developments in the housing market for some months as home prices recorded strong gains across the country.In the 2020-21 financial year, property prices nationally rose 13.5 per cent, the highest growth rate since 2004.The RBA has repeatedly said it won’t step in to curb activity by hiking the cash rate, but at the same time has warned that it doesn’t want to see a deterioration in lending standards.
Bitcoin earlier soared close to US$40,000 after billionaires including Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos suggested the party wasn’t over yet for cryptocurrency.The unit leapt 15 per cent in Asian trade to a one-month high at $39,681 buoyed by reports that US retail titan Amazon was considering the use of crypto technology and supportive tweets from Tesla.Ethereum and dogecoin also soared 7.3 per cent and 11 per cent respectively, over the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinDesk.
Sales of new U.S. single-family homes tumbled to a 14-month low in June and sales in the prior month were weaker than initially estimated. This is the latest sign that expensive lumber and shortages of other building materials continue to hurt the housing market.
China is updating a vital ordinance governing cybersecurity rules that analysts say will effectively ban Chinese tech firms from listing in the United States and other foreign markets.The move comes on the heels of its controversial probe into suspected data breaches by China’s ubiquitous carpooling and ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing in early July. The watchdog has inserted several catch-all clauses to give more powers to regulators to scrutinize, encumber, vet and veto overseas IPO plans.
Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges must disclose the risks of the Chinese government interfering in their businesses as part of their regular reporting obligations, a top U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official announced.
The State Department, in a report ‘2021 Investment Climate Statements: India, said that India “remains a challenging place to do business”.“New protectionist measures, including increased tariffs, procurement rules that limit competitive choices, sanitary and phytosanitary measures not based on science.“Indian-specific standards not aligned with international standards effectively closed off producers from global supply chains and restricted the expansion in bilateral trade,” the report said.
India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth is likely to be 8.8 to 9 per cent in the current financial year, driven by agriculture and industry sectors, Care Ratings said in a report. The country’s economy had contracted by 7.3 per cent in fiscal 2020-21.The agency also said that the outlook for the Indian economy on almost all counts in FY22 would seemingly look better than FY21 because t of the negative base effect.
According to a new study, Tasmania has maintained its position as Australia’s best-performing state economy. Tasmania has been named the best economy for the sixth quarter in a row in CommSec’s State of the States survey. Four of the eight economic indicators show that Tasmania is in the lead: relative population growth, equipment investment, relative unemployment, and housing starts. The island also ranked second on another two indicators – construction work and retail spending.
Between 2012 and 2018 fossil fuel extraction companies received $1.4 billion in research and development tax credits from the Australian government, a study revealed.Among the projects funded by Commonwealth and state governments are work on coal ports, railways and power stations, and research into “clean coal” or “coal innovation”.In 2018, the most recent year for which data was available, Australian fossil fuel companies were holding on to $880 million in R&D tax credits that could be used in future years on top of what they had claimed.That’s in addition to the $1.4 billion already received, for a total of well over $2 billion. It’s a substantial well-hidden public investment in fossil fuel R&D, the study found.
Labor wants welfare recipients living in lockdown areas automatically bumped onto higher COVID-19 disaster relief payments.The opposition also wants the federal government to automatically move people back onto JobSeeker and waive the waiting period when the lockdowns end.Currently, people receiving government payments aren’t eligible for disaster relief and have to choose one or the other.Labor’s social services spokeswoman Linda Burney says it should be simplified.
Businesses and nonprofits were eligible for JobKeeper if their turnover fell below a certain threshold or was expected to fall below a certain limit. In March 2020, the federal government announced a $1,500-per-week salary subsidy as portions of the economy began to shut down. Around one million businesses and nonprofits were using JobKeeper by the mid-2020. From April through June of last year, 365,477 enterprises and organisations received JobKeeper, with a turnover that did not fall below threshold levels. When compared to the same period in 2019, 157,650 JobKeeper employers had an increase in turnover.
The cost of renting a home in Australia surged over the past 12 months despite COVID-19 price hike moratoriums, creating an “unsustainable” situation while incomes languished.Nationally, rental rates jumped 6.6 per cent over the year to June – the highest annual growth since January 2009, CoreLogic data shows.Perth recorded the nation’s second highest average rate increase over the 12 months, with prices up 16.7 per cent.
Australian petrol is expected to get cheaper after a decision to increase global fuel production.The NRMA said petrol prices could fall by as much as four cents per litre thanks to the decision by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to increase production volumes.
