Erik Pineda

A worker’s union called the attention of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) on its controversial social networking policy, in which employees could be terminated if their Facebook accounts carry unsavoury remarks about their employer.

The Australian economy would go through a phase of soft activities for the first six months of 2011, mainly due to the devastations wrought by the Queensland floods, but the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) maintained that a sweeping rebound will be seen by the second half.

Australians waiting to be evacuated from tension-filled Egypt may have to wait for awhile in escaping from the unrests gripping the North African nation as the second chartered Qantas plane dispatched by the government to fetch them got stuck in Germany.

New data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday showed that the country’s trade surplus shrunk to $1.981 billion in the three months leading to December and that number could further slide as the economy starts absorbing the damages wrought by the recent flooding.

Rising costs of oil and jet fuel in the world market pushed Qantas Airways Ltd to increase its fuel surcharge by more than 50 percent, which the national carrier said would applied on specific international flights.

US-based magazine Forbes released on Thursday its collection of Australia’s richest and listed as number one is mining magnate Gina Rinehart, with a current net worth of $US9 billion.

Overall motor vehicle sales in January retreated a bit as consumers appeared to reallocate their resources on more pressing needs due to the flooding disaster that had hit many Australian states.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) finally gave its go signal for the five-year partnership sued for by Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, paving the way for the two airlines to closely cooperate in providing flight services to their networks.

After winning the $580 million contract of manufacturing plane parts for the Australian air force, engineering firm Quickstep saw it fit to move out of Perth and occupy the site vacated by Boeing in Sydney when the aircraft maker moved to Victoria.

As Australia started feeling the brunt of the heavy downpours that spawned the devastating floods in the months of December and January, business confidence in the country had commenced shrinking, according to the latest Monthly Business Survey of the National Australia Bank (NAB).

Ongoing protest actions that have engulfed the Middle East and North African regions could potentially affect the flow of phosphate rock supplies and disrupt global food stability, according to Australian academics.

Major Australian banks’ over reliance on international funding for their mortgage services leads to rising borrowing costs, which in turn push up interest rates being slapped on bank consumers, according to a credit rating agency’s report.

Cougar Energy Ltd said on Wednesday that the decision to shut down its Kingaroy underground coal gasification (UCG) plant was based by the Queensland government on a report fraught with “a number of factual inaccuracies.”

A third term for Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) board member Professor Warwick McKibbin is unlikely when his tenure wraps up this year, according to Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan, who added that McKibbin has had a long stay on the board.

Existing Australian infrastructure may not be enough to meet the demands of the resource boom expected to happen soon, according to the new report of Access Economics released on Tuesday.

Many economists agreed that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will give weight on the firm movement shown by inflation levels so far and the short term impact of the flooding disaster to the national economy.

Contracting firm Downer EDI gradually sees the recovery of the market values it lost last week when it admitted last week that cost blowouts of the Waratah train project in New South Wales forced it to absorb losses of up to $250 million.

Major Australian supermarkets have given consumers some form of relief when bread and milk products sitting on their shelves saw significant reduction on prices but the initiatives appear to have been cancelled out by soaring petrol cost currently in effect.

Queensland Gas Corporation (QGC) tapped Motorola Solutions to build its $14.4 million digital radio network that will service the communication requirements of the company’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in southern and central Queensland.

Rising food prices and the upward trend of inflation levels are the most pressing concerns that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) must weigh in once it reconvenes on Tuesday to determine the cash rate that will be in effect for February.

Coles-operator Wesfarmers Ltd announced on Monday that sales of the retail firm saw spiking numbers in the first six months of the current financial year despite cautious consumer behaviour seen for the most part of the period.

Major investors of giant mining firms BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd reportedly asked the two companies to prioritise share buyback schemes for now prior to launching plans of actively pursuing takeover deals.

The federal government found an ally on a leading economist for its proposed flood levy, who declared support for the initiative and argued that the tax would hardly leave a dent on the Australian economy.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said on Friday that the state government is set to absorb losses of at least $5 billion due to the recent flood disaster and most likely reduce its economic growth prospect for the rest of the year.

The changing landscape of the retail industry pushes into forefront the increasing attractiveness of online operators, which industry players said have been enticing both consumers and investors attentions for their value offerings and return promises.

Even a tightening budget due to upcoming flood rehabilitation programs on areas ravaged by the disaster would not convince the federal government to at least delay its $37 billion national broadband network project.

Global mining firm Rio Tinto Ltd nears its goal of acquiring Africa-focused collier Riversdale Mining Ltd following the announcement on Thursday by Indian consortium International Coal Ventures Ltd (ICVL) to drop its planned rival proposal on the mining giant’s $3.9 billion takeover bid.

Giant telco Telstra Corporation announced on Thursday its decision to axe 79 employees at the Ballarat call centre in Victoria, saying that the function of the centre would instead be outsourced to an overseas firm.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced on Monday her proposal for a one-off flood levy that would raise some $1.8 billion to help finance the reconstruction program in areas devastated by the flooding disaster.