Vidhya CK

Malik's appointment is expected to enhance the AU$90 million allocation toward to tackle the impact of the Hamas-Israel conflict in Australia.

Besides low spending, the government stated strong commodity prices and a larger income tax as contributing to the two consecutive surpluses. The government also saved by paying less to the states and territories.

The watches are the latest products Trump has introduced since the start of his third campaign including Bibles, sneakers, photo books and cryptocurrency.

The Supermarkets Inquiry Interim Report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (AICCC) found that the country's biggest grocery chains, Coles and Woolworths, were acting as "oligopoly," limiting the incentive to compete on price.

Jim Chalmers, who was the first Australian treasurer to visit Beijing in seven years, said the two countries will cooperate on investment, trade and decarbonization.

Positioning herself as a "capitalist" who believes in "free and fair markets," Harris said her policies are pragmatic rather than ideologically driven.

The Financial Stability Review reported a rising number of mortgage holders, who were defaulting on home loans and more people opting to sell their homes to escape repayment.

The job openings fell by 17.1% from 2023 at a seasonally adjusted 329,900, which was the lowest drop since August 2021. However, the rate was 45.1% higher than the period before the pandemic struck.

"I'm sure the public service are looking at policy ideas. That's because we value them. But we have our housing policy. It's out there for all to see. What our government is considering is fixing housing supply by getting our legislation through the Senate. That's what we're considering," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

Dismissing national security concerns, David Burritt said once the deal is finalized, the Japanese company will have to abide by U.S. trade laws. He added that the board will predominantly consist of U.S. citizens overseeing operations.

Between August 2018 and February 2021, the securities firm claimed to conduct ESG screens for its $1.1 billion Ethically Conscious Global Aggregate Bond Index Fund. However, the federal court found: "Approximately 74% of the securities in the Fund by market value were not researched or screened against applicable ESG (environmental, social, and governance) criteria."

Greens environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young criticized the move calling it "wrong and irresponsible," adding that it was a "climate-wrecking coal mines under laws they know are broken."

Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill said under the EBA, "This deal rewards longer serving ambos, it makes our elite MICA paramedics the highest paid in Australia, it rewards Community Officers for the time they contribute to their community, and most of all it will help our members finish their shift on time and get home to their families."

"The Reserve Bank should lower interest rates tomorrow and if they don't, the Treasurer should use his existing powers to bring down interest rates and relieve pressure on mortgage holders," Greens demanded.

Woolworths had announced its plan to invest NZ$400 million (AU$367 million) to rebrand nearly 200 stores over the next three years. However, the company's New Zealand profit had dropped by 57% to AU$108 million in the 12 months to June 30, compared to last year.

As Sydney geared up to host NRL and AFL finals and the Bledisloe Cup rugby union fixture during the weekend, NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen announced free services, including the metro, on Saturday and Sunday.

The reform was expected to improve the retirement benefits of 180,000 Australian families each year, according to Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth.

Earlier this year, China had removed trade tariffs on wine and barley after Australia dropped World Trade Organization complaints against Beijing over the two products.

Addressing tens of thousands of trade workers in Melbourne, Electrical Trades Union's Victorian secretary Troy Gray said the Labor government was targeting the construction workers and risking 100 years of the union's achievements.

Other than Australia, the new rules will be applicable to people in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada, as pressue increases for social media platforms to enhance user safety.

The state has also set a target of installing one million households and businesses with solar panels on the roof and a battery by 2035, and increasing the number to 1.5 million by 2050.

The health sector reported the highest number of data breaches with 19%, followed by the Australian government with 12%. Finance, education and retail were the other three sectors that reported the highest number of data breach cases.

With more than 20% of the global hydrogen projects announced in Australia, and AU$200 billion worth projects in the pipeline, the country is expected to be a global leader in the green hydrogen sector.

Under the new draft, the role of Australian Financial Complaints Authority has been expanded, giving access to victims to seek compensation from the digital platform, telco, or the bank.

Following a significant deal with the opposition, the Labor government's reform package was expected to help the elderly remain in their homes for a longer period, besides enhancing the quality of aged care facilities.

The bill also grants additional power to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) with information-gathering, record-keeping, code registration and setting standards.

While Europeans had the option to refuse to give consent to their data being used under privacy laws, Meta had not extended the option to Australians.

"Conditions in the labour market have eased since late 2022, but our assessment is that the labor market is still tight relative to full employment. We expect the demand for labour to grow at a slower pace relative to the supply of labour in the coming quarters, gradually bringing the labour market into better balance. Our view is that some of this slowing in labour demand is likely to occur via a decline in average hours," said Sarah Hunter.

While the Westpac–Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index dipped by 0.5% to 84.6 in September from 85.0 in August, the NAB business confidence survey was down to -4 index points in August.