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Aug 8, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Sainsbury |Michael Pascoe |Rex Patrick |Farah Abdurahman |Michael West
Families affected by Australia’s alleged war crimes in Afghanistan have been left destitute and a panel of UN experts says the government must compensate them immediately. A report led by judge Paul Brereton found evidence Australian soldiers had unlawfully killed 39 Afghans, with some tortured before their murders. Four years have passed since the findings were published and for some victims’ families it has been more than a decade since their loved ones were killed.
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Aug 8, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Sainsbury |Michael Pascoe |Rex Patrick |Farah Abdurahman |Michael West
Federal approval has been granted for transmission lines to link a clean energy zone to help power the equivalent of 1.8 million homes. The NSW transmission project approved by Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek on Thursday is expected to take some pressure off a state scrambling to replace coal-fired electricity.
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Aug 7, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Sainsbury |Michael Pascoe |Rex Patrick |Farah Abdurahman |Michael West
Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock warns the board “will not hesitate to raise interest rates” if inflation proves more persistent than thought. Mirroring the assertive tone struck at Tuesday’s monetary policy meeting, the head of the central bank said inflation was “still too high” and services prices, such as rents and insurance, were proving “very sticky”.
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Aug 7, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Sainsbury |Michael Pascoe |Rex Patrick |Farah Abdurahman |Michael West
Tech shares led a selloff in stock markets around Asia, while the yen and US bonds rebounded, as global investors struggled to find their footing in a wild week for markets. Japan’s Nikkei share average was last down 1.0 per cent, having earlier slumped as much as 2.5 per cent, with chip-sector shares the biggest drag on the index. That left the Nikkei down more than 3.0 per cent for the week, following Monday’s 12.4 per cent plunge, despite the ensuing two-day rebound.
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Aug 7, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Sainsbury |Michael Pascoe |Rex Patrick |Farah Abdurahman |Michael West
Victims of war crimes in Afghanistan are owed compensation and Australia must pay them immediately, a panel of UN experts has urged. A report led by judge Paul Brereton found evidence Australian soldiers had unlawfully killed 39 Afghans, with some tortured before their murders. Four years have passed since the report’s publication, and for some victims’ families, it has been more than a decade since their loved ones were killed.
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Aug 7, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Sainsbury |Michael Pascoe |Rex Patrick |Farah Abdurahman |Michael West
August 8, 2024 11:49 | NewsQantas has trimmed millions of dollars from Alan Joyce’s pay packet after the former chief’s early departure from the top job during a “reputational crisis”. Other executives and directors also face a cut following a review after brand turbulence triggered Mr Joyce’s departure in September. Mr Joyce had been due to leave in November, which would have marked 15 years since he started piloting the airline in 2008.
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Aug 7, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Sainsbury |Michael Pascoe |Rex Patrick |Farah Abdurahman |Michael West
Property giant Mirvac Group has posted a smaller operating profit amid tough conditions as it sells office blocks to invest in build-to-rent apartments and warehouses. The developer, investor and fund manager on Thursday reported a five per cent fall in net operating profit to $552 million for the year to June 30. Some $1.1 billion was slashed from the value of the investment property portfolio, mostly unwanted high-rise offices.
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Aug 7, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Sainsbury |Michael Pascoe |Rex Patrick |Farah Abdurahman |Michael West
Financial services company AMP has posted a small rise in overall profit despite a hit to the banking division from a housing market slowdown. The underlying net profit after tax rose 5.4 per cent to $118 million in the first half of 2024, the company said on Thursday. AMP Bank reported an underlying net profit of $35 million, slashed from $57 million a year earlier, as net interest margins came under pressure from stiff competition on mortgage and deposit rates.
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Aug 7, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Sainsbury |Michael Pascoe |Rex Patrick |Farah Abdurahman |Michael West
Qantas has trimmed almost $10 million from Alan Joyce’s pay packet after the former chief’s early departure from the airline’s top role. Other executives and directors are also facing a cut after action from the competition watchdog and reputational turbulence triggered Mr Joyce’s decision to leave the chief executive’s job in September, two months before his planned departure. Mr Joyce had been due to leave in November, which would have marked 15 years after he landed in the role in 2008.
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Aug 7, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Sainsbury |Michael Pascoe |Rex Patrick |Farah Abdurahman |Michael West
E-bikes, e-scooters, hoverboards and e-skateboards will have to meet new product standards in NSW to halt a rising number of dangerous blazes. Lithium-ion battery-related fires, including those caused by low-quality batteries in e-mobility devices, are the fastest-growing type of fires in NSW, with one every four days this year, the state government says. In one blaze north of Sydney, two people died after a battery exploded in March.
