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Oct 24, 2024 | 
westpac.com.au | Kim Eberhard |James Thornhill |Sarah Williamson |Hannah Stenning
Spending still rose by 1.5 per cent in the September quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis – the strongest quarterly rise in two years – driven by more spending on transport and travel, entertainment and recreation, and on dining out. However, while that equates to an average increase in spending of around $138 per person, Coombs notes that it’s much less than the average cumulative tax benefit from Stage 3 of $604 (or $595 seasonally adjusted).
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Oct 22, 2024 | 
westpac.com.au | Kim Eberhard |James Thornhill |Sarah Williamson |Hannah Stenning
Salt is so much more than the seasoning you put on your food - it’s a versatile mineral with a wide range of industrial uses, putting it in high demand from manufacturers across Asia. Australia, already a significant global producer, is about to welcome its first major salt operation in more than two decades.
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Oct 21, 2024 | 
westpac.com.au | Kim Eberhard |James Thornhill |Sarah Williamson |Hannah Stenning
The biggest risk for the Aussie is Trump’s plan to slap punitive 60 per cent tariffs on China’s imports into the U.S. As Franulovich notes, tariffs generally work to strengthen the currency of the country imposing them. The Aussie is also vulnerable to broader global trade disruption that Trump’s tariffs could herald, given that Australia has the highest direct export exposure to China (8.9 per cent of GDP) than any other G10 nation.
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Oct 15, 2024 | 
westpac.com.au | Kim Eberhard |James Thornhill |Sarah Williamson |Hannah Stenning
In August this year Westpac launched its Sustainable Upgrades home and investor loans to help customers make energy-efficient upgrades to their home, supported by the government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC). Westpac also offers a carbon footprint tracker through Cogo in the banking app. Available since May 2023, the tracker provides around 400,000 customers with the ability to estimate their carbon emissions from their spending data.
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Oct 15, 2024 | 
westpac.com.au | Kim Eberhard |James Thornhill |Sarah Williamson |Hannah Stenning
Westpac Foundation has surpassed its goal to help secure 10,000 job opportunities for Australians facing barriers to work, five years ahead of its 2030 target. Since 2015, the Foundation has helped 10,141 people find work, either through the creation of jobs with its social enterprise community partners or the supported transition of individuals into mainstream employment opportunities.
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Oct 14, 2024 | 
westpac.com.au | Kim Eberhard |James Thornhill |Sarah Williamson |Hannah Stenning
For too long, engagement with First Nations people was an elephant in the room for corporate Australia – a big issue that business leaders lacked either the knowledge or willingness to tackle. That’s now changing, says Jenni Walke, a proud Bundjalung woman, whose consultancy delivers cultural learning programs for businesses, as well as helping them devise and implement their own Indigenous policies. “Cultural awareness in Australia is becoming more common,” Walke tells Wire in an interview.
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Sep 26, 2024 | 
westpac.com.au | Ben Young |Sarah Conte |James Thornhill |Hannah Stenning
The Paris Olympics may be in the rearview mirror, but for athletes targeting gold in Los Angeles in 2028 or Brisbane in 2032, the hard work is well underway. One of those athletes is Christian Massimino, who competes in the Korean martial art of Taekwondo. Christian’s goal is to follow in the footsteps of his dad Carlo who represented Australia in the sport at the 2000 games in Sydney.
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Sep 12, 2024 | 
westpac.com.au | James Thornhill |Sarah Conte |Hannah Stenning |Tim Howard
Westpac has seen a 36 percent increase in the use of personal finance tools on the mobile banking app since the start of the year - a sign that customers are taking a more pro-active approach to managing their finances. Around 620,000 customers have logged in monthly to access features which help to monitor cash flow, categorise their spending, and manage bills.
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Sep 11, 2024 | 
westpac.com.au | James Thornhill |Sarah Conte |Hannah Stenning |Kripa Krithivasan
Growing up in today’s world is tough. From the climate crisis to global conflicts, young people face a world that’s more uncertain, complex, and unstable than any generation before them. The digital world they navigate is a powerful source of connection and even a lifeline to marginalised young people who can’t access support offline. However, it is also full of challenges.
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Sep 10, 2024 | 
westpac.com.au | James Thornhill |Sarah Conte |Hannah Stenning |Bryan Ashenden
In a new series, Tim Howard from BT’s Technical Services team offers guidance on a range of personal finance topics, from superannuation and tax to social security payments. Tim is a technical consultant with BT, with close to 20 years of experience assisting financial advisers and their clients with all aspects of financial planning. BT’s Technical Services team receives around 8,000 queries a year from financial advisers on superannuation, tax, social security and regulatory topics.
