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Sep 3, 2024 | 
thefashionlaw.com | Luana Carcano |Rita Matulionyte
Less than two years ago, the launch of ChatGPT started a generative AI frenzy. Some predicted that the technology would trigger a fourth industrial revolution, completely reshaping the world as we know it. Meanwhile, in March 2023, Goldman Sachs predicted 300 million jobs would be lost or degraded due to AI. A huge shift seemed to be underway. Yet, eighteen months later, generative AI is not transforming business in as drastic a way as some expected.
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Aug 25, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Rex Patrick |Rita Matulionyte |Duncan Graham |Michael Pascoe |Michael West
Refinery and service station chain operator Viva Energy is driving ahead with plans to have more than 1000 stores across Australia. Viva Energy on Monday reported a net profit of $192.1 million for the six months to June 30, up 10.3 per cent on a year earlier. “Cost of living pressures and illegal tobacco trade are having an impact on consumer demand within our convenience businesses,” chief executive Scott Wyatt said.
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Aug 25, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Rex Patrick |Rita Matulionyte |Duncan Graham |Michael Pascoe |Michael West
Lending margins have stabilised at Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, which forecasts brighter days ahead for borrowers as economic conditions ease. The regional lender revealed cash profits dropped 2.6 per cent to $562 million for the year ending June 30. It was better than consensus expectations but the bank acknowledged that high inflation and interest rates deepened customers’ financial hardship.
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Aug 25, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Rex Patrick |Rita Matulionyte |Duncan Graham |Michael Pascoe |Michael West
Asian shares crept cautiously higher on Monday, while the dollar and bond yields were on the wane ahead of inflation data that investors hope will pave the way for rate cuts in the United States and Europe. Oil prices climbed 0.7 per cent after Israel and Hezabollah traded rocket salvos and air strikes on Sunday, stirring worries about possible supply disruptions if the conflict escalated.
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Aug 25, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Rex Patrick |Rita Matulionyte |Duncan Graham |Michael Pascoe |Michael West
The collapse in lithium prices has crushed full-year profits at Australia’s leading producer, Pilbara Minerals, and denied shareholders any dividends. The world’s largest independent hard-rock lithium operation on Monday reported an 89 per cent plunge in net profit to $257 million for the year to June 30. Pilbara Minerals also announced commitments from a banking group for a new $1 billion debt facility to provide further financial flexibility and liquidity.
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Aug 25, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Rex Patrick |Rita Matulionyte |Duncan Graham |Michael Pascoe |Michael West
August 26, 2024 08:53 | NewsGerard Rennick will “stir the pot” in politics after defecting from the Liberal National Party to sit as an independent. The renegade Queensland senator who sits with the Liberals says he can accomplish more from the cross bench after becoming a pariah within the party. Senator Rennick became known for his stance against vaccine mandates during the pandemic and withheld his vote in protest when the coalition was in power, which angered many within the party.
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Aug 25, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Rex Patrick |Rita Matulionyte |Duncan Graham |Michael Pascoe |Michael West
Senator Gerard Rennick will begin to register his new political party after quitting the LNP. The Queensland senator announced on Sunday that he was leaving the party to bring “bread and butter” issues into public debate ahead of the next federal election, which is due by May 2025. The senator told The Sydney Morning Herald that he would establish the Gerard Rennick People First Party and planned to start the registration process on Monday.
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Aug 25, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Rex Patrick |Rita Matulionyte |Duncan Graham |Michael Pascoe |Michael West
A new path will be drawn for NSW’s maligned forestry industry after years of financial losses, environmental crimes and fierce stand-offs with protesters. Three experts have been tasked to advise the state government on what a future timber industry and the 22,000 jobs dependent on it could look like. It comes as NSW establishes the Great Koala National Park across an area larger than London while continuing to supply timber for housing and industries.
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Aug 25, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Rex Patrick |Rita Matulionyte |Duncan Graham |Michael Pascoe |Michael West
Millions of households are struggling to afford to safeguard their homes as climate change-induced natural disasters cause insurance premiums to spike. The number of households facing home insurance stress – where premiums cost more than one month of their entire annual salary – rose by 30 per cent to 1.6 million in the past year, according to a report released on Monday by the Actuaries Institute.
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Aug 25, 2024 | 
michaelwest.com.au | Rex Patrick |Rita Matulionyte |Duncan Graham |Michael Pascoe |Michael West
When Lizzy Grant came home from work, she would spend hours checking her phone for last-minute roster updates and responding to emails from her boss. But all of this is now a thing of the past. From Monday, workers across Australia can refuse to monitor, read or respond to work communication outside of paid hours – unless doing so is unreasonable – as the federal government’s workplace reforms come into force.
