Ordinary Australians pay tax on their wages, while multinationals can generate billions here and pay nothing. Microsoft, Optus, Adani and others. If Australia’s public services need funding, perhaps start by making the biggest corporations pay their fair share.
#ausbiz — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #ausbiz, aggregated by home.social.
-
Bid, ask, spread: the trio that decides your metal trade cost. When you play the gold silver ratio, every tick counts. Australian investors can avoid overpaying by comparing broker spreads on BrokerCue. Our guide to the gold silver ratio explains it clearly. Know the spread you actually pay.
#investing #trading #gold #silver #ausbiz #preciousmetals
https://brokercue.com/blog/gold-to-silver-ratio-metal-investors/
-
Brokers make depositing easy, but withdrawing your own cash can be a hassle. Compare fees, processing times, and payment options before you fund an account. Not all brokers are friendly when you want out. BrokerCue lets you compare brokers side by side so you can avoid nasty surprises. A little research now can save you real stress and money later.
-
-
Prime Minister's Budget Sparks Digital Discontent: '47 Percent Partner' Meme Emerges
How do the new Australia capital gains tax changes affect business owners? Learn why small businesses are sharing memes about the 47 percent tax rule.
#ausbiz, #taxchanges2026, #smallbusinessau, #cgt, #australianpolitics
https://newsletter.tf/australia-capital-gains-tax-changes-2026/
-
Small business owners are using AI memes to show their anger about the new 47 percent capital gains tax rule. This is a big change from the old 50 percent rule.
#ausbiz, #taxchanges2026, #smallbusinessau, #cgt, #australianpolitics
https://newsletter.tf/australia-capital-gains-tax-changes-2026/ -
As a Jew, I am very aware of the reality of antisemitism. But as a writer, I do not believe we counter racism, antisemitism, homophobia or transphobia by boycotts and cancellations.
https://theconversation.com/uqp-has-cancelled-a-childrens-book-illustrated-by-matt-chun-citing-antisemitism-281316 #AusBiz #AusPol #QldPol
-
University Of Queensland Press sees exodus of authors following handling of ‘anti-semitism’ allegations
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-23/authors-quit-university-of-queensland-press-jazz-money-matt-chun/106596326
#AusBiz #AusPol #QldPol -
One thing that ‘Pink Batts’ should have taught Australia is ‘Do not trust tradies with quality and safety.’
https://theconversation.com/more-than-60-of-home-battery-installations-inspected-in-australia-are-substandard-280449
#AusPol #AusBiz -
So MYOB is teaming up with Microsoft in the great AI accounting arms race.
Worth remembering: Microsoft already has its own competing stack (Dynamics etc), so this isn’t charity — it’s about pulling MYOB deeper into its ecosystem.
History suggests that getting into bed with Microsoft rarely ends well for the smaller partner (just ask Nokia…).
Feels less like a partnership and more like a slow absorption play. -
Curious @[email protected], what’s the upside of a right wing billionaire backed slop producing, hallucinating, climate destroying technology? Productivity? How’d that productivity work out for Deloitte, @[email protected]? #AusPol #ausbiz #Austech #noAI
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:mvqvux7lnrgilalplnwhpkov/post/3mitzouhyis26
Deloitte report suspected of c... -
Unsure if this was the case with CDU but,…
Separation of Duties and other organisational management processes are a ‘cost’. But it exists for the purpose of minimising risks of widespread systematic problems.
In this modern age where business ‘leaders” are tempted to engage in easy ‘cost cutting’ exercises in the name of ‘efficiency’ and ‘productivity’, … it’s worth also remembering that some alleged ‘inefficiencies’ exist for a reason.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-23/cdu-vc-scott-bowman-resigns-amid-tafe-accreditation-scandal/106375384
#AusBiz #AusGov #AusEdu #Management #Leadership -
Diplomatic reach: Comparing China and USA.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUI11asgg1r/?igsh=ZGU3ZmxmcGU5a2R0
#AusPol #InternationalRelations #AusBiz -
2025 Stat of the Year: Chinese cars are now #2 in Australia, overtaking Thailand. 🚗
In a pure free market with no local factories to protect, value and tech win.
The question isn't "if" they will hit #1, but "when." (My bet: 2027).
But here is why Australia is actually crucial to this revolution—from our lithium to our AI researchers. We are the software to their hardware.
Full deep dive here:
#AusBiz #AutoTrends #China #Techhttps://robotbelt.com/chinese-cars-australia-2025-sales-ranking/
-
Uruguay and how it decarbonised its economy with renewable energy.
No nuclear energy involved.
Watch/listen: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DR-cGukDIqC/?igsh=YnpyYnN4bDdoMDN4
#AusPol #AusBiz
Meanwhile Australian politicians whinge about how it’s ’too hard’. -
Australia,
the country that wastes millions of dollars on underutilised desalination plants,
… yet wastes drinking water on data centres https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/dec/04/thirsty-work-how-the-rise-of-massive-datacentres-strains-australias-drinking-water-supply
#AusPol #AusBiz #AgChatOz -
If the implementation of the ban is heavy-handed it’ll create reason for Australians to protest, and plenty of reason to be concerned
… and people will say ‘I told you so’: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/nov/23/labor-has-brushed-aside-concerns-over-the-social-media-ban-but-what-if-it-doesnt-work-as-promised
#AusBiz #AusPol -
I am genuinely excited about the fact that Suncable has taken the time and effort to consult and negotiate with Traditional owners.
Government/Business-to-Community agreements that are developed through thorough consultation and self-determination have a proven track record for being long lasting,
… in contrast to top-down Business-to-Government agreements. There are many case examples of this.A ‘classic example’ of ‘what not to do’ when it comes to ‘social licence’ is the Coal Seam Gas industry which led to the ‘Lock the Gate’ movement.
#AusPol #AusGov #AusBiz #AusLaw -
Translation: Hi there,
It's your good buddies at Optus here.
Your thank you gift is waiting.
No, it's not a Triple Zero emergency service that doesn't go offline when you need an ambulance.
And no, it's not fair compensation for that time we had a nationwide outage and managed to not just take out your phone and internet, but also half of the national economy.
And no, it's not yet another free subscription to that bloody soccer streaming service. We finally took the hint and shut that down.
No, this time an AI subscription service is looking to deceive its investors by pumping up its paid subscriber numbers.
So we took a bucket of money from them in exchange for spamming our customers with a text message.
You know the deal. 12 months free. You won't get charged if you remember to cancel before the deal expires and then make it through all their dark patterns.
We know we can get away with it because we're one third of one of Australia's big corporate oligopolies.
I mean, what are you going to do? Chances are the whole reason you switched to us is because you were pissed off at Telstra.
And your only other choice is TPG/Voda/iiNet/WestNet/Internode/Lebara/TransACT/Crazy John's/Neighbourhood Cable... (it's all one conglomerate with awful mobile coverage now).
#Optus #perplexityassistant #perplexityai #perplexity #ausbiz #AI #enshittification #business #oligopoly -
Mudgee's Lowe Wines becomes Australia's largest winery to go off grid with Solar and battery storage.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-30/mudgee-off-electricity-grid-winery-lowe-wines/105941576
#AusPol #AgChatOz #AusBiz -
When political donations are funding right wing fossil fuelled colonialism no matter whom you give the money to, who cares? overland.org.au/2025/10/colo... #AusPol #AusBiz
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:mvqvux7lnrgilalplnwhpkov/post/3m4cwn5xdgs2k
Colonialism's new Gold Rush: h... -
@jillL @MelissaBearTrix So let me get this straight.
Bunnings is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Wesfarmers conglomerate.
As well as its warehouses that sell hardware, it's decided that its website is a "marketplace" that sells cheap crap from China from third party companies.
Bunnings' sister company under Wesfarmers is Kmart/Anko/Target, which sells cheap crap from China.
Bunnings literally became the dominant national chain by undercutting its competitors on price.
"If you find a competitor's lower price on the same stocked item, we won't just match it, we'll beat it by 10%."
After literally running that line on every ad for *decades*, it's now suddenly concerned about unfair competition on price.
But also. This concern about unfair price competition doesn't apply to McEwan's.
Or BBC Hardware.
Or Master's.
Or HardWareHouse.
Or what's left of Mitre 10 and Home Timber & Hardware.
Or the hundreds of local tool and hardware and timber and gardening supply shops it put out of business.
Nope. The concern about unfair competition on price is specifically around websites that sell cheap crap from China.
But also. There's no concern about Bunnings' own "marketplace" website.
Because the concern with cheap crap from China is specifically the stuff that's a knockoff.
But also. There's absolutely no concern about the cheap crap from China knockoffs by Anko in Kmart and Target.
Because the concern with unfair competition from websites that sell cheap crap from China that's a knockoff is around tax minimisation.
It's just not fair that companies can have access to the Australian market without paying their fair share of tax!
But also. This concern about businesses not paying their fair share of tax does not extend to the mining, energy, and resources sector.
For example, it doesn't extend to CSBP Ammonia, Ammonium Nitrate and Industrial Chemicals.
Or Australian Gold Reagents (WA's only manufacturer of sodium cyanide).
Or Kleenheat LNG.
Or Queensland Nitrates.
Or Covalent Lithium.
By the way, you know what all those resources and petrochemical companies have in common?
They're all owned (or joint ventures of) Wesfarmers Chemical, Energy, and Fertilisers: https://www.wesfarmers.com.au/our-businesses/wesfarmers-chemicals-energy-and-fertilisers
(That's right kids. A sister company of Bunnings and Kmart makes sodium cyanide, another makes liquefied natural gas, another makes ammonium nitrate.)
But also. Hypothetically if some of those tax efficient petrochemicals are sold to Australian Vinyls and CSBP Fertilisers (which Wesfarmers also owns).
And hypothetically if those products from tax efficient petrochemicals were to end up in Bunnings.
Then those products don't count as tax minimisation, okay?
So just to sum this all up.
Unfair price competition from companies that undercut competitors on price by selling cheap crap from China that's a knockoff on a website while not paying their fair share of tax is evil.
But also. Unfair price competition from companies that undercut competitors on price by selling cheap crap from China that's a knockoff on a website while not paying their fair share of tax is also kosher.
But only when Bunnings/Wesfarmers does it.
Did I get that right?
#auspol #business #corporate #corporation #Bunnings #Wesfarmers #capitalism #economics #ausbiz #china -
Shocked. Absolutely shocked
The Westpac Rescue helicopter?
… mostly funded by taxpayers, not Westpac.
Listen/Watch: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQP3yioDyWP/?igsh=dGNjdGlmZzExdzhz
#AusPol #NSWPol #PublicRelations #AusBiz -
The sound of electric Constuction Machinery used in roadworks in Amsterdam
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DP8khL6DE3J/?igsh=eHRqcG82emIwczhr
#AusBiz #AusPol #ACTPol -
Australia's most respected business journalist, Alan Kohler, makes an excellent point about the potential cryptocurrency and AI bubble. If it bursts, the implications are terrible. But if it doesn't, it's just as bad. www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgR7... #auspol #ausbiz #crypto #AI #ChatGPT #nvidia
If AI is a good investment, we... -
Australia's most respected business journalist, Alan Kohler, makes an excellent point about the potential cryptocurrency and AI bubble.
If it bursts, the implications are terrible. But if it doesn't, it's just as bad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgR7Llg09Iw
#auspol #ausbiz #crypto #AI #ChatGPT #nvidia #ArtificialIntelligence #LLM #LargeLanguageModel #LargeLanguageModels #Gemini #OpenAI -
Multibillion dollar profit margins, … yet Australian Banks won’t give relief to the community it profits from.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/oct/19/australian-banks-ignore-customer-hardship-requests
#AusPol #AusBiz -
Rinehart the political influencer vs her company’s business operations:
Watch/Listen
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPLdbR7Dg2t/?igsh=amxpNWxkMDV5amR0
#AusPol #AusBiz -
Australia is still a deeply racist country when it comes to Aboriginal people.
This is some of the oldest written communications on Earth.
This rock art was already ~40,000 years old when the Giza pyramids were an ongoing capital works project by the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt.
But because Aboriginal and created it, we treat it as worthless.
I can't stress this enough.
This should be a source of deep and profound shame for every non-Aboriginal Australian.
We, collectively, see irreplaceable 50,000 year old cultural artifacts as having less value than a tank full of petrol.
Because we view Aboriginal history as essentially worthless.
"The oldest petroglyphs in the world are deemed to be those at Murujuga in Western Australia, which are 40,000–50,000 years old. Some petroglyphs are classified as protected monuments and some have been added to the list of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, or such status has been applied for."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroglyph
"The Albanese government agreed to weaken conditions it had proposed to protect world heritage-listed Indigenous rock art from Woodside’s giant North West Shelf gas development after the fossil fuel company argued it could be forced to shut the plant.
"The change is explained in a “statement of reasons” document setting out why the environment minister, Murray Watt, approved an application to extend the operating life of one of the world’s biggest and most polluting gas export developments until 2070.
"The statement shows Watt accepted environment department advice that “multiple lines of scientific and other evidence” suggested industrial emissions were having a “significant adverse impact” on rocks in Murujuga, a cultural landscape in northern Western Australia that is home to more than 1m pieces of rock art, known as petroglyphs.
"The minister also accepted advice that future pollution from the North West Shelf liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing facility could cause “degradation, damage, notable alteration, modification, obscuring or diminishing” of the area’s natural heritage."
...
"Watt provisionally ruled in May that Woodside could continue operating the LNG plant beyond 2030 only if it cut acidic pollution – particularly nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide – so that there were no air emissions “above the detectable limit” that affect rock art.
"But Woodside responded this was “not technically feasible”. It said the conditions were an “effective refusal” of the development that would lead to the “cessation of business as usual operations” at the end of 2030.
#auspol #wapol #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #Australia #Perth #WesternAustralia #capitalism #business #ausbiz -
#ClimateChange The Coalition gave us the procrastination and denialism of Howard’s war of climate action.
Now keep making more excuses for brewing uncertainty. Australia’s economy and communities can’t afford any more procrastination and politicking https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/sep/19/sussan-ley-says-she-misspoke-after-comments-that-coalition-doesnt-believe-in-setting-climate-targets
#AusPol #AusBiz -
Climate Risk Assessment's 'high risk' warning for 1 million Australian homes, potentially deemed ‘uninsurable’:
Surprising absolutely none of the elder Millennials who have been following Climate Change since they were 20 (almost a quarter-century ago.)
The very first warnings - specific to Australian home insurances) were back around 2001.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-16/climate-risk-assessment-million-homes-insurance-gdp-costs/105774418
#AusPol #AusBiz #Property #ClimateChange #Millenials #GenZ #Boomers -
I imagine other Lawyers are quietly thanking him for the self-sacrifice in setting an important legal and professional precedent.
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2025/sep/03/lawyer-caught-using-ai-generated-false-citations-in-court-case-penalised-in-australian-first
#AusLaw #AusBiz #AusGov -
"Coles’ group sales rose 3.6 per cent to $44.35 billion, with underlying net profit rising 3.1 per cent to nearly $1.2 billion." www.smh.com.au/business/com... No paywall: archive.is/HnGCP #auspol #ausbiz #Colesworths #coles #capitalism #business
Coles posts healthy profits as... -
"Coles’ group sales rose 3.6 per cent to $44.35 billion, with underlying net profit rising 3.1 per cent to nearly $1.2 billion."
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/coles-posts-healthy-profits-as-measures-against-shoplifters-pay-off-20250826-p5mpt5.html
No paywall: https://archive.is/HnGCP
#auspol #ausbiz #Colesworths #coles #capitalism #business -
Whoopsies! The Commonwealth Bank was forced to hire back laid off workers, after its AI chatbot led to an *increase* in customer service calls 🤣
"Commonwealth Bank has reversed its decision to cut dozens of jobs replaced by artificial intelligence after conceding at the Fair Work Commission it still needs humans to meet its growing workloads.
"CBA chief executive Matt Comyn... said the bank had engaged with staff affected by AI and was now inviting them to stay in their roles or accept voluntary redundancy.
...
"The bank was the first in the sector to directly link redundancies to AI when it announced last month it would cut 45 call centre roles because of a new voicebot system it had introduced to answer customer queries.
...
"Despite claiming the voicebot had reduced call volumes by 2000 a week, CBA was forced to admit calls had actually increased as managers scrambled to offer overtime and even pull team leaders onto the phones.
"CBA apologised and admitted it did not properly consider the workloads on its teams."
Source: https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/workplace/cba-u-turns-on-ai-job-cuts-calls-back-humans-20250820-p5moif
No paywall: https://archive.is/uArfF
#capitalism #AI #LLM #ChatGPT #ChatBots #ArtificialIntelligence #LargeLanguageModels #business #auspol #ausbiz -
Rinehart says net zero is “magic pudding,” and only those who want to cut emissions should pay https://reneweconomy.com.au/rinehart-says-net-zero-is-magic-pudding-and-only-those-who-want-to-cut-emissions-should-pay/
… ffs. When you have irresponsible business leaders like this, increasing super-profit and resources taxes make sense.
#AusPol #AusBiz -
So there's a lot of commentary around the collapse of private hospital operator Healthscope. To me, one detail jumped out: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-27/healthscope-collapse-an-early-warning-sign-for-private-hospitals/105339244
"Owned by the Canadian-American investment firm Brookfield, the indebted operator fell into receivership on Monday after its syndicate of banks and hedge funds withdrew support."
So wait, who exactly is Brookfield?
This from Wikipedia:
"Brookfield Corporation is a Canadian multinational company that is one of the world’s largest alternative investment management companies. It has over US$900 billion of assets under management, much of which is workers’ deferred income from global public pension funds. It focuses on direct control investments in real estate, renewable power, infrastructure, credit and private equity. The company invests in distressed securities through Oaktree Capital, which it bought in 2019."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookfield_Corporation
In other words, it's a private equity firm.
The pattern for private equity is to buy out companies, funded by loading them to the brim with debt, then pay for that debt by stripping out assets and massively cutting costs.
So let's take a look at the original media release for when Brookfield took over Healthscope:
"Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) (TSX:BBU.UN) ("Brookfield Business Partners") together with institutional partners (collectively “Brookfield”), is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement to acquire up to 100% of Healthscope Limited (ASX: HSO) (“Healthscope” or the “Company”) for approximately $4.1 billion (AUD$5.7 billion). Healthscope is the second largest private hospital operator in Australia and the largest pathology services provider in New Zealand.
...
"The transaction will be funded with up to $1.0 billion of equity, $1.4 billion of long-term financing and $1.7 billion from the sale and long-term leaseback of 22 wholly-owned freehold hospital properties."
Let's run over that again.
This private equity firm took over a $4.1 billion private hospital firm.
It only paid $1 billion in equity.
A further $1.4 billion was debt. That's $1.4 billion for a company that's only worth $4.1 billion.
And then $1.7 billion from selling off and then leasing back its hospitals. That's the asset strip out.
So the company ended up with $1.7 billion less in assets, $1.4 billion more in debt, and the added costs of leasing those hospitals. And it was only worth $4.1 billion to begin with.
Starting to see why it went under?
The asset stripout continued in 2020:
"Healthscope has entered into a binding agreement to sell its New Zealand pathology business, Asia Pacific Healthcare Group (APHG) to the NZ Super Fund and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers’) who will each take a 50 percent stake.
"The sale is valued at more than NZD550 million and is subject to customary approvals including approval from New Zealand’s Overseas Investment Office, with completion expected in the next six months."
https://www.nzsuperfund.nz/news-and-media/healthscope-sells-new-zealand-pathology-business-aphg-to-nz-super-fund-and-ontario-teachers-pension-plan/
But that's not the end of it.
Because Helathscope went through the private equity wringer not just once, but twice.
This from 2010:
"Private equity firms TPG and Carlyle won a bidding war for Australian hospital owner Healthscope Ltd , agreeing to pay $1.73 billion in the country's largest buyout deal since 2007."
https://www.reuters.com/article/business/tpg-carlyle-to-buy-australias-healthscope-for-17-billion-idUSTRE66H2KB/
The company was then floated back on the stock market in 2014:
"Healthscope chief executive Robert Cooke has persuaded local and foreign investors to back the company's $3.6 billion float, with shares in Australia's biggest initial public offering in four years set to start trading on Monday.
...
"Mr Cooke said his greatest contribution to the turnaround of the private hospital, medical centre and pathology operator had been an ability to balance an improvement in patient care with a financial benefit.
"That pitch, along with a $436 million capital expenditure program to expand the company's 44 private hospitals, and an ageing population that is spending more than ever on medical care, persuaded investors to support the $2.25 billion raise.
"The company is being offloaded by private equity giants TPG and The Carlyle Group, which took it private in 2010 in a $2.7 billion buyout. It will begin trading at a hefty 21.9-times forecast net profit. TPG and Carlyle will retain 38 per cent of the shares on offer."
https://www.smh.com.au/business/investors-inject-billions-into-healthscope-float-20140725-3ckw8.html
#auspol #ausbiz #business #capitalism