A rise in first home owner grants along with skyrocketing motor vehicle sales has helped to boost the NSW economy, according to state Treasurer Eric Roozendaal. The latest ABS figures released on Monday, reveal motor vehicle sales raced to their highest level in 17 months, with a total of 85,943 vehicles sold across the country […]
The next four days will be extremely busy for retailers, with 65 percent of Australians admitting they either haven’t started or are yet to finish their Christmas shopping, the Australian National Retailers Association said today. A survey of 1,000 people conducted late last week found that only 35 percent had fully completed their shopping, 29 […]
Australia Post has claimed that the postie strike scheduled for this week should not affect the delivery of Christmas mail.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) latest report into the prices of petrol will be carefully examined and taken into consideration by the governement, according to Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs, Craig Emerson. Emerson said the report’s finding that the weekly fuel price cycle is getting bigger and more regular, is concerning. […]
The Federal Government has released draft laws for a new R&D (research and development) Tax Credit aimed at cutting red tape and boosting the economy’s competitiveness. Treasurer Wayne Swan and Minister for Innovation Senator Kim Carr said in statement on Friday that this will be the “biggest reform to business innovation policy in over a […]
Interest rates may be put on hold in early 2010 as a result of major banks lifting their interest rates higher than the RBA’s, according to Commonwealth Bank chief executive Ralph Norris. The Reserve Bank’s 25 basis point rate rise to 3.75 percent in December was followed by Westpac’s controversial 45 basis point rate hike […]
The Copenhagen climate change summit has been branded a failure after world leaders were unable to agree on targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; but no one should be surprised at the outcome, climate change expert and government adviser Ross Garnaut said. In the final hours of the two-week summit, world leaders put forward a […]
Consumers are being warned to be extra wary online this festive season, with spammers hard at work generating Christmas-related spam to target unsuspecting consumers. The Symantec Security Response Team has detected a number of Christmas-related spam doing the rounds including gift shopping offers, greeting cards and courier services. Many of them have Christmas-themed key words […]
With just four shopping days left until Christmas, the Council of Small Business of Australia (COSBOA) is calling on Australian shoppers to ‘think small’ this Christmas – small business that is. Jaye Radisich, CEO of COSBOA, is calling on Australian shoppers to consider the small business retailers this Christmas. “Every dollar that gets spent in […]
The deadline for the small business tax break is fast approaching, and small business operators are being urged to take advantage of the rebate and update their desktop or notebook PCs. Under the small business tax break, small businesses may be able to claim up to 50 percent when they purchase new assets, including computers, […]
