News

Woolworths has had the rezoning of its planned Woolworths hardware big-box store with US hardware giant Lowe’s rejected by Victorian Planning Minister Justin Madden.

Australia’s construction industry continues to contract, with the latest AiG/HIA Australian Performance of Construction index at 43.2 for the month of August.

Western Australia Police and Consumer Protection are warning investors to stay away from ‘Ponzi’ schemes after police charged two people with allegedly scamming investors out of $9.5 million on the promise of high returns.

ANZ Bank has announced an assistance package for Victoria flood victims, joining rival NAB in offering assistance in the wake of the Victorian floods.

The National Institute of Accountants (NIA) have welcomed Independent MP Rob Oakeshott’s proposal of a summit to address tax reform in Australia.

National Australia Bank has established a package of relief measures for both business and personal banking customers who have been affected by the Victorian floods.

Job ads in Australia are up 36.1 percent in the year to August, with the latest ANZ Job Advertisements Series data showing the total number of jobs advertised up to an average of 176,239 per week (seasonally adjusted).

Australia’s mining industry is driving an increase in job advertisements in the past six months, with job ads in the sector up almost 30 percent in the industry.

Virgin Blue will undertake a complete overhaul of Virgin Blue Holdings’ brands (including V Australia) with Hans Hulsbosch the brains behind Qantas’ flying Kangaroo logo, hired as creative director for the airline.

Qantas appears likely to stop flying into Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires in favor of Brazil’s booming resource economy with flights to either Sao Paulo or Rio de Janiero.

South Australian company Zarloc will showcase the ROSS system, its award-winning employee rostering solution, to an anticipated 7,500 visitors as part of the Future of Retail Technology showcase at Retail 2010.

Getprice.com.au the Australian online price comparison/shopping site co-founded by Jared Oken in 2005 has been bought by News Digital Media for an undisclosed sum.

In the latest Dun and Bradstreet Business Expectations survey finds the confidence of Australia’s executives on the way up, with expectations for five of six key indicators of business strength rising significantly.

New car sales in Australia are on track to reach record numbers, with VFACTS data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries showing that vehicle sales are on track to hit 1 million this year.v

According to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today about one in six workers started work with a new employer/business during the year to February 2010.

I see so many marketing consultants giving advice to small business owners that are focused purely on marketing tactics, without any thought to marketing strategy.

The performance of the Australian services sector continues to be uninspiring, with political uncertainty surrounding Australia’s hung parliament impacting on demand in August.

Microsoft and PBL yesterday launched Cudo.com.au, yet another Groupon clone in an already crowded Australian market filled with the likes of JumpOnit, Ouffer, Spreets, OurDeal and Scoupon run by Catchoftheday.

Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett’s compulsory acquisition of land in the Kimberley region for a $30 billion gas project for Woodside Petroleum has angered the Kimberly Land Council after negotiations over the land stalled.

BRB Creative, a Wagga Wagga based design agency, and Jack Marlow, a Melbourne based web development agency, today announced the official launch of their website builder for small business – Web123.