Businesses and households across eastern and southern Australia are starting to see a new wave of energy cost increases. These will be painful for many, and a serious blow to the competitiveness of some trade-exposed industries. Many want to know:…
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The issue of 457 visas for temporary skilled workers has been in the media spotlight again over the past week, with both major parties signalling an intent to reform the system. Here, to combat misinformation and to place the debate into its…
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Manufacturing is often thought to be in permanent decline in Australia. In 2016, however, the reality has been very different to this myth and, for some manufacturing businesses and employees, a far more positive story. Indeed, as of August 2016,…
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Tomorrow’s labour force estimates from the ABS (for the month of September) are likely to show yet another record high for the proportion of people working part-time. As of August, 31.7% of all employed people worked part-time (that is, they…
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After ten years of negotiations, Australia signed a high-profile free trade agreement (FTA) last year with China. Coming into force on 20 December 2015, the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) promised to unlock significant opportunities for Australia in China, which is our…
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Few issues loom larger for industry than energy costs. And for South Australian energy users, the next few days may prove to be something of a shock. So what’s happening? The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has notified the market…
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Late last week, in an historic referendum, the UK voted in favour of leaving the European Union (Brexit), with the majority of voters (52%) opting to leave the trading bloc. The move by the UK introduces more volatility into the global…
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I was recently invited to talk about the current state of manufacturing in Australia by CEDA, as part of their focus on advanced technologies and the future of work. I am so glad they remembered to include our manufacturing sector,…
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Indonesia is the world’s third largest democracy, ASEAN’s largest economy and yet, only Australia’s 12th largest trading partner. To further develop our relationship, Australia and Indonesia are entering Phase-II of negotiations of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), called the Indonesia…
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Take part in our poll: Will the Federal Election campaign press the pause button on your business investment decisions? A little over a year ago, I was reading an article published by the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Entitled ‘Why certainty…
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