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Fitch Upgrades Australias Downer to BBB Outlook Stable
Fitch: Spanish Floor Clause Ruling May Reduce Excess Spread A recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling could cause lenders to stop applying floor clauses that set minimum interest rates in mortgage contracts, and so reduce excess spread in Spanish RMBS transactions, Fitch Ratings says. The presence of interest rate floors in mortgage contracts has bolstered excess spread during the recent period of ...
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North Queensland soldiers social media investigation
THE Australian Defence Force is investigating claims soldiers in north Queensland posted derogatory comments about women on social media. It comes amid a separate, unrelated investigation into a scandal involving soldiers who allegedly filmed themselves having sex with fellow military personnel and civilians before sending the images to their colleagues.The latest scandal involves a ...
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Holden workers called to meeting in SA
Holden workers in South Australia have been called to a meeting with senior management.The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) says it is about to be briefed by company officials with workers to hear from senior management later on Tuesday.The company recently announced plans to axe 400 jobs at its Adelaide vehicle assembly operations and a further 100 at its product development ...
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Sri Lankans hand Aussies the exit pass
(49 mins ago) Sri Lanka reached the Champions Trophy semi-finals with a 20-run victory over holders Australia in the last league match at the Oval in London yesterday. The Sri Lankans, who needed a win to stay in the competition, relied on aggressive half-centuries from Mahela Jayawardene and Lahiru Thirimanne to score 253 for 8 wickets after being sent in to bat. Seamer Nuwan Kulasekara then ...
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Alleged cop killer screamed in pain court
Moments after he allegedly shot a police officer, Michael Allan Jacobs was "screaming and yelling" in pain from his own wounds, his murder trial has heard. Cheryl Carpenter told the Supreme Court in Sydney she was lying on her bed in her unit at West Tamworth last year when she heard shots ring out. Ms Carpenter said she ran outside to discover a police officer and another man lying ...
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PM implores Labor to focus on nation
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has urged her Labor colleagues to focus on the nation rather than on themselves. With her leadership again under threat from former prime minister Kevin Rudd, Ms Gillard told caucus it must put "purpose before self-interest". While neither Ms Gillard nor anyone else mentioned the leadership turmoil directly, she implored her team to "focus on the ...
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Aust shares fall ahead of key US data
Australian shares are lower at noon, defying upward trends overnight on Wall Street. Independent movement in the S&P/ASX 200 index has largely reflected trading of local high yielding stocks like banks and large supermarkets, according to CMC Markets analyst, Ric Spooner. "These stocks are a little lower this morning as investors see less compelling value after two days of solid ...
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RBA ok with budget minutes show
The federal budget held no surprises for the central bank, which says Treasury's economic forecasts were broadly in line with its own. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on Tuesday released the minutes of its June 4 board meeting, at which it left the cash interest rate unchanged at 2.75 per cent. The minutes noted the tabling of the budget by Treasurer Wayne Swan on May 14. ...
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Raiders to decide on Fergusons NRL future
Suspended NSW State of Origin winger Blake Ferguson's playing career at Canberra will be decided in the next 24 hours, after the troubled star meets with the NRL club's management and board. The NRL suspended Ferguson's registration on Monday night, citing repeated behavioural issues involving the abuse of alcohol. The move came after he was charged by police with indecent ...
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Roxon praises her good friend Gillard
Outgoing Labor MP Nicola Roxon has praised Julia Gillard as an amazing prime minister and a friend. Ms Roxon was giving her valedictory speech to parliament on Tuesday ahead of her retirement at the September 14 election. "We should be proud of her and her work," she said. Ms Gillard, who earlier attended a caucus meeting of Labor MPs, was in the lower house chamber to hear Ms Roxon ...
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Id given up hope of Origin says Merritt
Nathan Merritt admits he'd virtually given up all hope of ever playing for NSW before receiving a phone call from Blues coach Laurie Daley on Tuesday morning. The 30-year-old South Sydney winger was called into the team to face Queensland in Brisbane next Wednesday after Blake Ferguson was stood down on Monday night. The Canberra winger was charged with indecent assault following an ...
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AOFM sells $200m of indexed bonds
The Australian government has sold $200 million of September 20, 2025 Treasury indexed bonds. The Australian Office of Financial Management, which conducts bond auctions on the behalf of the government, said the bonds were sold for an issue yield of 1.160 per cent. The sale attracted bids totalling $657 million, giving a coverage ratio of 3.29. The face value of the bonds is linked to the ...
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Chinese firm buys gold miner Stonewall
Chinese energy company Shandong has raised funds to buy a subsidiary of Australian gold miner Stonewall Resources. Shandong had raised $US300 million ($A315.66 million) to acquire Stonewall Mining, Stonewall Resources said on Tuesday. The Chinese firm is buying two South African gold mines, expanding existing projects and providing working capital. Stonewall Resources chief executive Lloyd ...
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NSW budgets dreary economic backdrop
In framing the the NSW budget, treasurer Mike Baird faced the same dreary economic backdrop confronting his federal counterpart, Wayne Swan and business leaders around the country. It's not a recession - in fact it's not too bad. But it's not particularly flash either. Economic growth, both nationally and in NSW, is struggling to get up to a trend ...
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Stocks to watch at noon on Tuesday
Stocks to watch on the Australian stock exchange at noon on Tuesday: ELD - ELDERS - down 1.2 cents, or 13.33 per cent, at 7.8 cents RHL - RURALCO - down 3.00 cents, or 0.88 per cent, at $3.36 Elders has shunned a takeover bid for its rural services division by rival ...
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$60bn infrastructure boost in NSW budget
The people of NSW can expect huge improvements in transport and improved schools and hospitals after a $60 billion infrastructure boost in the state budget, the government says. The controversial privatisation of the Port of Newcastle, unveiled by Treasurer Mike Baird on Tuesday as a centrepiece of his budget and understood to be worth up to $700 million over its 99-year-lease, will go towards ...
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Dollar weakens after RBA signals rate cuts
At 12pm AEST today, the Australian dollar was trading at 95.27 US cents, down from 96.21 cents yesterday.The currency fell a quarter of a US cent to 95.18 US cents 10 minutes after details of the Reserve Bank's June meeting were released, suggesting the mining investment boom would plateau in the next 12 months.The minutes noted that business conditions were still subdued in the non-mining ...
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Australia can lead the way for intersex people | Morgan Carpenter
guidelines . This has been possible as part of a government commitment to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) inclusion, even while public awareness of intersex remains sketchy. You see, our lives are medicalised, and our voices rarely heard. This limited understanding was recently exemplified by a press agency report published globally this month: ...
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Hawke wont end row for now
Mr Beattie last night said the former prime minister and Labor legend was the ideal candidate to help settle the differences between Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the man she toppled for the top job in 2010, Kevin Rudd.The idea was rejected by several Labor MPs earlier this morning, but responding at 10am, Mr Hawke's office did not rule out the former prime minister staging an ...
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Key backer saves PM from defeat
The Prime Minister addressed a meeting of the Labor caucus today and said it was important for the party to focus on the nation and not themselves.She said the formal election campaign would begin on August 12 and Labor MPs would be fighting for a "majority Labor government".Labor MPs would focus on talking up the economic success and debunking the Coalition's scare campaign.Ms ...
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Vote deferral a face-saver for Gillard
JULIA Gillard has been saved from humiliating defeat with her key backer Don Farrell calling for a motion that would restore the power of caucus to choose the ministry being ...
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More than $5m of ice seized in Sydney
More than $5 million worth of the illegal drug ice has been seized after police uncovered a secret drug laboratory in southern Sydney.The haul began on Monday afternoon when detectives from the Asian Crime Squad stopped a taxi in Beverly Hills containing two male passengers.They seized two sports bags containing about 16kg of methylamphetamine, or ice, with a potential street value of more than ...
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Adelaide Roller Derby to move to Greyhound Racing SAs Angle Park site
THE Adelaide Roller Derby girls have overcome their biggest battle yet - finding a new home. The 120-member league, which has been searching for a permanent training ground since the Parks Community Centre closed its doors in February, will return to the west today (Wednesday, June 19). The league will host its first official training session at the players' new home - Greyhound Racing ...
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Lisa Ho to close its doors forever
Embattled fashion label Lisa Ho is closing down just weeks after the company went into voluntary administration.Administrators Barry Taylor and Todd Gammel of HLB Mann Judd announced the closure of Lisa Ho Group on Tuesday.In a statement, administrators said they would focus on closing all Lisa Ho stores across Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.It comes just months after the high-end fashion ...
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RBA leaves door open to more rate cuts
The Reserve Bank of Australia may not have cut the cash rate at its June meeting but has indicated it is prepared to cut further even though the Australian dollar is falling.The RBA board most recently moved the cash rate - cutting it by a quarter of a percentage point to 2.75 per cent - at its May meeting, after making four cuts in 2012.Between the May and June meetings, the Australian dollar ...
Sydney Focus
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Sydney's scandalous toxic waste plan by government
A controversial waste relocation project in Sydney has created anger in a community with a lower income than the Sydney suburb from which the waste is being removed, with many suggesting a class-bias in the city government.
Hunter’s Hill is a predominantly wealthy suburb of Sydney with average house prices of around AUD $1.3 million and a harbour-side community made up predominantly of professionals, managers and other traditionally middle to high-income workers. Penrith, on the other hand, located just over 50 kilometres from Sydney’s CBD, is not as affluent, with average property values of around AUD $280,000. Read more
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