Wow Australia

Australia, N.Z. Dollars Fall With Equities on Recession Concern

The Australian and New Zealand dollars declined as Asian stocks fell for a fourth day, damping demand for higher-yielding assets. The currencies weakened as reports showed U.S. home prices plunged at the fastest pace in at least four decades and confidence among Japanese manufacturers declined the most on record. A deepening global recession may lead to interest-rate cuts in Australia and New Zealand, eroding their appeal as a destination for funds borrowed in nations such as Japan that have ...

Hard choices for soft drinks manufacturer Coca-Cola

THE Coca-Cola Company (TCCC), a soft drinks giant based in Atlanta, is poised to make two decisions over the next three months that will have profound implications for the future of the Australian beverages industry. The first relates to an agreement signed a decade ago with global food giant Cadbury, which gives TCCC a pre-emptive right to bid for Cadbury's soft drink business in Australia. This pre-emptive right was triggered on Christmas Eve when Cadbury announced it had received a 550 mil...

N.Z House Prices Fall 6.8%, Matching Previous Decline

New Zealand house prices fell 6.8 percent in November from a year earlier as an economic recession and a deepening global financial crisis deterred buyers. The drop in average prices matched October's decline, which was the biggest since the series began in 2005, Quotable Value New Zealand Ltd., the Wellington-based government valuation agency, said in an e-mailed report today. It was the first time in 15 months that the annual change hasn't deteriorated. Falling property prices add to...

Australian Newspaper Job Ads Plunge Most in 30 Years, ANZ Says

Australian job-vacancy advertisements slumped in November for a seventh month, led by a record drop in newspaper notices, as employers pared hiring plans amid concern the economy may enter a recession. Jobs advertised in newspapers and on the Internet plunged 8.6 percent last month to an average of 211,199 a week, after falling 5.9 percent in October, according to an Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. report released in Melbourne today. Newspaper ads fell over the last two months ...

Australian, N.Z. Dollars Advance as Stocks Gain on Auto Rescue

The Australian and New Zealand dollars rose as stocks in the region gained amid reports U.S. lawmakers may agree to rescue automakers, spurring investors to buy high-yielding assets. The currencies extended gains from Dec. 5 after U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on the weekend pledged the biggest public works program in about 50 years to help fuel growth in the world’s biggest economy. Australia’s dollar strengthened the most in two weeks against the U.S. currency and the yen after S&P/...

Qantas Says ‘Significant’ Issues Tied to Merger Talks

Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia’s biggest airline, says “significant matters” need to be resolved before a merger with British Airways Plc can be achieved. These include “an appropriate merger ratio,” issues connected with British Airways’ pension fund and the global economic outlook, Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said today in Sydney at a business lunch, the 42-year-old’s first public speech since taking the CEO role Nov. 28. Qantas revealed the merger talks with its London-based ...

Financial crisis helps define Rudd in first year as Australian PM

SYDNEY (AFP) — One year into the job, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's popularity is riding higher than ever as he uses the global financial crisis to redefine his leadership, analysts said Sunday. The 51-year-old former diplomat Monday marks the first anniversary of his centre-left Labor Party's landslide win with a personal approval rating of 70 percent, according to a Nielsen poll. This is higher than any level the bespectacled father-of-three who speaks fluent Mandarin reached d...

Australian company fined for underpaying Indonesian worker

A South Australian fresh produce trader has avoided legal action, despite being found to have underpaid an Indonesian worker by more than $US42,000 over nine years. The Indonesian man, who worked for the trader at a market in the South Australian capital, Adelaide, recently complained of his underpayment to the Workplace Ombudsman and was then threatened with dismissal. The company has escaped court action but has been ordered to pay back the money. Ombudsman spokesman Craig Bildste...