According to The Australian Financial Review, Queensland industries have pleaded with the state and federal government to address a critical workforce shortage through targeted visas, after Premier Steven Miles threw his support behind a migration clampdown.
Mr Miles has backed federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s proposal to slash migration in a bid to ease the pressure on housing. But industry leaders in Queensland said a reduction in new arrivals risked compounding a shortage of workers in sectors reliant on overseas staff, particularly tourism, agriculture and skilled international fields in health. Queensland’s medical peak body said half of the state’s doctors were trained overseas, and it feared a reduction in migration would place further broad strains on the workforce. https://www.afr.com/companies/agriculture/queensland-industries-fear-migration-cut-will-worsen-worker-shortage-20240521-p5jfib
0 Comments
According to The Australian Financial Review, housing development approval waiting times have blown out to four months in Victoria and NSW, exacerbating a housing supply crisis that is driving up rents and house prices.
State and local council agencies in Victoria and NSW are the slowest in the country, with average development approval waiting times at 144 and 114 days respectively, federal Treasury said in a new analysis of the housing market. The numbers show that development and planning approvals are getting worse, despite political promises to act on housing supply. https://www.afr.com/property/residential/the-reason-australia-is-falling-behind-the-world-in-building-houses-20240524-p5jg99
According to The Asahi Shimbun, the 2025 Osaka Kansai Expo will be cashless, utilizing a facial recognition system for payments and visitor access management instead, the event’s organizers announced.
The system, developed by NEC Corp., will be one of the largest of its kind in Japan, according to the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition. “The event will serve as a testing ground for promoting a cashless society in Japan,” the organizers said. Facial recognition payments will be available using Myaku-pe!, the event’s mobile payment system. Users will need to register their biometric information beforehand. This payment system will be accepted at all stores at the event except for food trucks and other mobile vendors. Cash will not be accepted at the expo, but credit cards can still be used. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15278821
According to The Jiji news, Japanese beer maker Kirin Holdings Co. announced the release of Electric Salt Spoon, which uses electricity to enhance the perception of the salty taste and umami of foods.
The spoon device sends small and safe amounts of current into foods when turned on, enhancing the perception of the salty taste of low-sodium foods. The recommended price is 19,800 yen. https://sp.m.jiji.com/english/show/33090#goog_rewarded
According to The Australian Financial Review, hydrogen projects backed by large companies like Fortescue and Woodside are set to be early beneficiaries of the federal budget’s $6.7 billion production tax credit, but one developer says the measure will attract a lot of international investment and could blow past its allocation.
Michael Myer, a member of Melbourne’s wealthy Myer family and chairman of Sunshine Hydro, said two projects the developer is pursuing in Gladstone and northern NSW could yield enough hydrogen to earn $730 million in production tax credits at the $2 per kilogram rate. “I think they’ve been conservative on what [it] will cost them, but I think the benefit to the national economy will far outweigh what might be a cost in the forward estimates – massively outweigh it in terms of jobs, export earnings, bringing down the wholesale price of energy and green fuels,” Mr Myer said. “It’ll pay for itself many times over.” https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/hydrogen-credit-could-blow-its-6-7b-budget-20240515-p5jdqg
According to The Asahi Shimbun, in the battle against climate change, a startup company is using a new technology to mass-produce seaweed that can help reduce methane gas emitted in cattle burps.
Sunshiki Co. plans to commercialize the method created by a team of researchers primarily from Kochi University. The researchers found that certain seaweed added to the diets of cattle slashes greenhouse gas emissions in the bovines’ belches. According to the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization in Ibaraki Prefecture, methane’s greenhouse effect is 28 times that of carbon dioxide. A dairy cow is believed to release 500 liters of methane per day through its burps. Belches of ruminant animals, including cattle, account for an estimated 5 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions around the world. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15226796
According to The Australian Financial Review, the federal budget did little to ensure Australia could reach its target of building 1.2 million new homes over the next five years because it failed to meaningfully boost the number of workers available to build them, the property industry and community groups say.
While budget included $89 million to boost the number of training positions, it only included $1.8 million to fast-track the assessment of 1900 migrants with necessary construction skills, when the industry needed an estimated 486,000 new people by 2026. https://www.afr.com/property/residential/imported-tradies-need-to-live-somewhere-too-20240513-p5jd80
Japanese power generation company Jera Co. will invest about 5 trillion yen for decarbonization, partly to replace fuels for thermal power plants with ammonia and hydrogen.
The investment plan is included in the company's growth strategy to fiscal 2035, which was announced recently. https://sp.m.jiji.com/english/show/33031
According to The Jiji News, Itochu Corp., KDDI Corp., Toyota Industries Corp., Mitsui Fudosan Co. and Mitsubishi Estate Co. said that they will collaborate in developing an efficient logistics system using digital technology.
The five Japanese companies will establish a joint firm for the collaboration within fiscal 2024, aiming to help address truck driver shortages. Itochu will own more than 50 pct of the new company. https://sp.m.jiji.com/english/show/33051#goog_rewarded
According to The Australian Financial Review, GPG Renewables Australia, the 4.7-gigawatt renewable platform that parked its $4 billion sale last month, is marching ahead with a $1.6 billion debt refinancing.
Sources said GPG is in advanced discussions with several banks to come in on a $1.1 billion refinancing of its existing facilities, and is aiming to reach the finishing line by June 30. In tandem, it has put a circa $500 million new-money deal to lenders to bankroll construction at projects. GPG was already in discussions with bank lenders, including the Aussie Big Four and Japanese lenders, as part of a $2 billion staple debt package being put together by Macquarie Capital for the bidders. It is understood Macquarie Capital and GPG’s sale adviser, Morgan Stanley, pivoted from the takeover financing to the current deal when owners Wren House Infrastructure and Naturgy cancelled the sale. https://www.afr.com/street-talk/big-four-japanese-banks-circle-gpg-renewables-1-6b-refinancing-20240515-p5jdts |
Subscribe to our English Newsletter
AuthorHarry Kinase Archives
October 2024
Categories
All
|
Getting Around
Home | About us | Our Services | Column | Blog | Contact | Website term of use
Subscribe to our English Newsletter
|
日本語ニュースレター配信登録
© Japan Australia Business Creators Pty Ltd | All Rights Reserved. Website designed and developed by Japan Australia Business Creators Pty Ltd.