CANBERRA, Australia — Low cattle supplies, higher prices, an appreciating Australian dollar, and trade tensions with China continue to create headwinds for the national beef industry, said an agribusiness banking specialist. But the steady recovery of breeding cattle numbers places the industry in a “unique position” to assess its current trajectory and correct course. Rabobank‘s beef seasonal outlook found Australia’s 30-year low for breeding cattle inventories was gradually correcting itself. However, limited cattle supplies would remain a problem for the industry in 2021, supporting prices but also complicating restocking and fattening and forcing plants and feedlots to operate below capacity. Smaller…
Author: zenger.news
SYDNEY — A man, who sexually abused his partner’s sister for years before he went on to abuse his daughter, admitted to his crimes after watching the first victim break down multiple times as she testified at his trial in Sydney, Australia. The 44-year-old man (who cannot be named) was jailed for 20 years and 10 months with a non-parole period of 15 years and six months. Australia’s New South Wales District Court Judge Robert Sutherland referred to his breach of trust and to the courage of the two victims who prepared victim impact statements. “The emotion and ongoing distress involved was evident in the reading…
CANBERRA, Australia — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has taken to Facebook to reassure Australians the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program is safe and rolling out in a timeframe comparable to other countries. The prime minister launched the video message as the government faced a swathe of criticism over the pace of the rollout and concerns about the country’s mainstay, the AstraZeneca vaccine’s safety. AstraZeneca is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, England. The government abandoned any target time to complete the vaccination program after medical authorities recommended people under…
TORRES STRAIT ISLAND REGIONAL, Australia — Healthcare workers treating Covid cases in Australia’s Torres Strait will be given extra protection against the virus as the outbreak in neighboring Papua New Guinea grows. The first of three ventilation hoods were transported to the hospital on Thursday Island off the tip of Cape York in Queensland’s far north. It is the referral hospital for seventeen Primary Health Care Centres in the Torres Strait Islands. “Particularly in light of the recent clusters in Queensland being traced back to health staff, providing additional layers of protective equipment is essential to protect not just the health professionals…
MELBOURNE, Australia — The Victorian opposition has questioned the decision to cap the Australian state’s Anzac Day dawn service at 1,400 people, given the bumper footy crowd expected hours later. Recently relaxed coronavirus restrictions mean 75,000 people will be able to attend the annual Australian Football League (AFL) match between Collingwood and Essendon at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. But only 1,400 can attend the Anzac Day dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance, while 5,000 veterans and 500 support people will be able to take part in the march through central Melbourne. This is despite the state going 46 days without a…
SYDNEY — Australia’s share market little changed on April 13 as marginal losses in the heavyweight bank and mining companies were offset by gains in technology and property. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up two points, or 0.02 percent, to 6976 at 1200 Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST). The All Ordinaries was higher by 5.3 points, or 0.07 percent, to 7230.5 points. The indices have traded modestly higher for most of the session. The materials sector, which includes miners, was down 0.29 percent. The financial sector was down 0.05 percent. Information technology had the greatest gains, 2.28 percent. The property sector…
CANBERRA, Australia — Women living with disabilities are almost twice as likely to experience partner violence, figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show. Although three in four women with disabilities experienced anxiety or fear following their most recent incident of physical assault by a man, fewer than one in three reported it to police. Women living with disabilities were also more likely to have experienced physical violence, sexual harassment, and stalking over a 12-month period, analysis of 2016 Personal Safety Survey data found. “The greatest disparity in risk was found for partner violence, with results showing that women living…
MELBOURNE, Australia — As per a report by the Grattan Institute, gas will no longer play a significant role in Australia’s energy system in the future. The report looks at multiple scenarios for the future of Australia’s electricity system, based on the role of coal. Grattan Institute is an Australian public policy think tank established in 2008. The Melbourne-based institute is non-aligned; however, it defines itself as contributing “to public policy in Australia as a liberal democracy in a globalized economy.” It found moving to 70 percent renewable energy and closing two-thirds of coal-fired power plants would not increase the price of power but…
CANBERRA, Australia — Almost one-third of Australia’s Northern Territory doctors are thinking of leaving the extreme heat of the Top End region in the territory to escape global warming. Climate change migration from northern Australia is well underway, particularly among people with the resources to move, Australian National University researchers said. The Territory’s oppressive heat — its tropical and central Australian dry versions — could lead to health workforce shortages in rural and remote communities, which already struggle to attract and keep doctors. “The warming climate is the biggest threat to health in the nation,” said Alice Springs doctor Simon Quilty.…
MARANOA REGIONAL, Australia — Low interest rates and strengthening commodity prices have hit Australian farmers badly affecting the value of their grazing and broad-acre farming lands. The drought and Covid-inspired shortages have done no good to the situation, subsequently hiking the overall land rates as well as its rent. Meanwhile, a father and son duo, Don and John Compagnoni, run cattle at four properties in the Maranoa region in Australia’s northeastern state of Queensland. One of the farms’ land values has risen 300 percent, as per a new Queensland valuer-general assessment, “Statutory valuation procedures and practices under the Land Valuation…