By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s defence chief said on Wednesday the United States warned him in 2021 that allegations Australian special forces soldiers killed prisoners and civilians in Afghanistan may trigger a law prohibiting assistance from the United States. The United States is Australia’s biggest security alliance partner and Angus Campbell’s comments are…
By Daniel Leussink TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp said on Wednesday that information on customers in some countries in Oceania and Asia, excluding Japan, may have been left publicly accessible from October 2016 to May 2023. Customer information that may have been accessible externally included names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and vehicle identification…
By Stella Qiu SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia’s central bank will do whatever it takes to bring inflation under control, its governor said on Wednesday, warning households to brace for the pain ahead while risks of higher inflation persisted. Data released on Wednesday showed consumer prices rising by much more than expected in April, prompting markets to…
By Lewis Jackson SYDNEY (Reuters) -The Reserve Bank of Australia will not sign any new contracts with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Australia until a scandal over the firm’s misuse of confidential government tax plans is sorted out, the central bank’s governor said on Wednesday. The “big four” firm is on the defense after a former Australian tax…
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Legislation to hold a referendum to recognise Australia’s Indigenous people in the constitution cleared its first parliamentary hurdle on Wednesday as it was passed in the House of Representatives. Australians will be asked to vote in a referendum, likely to be held between October and December, on whether they support altering the…
By Stella Qiu SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian consumer prices rose by more than expected in April on a jump in fuel prices and strong gains in housing, suggesting sticky inflation will likely keep pressure on the central bank. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 6.8% in April from a year earlier, Australian Bureau of Statistics…
(Reuters) – Bank of Queensland Ltd said on Wednesday it had entered into separate undertakings with the country’s financial crime and prudential regulators to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws and address risk governance practices. The court-enforceable undertaking accepted by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) follows several breaches of prudential standards in…
By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand companies will start to benefit from the country’s new free trade agreement (FTA) with the United Kingdom with the pact now in force, the government said on Wednesday. “The benefits which begin flowing from the FTA today, provide a further big boost to our economy,” said New…
By Hannah Lang WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Currency markets were choppy on Tuesday as the dollar hit a 10-week high against peers and a six-month top versus the yen before retreating after Japanese officials gave their currency a nudge. Japan will closely watch currency market moves and respond “appropriately” as needed, the country’s top currency diplomat…
By Joice Alves and Scott Murdoch LONDON/SYDNEY (Reuters) – European stocks and the U.S. dollar fell, after climbing to a two-month high, on Tuesday as relief that the U.S. government had averted a possible default gave way to concern that the deal could face a rocky path through Congress. Longer-dated U.S. Treasuries rallied as traders…
