EVs made up nearly half of all new vehicle sales in May
Electrified cars made up almost half of all new vehicle sales last month as the price of fuel pushed motorists to alternatives.
The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries this morning reported of the 100,206 vehicles sold in May, 46 per cent of them were either full EVs, conventional hybrids or plug-in hybrids. It was the largest share of the market by non-internal combustion engine vehicles on record.
EVs alone accounted for a record 20 per cent of all vehicles. These figures do not include purchases of Teslas.
In May, Chinese-EV manufacturer BYD – which this week shipped thousands of vehicles to Australia – recorded the second-largest sales of any maker. Australians bought 8211 BYDs, behind only long-term number-one, Toyota, which sold 16,342.
The chamber reported that BYD sales were 155 per cent up on May last year, while Omoda Jaecoo sales were up by 729 per cent and Geely lifted by 416 per cent.
EVs are making ground in the SUV segment, with sales up by 167 per cent over the past year, while plug-in hybrids lifted by 377 per cent. Over the same period, petrol SUV sales fell by 31 per cent and diesels dropped by 41 per cent.
Another KPMG exec steps aside as whistleblower probe continues
Eileen Hoggett, who led KPMG’s audit business at the time that a whistleblower alleges confidential client data had been shared and potentially used to win new business, has stepped down from her executive role at the embattled firm while an investigation into the scandal continues.
Stan Stavros, who is acting chief executive of KPMG after the resignation of Andrew Yates and senior partner Julian McPherson due to the scandal, revealed the news to staff today.
Hoggett “has decided to step aside from her executive role as COO (chief operating officer) while the investigations are pending,” he said in an email to KPMG employees.
“Eileen will continue in her role as partner in audit & assurance.”
Chalmers says data centres an investment ‘boom’
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has described the construction of data centres as a welcome investment “boom”, assuring that community concerns over their development would be met through existing regulations.
“This government has always said that when we see this welcome boom in investment in tech infrastructure, that we want to make sure it’s consistent with all of our other obligations, whether it be natural resource management, whether it be skills issues around foreign investment, and the like,” Chalmers said.
“This investment is overwhelmingly a good thing, but the government’s AI plan and the work that the government is doing is all about making the most of it, making sure that all of this investment serves our national economic interest.”
Private business investment jumped by 6 per cent, driven by a 30-year-high increase in machinery and equipment, which is being pulled into the country for the construction of data centres.
Business investment fuelling economic growth, says Chalmers
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is speaking after the release of the latest national accounts data, spruiking the growth of the private sector amid continued criticism from the government over the level of demand from the public sector.
“Economic growth was driven by strong growth in business investment, solid consumption, and also ongoing growth in dwelling investment. If you look at these numbers, you can see that new public final demand made almost no contribution to quarterly GDP growth, so all of the growth in the quarter is coming from the private sector,” Chalmers said.
The Australian economy expanded by 0.3 per cent through the first three months, driven by consumer spending and businesses rolling out data centres to harness the AI revolution. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported this morning that the lift, in line with market expectations, meant annual growth eased slightly from 2.6 per cent to 2.5 per cent.
“The big driver of that private sector growth is growth in business investment. Annual growth in Australia is faster than almost every major advanced economy, and it’s above the OECD average,” Chalmers said.
“The biggest contributor was business investment. We saw the fastest quarterly growth in business investment in nearly a decade and a half. New business investment grew 5.7 per cent in the quarter to be 10.4 per cent higher through the year. It contributed 0.7 percentage points to quarterly growth.”
Watch: Treasurer addresses media
Treasurer Jim Chalmers addressed the media following the release of the March quarter’s national accounts. Watch what he said here.
Economy expands 0.3 per cent in March quarter
The Australian economy expanded by 0.3 per cent through the first three months of the year, driven by consumer spending and businesses rolling out data centres to harness the AI revolution.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported this morning that the lift, in line with market expectations, meant annual growth eased slightly from 2.6 per cent to 2.5 per cent.
Household spending lifted by 0.5 per cent last quarter, driven in part by extra expenditure on electricity and gas due to the end of government subsidies.
Spending on essentials rose by 0.8 per cent but discretionary expenditure by just 0.1 per cent.
Albanese again defends budget tax changes
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended tax changes announced in the budget last month, during a speech in the House of Representatives in which he said Labor was united behind the policy amid community concerns over its impacts.
“Labor is the party of fairness. Importantly, Labor is the party of home ownership, and Labor is the party of lower income taxes for every working Australian,” Albanese told the chamber.
“This bill, that every single Labor member of the House of Representatives is looking forward to voting for tomorrow, delivers a new $250 Working Australians Tax Offset to over 13 million working Australians, $1000 instant tax deduction that will benefit around 6 million low- and middle-income Australians, and reforms to negative gearing and capital gains that will rebalance the tax system and finally give young people a fair crack at home ownership,” he said.
“Australians feel like the economy isn’t working for them, our government is not going to waste a single moment defending a system that everyone knows is broken, nor are we going to sit back and wring our hands and hope that something will turn up.”
Solomon Islands PM says he is yet to properly review a security pact with China
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale has said he has only briefly reviewed a contentious security pact between his country and China, signed by his predecessor, which he campaigned against prior to his election.
“I’ve had to remove certain people from key positions. I haven’t been afforded a copy, even, of that agreement, until a day before I left, so I haven’t had a good look at it. I’ve had a look at it, I’ll be honest with you, but I haven’t had a good look at it,” Wale told journalists in Canberra this morning.
“I’ve been praying and fasting about it, but of course you know cabinet will need to have a look at these things. There is a non-disclosure clause in it, so I couldn’t show it to you right away, but we, we are going to be reviewing, as we are reviewing other security agreements that we have with many other countries,” he said.
The statement comes as his government and Australia announce a “comprehensive treaty” and a desire to make Australia the nation’s preferred security partner in the region.
Albanese also announced a $35 million package to support the Pacific nation’s recovery from April’s Cyclone Maila, and “deal with” ongoing energy issues.
Australia should be ‘security partner of choice’ in Pacific: PM
Anthony Albanese has said Australia should be the “security partner of choice” in the Pacific, as he seeks to pen a treaty with the Solomon Islands amid rising Chinese influence in the region.
“Today is of course day one, and we’ve agreed to develop the comprehensive strategic treaty between us and we’ll work through the issues, but it will be one which identifies our mutual trust, our respect for each other, the sovereignty of both of our nations as we go forward,” Albanese said.
“We have said very clearly we want Australia to be the security partner of choice in our region, and we want the Pacific family to look after our security in this region.”
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale reiterated the statement, saying: “The first reference point in these matters is within the region, that I think is very important going forward.”
Albanese confirms treaty between Australia and Solomon Islands
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is holding a joint press conference with the new Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, Matthew Wale, confirming a treaty between the two nations.
“Today, we’ve committed to elevate our bilateral relationship at the request of the Solomon Islands. This will be agreed in a new comprehensive treaty underpinned by mutual trust, respect, and open dialogue,” Albanese said.
“This treaty will allow Australia and the Solomon Islands to confront global and regional challenges as partners. This is a significant body of work, and we have asked our foreign ministers to lead and drive this forward,” the prime minister said.
Wale’s visit is his first overseas since he assumed office midway through last month. He is joined by ministers in the Solomon Islands’ government, who will meet one-on-one with their Australian counterparts.
Wale said it had been “a very warm welcome to Canberra”, and joked about the poor weather in the capital this week, quoting a saying from the Solomon Islands: “The man who brings a bit of drizzle is your best friend.”
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