Chevron Australia managing director Roy Krzywosinski has warned Australia risks missing out on up to $100 billion of new gas projects due to high wages, ahead of a speech by Resources Minister Gary Gray to the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association later today.
“Governments and industry must make changes now to capture this second wave of investment. There is an 18 to 24-month window in which to do so. It will require a significant structural change in Australia’s costs,” Krzywosinski says.
“We remain optimistic about the Australian investment environment but it requires significant national leadership to improve our international competitiveness including fiscal stability, increased productivity and industrial relations changes that focus on Australia’s long-term interest.”
ANZ is set to shift 70 call centre positions in Australia to New Zealand, with the bank claiming the move would be made through natural attrition rather than redundancies, with a spokesperson denying more jobs would be moved offshore in the future.
“ANZ advised staff in its Australian call centre last week that 70 roles will be transitioned to our call centre in New Zealand. We do not anticipate the change will involve any redundancies as staff impacts will be managed over time through natural staff turnover,” an ANZ spokesman said.
“We do not have any specific plans at present for further expansion of our call-centre capability in New Zealand. However, we will continue to look at options to provide the best possible service to our customers in the most efficient way.”
James Packer’s Crown Entertainment is planning a round of redundancies at its Melbourne casino, as the New South Wales state government decides whether to grant a licence for the company’s proposed second Sydney casino at Barangaroo.
“While these reviews are still ongoing, any reduction in positions is currently expected to be less than 50, which represents less than 0.8% of Crown’s employees in Melbourne,” a Crown spokesperson said.
“Total employment at Crown Melbourne has been steadily increasing – for example, it increased last year by more than 200 persons and over the past five years has increased by more than 1000 persons.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.06% at 15,303.10. The Aussie dollar is down to US96.42 cents.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
