Cybersecurity risks continue to mount amid threats from nation-state hacker groups
Cybersecurity risks have escalated rapidly, thanks to countries like China and Russia weaponising advanced hacking groups and creating sophisticated deepfakes.
Mr Maiden discusses the 'sophisticated nation-state campaigns' which have hit some of the largest companies in the world, including US telecommunication giants.
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News.com.au
43 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Geelong CBD freehold offers multiple income options
Geelong's emerging laneways could become the key to unlocking the value of a CBD landmark formerly home to Duffs Jewellers. The two-storey freehold is up for grabs with a new expressions of interest campaign to test the market for city centre real estate. Colliers, Geelong agents Jonathon Lumsden, Ned Tansey and Jackson Carrick are handling the sale for 134 Moorabool St, Geelong, with offers closing August 14. Mr Lumsden said price expectations were $2m-plus. The 180sq m ground floor comprises retail and office space, along with amenities and the original strongroom. The first floor has been converted to a luxury four bedroom, three-bathroom apartment, flooded with natural light from an atrium. The property is opposite Geelong's Bright & Hitchcocks building where developer Hamilton Group has started a multimillion dollar redevelopment. 'The owners ran their own business from there – they've closed that office down and are using it for storage themselves while they were running upstairs as their Airbnb,' Mr Lumsden said. 'Since they've got other interests, now is the time to divest.' The building offers the potential for a new owner to create dual income streams, and activate frontages to Moorabool St and Shorts Place at the rear, Mr Lumsden said. 'It also gives someone the potential to reconfigure the ground floor so they could activate a space with direct access of Moorabool St, and then activate a space that's accessed off Shorts Place,' Mr Lumsden said. Geelong developer Bill Votsaris has already unlocked Shorts Place for neighbouring projects, including a 24-hour Anytime Fitness gym. 'I think there's some appeal to that, to create those dual access points. Does that mean someone looks to do something more retail on the Moorabool St frontage and then more hospitality from Shorts Place? 'There's a few different things you can those around and meanwhile you can maintain that Airbnb, whether it's leased out through Airbnb or you put a long-term tenant in there.' Mr Lumsden said one potential buyer had flagged reconfiguring the first floor into commercial office space and then look to activate the retail space on the ground floor. 'You could easily give the ground floor a facelift. That's a pretty simple process.' Interest has been from parties in Geelong and Melbourne, Mr Lumsden said. 'I must say the interest that's coming through are generally parties that we've seen look at other options in the CBD. 'I think people can still see the CBD is going through a bit of adjustment and they can see the investment that other landowners are investing in the CBD. 'Opposite with Cam Hamilton's development and with what Bill Votsaris is doing in Little Malop St, there's good stories to tell within that precinct. 'We got through property cycles, Moorabool St is the main thoroughfare running north-south to Belmont and attracts an enormous amount of traffic and with the property cycle we're going through at the moment where you're not buying at the peak of the market, I believe there's long-term growth to get out of it.'
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Farmers seek direct partnerships with meal kit and ready-made meal makers
Boxes of produce fly out the door at a food distribution centre in Sydney's west, with a conveyer belt whisking away packed meal kits in a high-tech warehouse. The meal kits typically include portioned ingredients such as fresh vegetables, meat, sauces, spices and a recipe card with step-by-step instructions. HelloFresh was one of the first entrants into the Australian meal kit market, now estimated to be worth more than $1 billion a year, with new brands continuing to enter the competitive space. Chief executive Tom Rutledge said the company's new distribution centre opened in 2024. "We handle 250 tonnes of fruit and veg every week through this facility," he said. "We get that from a network of suppliers." The rising popularity of meal kits in Australia has created new opportunities for farmers to bypass traditional supply chains and sell their produce directly to those companies. Bundaberg-based farming operation Sunripe has diversified its business by growing tomatoes, capsicums and zucchinis for HelloFresh. Director Luke De Paoli said prices were locked in for 12 months at a time, in contrast to the more common week-to-week negotiations. "We get an eight-week forecast on volume, so we can adjust what we're doing elsewhere to make sure we've got the volume for HelloFresh." Tomatoes have recently been in short supply across Australia, reaching as high as $100 a box, the highest price since Cyclone Debbie hit in 2017, according to Mr De Paoli. But Sunripe has no regrets about its fixed price arrangements and is more interested in the long game and setting up long-term relationships. Mr Rutledge established HelloFresh in Australia in 2012 and said the connections built with growers have been "hugely important". "To make sure we're getting sufficient volumes, we want to have long-standing relationships with our suppliers, so they understand what our needs are and are able to supply us in time with the right, quality ingredients," Mr Rutledge said. He said the business model, which included extensive planning and seasonal menus, allowed them to accept more varied specifications from producers. "We can take a different spec to what is required by supermarkets because we know the intended use of those items [in recipes]," he said. This gives Sunripe more flexibility when fulfilling orders. Mr De Paoli said it meant his customers — which also include major retailers and food service suppliers — were less likely to be competing for produce with the same specifications. "If it's a capsicum they [HelloFresh] will take a half-red, half-green one [at the] mid-ripening stage," he said. Ready-made meal offerings are also growing in Australia, both in supermarkets and via home delivery. Options are vast and include calorie-controlled, high-protein and vegan meals. The Dinner Ladies is a Sydney-based food service that specialises in "home-style" cooking at scale. One of its key target markets is young families and the home-delivered meals are particularly popular with new mothers. The Dinner Ladies CEO Brad Rom said their kitchens produced more than 40,000 frozen meals each week, with plans to double that in coming years. He said the COVID-19 pandemic had changed many people's opinions and created positive perceptions about home deliveries. "Our customers who are busy, who are time poor and who like good quality food are prepared to pay for a service such as ours," he said. Mr Rom said when dealing with direct suppliers it was important to have similar values. "It's also really important to our customers. We get questioned quite a lot about where our ingredients come from," he said. Farmer Luke Winder owns Tathra Place Free Range and supplies free-range ducks to The Dinner Ladies. Each week he delivers about 150 kilograms of duck from his farm near Taralga. "That can go right up to well over 200 kilos a week so it's pretty amazing," Mr Winder said. He said cutting out the intermediary and layers of logistics meant a better, cheaper, and more consistent product. "It's very cost effective and they're getting their margin and I'm getting mine and there's no-one in between and it's fantastic." The ducks are used in a rotating menu of duck confit, duck ragu and duck red curry with lychee. Rendered fat is also used for duck fat potatoes. Joshua Guild is the head of planning at The Dinner Ladies and said waste was kept to a minimum. "[We also make] duck confit of course and duck sausage rolls." Mr Guild would like to emulate this type of direct relationship with more suppliers, particularly local ones. "We want to partner up with as many feel-good producers and people who are doing good things for the environment and good things for the animal," he said. Watch ABC TV's Landline at 12:30pm AEST on Sunday or stream anytime on ABC iview.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Queensland's State of the Sector report shows almost 30 per cent of public service earning at least $120,000
The headcount of Queensland's public service has swelled to over 320,000 workers, with almost 30 per cent of state government employees now earning at least $120,000. A new report to be released today reveals the Queensland government's workforce consisted of about 270,883 full-time equivalent (FTE) roles as of March this year. It represents a 5 per cent uptick from 258,012 FTEs in March 2024, with the majority of the growth attributed to an increase in health workers. When this is converted to a total headcount, which takes into account part-time workers, employee numbers climbed from 308,033 to 322,600 over this period. The details are contained in the annual State of the Sector report, which is the first snapshot of the public service since the new LNP government came to power last year. When looking at the total headcount, about 64,500 workers were earning between $120,000 and $149,999 per year as of March — equating to about one in five employees. This is up 38 per cent from the 46,753 workers in this wage bracket the same time last year, when they made up 15.2 per cent of the public service. Another 19,001 employees — or 5.89 per cent of the total headcount — were earning between $150,000 and $179,999 as of March this year. This reflected a 66.7 per cent increase from a year earlier when there were 11,397 workers in this income category. Workers earning more than $180,000 per year made up 2.3 per cent of the headcount — or a total of 7,439 workers, compared to 5,880 employees 12 months prior. Overall, the number of workers making at least $100,000 per year made up 44.7 per cent of the public service and those earning at least $120,000 accounted for 28.2 per cent. In the latest state budget, the government forecast it would spend almost $38 billion on public services wages in 2025-26, with this set to reach about $42 billion by 2028-29. The Queensland government is the state's biggest employer. The State of the Sector report reveals FTE corporate roles — which includes legal services, marketing, and human resources — increased 3.45 per cent in the past year. In comparison, FTE key frontline roles, which includes positions such as police officers, firefighters, and teachers, grew 4.02 per cent. Frontline and frontline support roles, which consist of jobs like security officers, policy analysts, general clerks, and gardeners, climbed 7.56 per cent. Overall, corporate roles make up about one tenth of FTE public service jobs. Health workers make up the largest portion of FTEs — accounting for 42.36 per cent of the public service, followed by education workers who make up 30.16 per cent. The report says the number of FTE police roles increased 3.26 per cent in the 12 months to March following drops in the prior two years. It attributes the growth to a "significant recruitment drive". There was also a 6.04 per cent increase in FTE nurses and midwives, an 8.42 per cent jump in doctors, and a 5.19 per cent rise in ambulance officers. FTE teacher positions increased by 0.23 per cent and child safety case workers ticked up by 0.68 per cent, while correction officer numbers grew 13.88 per cent. The number of FTE TAFE teachers and tutors fell by more than 2 per cent. So too did the number of disability support workers. The report notes the TAFE workforce is designed to "expand and contract" to meet the demand for qualifications and skill sets. The reporting period of between March last year and March this year includes roughly the last six months of the former Labor government and the first six months of the new LNP administration.
