It’s hump day, baby! And why fight it? If you’re struggling to work at your peak performance this Wednesday, celebrate your human frailty. Embrace the fact that you’re not a machine that can effortlessly smash out spreadsheets, emails, and water cooler banter. Spend as much time as you like learning about today’s biggest stories. If you ask us, you’ve earned it.
Australia’s Job Summit Launches Tomorrow
As per the ABC, the Labor Government’s job summit is launching on September 1, and it’s invited some big players to the table. Qantas’ CEO, Alan Joyce, is coming. Woolworths’ Managing Director, Brad Banducci, is coming. Toll Group Express’ CEO, Christine Holgate, is coming. Not to mention the state premiers and Australian of the Year, Dylan Alcott.
But when all of these folks get together, will they be able to get anything sorted? Whelp, our Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, is gunning for such an outcome. He said as much during his latest National Press Club speech.
“This week’s gathering will be the culmination of more than 100 pre-summit consultations that Ministers and government members have conducted all over the country, drawing on input from thousands of Australians looking at everything from improving economic participation for people with disability, to addressing our migration challenges, to boosting the numbers of Australians training in new technologies,” declared Albanese.
He also said, “I’m hopeful there will be some immediate actions coming out of the Summit that we can work to implement, but Friday isn’t the end of the story.”
Did Albo Tell the Rabbitohs Our Iso Laws May Change?
In less savory news for Albanese, the opposition is claiming that he may have given the Rabbitohs a leg up in the current NRL season. This is because, on August 28, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the PM secretly told this team that the COVID isolation time might drop from seven days to five. It’s worth noting that the Rabbitohs’ Damien Cook currently has COVID, meaning under NSW’s current laws, he wouldn’t be able to play this coming Saturday.
“Mr. Albanese needs to answer some simple questions… When did Mr. Albanese communicate this information to the Rabbitohs?” said the Liberal’s health spokesperson, Anne Ruston. She additionally asked, “Did Mr. Albanese relay this information to the Rabbitohs prior to any public statement on the matter? Was advice given to any other NRL clubs or national sporting teams?”
As of yet, Albanese hasn’t directly responded to Ruston’s inquiries.
Related: Latest Variant BA.5 Doesn’t Play By the Rules Or Care About Your Immunity
Related: The UK Just Dropped an Omicron Vaccine, But Why Is Australia Never First to Get Jabbed?
Yikes: Wheat Prices Are At a Seven-Week High
In bad news for basically everyone, The Wall Street Journal has noted how Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine is impacting the price of wheat. As of August 29, the cost of this product skyrocketed by almost 5%. If you don’t know why this is a huge deal, Ukraine exports a heck ton of wheat everywhere.
Moreover, to make matters worse, there’s some concern that the Black Sea grain deal, which allows Ukraine to export this resource, might crumble. However, Andrey Sizov, director of SovEcon, has somewhat disputed this claim. He said, “We believe that the grain corridor will continue to work at least short-term, unless there is a major war course change.”
This situation is bad news for a lot of Australian consumers. According to The Guardian, this shortage has contributed to the price of our chickens going up. “Wheat is the biggest ingredient in chicken feed, so you can imagine that that has had a very significant impact on the price of feed generally, and therefore the price of producing chicken,” stated the Australian Chicken Meat Foundation’s Executive Officer, Dr. Vivien Kite. “Feed costs represent somewhere between 50 to 60 percent of the total cost of producing chicken.”
Our country’s biggest chicken supplier, Ingham’s, has confirmed that this is the case, as it’s started to sell its products at a higher price. As Ingham’s Chief Executive, Andrew Reeves, explained, “We’re having to pass on increased prices right across the market.”
Cold War Legend, Mikhail Gorbachev, Has Died
On August 30, Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet president, died at the age of 91 in a Moscow hospital. In a statement obtained by Reuters, Russia’s Central Clinical Hospital wrote, “Mikhail Gorbachev passed away tonight after a serious and protracted disease.”
Gorbachev is a huge deal because he helped end the Cold War without sparking a nuclear armageddon that would’ve wiped out humanity. He did this by forging arms reduction deals with the United States. In 1990, Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize for this vital work. Oh, and also he starred in this iconic Pizza Hut commercial.
May this man now rest in peace.
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