The government plans to make the country carbon neutral by 2040, but farmers in New Zealand are critical of their plans. The agricultural sector finds the plan to reduce net emissions of greenhouse gases to zero as unsustainable. Also, steel companies have voiced concerns that a proposed emissions trading scheme would render them uncompetitive. Beef and sheep farmers believe their business will be harmed by the trading system as well. Despite these concerns, the government still hopes to have 90% of electricity generated by renewable resources by 2025 and hopes to convince large numbers of drivers to switch to electric and hybrid cars.

Professor Ross Garnaut, an economist from the Australian National University, claims Australia will suffer from global warming more than any other developed country for three main reasons. First, Australia is hotter and drier, causing small variations in temperature to lead to bigger effects. Second, since Australia is situated in a region close to more vulnerable, poor countries, it may be affected by their problems. Lastly, due to the structure of the economy, export prices will be severely damaged by the climate-related sluggishness in poor countries. Consequently, Garnaut believes action must be taken immediately to lead the world in fighting climate change.

A 69-year-old Australian man suspected of hacking his wife and two grandchildren to death with an axe in the family home has appeared in court. He was also charged with the attempted murder of his 31-year-old daughter, who suffered a serious head injury.

According to predictions by the Federal Government, the value of mineral and agricultural exports will jump 40 percent next year due to record iron ore and coal prices, as well as relief from the drought. A recent forecast of commodity exports in 2008-09 increased to $212 billion from a March forecast of $189 billion. This hike in predictions shows the convoluted local impact of rising world prices for raw materials.

Australian airline Quantas must face industrial action with the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) next week. The ALAEA had asked for a wage increase of 5 percent for 1,500 engineers. This is the latest bad news as Qantas continues to struggle with fuel costs and service reductions, grounding flights to Japan and south-east Asia earlier this month.

Roc Oil is offering .792 shares and plus for Anzon Australia stock. This is the third occasion that Anzon has become the focus of a merger in less than one year. If the takeover is successful, the new merger will have market capital of $1.2 billion and produce about 14,000 barrels of oil a day.

The agriculture sector in Australia has been predicted to become the top performer on the market in the next coming months. Despite a recent fall in investor returns, returns are predicted to be around 11 percent higher than those forecast on the broader market Commonwealth Bank's Jon Sutton explained.

Goldman Sachs came out with a list of 24 companies facing refinancing of more than 15 percent this fiscal year. Many Australian corporations are experiencing heavy profit losses of 5% to 10% due to the increased prices of oil and poor economy. Some companies that face low exposure to discretionary consumer spending and transport costs will continue to see profits: including Woolworths Coca Cola, and Telstra.

Australia’s resource-driven economy grew twice as fast as expected in the opening quarter, propelled by increased household and construction spending and a rise in government defence expenditure. The seasonally adjusted 0.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase in gross domestic product for the three months to March 31 lifted the annual rate of growth to 3.6 per cent and comes as Australia’s central bank grapples with inflation that has reached its highest level since the early 1990s. The economy grew 3.6 per cent year-on-year.

The nation’s largest anti-pedophile investigation has yielded the arrests of dozens of men, including community leaders, a police officer, a teacher and a youth worker. The investigation, called Operation Centurion, was begun after an Australian hacker broke into a respectable European website and uploaded 99 explicit images of young girls.