Volkswagen has drawn up battle plans to make the new Amarok the must-have ute of 2023.
Based on the new Ford Ranger, the new Amarok represents a significant leap beyond the previous model.
It shares core underpinnings and diesel engines with the Ranger, as well as new safety features including auto emergency braking, active cruise control and blind-spot monitoring.
Volkswagen’s best-selling model is also likely to share the Ford’s 3.0-liter V6 turbo diesel engine, a motor that sends 184kW and 600Nm to all four wheels through a 10-speed automatic transmission.
But it won’t get the 292kW/283Nm petrol V6 exclusively offered in Ford’s Ranger Raptor.
Ford elected not to offer the Australian Ranger with a 2.3-litre turbo petrol engine found in some Amarok models, one that delivers 222kW and 452Nm of performance.
But the cars are not identical.
VW’s machine wears butch styling shaped by a Melbourne-based design team.
It has the same core interior as the Ranger, though high-end Amarok models have fancier 10-way electric seat adjustment than the Ranger’s eight-way chairs.
And Volkswagen’s 12-inch digital dashboard display is larger than the 8-inch readouts fitted as standard to the Ranger.
Top-grade Amarok variants ride on 21-inch wheels that are significantly larger than the 18-inch rims of a Ranger Wildtrak, which could return more car-like precision from a steering wheel shared with VW’s passenger cars.
VW says the new machine, built in South Africa as opposed to the Thailand-sourced Ranger, benefits from shorter and more frequent shipping routes than the older model, which came from Argentina.
That “ensures steadier supply”, according to Volkswagen.
But it will also mean the Amarok is subject to a 5 per cent vehicle import tariff that does not apply to the Thai-built Ranger, a factor likely to make the VW more expensive than its Blue Oval cousin.
VW will reveal prices for the Amarok closer to its official debut in the first quarter of 2023.
Geelong’s Market Square shopping center and Busport transport interchange have been described as “festering sores” in an extraordinary speech by the City of Greater Geelong’s highest ranking officer.
The outburst took many city councillors by surprise, with a source telling Geelong Broadcasters the CEO’s frank comments were certain to be discussed at tonight’s scheduled meeting.
Martin Cutter’s address to a business luncheon last week included criticisms of what he views as the city’s dependence on cars at the expense of “active transport” options such as bicycles.
According to the Geelong Advertiser Mr Cutter, who will finish up next month after cutting his contract short, laid bare his intense dislike for the bus exchange.
“I hate it. I think we all hate it,” he reportedly said.
“It needs to go, it needs to be shifted – it needs to be improved.”
Councilor Eddy Kontelj told Geelong Broadcasters he agreed that the bus terminal was problematic.
“We should be doing something about it and the state government should be doing something about it,” Cr Kontelj said.
“I just wish that Martin had used his voice earlier on to express the concerns that we have around that issue.”
Cr Kontelj was more guarded about his thoughts on the privately-owned Market Square, saying the city needed to be “in the tent” with the facility’s owners and trying to forge a way forward.
“What we can’t do is be just throwing blows through the media. What we need to be doing is working with the owners of the property to try and find a solution.”
Mr Cutter pointed to Melbourne’s Emporium as an example of what shopping center improvements can achieve.
“It’s easy for me to say, I don’t have the investment funds, council doesn’t have the investment funds, but it’s not working, something needs to be done in the area to lift that,” he told the event, which was hosted by the Urban Development Institute of Australia.
He also took aim at overwhelming criticism of the city’s controversial bike lanes.
“We all have an opinion about bike lanes. We can all be critical about the way they look and what they do, but if we’re going to make Geelong different we need to invest in active transport.
“We can’t keep making more roads, it will not fix what our problems are – it’s about being visionary, about looking to the future and deciding what we want Geelong to look like and not just asking for more cars to come into the center of the city.”
Mr Cutter announced his resignation in early July, saying he wanted to focus on ‘personal pursuits’ and spend time with his family.
Image: (top) Market Square [Geelong Broadcasters]; (middle) outgoing CoGG CEO Martin Cutter (City of Greater Geelong)
A young Aussie traffic controller has hit back at trolls who made fun of her job by revealing she can make up to $750 a day working on the roads.
Road worker Chloe Brianna took to TikTok to clap back at trolls who said she was “standing around doing nothing” and told her to “get a real job”.
The young woman responded to the cruel comments by revealing just how much she makes each week as a road worker.
In a now-viral video, Chloe, who works in Victoria, claims she earned an eye-watering $3073.75 in a week as a FIFO worker – which totaled $2280.75 after tax.
“What I make in a wheel, nightshift and living away as a traffic controller” she wrote.
“Monday 13 hours – $672.44 + $76.88 living away allowance. Tuesday 12 hours – $606.22 + $76.88 living away allowance.
“Wednesday 12 hours – $606.22 + $76.88 living away allowance. Thursday 12 hours – $606.22 + $76.88 living away allowance.
Chloe’s video rapidly went viral and now sits at over 1 million views.
In a few other follow up videos, she showed that her weekly rate can differ depending on where she works and her hours.
While she might make over $3,000 one week, another week she took home $2,379.
If Chloe makes an average of $2,500 a week, this would still see her bring in $130,000 a year.
She also cleared up that when working away from home, her accommodation if paid for – but she still needs to buy her own groceries, like she would at home.
“Honestly this is one of the best jobs in the world” she wrote on her TikTok page.
“It can be mentally challenging sometimes but tt’s so worth it.
“So much traveling and meeting new people every day. Wouldn’t change it for the world.”
While many applauded her success and inquired as to how they could get into the industry, others attacked Chloe’s career choice.
“Ridiculous how much they get paid to stand with a stop sign, listening to music and scrolling on your phone” one person said.
“Paid for just standing there, what a world.”
“Half a brain, twice the $$$, any mentally challenged person could do this” one troll taunted.
“Way to choose an easy and unskilled job.”
Many in the industry jumped to Chloe’s defense and to test that the job is not as “easy” as some perceive.
“People need to understand it’s not just standing around” one person said.
“We need to be always on our game for anything.”
“It’s actually harder than people think” another said.
“I’m a traffic controller and some of the abuse we get is brutal.”
Wedge-tailed eagles and other protected species are at risk of being paralyzed by lead poisoning in Victoria, according to wildlife advocates, with illegal lead ammunition still being used to shoot ducks.
Key points:
High levels of lead have been found in some Victorian ducks in the past four years
Lead ammunition for duck hunting is banned in Victoria but is still being used by some hunters
The peak duck hunting body says it has a “zero tolerance” policy on the use of lead bullets
Freedom of Information documents reveal humans are also at risk, with lead levels in ducks “well above” food safety standards at four Victorian duck-hunting waterways.
Secret email correspondence shows the state’s environmental watchdog has been aware of “elevated” lead levels in ducks from several wetlands used for hunting since 2018, but it has not made the public danger or issued any warnings.
The CSIRO states even tiny traces of lead are harmful to humans and animals, because the substance is so toxic.
An email titled “Lead in duck — heads up” from the EPA to Victoria’s Chief Environmental Scientist reports on testing samples from 2018 which revealed high lead levels in ducks from Serpentines Creek in western Victoria, Richardson’s Lagoon in northern Victoria and Heart Morass and Macleod Morass in Gippsland.
Emails show the ducks were retested in 2020 and found to contain lead levels that posed potential risks to human health.
Emails from the Environmental Protection Agency say the elevated lead levels in Victoria’s ducks could be harmful to humans.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
“The new results came on this Monday and confirmed high levels of lead in duck tissues. Again, well above the FSANZ (Food Standards Australia New Zealand,” the 2020 email said.
The EPA was told by the Chief Environmental Scientist the results warranted further investigation to evaluate “potential risks to the environment and human health” and recommended it take place before the start of the 2021 season.
That testing is still underground.
Lead ammunition still in use despite two decades on ban list
The use of lead bullets for duck hunting is illegal in Victoria and has been since 2001 with the Game Management Authority stating, “lead is a toxic substance that can harm humans, wildlife and the environment”.
Illegal lead ammunition was being used in Victoria as recently as last month — six hunters received penalties for possession of toxic shot on Victorian wetlands during the 2022 season.
Regional Victorians Opposed to Duck Shooting project manager Sue Williams said four recreational duck and quail shooting seasons had been allowed to proceed since the lead levels in ducks were first identified.
“It is simply unfathomable that the government has not issued any public warnings about the lead levels found in ducks across our state,” she said.
“The fact ducks were found to have toxic lead levels in 20 per cent of wetlands surveyed suggests the danger is frighteningly widespread, given duck shooting is allowed in thousands of public areas.”
Lead ammunition is still in use by Victorian duck hunters despite being illegal.(ABC News: Jane Cowan)
The EPA said the sampling and analysis on ducks in 2018 was undertaken to assess the presence of PFAS in ducks in various Victorian waterways and additional sampling and analysis was done in 2020 for the presence of trace metals.
“The results were inconclusive — lead levels in liver samples were lower than in breast samples, which is contrary to what would be expected,” Chief Environmental Scientist Mark Taylor said.
“EPA will conduct further sampling and analysis to better understand if there are any risks to human health from lead in ducks.”
In June 2021, then-Victorian Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas was asked in state parliament whether lead levels above food safety guidelines had been found in ducks at the Heart Morass and Macleod Morass wetlands.
In a written response in August 2021, the Minister stated her department was not aware of any “publicly” available scientific studies to determine lead levels in ducks at the wetlands, despite the EPA having the results of tests completed in 2018.
The Victorian government approved a full-length three-month duck hunting season in March this year but has been under pressure from across the political divide to follow WA, NSW and QLD and ban the sport altogether.
“There is no excuse for duck hunters to still be using to use toxic lead shot and hunters caught doing so will be fined, have their equipment seized, may have their licenses canceled and face prosecution,” a government spokesperson said.
Lead poisoning can lead to ‘horrifically slow death’ for birds
Lethal amounts of lead have been found in protected species in Victoria, according to Jordan Hampton from the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences.
“Concerningly, the birds of prey with by far the highest levels of lead exposure detected in Australia, have been wedge-tailed eagles from Victoria,” he said.
“If the shot animal is left where it lies, lead fragments become a threat to any scavenging wildlife.
“Lead doesn’t go away, lead ammunition fired today will be in our environment for decades to come.”
Wildlife Victoria CEO Lisa Palma said lead poisoning was an insidious way for ducks, swans and wedge-tailed eagles to die.
“They suffer a horrifically slow death, both if they are wounded or feed on carcasses with lead in them,” she said.
“They present with neurological and paralysis symptoms, are sluggish, unable to eat and slowly die of starvation.”
Duck hunting group says it has ‘zero tolerance’ for rulebreakers
Victorian Duck Hunters Association secretary Kev Gommers said he was shocked to learn lead ammunition was still being used by hunters, more than two decades after it was banned.
“We do not condone this at all, I don’t know anyone who would be stupid enough to still use lead,” he said.
“We have zero tolerance for anyone who breaks these rules in our organisation, it goes against what we stand for.”
Ducks and other wildlife can become fatally ill if exposed to lead fragments from ammunition.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
Dr Hampton, who is also a vet, said more needed to be done to protect the environment, animals and humans, with lead ammunition still legal for quail hunting, commercial harvesting and aerial-based shooting.
“There is a simple and immediate solution — we need to ban all lead ammunition — not just for ducks,” Dr Hampton said.
“This did not harm the automobile industry when unleaded fuel was introduced.”
For years Craig Wright has claimed that he is the mythical figure who created bitcoin. But a legal bid by the Australian computer scientist to defend his assertion that he is Satoshi Nakamoto resulted in a pyrrhic victory and a tarnished reputation on Monday.
A high court judge in London ruled Wright had given “deliberately false evidence” in a libel case and awarded him £1 in damages after he sued a blogger for alleging that his claim to be the elusive Nakamoto was fraudulent.
“Because he [Wright] advanced a deliberately false case and put forward deliberately false evidence until days before trial, he will recover only nominal damages,” wrote Justice Chamberlain.
Wright had sued blogger Peter McCormack over a series of tweets in 2019, and a video discussion broadcast on YouTube, in which McCormack said Wright was a “fraud” and is not Satoshi. The issue of Nakamoto’s identity was not covered by the judge’s ruling because McCormack had earlier abandoned a defense of truth in his case.
Wright claimed that his reputation within the cryptocurrency industry had been “seriously harmed” by McCormack’s claims. He said he had been invited to speak at numerous conferences after the successful submission of academic papers for blind peer review, but 10 invites had been withdrawn following McCormack’s tweets. This included alleged potential appearances at events in France, Vietnam, the US, Canada and Portugal.
But McCormack submitted evidence from academics challenging Wright’s claims, which were then dropped from his case at the trial in May. Wright later accepted that some of his evidence of him was “wrong” but said that this was “inadvertent”, Chamberlain said in his judgment of him.
The judge noted that there was “no documentary evidence” that Wright had a paper accepted at any of the conferences identified in the earlier version of his libel claim, nor that he received an invitation to speak at them except possibly at one, and that any invitation was withdrawn.
Wright’s explanation for abandoning this part of his case because the alleged damage to his reputation from the “disinvitations” was outside England and Wales “does not withstand scrutiny”, the judge added.
He concluded: “Dr Wright’s original case on serious harm, and the evidence supporting it, both of which were maintained until days before trial, were deliberately false.”
Lawyers for McCormack had argued that his tweets were made in “flippant and lighthearted terms” and were in response to posts by Calvin Ayre, a Canadian businessman, “goading others into accusing Dr Wright of being a fraud”. They also claimed there were “numerous other individuals who had posted the same allegations about Wright”, Chamberlain explained in his ruling on him.
Sign up to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every weekday morning at 7am BST
Chamberlain concluded that although the tweets were “flippant in tone”, they came from “a well-known podcaster and acknowledged expert in cryptocurrency”.
“They were unequivocal in their meaning. Many people who read them would have known that there was a lively debate about whether Dr Wright was Satoshi, but some of them must have been influenced by reading Mr McCormack’s trenchantly expressed contribution to that debate,” the judge continued.
“The fact that he was willing to state his views so brazenly in response to threats of libel proceedings is likely to have made those who read them more, not less, likely to believe them.”
But the judge said that Wright’s pre-trial case over the serious harm to his reputation made it “unconscionable” that he should receive “any more than nominal damages”.
The judge asked for both sides’ legal teams to make submissions on the award of costs.
Chamberlain found that McCormack’s comments in the video discussion, which included calling Wright a “liar” and a “moron” were defamatory, while the video and a majority of the tweets caused “serious harm” to Wright’s reputation.
In statement Wright said: “I intend to appeal the adverse findings of the judgment in which my evidence was clearly misunderstood. I will continue legal challenges until these baseless and harmful attacks designed to belittle my reputation stop.”
“Longer term, we’re banking on what we believe is a very strong trend around AI and a very strong need for AI training data,” Brayan said.
Analysts, including Citi’s Siraj Ahmed, flagged potential negative surprises last month, citing digital advertising weakness and Facebook, Appen’s largest customer, transitioning to a new AI engine.
Wilsons Equity Research analyst Ross Barrows said the downgrade was worse than its below-market forecasts.
“Today’s downgrade again reiterates Appen’s ‘Achilles’ heel’ – high levels of project-based work from a small number of concentrated clients, noting that it was a tailwind in its early years,” he said.
“Today’s result and the second-half outlook suggests visibility remains challenging, and with no full-year guidance provided today, direction for the stock will be difficult between now and the full-year result in August.”
RBC Capital’s Garry Sherriff was also downbeat about the clouds around its immediate outlook.
“The de-rating of Appen is likely to continue in our view given multiple material downgrades and questions on revenue visibility and strategy.”
The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.
House prices in Melbourne’s inner east dropped $107,500, while the median in Brisbane’s west fell $50,000.
loading
Sydney’s eastern suburbs and the Baulkham Hills and Hawkesbury region led unit declines in dollar terms, down $90,000 and $55,000. Prices also dropped more than $55,000 in Hobart and the Coffs Harbor and Grafton region.
Powell said price declines would continue to spread. The full impact of rate hikes had yet to be seen, and buyer demand would be further tested by an expected increase in homes for sale in spring.
Home buyer lending pulled back in June after the second cash-rate rise. The value of new owner-occupier loans dropped 3.3 per cent, and was 9.6 per cent lower than a year ago, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on Tuesday show.
Lending to first home buyers fell 10 per cent and was down 29 per cent year on year, while investor lending fell 6.3 per cent in June but was up 17.3 per cent over the year.
Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan said the impact of rising rates in an already cooling market had been rapid. Areas with higher property prices had been most sensitive to increases, but the slowdown in prices was spreading and the full impact had yet to be seen.
Home buyer lending pulled back in June after the second cash rate rise.Credit:Luis Enrique Ascuí
Hassan expects the cash rate to peak at 3.35 per cent in February, and property prices nationally to decline 16 per cent from peak to trough, with Sydney and Melbourne to see falls closer to 18 per cent. Hobart and regional areas that had unprecedented growth throughout the pandemic, partly based on temporary shifts in population, may also be in for a hard landing.
Hassan said most households had substantial savings buffers that would put them in good stead to handle higher mortgage repayments. However, it would be a delicate balance for the RBA to slow demand and inflation while not triggering widespread problems for the housing sector.
Raine & Horne Lower North Shore partner Alex Banning said prices were correcting after a period of enormous growth and markets that had higher price rises had further to fall.
“The RBA gave people false hope when they said rates weren’t going to go up until 2023, 2024, so a lot of people just out took big loans… we saw exponential growth.”
The market had swung from one extreme to the other, he said. While prices were lower, most buyers were still having to compromise due to their reduced borrowing power.
Shore Financial senior credit advisor Greg Bishop was seeing more clients put plans to purchase on hold.
“No one really knows where the market is going to end up,” he said. “Prices have backed off … which is good for a lot of buyers, but they’re also facing increasing interest rates.”
loading
Some lenders were honoring existing pre-approvals, Bishop said, as long as there was no critical credit change such as an increase in the loan to value ratio. Others were reducing borrowing capacity for pre-approved clients.
He urged those with pre-approval to check with their lender before purchasing a home as some buyers were finding out afterwards that their new borrowing power had fallen short.
Lettuces have crossed the $10 mark, milk prices are being bumped up by the major supermarkets and strawberries are $6 a punnet.
Nearly everywhere you look, the price of food and other farmed goods is on the rise.
You would be forgiven for thinking this must be a great time for Australian farmers, preferably while gazing out the window at gentle rain.
Not remove.
Prices on the rise
Understanding what’s driving the price of any commodity can be a mind-bending exercise at the best of times.
The current situation is broadly due to a number of issues, the first of which has to do with the nature of the Australian growing season.
Australian vegetables come from different parts of the country depending on season. At the moment the primary supplier is Queensland.
Earlier this year some of its growing regions were smashed by two floods in 11 weeks.
Queensland’s Lockyer Valley flooded earlier this year and destroyed large vegetable crops.(Supplied: Lockyer Valley Regional Council)
Belinda Frentz is a herb grower on the state’s Gold Coast and deputy chair of Australia’s peak body representing vegetable growers, AUSVEG.
She said the damage to crops caused already high prices to climb even further.
“When you get a loss of that magnitude, it’s not the price that’s significant, it’s the production loss that’s associated with that,” Ms Frentz said.
“Anything that increases in price is usually associated with a loss somewhere in the supply chain.
“When we’re processing less than half of the volumes that we usually would, obviously the demand for that product increases exponentially and there’s just not the availability of the products.”
Farmers with hidden costs
Like every industry, farming has costs. There are start-up costs, such as the price of crop seed for the year, the cost of land, or the price of buying livestock.
Then there are input costs, things like fertilizer, fuel, chemicals, water and labour.
In short, they are the products necessary to do business — similar to fixed costs for personal budgets, such as rent and electricity.
These costs fluctuate naturally, but recent world events have thrown a spanner into the works.
Common fertilizer, urea, jumped from $750 a tonne in 2021 to $1,300 in 2022.(Rural ABC: Clint Jasper)
Fertilizer costs began to spike in mid-2021 when China announced restrictions on exports, but the war in Ukraine has driven that price even higher.
The price of fuel has also been abnormally high, particularly for diesel, which is not just used in tractors, but also fuels the trucks that haul produce from the farm to processors, wholesalers and supermarkets.
The ongoing global hangover from the pandemic has also slowed Australian imports of these commodities to a crawl.
Creating a perfect storm
While each of these costs may have been manageable on their own, together they have created a perfect storm.
Ms Frentz said the costs were eating into what little profits many producers were making.
“We all know what our costs of production are and we know that they’ve increased,” she said.
Belinda Frentz says flood damage to crops caused already high prices to climb further.(Supplied: Belinda Frentz)
“I think the new pricing of fresh [food] will be around the input pressure costs that we’ve got, and that we can’t do anything about.
“Like everybody at the moment under household pressures about the cost of living, growers are experiencing that across the board.
“For us to be sustainable, we have to be profitable.”
A tale of two growers
But with prices so high, how much of that money is actually making it back into the pockets of growers?
Melbourne-based wholesaler Michael Piccolo believed the situation had divided growers into two distinct groups.
“You’ll get a certain grower that doesn’t have the yield, so basically whatever they’re producing is only covering the cost of production,” Mr Piccolo said.
“Then you’ll have a grower who has a full crop and they just base their sales on what’s going on around the Australian market.
Melbourne vegetable wholesaler Michael Piccolo believes the market is over inflated.(Supplied: Michael Piccolo)
“Certain markets like Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney will compete against each other, so when one sets a price, everyone else has to follow suit.”
Mr Piccolo also believes that, while input costs are a large part of current costs, it is competitive bidding from buyers that is driving up prices.
“I think it’s a contributing factor. My opinion, though, is that it’s a bit too inflated and we’re about 20-30 per cent above where we really need to be.”
When will prices come down?
The good news is that relief is on the horizon.
Mr Piccolo believes prices will fall as the season shifts away from Queensland growers and back towards those in southern Australia.
“The changeover of seasons happens around September to October, so a lot of these products that we have to purchase from Queensland start to come down during the Victorian season,” he said.
“My prediction is that we’ll start to see prices reduce more towards the mid-to-end of September, and then the Victorian growing season will kick in.
“However, I can’t see it making it’s way back down to the prices we’ve gotten used to,
“I think it will probably settle around at 10 to 20 per cent above what we are traditionally used to pay.”
The fundraising documents went to great lengths to sell the convertible structure to investors. It said the company had sold convertibles in mid-2020 to raise $10 million, and build a bridge to a Series B raise one year later.
Tech wipe out
The raise comes at a time when interest rate changes force investors to shut their checkbooks, shunting IPO candidates to unlisted markets and unlisted equity hopefuls to debt/convertibles.
In Spaceship’s case, its tech-heavy investment portfolios have dusted off big losses for the financial year, thinning out its revenue-generating funds under management. It’s also faced the challenge of turning customers acquired via paid marketing into revenue generators.
Its superannuation product, GrowthX did -19.5 per cent in the 12 months to June 30, while its investment product Voyager lost 47 per cent.
The poor performance sent Spaceship’s funds under management 14 per cent lower in the June quarter alone. It’s also sent some clients packing, but it had $48 million net inflows for the quarter.
Spaceship expected to make $9 million revenue (on an annualized basis) on its $1.01 billion funds under management, its pitch to potential investors said. The company said Spaceship’s regulatory skirmishes hadn’t turned off clients, and inflows were holding up despite it dialing back on paid client acquisition.
It had 219,000 active client accounts and 133,000 chargeable members, and grew paying superannuation customers from about 10,000 to 18,000 at June end. It recently added a fixed monthly fee for Voyager customers over $100 in their accounts, a much lower threshold than the previous $5000.
“Nonetheless, Spaceship has still not achieved the scale required to be cashflow positive, so the funds we raise now are needed to continue supporting the Company on the pathway to that milestone,” the raising documents said.
Woolworths has announced major changes to its fresh service counters and its normal trading hours in selected stores across Australia.
The supermarket giant has adjusted trading hours for its meat, seafood and deli departments to accommodate a “shift in consumer behaviour” which saw fewer customers early in the morning and late at night.
“Customers can still purchase similar products, such as chicken breast fillets and salmon, within our packed Fresh Convenience range located in-store,” a Woolworths spokesperson said.
Stream more Australian news with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends October 31, 2022
The fresh service deli will now trade from 7am to 8pm Monday to Sunday in selected stores across the country.
The seafood and meat counters will now trade from 9:30am to 7pm on weekdays and 9am to 7pm on weekends.
A handful of stores will still operate longer fresh service hours due to high customer demand in those areas.
It is understood hot roast chickens will still be available, even after close.
Woolworths has also made changes to its normal trading hours in a handful of stores nationwide in a move to offer “consistent customer experience.”
The spokesperson confirmed that selected stores would open one hour later or close one hour earlier.
“We’ve also moved to standardize our overall operating hours so we can offer a consistent customer experience across our store network,” the spokesperson said.
“Select stores across the country will open one hour later or close one hour earlier to align with other stores and better match customer shopping patterns.
“We’ll closely monitor customer and team member feedback over the next few months.”
At the front of each Woolworths and within the store, signage has been posted to notify customers of the altered trading hours.
Customers are encouraged to check the opening and closing hours of their local Woolworths by visiting woolworths.com.au/stores.
The initiative was first trialled in a handful of New South Wales stores in May.
Geelong’s Market Square shopping center and Busport transport interchange have been described as “festering sores” in an extraordinary speech by the City of Greater Geelong’s highest ranking officer.
Councilor Eddy Kontelj told Geelong Broadcasters he agreed that the bus terminal was problematic.
