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Business

Metricon sacks NSW sales staff via Microsoft Teams

Metricon sacks NSW sales staff via Microsoft Teams

Construction giant Metricon has unceremoniously sacked the majority of its NSW sales staff via Microsoft Teams in the latest sign that the struggling company is teetering on collapse.

David Shorten, Metricon’s NSW state sales manager, informed staff at the Monday morning meeting that numbers would be cut to just 18, from roughly 60 currently, with redundancy payouts offered to those unable to be redeployed.

About 15 trainee sales consultants have also been terminated with no offer of redeployment.

“To better accommodate and reflect the requirements of the current market and ensure the most appropriate deployment of resources, we have undertaken an important review of the sales team,” Mr Shorten said in a statement read out in the Teams meeting.

“This is necessary to ensure we remain competitive in both the short and long term. The review was not undertaken lightly and has resulted in proposed changes to the current structure of the team. We understand that you may feel anxious at this time and that you are likely to have a number of questions. Under the proposed structure, the number of new home advisors will be reduced to 18.”

The affected employees were given until midday on Wednesday to offer any “thoughts, insights or feedback you may have regarding the proposed structure and approach”, with employees to be told if they’re being sacked by the end of the week.

Mr Shorten said Metricon would “select the most appropriately skilled individuals to occupy the positions moving forward” but warned “options are limited” for redeployment.

“In the event that you were unable to be redeployed to a suitable alternative position within the notice period, you would receive the relevant redundancy entitlements if they were available to you,” he said.

Employees who are offered one of the remaining roles but choose not to accept may not be entitled to a redundancy payout.

One employee, who asked not to be identified, said he had been expecting the announcement after Metricon closed its HR portal last Friday.

He said there had been some staff turnover recently with “people abandoning ship to go to competitors”, and those who stayed “basically had the rug pulled out from under them” through “no fault of their own” after believing the company’s repeated public denials that it was facing difficulties.

“It has not been received well by some of them,” he told news.com.au. “I’m a little bit burned by the whole situation.”

The company’s largest home builder was plunged into crisis in May amid reports it was on the verge of financial ruin and engaging in crisis talks with the Victorian government, following the sudden death of its founder Mario Biasin.

Acting chief executive Peter Langfelder has repeatedly shot down those allegations, but a question mark still hangs over Metricon’s future despite the company’s directors injecting $30 million into its business to allay fears about its survival, and a rescue deal being struck with Commonwealth Bank.

Last month, Metricon listed nearly 60 display homes for sale across NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria, worth a total of around $65 million.

The Sydney employee said “events have snowballed” since Mr Biasin’s death, adding he was skeptical the company could survive.

“We still don’t have homeowners’ warranty insurance,” he said.

“We have not been taking deposits for the last 10 weeks. It should be known. People are still waiting for builds. I’m glad we haven’t been able to take deposits – do you want to be the guy that takes someone’s $20,000, $30,000 life savings and the company goes bankrupt in three or four weeks’ time?”

Reached for comment on Tuesday, Metricon confirmed it was “process of an internal restructure of the business, with an increased focus on delivering homes to more than 6000 Australians whose houses will be constructed this year”.

“To better accommodate and reflect the requirements of the current market and ensure the most appropriate deployment of resources, Metricon is working to appropriately reduce its sales and marketing capability while it focuses on the construction and delivery of more than 6000 homes,” a spokeswoman said in a statement to news.com.au.

“We have commenced a consultation process with our people. This process is proposed to lead to a reduction of personnel and redundancies across the national business.”

The spokeswoman said 2020 and 2021 saw record demand for homebuilding and that Metricon “expects demand to settle at pre-pandemic levels”. “As a result, the business will rebalance towards construction on homes it is currently building and the thousands more in the pipeline – the biggest volume in the company’s history,” she said.

The impacted roles will be at the “front-end of the business, predominantly in sales and marketing roles, representing approximately 9 per cent of the national workforce”.

“With the headwinds buffeting the industry, specifically labor costs due to competition for skills, combined with present global material cost hikes and with our very strong existing pipeline of work, we need to carefully balance the current pipeline of new builds with the construction side of the business,” Mr Langfelder said in the statement.

“We are working to restructure our front-end of the business given the current climate and the need to move forward efficiently. We are committed to looking after any of our people who may be impacted by these proposed changes, and they will continue to have ongoing access to the company’s support and mental health services.”

Mr Langfelder said Metricon was rebalancing the business’ focus over the next 18 months on executing builds as quickly and efficiently as possible whilst maintaining equilibrium in the pipeline.

“We have previously said that our company has a proven history of success and remains profitable and viable, with the full support of our key stakeholders – this remains the case today,” he said.

Mr Langfelder said Metricon was still expected to continue to contract on average 100 homes per week, in line with pre-pandemic levels. “Our future construction pipeline shows no sign of slowing down with more than 600 site-starts scheduled for 2023,” he said.

The spokeswoman did not address the claim that Metricon was not taking deposits.

The Australian building industry has been plagued with escalating issues that have already seen Gold Coast-based Condev and industry giant Probuild enter into liquidation in recent months, while smaller operators like Hotondo Homes Hobart and Perth firms Home Innovation Builders and New Sensation Homes, as well as Sydney-based firm Next have also failed, leaving homeowners out of pocket and with unfinished houses.

The crisis is the result of a perfect storm of conditions hitting one after the other, including supply chain disruptions due largely to the pandemic and then the Russia-Ukraine conflict, followed by skilled labor shortages, skyrocketing costs of materials and logistics and extreme weather events .

The industry’s traditional reliance on fixed-price contracts has also seriously exacerbated the problem, with contracts signed months before a build gets underway, including the surging costs of essential materials such as timber and steel.

It comes after it recently emerged that Australia recorded a staggering 3917 liquidations or administration appointments across all industries during the 2021-22 financial year.

The construction sector led the charge, representing 28 per cent of all insolvencies, although firms from countless industries also failed in the face of soaring inflation and interest rate pressures, Covid chaos, labor shortages and supply chain disruptions.

There were 1536 collapses in NSW, with Victoria recording 1022, Queensland 665, WA 350, South Australia 196, 91 for the ACT, 29 for Tasmania and 28 in the Northern Territory.

According to consumer credit reporting agency Equifax, “small-scale operators in Australia’s construction industry could well be the canary in the coal mine for the difficulties that lie ahead for this sector”.

The company late last month claimed that “the significant increase in construction company failures since the start of the year shows no sign of abating”, with provisional data indicating that construction insolvencies increased 19 per cent for the month of May, sitting 43 per cent higher than May 2021.

Overall, construction insolvencies have increased 30 per cent over the last 12 months, according to Equifax.

[email protected] with Alexis Carey

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Categories
Australia

Interest rates: RBA raises cash rate by 50 basis points to 1.85 per cent

Interest rates: RBA raises cash rate by 50 basis points to 1.85 per cent

For the fourth consecutive month the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has hiked interest rates as inflation runs rampant.

At 2.30pm during the RBA’s monthly meeting, it increased Australia’s interest rate by 50 basis points, or by 0.5 per cent.

The decision brought the cash rate from 1.35 per cent to 1.85 per cent, largely in line with economist’s predictions.

This marks the first time the RBA has lifted the rates for four months in a row since the introduction of the two to three per cent inflation target in 1990.

This follows last week’s increase in annual inflation, which hit 6.1 per cent, which was its highest level in 21 years since 2001.

Tuesday’s rate rise means those paying off the average home loan of $500,000 will need to cough up an extra $140 a month.

And the August hike isn’t expected to be the last, with economists forecasting that interest rates could peak up to two per cent by the end of the year.

As soon as news of the interest rate rise broke, Treasurer Jim Chalmers weighed in and acknowledged it was a tough time for Australian borrowers, saying the announcement would “sting”.

“It’s another difficult day for Australian homeowners with a mortgage,” he said.

“The independent ReserveBank has just announced its decision to increase interest rates by another 0.5 per cent, bringing the cash rate to 1.85 per cent.

“Australians knew this was coming, but it won’t make it any easier for them to handle.

This cycle of interest rate rises began before the election in response to inflationary pressures that began accelerating at the beginning of this year.

“Average homeowners with a $330,000 outstanding balance will have to find about $90 a month more for repayments as a consequence of this decision today, on top of around $220 extra in repayments since early May.

“For Australians with a $500,000 mortgage, it’s about an extra $140 a month, in addition to the extra $335 they’ve had to find since early May.

“As I said, Mr Speaker, this decision doesn’t come as a surprise. It’s not a shock to anybody, but it will still sting.

“Families will now have to make more hard decisions about how to balance the household budget in the face of other pressures like higher grocery prices and higher power prices and the costs of other essentials.”

‘Misleading’: Calls for bank boss to resign

Ahead of the interest rate rise, there were growing calls for the RBA’s board and its governor, Philip Lowe, to resign after a series of missteps.

Chief among them was the promise that interest rates wouldn’t rise until 2024 which one top economist said was “misleading” for borrowers.

Critics also pointed out that the rapid rate rises could inadvertently lead to a recession while at the same time inflation is running rampant.

Warren Hogan, chief economist at both ANZ and Credit Suisse, told The Daily Telegraph that the RBA was guilty of some “pretty bad errors” in recent months.

The RBA lowered the cash rate to 0.1 per cent at the end of 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic – the lowest it had ever been – and throughout the pandemic said they didn’t plan on raising the cash rates until 2024.

When it lifted the cash rate for the first time in May and then every month since, Mr Hogan said it was “misleading people, basically”.

He also said Australia’s central bank had taken on risky strategies including spending lots on insurance and sinking funds into a bonds program which had not paid off.

Mr Hogan, who was also the former principal adviser to federal treasury, said: “It’s unforgivable. I think they should resign – the whole board.”

Mr Lowe “should have the character to stand down,” Mr Hogan added.

RELATED: Find out how much the rate rise will cost you

Mr Lowe said the cash rate would remain at its record low of 0.1 per cent until at least 2024, but the rapid rise in inflation this year – caused in part by Russia’s war in Ukraine and supply chain issues on home soil – prompted the monthly hikes .

It comes as Australia’s cost of living crisis is worsening, making borrowers even more cash-strapped than usual.

In the last quarter, transport costs rose 13.1 per cent as the price of fuel rose to record levels for the fourth quarter in a row.

Meanwhile, grocery shopping is also causing hip pocket pain, with Australians outraged to find lettuce heads selling for $10 a pop and capsicums marked at $15 for a kilo.

Interest rates in Australia reached an all time high of 17.5 per cent in January 1990. Since then, they have averaged 3.93 per cent.

Before this year, the last time the RBA hiked up rates was in 2010. It has only been going down ever since.

As a result, more than one million home borrowers have never experienced an increase in mortgage rates, because they bought a home after 2010.

The official cash rate has been at a record low of 0.1 per cent since November 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic until May 2022.

– with NCA NewsWire

Read related topics:Reserve Bank

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Categories
Business

Travel chaos: Airline experts warn delays and cancellations will continue for months

Travel chaos: Airline experts warn delays and cancellations will continue for months

An aviation expert has warned travel chaos “pain” could continue into next year as the industry struggles to meet soaring demand after stripping services during the pandemic.

Flight Center managing director Graham Turner cautioned travelers to be wary of delays and cancellations until at least the end of the year as airlines contend with inexperienced and ill staff.

“Bear in mind the aviation industry, and you know travel industry generally, has two-and-a-half years when we had to absolutely cut to the bone everything and now building that back up is quite difficult,” he said on Channel 9’s Today show.

Mr Turner admitted the aviation industry was experiencing a “tough period” and asked travelers to exercise “a bit of patience”.

The travel boss noted the chaos was more manageable for domestic travelers despite the mass cancellations and delays.

On Monday, 40 flights between Sydney and Melbourne were canceled and hundreds of people were left sitting on plans after a computer outage grounded Qantas plans.

“Domestically, our experience is although there are delays, a lot of changes, quite a few cancellations, generally most people are getting away and getting to their destination,” he said.

“It is a bit harder internationally because if you get international cancellations it can be quite hard to get seats.”

Mr Turner said there would continue to be “pain” for travelers for at least the next couple of months as the industry grapples with staffing issues and the effects of the ongoing pandemic.

Happily, he predicts, traveling around Australia will be much easier by the end of the year when “all of this really settles down”.

“Domestically, it will improve and we certainly predict by October/November, assuming the Omicron does settle down, it will be much better off,” he said.

While the news will surely be welcomed by local travellers, those looking to travel internationally have no reassuring timeline for when the dust will settle.

The bleak news comes as Australia’s airports gain international attention for all the wrong reasons.

Sydney’s Kingsford Smith International Airport was recently ranked one of the 10 worst airports in the world for flight delays.

Meanwhile, social media has been flooded with angry travelers reporting lost baggage, delayed or canceled flights and staggering queues.

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Categories
Sports

ARLC chairman Peter V’landys, suburban stadium upgrades NRL, Penrith Stadium, Shark Park, NSW Government, Dominic Perrottet, news, Queensland grand final

ARLC chairman Peter V'landys, suburban stadium upgrades NRL, Penrith Stadium, Shark Park, NSW Government, Dominic Perrottet, news, Queensland grand final

Sydney is at risk of losing the NRL grand final to its northern rivals unless the NSW Government delivers on its promise to upgrade suburban stadiums.

ARLC chairman Peter V’landys had a meeting with Premier Dominic Perrottet on Monday night, hoping to guarantee the deal to revamp four stadiums would be honored.

The agreement would see Brookvale Oval, Leichhardt Oval, Penrith Stadium and Shark Park receive significant upgrades — and if delivered, the grand finale would remain in Sydney for the next 20 years until 2042.

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But, according to The Daily Telegraph, V’landys is fuming as the initial deal struck in May to spend $800 million on stadium improvements is now in doubt.

“We are in delicate negotiations with the NSW government,” V’landys said.

“All options will be on the table if these negotiations fail.”

Last year, the Queensland government allowed the competition to continue, relocating all teams into the ‘Sunshine State’ due to Covid-19.

As a result, the end-of-year spectacle was played at Suncorp Stadium and now V’landys has left the door open for Queensland to host the grand final again if no deal is confirmed with the NSW government.

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Meanwhile, the only stadium given confirmation of a $300 million upgrade has been Penrith’s — in the electorate of sports minister Stuart Ayres.

Mr Ayres told 2GB on Tuesday that the Premier’s negotiations are “ongoing” with the NRL, but explained there were “limitations” to the budget.

“We have been really clear with the NRL about the limitations that exist on our budget,” he said.

“We have invested well in excess of $1.5 billion. Part of that is to say that we would like to have a long-term commitment from the NRL for the grand finale.

“I think there comes a point where you have got to say we have invested enough in that sporting infrastructure and when we have got the capacity to invest in more sporting infrastructure in the future there is no reason why we won’t do that.”

During the Covid pandemic, the $800 million upgrade of Accor Stadium was scrapped and the NRL moved to shift those funds to suburban grounds — and as a result the grand finale would remain in Sydney.

But now, that money which was said to be allocated towards Brookvale, Leichhardt and Sharks Park is unlikely to be put towards upgrades.

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The Queensland government is now readying a bid to claim to NRL grand final for years to come.

2GB’S Ben Fordham questioned Mr Ayres surrounding the Panthers upgrade being approved, while other grounds are looking unlikely to receive any funding.

“You’re the Sports Minister, your home ground is Penrith, you’re a Panthers fan and for all I know you’re probably the number one ticket holder,” Fordham said.

“So they got the $300 million, so what about Brookvale, Shark Park, Leichhardt Oval… I would be seriously surprised if you don’t know the answer I am posing to you.

“Why did your home ground get the money at your home ground and the others didn’t?

“Why don’t we just tell the listeners now, those other grounds aren’t getting their redevelopments?”

“Ben, there’s a long-term strategy,” Ayres said.

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“We made decisions in what was the best interests of the public.

“We’ve had a long-term stadia strategy that we’ve been delivering since 2015. We’ve rebuilt Parramatta Stadium, we’re just about to open the new Sydney Football stadium.

“We’re committed to a stadium in Penrith, it reflects our three city strategy.

“We’ve invested well in excess of $1.5b dollars, part of that is, we’d like to have a long-term commitment from the NRL for the grand finale.

“We’ve just had Covid, we’ve had substantial flood impacts that have put more pressure on the budget.”

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Sports

IPL franchises looking to contract players to 12-month deals, David Warner, Big Bash, The Hundred

IPL franchises looking to contract players to 12-month deals, David Warner, Big Bash, The Hundred

Just weeks after Mike Atherton delivered the ICC an ominous warning of the very real threat of franchise cricket taking credence over the international game, an IPL boss has confirmed the desire to contract players across the world to 12-month deals.

“In an ideal world, sure – because that gives us the opportunity to make our vision and our strategy even stronger,” Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore told The Telegraph.

“If we were able to have X number of contracted players, and were able to use them all in different leagues, I think that would be nirvana. Hopefully, someday it will happen. I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.”

The report comes as former Australian captain Adam Gilchrist said it would be “commercial suicide” for Cricket Australia to allow David Warner to skip the Big Bash and play in a rival T20 league elsewhere in the world.

Australia's David Warner is considering his future in short-form cricket. Photo: AFP
Australia’s David Warner is considering his future in short-form cricket. Photo: AFPSource: AFP

It also comes just weeks after the Proteas withdrew from their ODI series in Australia next January, with South Africa forfeiting their World Cup qualification points so they can have their international players at home for the launch of their new T20 competition.

While Gilchrist could understand Warner, who is in the twilight of his “great career”, wanting to play overseas to top up his bank balance, he said it would set a dangerous precedent for emerging players.

“This is the big kicker, isn’t it, of possibly being the step towards being contracted to the club before or over country for the predominant amount of cricket you play,” Gilchrist told SEN last week.

“I think it would almost be commercial suicide for them (CA) to allow a player like him (Warner) to go head-to-head up against their own competition.

“It’s the new younger player coming in that starts to make those noises where it’ll be really challenging.

“Perhaps it’s the first example where David Warner doesn’t sign a contract with Cricket Australia at all, he just plays for a match fee.

“He goes and plays wherever he wants but says, ‘I’m available for every Test match, for every one-day international and every T20 international’ by way of example, I’ll be there for you in national colours.

“But other than that, I’m going to play my club, my franchise cricket, wherever I want to, knowing that none of those big tournaments will be clashing with international cricket.”

Kolkata Knight Riders’ cricketer Andre Russell is one of a number of players who have become T20 specialists. Photo: AFPSource: AFP

Gilchrist’s comments came a fortnight after Atherton honed in on South Africa’s decision to walk away from their ODI series against Australia and, ultimately, predicted franchise cricket would increasingly fill players’ pockets and see them contracted by cashed-up owners instead of their countries.

“A franchise-dominated landscape, with yearly ICC tournaments and not much bilateral international cricket or Tests, is coming, though,” Atherton, the former England captain, wrote in The Times.

“All this is good news for the players’ bank accounts, mainly, but it will be a very different landscape, with players eventually contracted to private companies who will acquire franchises across the globe.

“I found myself chatting to a player’s agent this week in Birmingham along these lines. England, he said, will be the last man standing where Test cricket is concerned. June and July stand out as the only months without T20 competition when Test cricket can flourish.”

The Telegraph’s report confirms what many respected figures within the game have feared, with the privatization of the game, particularly at franchise level, now starting to take full effect.

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Twelve-month deals would likely have a seismic impact on the international game, enabling franchises to sign players on lucrative year-round deals and, as a result, throw into jeopardy a player’s international availability.

It could also have a destabilizing impact at a domestic level, with the next tier of players unable to improve and test their skills against international players, should they be overseas.

AceThe Telegraph highlighted, The Knight Riders now have four teams under their umbrella – their flagship IPL franchise, the Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League, plus sides in the International League T20 (UAE) and Major League Cricket (US), which both launch next year.

Other IPL teams are buying teams in other leagues – all six franchises in South Africa’s new T20 league, which launches in January – as international cricket faces heightened pressure to compete.

One obstacle currently standing in the way of the IPL’s desire to globalize the game is the varied recruitment rules used across different T20 leagues.

Currently, for instance, India’s stars aren’t allowed to play in overseas T20 leagues while only four international players are allowed in an XI in the IPL.

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Mysore is hopeful those barriers will be broken down eventually and says England’s The Hundred and Australia’s Big Bash competitions are the next hunting grounds for IPL owners.

“If it happened that way, at some point in the future, that’d be great,” Mysore told The Telegraph.

“What we want to create is a common platform and a system and a culture that allows us to participate around the year – enhancing our brand, building our fan base, and providing opportunities to cricketers around the world. And in the process, you hopefully build a successful business around it.”

He added: “Our immediate reaction to any such proposal is to say, yeah, we are absolutely interested because this is part of our strategy. Whether it is the Big Bash or the Hundred, although we understand the challenges these leagues face in inviting private investments.

“Wherever we have gone, we’ve made it successful for the mutual benefit of the league as well as the Knight Riders. When a proposal comes to us it’s because they understand the value that the Knight Riders brand brings with it and the entire package that comes with it – we know how to build those brands.”

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Business

Melbourne homeless man’s death mourned by locals on Reddit

Melbourne homeless man's death mourned by locals on Reddit

In Hawthorn, Melbourne, a whimsical chalk mural featuring a brightly-coloured snowman lounging happily under a tree is drawn on the footpath of Glenferrie Rd.

The scene, which looks like something straight out of Alice in Wonderland, is the last ever drawing of a person who, for years, was known simply as “The Drawing Man”.

Above his art, taped to a wall that separates Guzman and Gomez and Metro Woolies, is an A4 printout commemorating his death.

“RIP Rob. Fondly remembered as ‘the drawing man’, you’ll be missed by all who knew you,” the paper reads.

It is hard to keep track of those who fall victim to homelessness, with hundreds estimated to die every year.

The issue has been dubbed Australia’s “invisible problem”.

‘Kind, talented, gentle’: Rob’s life in Reddit posts

But Rob was far from invisible. Despite his transient living conditions, he became a beloved member of the Hawthorn community, charming locals with his abstract art and “gentle soul”.

“I moved to the area about five years ago and saw him damn near every time I was going for groceries or lunch,” one local recalled on Reddit.

“He was a fixture on that road, even as shops and people and even time changed.

“I remember first seeing his drawings, the simple houses or suns or vehicles he’d draw. That over time morphed into complex, colourful, abstract art.

“He was a dedicated man, taking the time he was given and putting himself towards creating something beautiful.”

For more than a decade, Rob would frequent the areas outside the Hawthorn Woolworths or Malvern Coles, waving and smiling back at people rushing to catch a tram or popping into a store for a bite.

Reddit users said that while he “never asked for anything”, locals ensured Rob was always looked after by offering to share meals or to sit and draw with him.

But when Covid forced Victoria into lockdown, the communal care began to wane.

“I bought him some art supplies at the start of Covid,” user @mhrauburn, the original poster, said.

“Pre-Covid I would see people getting him things from Woolies but not so much recently. I do hope he passed peacefully.”

For the man who became “part of Swinburne”, many commenters also expressed their sadness knowing they would never again be able to talk to him about his drawings.

‘Slipped through the cracks’

Rob wasn’t always ‘the drawing man’.

A former Swinburne University graduate recalled a chance encounter a decade ago where Rob claimed he had once been an aspiring artist employed at the popular Heide Museum of Modern Art.

“Someone once gave me $20 and told me ‘If you don’t need it posted, give it to someone who does’,” Reddit user @Random_Sime.

“I was studying at Swinburne and I saw Rob every day, so I gave it to him and had a little chat about 10 years ago.

“I asked him where he learned to draw and he told me that he was an artist who lived and worked at Heidi (sic)but never ‘made it’ as an artist or got excluded due to interpersonal politics.

“All he wanted to do was create art and have people appreciate it. He preferred to do reproductions of known works on the footpath rather than his own stuff because it got more attention from passers-by.

“Then I graduated and didn’t go to that area much after. RIP Rob.”

That user’s memory is the extent of what is known about Rob’s life story.

Tens of thousands of Australians facing homelessness

Rob’s was among the almost 28,000 Australians facing homelessness.

While Reddit user @Random_Sime was appreciative that so many others had come to know and love Rob’s story through his post, he reminded the community that there were many people like Rob living across Australia.

“Everyone has a story and they’re usually happy to tell it if you show a genuine interest and ask questions that lead on from what they tell you,” they said.

Rob’s final artwork has been pressure-washed from the pavement.

The only remaining markers of his life appear to be the paper printout, a lone Reddit thread and perhaps pieces of drawings collected by passing strangers.

“A kind soul has left some flowers by Rob’s spot,” the original Reddit poster said in an update.

“It’s touching to know so many people have such great memories of Rob. I truly hope he remains easy knowing his work and life of him were appreciated by so many. ”

Read related topics:melbourne

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Sports

Erin Phillips’ heartwarming Port Adelaide captaincy reveal melts AFL

Erin Phillips' heartwarming Port Adelaide captaincy reveal melts AFL

WNBA-turned-footy superstar Erin Phillips has brought her footy legend father to tears after revealing she would be Port Adelaide’s inaugural AFLW captain.

Erin, who has been a three-time premiership player, two-time league best-and-fairest and two-time Grand Final best on ground winner with the Adelaide Crows, revealed she would be joining Port Adelaide after winning last season’s decider.

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Erin’s father Greg Phillips was an eight-time Port Adelaide SANFL premiership player and the captain between 1991 and his retirement in 1993 — before the club joined the AFL in 1997.

Greg, who was a 1980 All-Australian, played 343 games for the club and an addition 84 games for Collingwood in the VFL in over 18 years in top-flight footy.

He was also named in Port Adelaide’s greatest ever team, is a life member of the club and is an inaugural inductee into the South Australian Football Hall of Fame and a 2020 inductee into the AFL Hall of Fame.

So it’s safe to say the club means a fair bit to him and the family.

When joining the club, Erin said she would wear her father’s No. 22 when joining the club.

But after getting Greg down to the club for a photo shoot, he immediately realized the jig was up when the No. 1, which is reserved for the club captain, was on the back of the jersey.

“What’s this number? What’s this? Put another twenty one numbers on … plus twenty one?” Greg asked.

“Well you know how you said the best part of being at Port Adelaide was being captain?” Erin said.

“Are you already?” Greg replied.

He immediately wrapped her in a hug.

Clearly emotional, he said simply: “Well done”.

“I don’t get to wear the 22 but I get to wear the No. 1,” Erin added.

“Oh good girl,” Greg added. “Did they vote that in?”

Phillips was voted captain, while Ange Foley was named vice-captain and Hannah Dunn, Gemma Houghton and Justine Mules also made up the leadership group.

But he couldn’t hold the emotion back rubbing his eyes, saying: “This is a shock”.

He then joked: “Are they sure you’re not too old?”

“Pretty special, huh?” Erin said.

“Well done, well done,” Greg said. “Well, it doesn’t matter what number you wear, I’m proud of you.”

They were lovely scenes and Erin also spoke about letting her dad know in the press release from the club.

“My dad always said to me the only thing better than playing for this club is being captain of this club and, he was right,” Phillips said.

“Telling him the news that I had been named captain was a very special and emotional moment for both of us.

“I’m so excited to be following in his footsteps and can’t wait to lead the team onto the ground for the first time. It will be yet another special moment for this group and for Port Adelaide.”

The 37-year-old Erin has had an incredible athletic career, having started as a basketball star and winning the WNBA twice.

She also won a World Championship gold for Australia in 2006, playing in two Olympic Games, including winning silver in 2008, and won 2006 Commonwealth Games gold.

She instantly made an enormous impact in the AFLW after retiring from basketball in 2017.

But in joining Port Adelaide for its first season in rugby league, Erin told Howie Games podcast with commentator Mark Howard being able to play for the Power was like going full circle.

“It was pretty emotional,” she said. “I reckoned the whole build up to deciding whether to stay at the Crows or go to Port Adelaide was very emotional. It was emotional for him. As a father, he was more concerned about me and just wanting me to make a decision and feel comfortable with it and then get on with life.

“When I told him, he obviously was ecstatic because it was Port Adelaide. He would have been just as happy if it was the Crows to be honest. I think he was just so relieved because he knew how hard a decision it was for me and now that I had made a decision and could just focus forward. He was absolutely pumped.

“I think the Port Adelaide part will hit him a little closer to when we run out for the first game. Running out the exact same race as he ran out.

“I’d be hanging over the fence trying to get a high-five from him and his teammates. It’s unbelievable to think I play for Port Adelaide, a team I was pretty much born into. It still blows my mind.”

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Sports

Aussie Bryce Street’s controversial run out for Frinton on Sea is within the laws of cricket

Should it have been out? Photo: YouTube

A rising Aussie cricket star has landed himself in the middle of a fierce debate after he ran out a rival in bizarre circumstances.

Queensland and Australia A representative Bryce Street is spending the Aussie winter in England, playing for East Anglia Premier League side Frinton on Sea.

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On Saturday, Street was bowling his right arm medium pacers as Saffron Walden built to 1/117. After Alex Peirson blocked a ball back to Street he began heading back to his mark, only to realize non-striker Nikhil Gorantla was leaning on his bat out of his crease.

Street tossed the ball onto the stumps, appealed and the umpire gave Gorantla out.

Gorantla had appeared to ground his bat over the line before lifting it again, as the run out occurred.

The batter had no choice but to accept the umpire’s decision, dismissed for 32.

This was just the start of the drama. A video of the incident posted by the East Anglia Premier League was deleted as questions were raised by bewildered fans.

While it is not a good look, the act is legal by the laws of cricket as many of the issues come down to the umpire’s discretion.

One of the issues people had with the incident was that the ball was dead. Law 20.1.1 states: “The ball becomes dead when it is finally settled in the hands of the wicketkeeper or of the bowler.”

But Law 20.1.2 adds: “The ball shall be considered to be dead when it is clear to the bowler’s end umpire that the fielding side and both batters at the wicket have ceased to regard it as in play.”

Law 20.2 continues: “Whether the ball is finally settled or not is a matter for the umpire alone to decide.”

Looked pretty settled in his hand. Photo: YouTubeSource: YouTube
Get your bat back over the line. Photo: YouTubeSource: YouTube
Street got the wicket. Photo: YouTubeSource: YouTube

Others believe it should have fallen foul under “fake fielding” of Law 41, which deals with unfair play.

Law 41.5 says: “It is unfair for any fielder willfully to attempt, by word or action, to distract, deceive or obstruct either batter after the striker has received the ball.

“It is for either one of the umpires to decide whether any distraction, deception or obstruction is wilful or not.”

Asked about the incident on Twitter, Laws of Cricket adviser to the MCC Jonny Singer said while it was legal, it may not have been right.

“Whether the ball is finally settled is up to the bowler’s end umpire. I decided it wasn’t, so it’s not. I would have come to a different view, but I wasn’t on the field,” Singer said.

Wickets fell regularly from there and Saffron Walden was all out for 218, with Street taking 4/49 from 18 overs.

The wicket was key as earlier this summer, Gorantla had hit a century and double century for Essex’s second XI.

Street also scored 101 not out of 106 balls in a stunning all-round performance, but it was overshadowed by his controversial act.

Street has played 26 first-class matches, tallying 1500 runs at an average of 36.58.

He is contracted for Queensland again in the 2022-23 Australian domestic season.

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Business

Melbourne homeless man’s death mourned by locals on Reddit

Melbourne homeless man's death mourned by locals on Reddit

In Hawthorn, Melbourne, a whimsical chalk mural featuring a brightly-coloured snowman lounging happily under a tree is drawn on the footpath of Glenferrie Rd.

The scene, which looks like something straight out of Alice in Wonderland, is the last ever drawing of a person who, for years, was known simply as “The Drawing Man”.

Above his art, taped to a wall that separates Guzman and Gomez and Metro Woolies, is an A4 printout commemorating his death.

“RIP Rob. Fondly remembered as ‘the drawing man’, you’ll be missed by all who knew you,” the paper reads.

It is hard to keep track of those who fall victim to homelessness, with hundreds estimated to die every year.

The issue has been dubbed Australia’s “invisible problem”.

‘Kind, talented, gentle’: Rob’s life in Reddit posts

But Rob was far from invisible. Despite his transient living conditions, he became a beloved member of the Hawthorn community, charming locals with his abstract art and “gentle soul”.

“I moved to the area about five years ago and saw him damn near every time I was going for groceries or lunch,” one local recalled on Reddit.

“He was a fixture on that road, even as shops and people and even time changed.

“I remember first seeing his drawings, the simple houses or suns or vehicles he’d draw. That over time morphed into complex, colourful, abstract art.

“He was a dedicated man, taking the time he was given and putting himself towards creating something beautiful.”

For more than a decade, Rob would frequent the areas outside the Hawthorn Woolworths or Malvern Coles, waving and smiling back at people rushing to catch a tram or popping into a store for a bite.

Reddit users said that while he “never asked for anything”, locals ensured Rob was always looked after by offering to share meals or to sit and draw with him.

But when Covid forced Victoria into lockdown, the communal care began to wane.

“I bought him some art supplies at the start of Covid,” user @mhrauburn, the original poster, said.

“Pre-Covid I would see people getting him things from Woolies but not so much recently. I do hope he passed peacefully.”

For the man who became “part of Swinburne”, many commenters also expressed their sadness knowing they would never again be able to talk to him about his drawings.

‘Slipped through the cracks’

Rob wasn’t always ‘the drawing man’.

A former Swinburne University graduate recalled a chance encounter a decade ago where Rob claimed he had once been an aspiring artist employed at the popular Heide Museum of Modern Art.

“Someone once gave me $20 and told me ‘If you don’t need it posted, give it to someone who does’,” Reddit user @Random_Sime.

“I was studying at Swinburne and I saw Rob every day, so I gave it to him and had a little chat about 10 years ago.

“I asked him where he learned to draw and he told me that he was an artist who lived and worked at Heidi (sic)but never ‘made it’ as an artist or got excluded due to interpersonal politics.

“All he wanted to do was create art and have people appreciate it. He preferred to do reproductions of known works on the footpath rather than his own stuff because it got more attention from passers-by.

“Then I graduated and didn’t go to that area much after. RIP Rob.”

That user’s memory is the extent of what is known about Rob’s life story.

Tens of thousands of Australians facing homelessness

Rob’s was among the almost 28,000 Australians facing homelessness.

While Reddit user @Random_Sime was appreciative that so many others had come to know and love Rob’s story through his post, he reminded the community that there were many people like Rob living across Australia.

“Everyone has a story and they’re usually happy to tell it if you show a genuine interest and ask questions that lead on from what they tell you,” they said.

Rob’s final artwork has been pressure-washed from the pavement.

The only remaining markers of his life appear to be the paper printout, a lone Reddit thread and perhaps pieces of drawings collected by passing strangers.

“A kind soul has left some flowers by Rob’s spot,” the original Reddit poster said in an update.

“It’s touching to know so many people have such great memories of Rob. I truly hope he remains easy knowing his work and life of him were appreciated by so many. ”

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Business

Rental properties Australia: How much rent has increased in your suburb

Rental properties Australia: How much rent has increased in your suburb

Renters are suffering from “ridiculous” rent hikes due to a chronic housing shortage, as city-dwellers flood regional markets and landlords flip rental properties to short-term housing to accommodate an influx of tourists.

Suburb-level analysis collected by PropTrack exclusively for The Oz revealed Killcare Heights on the central coast of NSW experienced the greatest rent increase over the past 12 months at 72.6 per cent, followed by Rainbow Beach on Queensland’s south coast (72.5 per cent) and Stahan in western Tasmania (68.4 per cent).

Killcare Ray White agent Sue Rallis said some local properties have risen from $700 to $1500 a week since the pandemic began, due to Sydneysiders making the most of a Covid-induced at-home lifestyle and moving into regional areas.

“People are happy to come out of the cities and move regionally, which has pushed up the rent over the last year or two,” she said.

“It’s been hard for the locals. They have been living in an area that a lot of people didn’t want to live in, and have been paying quite low rents there over the years. Now it’s very difficult for the locals to afford some of the rents.”

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Median weekly rental prices in June were up 7 per cent on the same month last year, marking the strongest annual rental growth recorded since before 2015. Rising prices have been felt the most regionally, where they increased 11.4 per cent year-on-year to June, compared to 4.4 per cent in the capital cities.

This came as the total supply of rentals dropped 27.7 per cent below its decade average.

PropTrack director of economic research Cameron Kusher said a devastating lack of supply has driven prices upwards, as fewer owners put their second properties up for rent.

“A lot of people who have bought quote unquote ‘investment properties’ aren’t necessarily buying them to make them available for rent, they’re buying them as second homes,” he said. “You’ve also got the added pressure now that domestic and international travel is back that the supply of rental stock is spinning out because people are putting their properties into short term rental accommodation, rather than long term.”

Mr Kusher said rental growth in inner-city areas has been “pretty weak” over the past two years as tenants stayed put, but has suddenly increased over the past six months after long term lockdowns ended.

“We have seen again in Sydney and Melbourne in those inner and middle ring markets in the apartment markets in particular, it has been very hard to rent out a property over the last few years,” he said.

“So, a lot of people sold out of their investment properties, and we haven’t seen a lot of developers building new one and two bedroom apartments. Therefore, we haven’t had that increase in supply we needed to keep up with demand.”

When renewing her lease last month, Leane Van Essen’s landlord requested the rent go from $450 to $550 a week for a one-bedroom apartment in North Sydney.

Unable to afford the “ridiculous” 22 per cent increase, the 29-year-old was given 60 days to find a new apartment.

“I had to find a new place super quickly, but then I got Covid and couldn’t go look at apartments, which was incredibly stressful,” she said. “They kept calling me, trying to rush me out, even though I still had my 60 days.”

Eventually, Ms Van Essen was forced to find a stranger online to move in with, settling in a two-bedroom apartment in Sydney’s inner-city suburb of Mascot for $750 a week.

Similarly, Ellen Mezger, 25, was asked to bump up her rent for a two-bedder in Sydney’s Waterloo from $620 to $800 a week when her lease expired this month.

She said “a lot of sacrifices”, including giving up her gym membership, would have to be made if the rent increased that much.

Kusher said it would be a while before rent costs dropped again as landlords feel the increasing burden of skyrocketing interest rates, and pass them onto their tenants.

“Landlords will be trying to pass on as much of those increased costs as they can to their renters, so that’s something that renters are going to be facing,” he said.

“Obviously, for renters, there’s quite a lot of incentives to try and buy your first home. The government’s got a Shared Equity scheme, they’ve got a low deposit scheme in NSW from January next year, you’re going to be given the option to pay land tax as opposed to stamp duty. At some point, people will look at it and go, you know, I can be slugged with higher rates every six months, or maybe it’s time to take up one or two of these schemes and buy.”

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