Key Points
- Unemployment down as 60,000 jobs filled in July
- South Australia's Premier says there is little hope the algal bloom will resolve in coming months
- Australian Molly Picklum wins Tahiti Pro
Today's job figures show Australian women's participation in the workforce has hit a record high.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has revealed 25 thousand more people have been employed in the past month, with women filling 40 thousand of the 60 thousand fulltime jobs taken in July.
July's unemployment was 4.2 per cent, a slight improvement from 4.3 per cent joblessness reported for June.
Falling unemployment is considered one of the key indicators of the health of the economy.
Average earnings for fulltime jobs in May this year, excluding penalty rates, has also risen to 2010 dollars a week, marking the first time the figure has exceeded two thousand dollars.
---
South Australia's Premier reports the algal bloom off the coast that has become a major ecological disaster, is likely to persist into spring and summer.
Peter Malinauskas says of the seventeen sites being monitored for algae growth, seven have increased, five have decreased and five remain steady.
"We are looking for cooler weather and we're looking for less sunlight and in the absence of those it is reasonable to assume the algae will continue to persist, at least on that basis, barring other interventions."
The Federal Environment Minister and Opposition leader toured the area this week, to see the impacts of the bloom.
---
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has renewed calls by her party for the Prime Minister to meet with Donald Trump face to face.
The Liberal party leader is at the Australian American leadership dialogue in Sydney today, meeting with the US congressional delegation.
Ms Ley said the relationship between the US and Australia was drifting and described Australia as a bystander - but would not confirm whether any American representatives had raised concerns over the Prime Minister's move to recognise Palestinian statehood.
"We had insightful conversations and important conversations. Now, it is nearly 280 days ((sic)) since the president was inaugurated and we still have don't have the meeting between our Prime Minister and the American president. And this relationship is now more important than ever."
New South Wales police have charged a woman with 12 offences related to an alleged sophisticated fraud and money laundering operation in Sydney.
An investigation by a special team of detectives, uncovered a syndicate that was allegedly using stolen personal information to apply for loans and buy luxury "ghost" cars that didn't exist.
Police allege the woman has netted 4 million dollars’ worth of assets, through involvement in a network that extended beyond car financing to large-scale personal, business and home loan fraud.
Ten people have previously been charged under strike force Myddleton and remain before the courts, with the NSW Crime Commission having already seized $53 million in assets.
---
This weekend, K-Pop fans in Australia will fight to become the best K pop cover dancers in the country.
The winner of the event, which will be held on Saturday in Parramatta in Western Sydney, will qualify for the World Finals in Korea this September.
Korean American artist Audrey Nuna is touring Australia.
The rapper is the singing voice of Mira in Netflix's global hit animation, K-Pop Demon Hunters and spoke with SBS Korean the popularity of the new film.
"Actually, when I was recording the songs for this movie I did tell my mom I was like mom I think this movie is gonna be its gonna do really really well because I think you know so many people have a love even people who are not Korean have such a love for Korean music Korean pop Korean culture."
K-Pop is the name of the globally renown pop music movement out of South Korea, in which musicians draw influence from Western dance music, hip-hop, R&B and rock.
---
Australian surfers Molly Picklum and Jack Robinson have dominated at the punishing Teahupo’o reef to take out Tahiti Pro titles.
Picklum pipped American rival Caitlin Simmers on points, to win the women’s competition before her Fiji world title charge.
The waves jacked up just as Picklum hit the water on Thursday; and a Simmers wipe-out on what could have been a 10-point ride gave Picklum the edge.
She described it as among the best experiences of her life.
"You just have to make sure you make the right waves, I had televru in my corner at this event. So he made it a world, he made it way easier for me to read and be one with Teahupo'o and look at the mountains and just feel like they have my back out here."
West Australian Jack Robinson Robinson needed to win in Tahiti to get into the final five who will compete for the world title in Fiji at the end of the month.
With his Teahupo’o win, Robinson has surged into the World Surf League’s finals at compatriot Ethan Ewing’s expense.
