Good morning. Commonwealth Bank's 35,000 staff have just secured pay rises of up to 13% over three years after a six-month stand-off that involved Matt Comyn's $9.1 million salary against the bank's original below-inflation offer.
The lowest-paid workers get the full 13%, while those earning over $165,000 get 5% or 6.5% depending on whether they're frontline staff or managers, and the bank also agreed to establish an AI committee after last year replacing dozens of call centre workers with AI before backtracking and apologising.
The deal lands the day before the board faces shareholders at the AGM, which means no protest, and sets the benchmark for negotiations now under way at NAB, ANZ and Westpac.
All the headlines and more below...
GOVERNMENT FUNDS $630M FOR PAY RISES OF UP TO 35% IN UNDERVALUED CARE JOBS
The federal government announced $630 million over 4 years to help charities and not-for-profits fund pay rises of up to 35% for 460,000 health, disability and community services workers. Last year the Fair Work Commission found workers on five awards, including childcare workers, health professionals, dental assistants and pathology collectors, were undervalued because of gender-based assumptions, and recommended the increases.
More than 128,000 organisations will receive the extra funding, which the government said will help them meet higher wage costs without cutting essential services. It follows a separate $3.6 billion package for childcare worker pay rises announced a few months ago. Business groups had warned that many affected employers, mostly small not-for-profits in government-funded sectors, lack the capacity to meet the extra costs.
The package lands amid concerns that government spending is fuelling inflation. The Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate to 4.6% on 29 September, its highest level since late 2011, and many economists and banks expect two more rate rises before the end of the year.
AUSTRALIAN NEWS
The RBA signalled it would keep lifting the cash rate from 4.6% if needed to crush inflation now at 4%, despite rising unemployment and falling house prices. LINK
Experts have said Australian cafes and restaurants lifted coffee prices for 17% of outlets by an average 50c, or more than 10%, after the 1.5% credit card surcharge ban. LINK
ASIC confirmed it will keep accepting credit card payments for business services as the ATO faces backlash over card fee costs of $200M and a delayed credit card ban. LINK
The federal government announced a $630M, 4-year funding boost to support pay rises of up to 35% for 460,000 undervalued workers as economists warned it could fuel inflation. LINK
Chief Executive Women reported that new female CEO appointments across Australia’s largest listed companies fell from 25% in 2025 to 13% in 2026 as anti-DEI backlash grew. LINK
COLES LIFTS PAPER BAG PRICE TO 30C, 5C ABOVE WOOLWORTHS AND ALDI
Coles has lifted the price of its paper shopping bags by 5c to 30c each, and raised the price of its larger bags from $4 to $4.20. Woolworths and Aldi still charge 25c for a paper bag, and Coles' flat $2 bag fee on online orders is unchanged.
A Coles spokesperson said prices were changing on selected bags because of costs such as materials and transport, and that the company had worked to keep the increases as low as possible. Coles encouraged customers to bring and reuse their own bags. The rise follows Coles Group's $1.09 billion after-tax profit for FY26.
Shoppers criticised the change on social media, with one calling it "an Un Australian act", while others said customers could avoid the charge by bringing their own bags. Until 2018 the major supermarkets gave single-use plastic bags away free, before switching to paid reusable paper bags.
COMPANY NEWS
ASIC found auditors from EY and PwC signed off on $80B in unlisted superannuation assets without sufficient evidence, after earlier warnings about valuation risks and member fee impacts. AFR
Used-car retailer OzCar entered voluntary administration and closed 4 NSW company-owned dealerships with 90 job losses, while 12 independently owned franchise sites continue trading. LINK
ACCC launched Federal Court civil proceedings against Sunny Queen and 11 other major egg producers, alleging coordinated cartel conduct since October 2020 to restrict supply and substantially lessen competition. LINK
FTI Consulting estimated Telstra’s July nationwide mobile outage cut Australian GDP by $552M as lost business productivity and wider flow-on effects far outweighed about $1M in compensation. LINK
Toyota agreed to pay $750M to settle two class actions over defective diesel exhaust systems affecting 136,000 HiLux, Prado and Fortuner owners, subject to Federal Court approval. LINK
Tesla has unveiled a $3.5M plan for a 37-car EV charging hub in Albury to serve highway travellers as EV sales surge past 180,000 this year. LINK
PointsBet expects first-half group revenue to fall 16% to $113M and to post a $6M - $8M underlying loss as tighter compliance and adverse AFL results hit margins. LINK
Apple unveiled a US$299 HomeView smart home hub with a 7in screen and upgraded Siri AI, launched new HomePod and Apple TV features and EU-excluded accessories integration. LINK
Meta released its Muse Wonder AI model, which Mark Zuckerberg says matches frontier rivals as the company shifts to a closed, paid-tier strategy and downplays existential AI risks. LINK
Baby Bunting reaffirmed its full-year pro forma net profit after tax guidance as comparable store sales rose 2.2% and its “Store of the Future” format surged 20%. LINK
Anthropic signalled it is open to reserving some Australian data centre compute for government priorities such as healthcare as it pursues large renewable-powered facilities and welcomes independent model oversight. AFR
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CHART OF THE DAY
Interest in smart sunglasses on the rise
India's interest in smart sunglasses sits more than double that of the United States and over triple that of Germany, which trails the list at 7%.
ONE MORE SCROLL
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Doctor’s Pick: Why a global outbreak of pneumonic plague is unlikely?
TRUE OR FALSE
Sloths breathe underwater longer than dolphins.
Answer below
ANSWER
True
