Australian Group Buying Site Scoopon is Named Market Leader for 2011

A recent report from the independent analyst house, Telsyte, suggests the Australian owned group buying site, Scoopon, dominated the local group buying market in 2011. This was the second year Scoopon clinched the top spot, outperforming multinational companies like LivingSocial and Groupon. The news is hailed as a windfall for Scoopon, competing in a sector of over 80 similar group buying websites.

Co-founder Gabby Liebovich attributes the brand’s success to the site’s focus on deal quality, rather than quantity, an organic and loyal membership base, as well as an industry leading commission structure.

“The international entrants have come in and exerted their weight with massive spends on marketing campaigns and recruited an army of hundreds to try and buy their way into the Australian market,” Leibovich says.

“We, on the other hand, have always let our deals do the talking, and despite little marketing effort, have built the country’s strongest and most loyal membership base of over 1.8 million members who have signed up simply because they are genuinely interested in what we have to offer.”

In the past, Scoopon has demonstrated it isn’t afraid to take the larger internationals on head-to-head. A legal battle with the US site, Groupon, over the control of the Groupon Australia trademark and URL address resulted in an out-of-court settlement in July 2011.

“We keep a close eye on the Americans who are throwing some pretty hefty dollars at marketing,” says Leibovich. “I question whether they are in fact making a profit.”

The data released in the Telsyte report shows that the group buying market has grown seven times from 2010. Australians spent just under $500 million in this fashion in 2011 alone, and the market is projected to reach $1 billion by 2015.

Leibovich believes that Scoopon’s leadership in the sector all comes down to providing a quality experience for customers every day.

“Through our centralised product sourcing capabilities through CatchOfTheDay group, as well as Scoopon’s market-leading commissions structure, we have and will continue to lead in the quality of deals we have on offer,” explains Leibovich.

Telsyte has measured this sector since the beginning of the group buying market in February 2010. Sam Yip, Analyst for Telsyte, worked on the latest report.

“We have a database of over 55,000 deals across all Australian locations and deal categories,” Yip says. “Scoopon was market leader for the year, however we saw strong growth from multinationals Groupon and LivingSocial, who grew very quickly in 2011.”

“However,” Yip says, “Australians continue to be loyal to the best deals and the best price, not the sites.”

Source http://www.powerretail.com.au/news/scoopon-named-market-leader/

NZ singer wins top Australian award

New Zealand singer Kimbra was named best female artist at the Australian Recording Industry Association Awards in Sydney on Sunday for her debut album Cameo Lover.

The former Hamilton resident also popped up in the single of the year Somebody That I Used To Know. She co-sings on the song by Belgian-Australian singer-songwriter Gotye.

The ABC reports Sydney band Boy and Bear received five awards, including the best group and best album prizes for their debut Moonfire.

Kylie Minogue and The Wiggles were inducted into the ARIA hall of fame.

Minogue, 43, has released 11 albums and sold more than 68 million records. She has 16 ARIA awards.

Source http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/92305/nz-singer-wins-top-australian-award

Red Dog makes it into the Top 10

The Australian film 'Red Dog' is now number 7 in the top ten grossing Australian films of all time and it was released a mere 8 weeks ago!

Mark spoke to the director Nelson Woss and of course the biggest star of all Koko, otherwise known as 'Red Dog', in the film.

They discussed just why the movie has resonated so much with Australian audiences and their plans to take it to Europe, America and beyond. The soundtrack to 'Red Dog' is out this week.

Source http://blogs.abc.net.au/victoria/2011/10/red-dog-makes-it-into-the-top-10.html

RSS Text Size Print Share This Home / sports / Former Ole Miss Guard Chris Warren Signs With Australian Team

Throughout his exceptional high school and college career, Chris Warren dreamed of taking his basketball talents to the professional level.

On Wednesday, the former Ole Miss point guard was granted such an opportunity when he signed with the Adelaide 36ers of Australia’s National Basketball League.

Warren joins a long list of Rebels who have extended their careers into the professional ranks, including 11 former players who were active in 2010-11.

One of the top seniors in all of college basketball in 2011, Warren was the first import player signed by the NBL’s 36ers for the upcoming season. The nine-team NBL is the top pro basketball league in Australia. The league’s leading scorer last year was former Mississippi State and Arkansas guard Gary Ervin.

“I am really excited to be playing in Australia,” Warren was quoted in the team’s press release. “I have heard great things about the country and the league. I have spoken to (36ers) Coach (Marty) Clarke several times and the club sounds fantastic. Meeting the guys will be great, and once I pull on my Adelaide 36ers uniform it will be about what I can do to help the team win. I hope the Adelaide supporters are ready for an exciting year.”

The Orlando, Fla., native was a two-time All-SEC performer for the Rebels, including first-team accolades as a senior. Last year, he ranked second in the SEC with 19.1 points per game and led all NCAA players with a school and SEC record 92.8 free-throw percentage. Among his many achievements, Warren became the fourth player in Southeastern Conference history with 2,000 points and 400 assists, joining LSU’s Pete Maravich, Tennessee’s Allan Houston and Georgia’s Litterial Green.

“Chris displays a great game sense, an ability to score against top flight players, and both leadership and composure of a quality point guard,” 36ers coach Marty Clarke said of his new player. “Our due diligence has been extensive with numerous conversations with his college coach, opposition coaches and scouts. He is a dynamic player who we believe will help bring on-court success and enhance our commitment to creating an elite mindset within the team. We believe his game style fits our philosophies and will bring great excitement to our fans.”

Source http://www2.wjtv.com/sports/2011/jul/20/former-ole-miss-guard-chris-warren-signs-australia-ar-2165416/

Australian gov't provides aid package for cattle industry

Australian federal government on Thursday announced a 31 million U.S. dollars assistance package to the Australian live cattle exporters, in a move to tide them over the freeze on live cattle exports to Indonesia.

It is on top of the 3.12 million U.S. dollars fund announced on Monday, and the assistance package will also benefit businesses that rely on the live cattle trade, like trucking companies and helicopter mustering businesses.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she recognized the government's decision to suspend live exports to Indonesia earlier in June was putting pressure on beef producers.

"This is a package to meet the short-term hardship that the industry is facing now," Gillard told Nine News at a press conference in Darwin on Thursday.

"The best thing we can do for the industry is get the trade resumed with Indonesia with the animal welfare issues addressed and we are working hard on that."

Gillard said it was "absolutely the right decision" to suspend the trade, despite the cost of supporting the industry now.

"I want this industry to have a long-term sustainable future. The worst thing that could happen to the industry is that we didn' t resolve the animal welfare issues now and in two years time there's another problem and in four years time there's another problem," she said.

"This is the time to get the animal welfare issues right so the Australian community can be assured that this trade is meeting their expectations about the treatment of animals."

However, Gillard refused to draw on when the trade will be resumed, saying that it will happen until animal welfare issues are resolved.

Early June, Australian federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig announced suspension of all live exports to Indonesia until the welfare of cattle can be guaranteed. This came following the release of a footage showing Australian cattle being tortured in Indonesian slaughterhouses.

As a result of the suspension, more than 150,000 ready-to- export cattle has been stranded across Australia, with animal exporters saying that the suspension has hurt the industry badly.

Indonesia is the biggest buyer of Australian live cattle. The trade made up 60 percent of live cattle exports last year and generated 332 million U.S. dollars.

Source http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7425778.html

Australian Consumer Inflation Expectations Steady In June -Survey

Australian consumer inflation expectations remained relatively modest in the June, taking some of the heat out of a widening national debate over the outlook for interest rates.

The Melbourne Institute survey of inflationary expectations for June showed consumers expect inflation to rise 3.3% over the next year, just above the Reserve Bank of Australia's 2%-3% inflation target ...

Source http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110615-714960.html

Australian Miners Say Carbon Price Plan Raises Sovereign Risk

As the Australian government finalizes details of a proposed tax on carbon dioxide emissions, leaders of the nation's mining industry Wednesday launched a concerted attack on the plan, claiming it will increase sovereign risk and threaten future investment.

Peter Johnston, chairman of the Minerals Council of Australia, said the plan to price carbon is the most significant structural change to the Australian economy in a generation, but the government--as it did a year ago with a proposed super profits tax on mining--is heading down the wrong policy path again.

The proposed scheme will cost the minerals sector A$25 billion in the period to 2020, making it "the most costly carbon price scheme in the world," and represents a huge drag on the sector and its ability to invest in carbon abatement technologies, Johnston told the council's annual conference, while expressing frustration at the poor level of consultation with the industry.

Australia's minority Labor government is planning a carbon tax from July 2012 with the aim of cutting emissions and pollution and boosting investment in renewable energy and low carbon-emitting industries, subject to the federal parliament passing the legislation.

Details will be unveiled ahead of formal legislation in the calendar second half.

The government plans to tax carbon emissions from the top 1,000 emitters and use the funds raised to compensate households and some industries.

On Tuesday, the government's top climate change adviser, Ross Garnaut, recommended the government should set a fixed price on carbon in a range of A$ 20-A$30 a metric ton, rising by 4% in real terms a year. A fixed price of A$26 a ton on carbon would generate some A$11.5 billion in the 2012-2013 fiscal year, Garnaut said.

Mick Davis, chief executive of Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN), one of the world's top- five diversified miners, said a tax on carbon will deter investment.

Noting that sovereign risk is important, Davis said the major diversified miners can prioritize new investments in the most favorable jurisdictions.

These typically offer a stable, predictable and ethical investment climate for the long-term commitment required by the industry, he said.

Projects in more risky countries are inevitably delayed while investment in more stable regions proceeds, he said.

"A sudden imposition of carbon prices, or in this country taxes, has the potential to deliver a shock to capital-intensive industries, especially those that are trade exposed," he said.

"Amongst the range of risks facing us, public policy and its potential unintended or intended consequences are perhaps the most challenging. The carbon debate in Australia is one immediate and important example."

Industry has a legitimate and important role to play in helping to shape a carbon policy to achieve the important objective of reducing emissions without leaving a legacy "that impairs Australia's vibrant, vital and globally competitive mining industry," he said.

Seamus French, chief executive of Anglo American PLC's (AAL.LN) metallurgical coal and minerals unit, said any carbon action taken by Australia must fully protect export industries or it will cost investment and jobs.

He wants a phased approach to the introduction in Australia of any price on carbon and emissions trading scheme as this gives exporters time to prepare and offers a smooth transition without the dislocation of Australia's planned approach.

"This is a multi-generational reform and we need to get the right solution, not the expedient solution," he told the industry conference.

Source http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201106010013dowjonesdjonline000002&title=australian-miners-say-carbon-price-plan-raises-sovereign-risk

Adelaide Oval to be turned into multi-purpose stadium

Australia's iconic Adelaide Oval is to undergo a A$535 million redevelopment into a multi-purpose stadium that its custodians hope will be finished in time for England's next Ashes tour.

Members of the South Australia Cricket Association (SACA)have endorsed the plan, paving the way for construction which could see the picturesque ground boosted from its current seating capacity of around 32,000 to 50,000.

SACA president Ian McLachlan welcomed Monday's vote, in which more than 80 percent of SACA's members approved the plan, surpassing a minimum 75 percent requirement.

"Adelaide will have the most modern sporting venue in the country with world-class facilities in the best location in any capital city," McLachlan said in a statement on SACA's website (cricketsa.com.au).

"It will enable Adelaide to compete more effectively with other interstate and international venues to attract major events, whether sporting or cultural such as concerts."

The redevelopment will include the construction of a new southern stand and deliver an additional economic benefit of more than A$100 million to state government coffers ever year, SACA said in a note to its members on its website.

The plans retain the heritage scoreboard, grassed northern mound, views of the St. Peters Cathedral and the Moreton Bay fig trees that have become synonymous with the ground.

Overlooking the city from the north bank of the city's Torrens River, the Adelaide Oval hosted its first test cricket match in 1884 and remains a regular fixture on Ashes tours.

The development would allow the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide teams to bring top flight Australian Rules football to the Oval.

Source http://af.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idAFJOE74200A20110503

Australia's Rudd gets double dose of good news

Former leader Kevin Rudd basked Tuesday in the second poll in as many days showing more people preferred him to head the ruling Labor party than Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Rudd, who was dumped by Gillard in a brutal and sudden Labor Party coup last June, has insisted he is not gunning for another shot at the leadership, but the poll results suggest he is the politician most people want in the job.

In a three-way Newspoll of 1,511 voters for The Australian newspaper Tuesday asking who was best to lead Labor, Rudd came top with 36 percent followed by Gillard on 29 percent.

Just one in 10 voters backed Treasurer Wayne Swan while one in four refused to nominate a preference.

It followed a Nielsen/Herald survey Monday that showed Rudd, now foreign minister, led former deputy Gillard 55 percent to 38 percent in a head-to-head match-up for preferred prime minister.

The polls are the latest to serve as a warning to Gillard that the electorate is uncertain about its decision to press ahead with a tax on carbon emissions, a policy the opposition has said it will reverse if elected.

Despite Gillard floundering, influential Australian Workers Union national secretary Paul Howes said he continued to back her despite threatening last week to withdraw support if she could not guarantee jobs under the carbon tax.

"Julia Gillard is the best leader the Labor Party's had in a very, very long period of time," Howes, a central figure in the Labor right faction that anointed Gillard last year, told reporters.

"I'm confident she will lead Labor to an election victory at the next election. But that doesn't mean I have to support the government on everything they do."

Gillard leaves Wednesday for a trip to Japan, South Korea and China before heading to London for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Source http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5guBj4qzG8fPZEzlRF18NKAWajOiw?docId=CNG.66ef27570de555c667474aeeac411e32.101

Chinese become top Australian visitors

China became Australia's top inbound tourism market for the first time in February, data showed Tuesday, with Chinese New Year celebrations and international students driving a surge in arrivals.

Some 77,000 Chinese touched down in Australia in February, the statistics bureau said, beating New Zealand, Britain and the United States for the first time with a 30 percent jump compared with a year earlier.

The Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) said there had been almost 30,000 extra Chinese visitors this January and February due to growing international student numbers and Chinese New Year festivities.

TTF chief John Lee said China had "incredible potential" for Australia, with a rising and increasingly wealthy middle class.

"To meet the needs of growing numbers of Chinese visitors, we must ensure that tourism operators are prepared, with cultural awareness, language skills, cuisine and activities tailored to their needs," said Lee.

Singapore and Malaysia also rallied strongly -- both up more than 10 percent -- while Japan, traditionally one of Australia's best markets, slipped to fifth place with a 12.5 percent drop to 33,500 visitors.

Total arrivals fell 0.4 percent to 498,400 from the previous month, but were 3.6 percent higher than a year earlier.

The number of Australians jetting overseas boomed 8.8 percent from a year earlier to 612,300, growing 0.4 percent from January, as the local currency rocketed to record highs above parity with the greenback.

Source http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hpHzGmzMTGsIACuAwCTlkkORcb8g?docId=CNG.9291ab810e1449a3b4ece53bc3e09ca8.551

Experts confirm Black Caviar as world's best

BLACK Caviar has been rated the world's best racehorse in World Thoroughbred Rankings released in Paris today.

The unbeaten sprint queen who has captured the imagination of sports fans in Australia becomes our first racehorse to top the rankings since they were introduced in 2002.

Racing Victoria handicapper Greg Carpenter hailed the news as a "brilliant result."

"This is great news on two fronts. It is great for Australian racing and a break through for sprinters on the world stage."

Especially in Europe, sprinters are seen as ‘’second class citizens’’ to horses who race over the classic distances of 2000m and 2400m.

Black Caviar earned her 130 rating thanks to her dominant win with 58 kilos in the Newmarket Handicap.

The ratings reflect a peak performance by a racehorse.

"Her Newmarket performance giving lots of weight to high class performers nd winning by a big margin earned her the rating. Unless she goes to Hong Kong and beats JJ The Jet Plane and Rocket Man, and beats tem by a fair margin I doubt her rating will get any higher," he said.

The ratings are based on the views of handicappers in the world’s major racing precincts.

Her rating of 130 is the highest by an Australian galloper , previously So You Think on 126 last year, since rankings were introduced.

BLACK CAVIAR also :

* Becomes the highest rated sprinter (previously OASIS DREAM 125 in 2003)

* Becomes the first sprinter to head the listing

* Becomes the equally highest rated mare (previously Goldikova 130 in 2009)

Former Bart Cummings trained So You Think, now prepared in Ireland by Aidan O’Brien, remains on 126 and is rated fifth best horse in the world.

The World Top 50 reflects the performances of horses for the previous six months and therefore this release covers the period 1 October 2010 to 27th March 2011.

Source http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/experts-confirm-black-caviar-number-1/story-e6frf9if-1226031417147

Top best deals sites in Australia

Thousands of Australians are already taking advantage of discount coupon websites to save an average of more than 60 per cent on everything from movie tickets to restaurant dinners. If you aren't one of them, here are the top best deals sites to check out:

Source  http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/128355/20110330/top-best-deals-sites-in-australia.htm