☕️ Wage growth slows

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Wages grew by 3.2% in the year to the December quarter.

The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows the slowest pace of wage growth since March 2022.

The slow growth mirrors the rate of inflation (rising prices), which has dropped steadily over the past year.

The ABS releases the WPI every three months. It tracks changes in the hourly wages earned across a range of jobs in the country.

The 3.2% December increase is down from previous quarters.

For example, the September 2024 saw a 3.6% increase, while the December 2023 quarter saw an annual rise of 4.2% — the highest since 2008.

The ABS said the most significant wage rises occurred in the healthcare and social services industries.

Some of the lowest rates of growth were across the arts, real estate, and gas, electricity, and water services.

Both public and private sector workers experienced the slowest rate of growth in recent years.

Annual inflation was 2.4% in the year to December.

That means the overall rate of wage growth has been higher, on average, than inflation, according to the latest figures.

Inflation has been coming down in recent years from a peak of 7.8% in December 2022.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

A Victorian woman is suing Uber for allegedly refusing to pick her up on more than 30 occasions because she requires a guide dog.

Paula Hobley, who is blind, is accusing the rideshare company of breaching national disability discrimination laws.

Guide Dogs Australia estimates 50% of people who use assistance animals have reported issues with rideshare apps or taxis in the past two years.

Uber said it treats the “distress” of refusing service to someone with an assistance animal seriously.

Hobley is blind and uses a guide dog. She cannot drive, so has relied on rideshare services to go shopping or meet friends near her home in regional Victoria.

She alleges that between March 2021 and November 2022, Uber drivers refused to pick her up on 32 occasions, after she informed them she would be travelling with her guide dog Vonda.

During this time, Hobley appeared in a video for Guide Dogs Australia and wrote a blog detailing her experiences, such as missing a doctor’s appointment.

Hobley alleges the refusals continued after she complained to Uber.

She then launched a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission, which can try to resolve allegations of discrimination.

When the case did not resolve, Hobley escalated the complaint to the Federal Court.

Under national law, it’s illegal to deprive someone of access to a business premises based on their disability.

Hobley’s case is now listed to go to trial in the Federal Court in Victoria.

She alleges Uber discriminated against her because she is blind and needs an assistance animal.

Hobley said the constant refusals are ”draining”.

“I avoid going out at night if I have to rely on a rideshare or taxi service because there’s a risk I won’t be able to get home safely,” she said.

Uber did not directly comment on Hobley’s case or respond to TDA’s questions about whether the company would defend itself against the claims.

In a statement, an Uber spokesperson said: “The distress of being refused service because of an assistance animal is not something we take lightly at Uber.”

The spokesperson pointed to various Uber policies intended to improve rideshare experiences for people with vision impairments.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

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The turbine pods capture high-powered jet wind generated during takeoff and landing, and convert it into electricity. The pods will become a permanent fixture of the Dallas Love Field Airport, after a prototype was successfully trialed near the airport’s control tower. The renewable energy captured by these pods will be used to power charging stations inside the airport, where passengers can charge their personal devices.

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Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

An Australian has scored a huge op shop find — a photo album with photos of former PM Scott Morrison.

TikTok user @charliefoo said they found the album at a Salvos in Rockdale, NSW.

It features images of a young Morrison and his wife, Jenny, in England and Ireland in the late 1990s.

One photo is captioned “Scott very, very, very TIRED after… too many Guinesses”.

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.

This week will mark three years since Russia invaded Ukraine: the first open conflict between two countries in Europe since the Second World War.

Little movement on the frontlines in Ukraine over the past year has deepened the sense of an unmoving and unending conflict.

Since coming to power, the second Trump administration has carved out a new strategy: engage with both Russia and Ukraine to broker a lasting peace.

After a flurry of talks and diplomacy in Europe and the Middle East, today’s TDA deep dive will look at whether a breakthrough in the Russia-Ukraine war is possible.