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Australia's sharemarket experienced its strongest one-day gain in five months , soaring to a six-week high as weaker labour force data added to optimism about interest rates cuts locally and it was further fuelled by US CPI and retail sales data. The ASX 200 index closed up 127.6 points or 1.6 per cent at 7781.3 points after hitting 7900.2. The broader All Ordinaries index also gained 1.6 per cent to 8150.1 points.

Meanwhile, new coal and gas projects in Australia can be approved without taking into account the environmental impact of emissions, a court has ruled, in a move likely to ignite tensions with climate change groups.

And e-script provider mediSecure has been revealed as the victim of a large-scale data breach that has sent shockwaves across the nation.

The Big Read

A major cultural shift will be needed if countries like Australia and Britain want to make more things at home and become manufacturing powers again, according to inventor Sir James Dyson, one of the world’s most influential engineers.

As both countries attempt to rebuild their manufacturing bases, particularly since the pandemic, Sir James says this is only possible with the “right attitude”. And that could involve a generational change.

“We need more engineers,” Sir James tells The Australian in an interview.

He points out smart manufacturing is rapidly losing out to Asia, including Singapore, where he now bases the headquarters of his Dyson vacuum empire. There, universities churn out engineering graduates at a much higher rate, and this is replicated right through Asia. Back in Britain, where Sir James calls home, there are 10 times more people studying arts and media courses than engineering, he says.

Eric Johnston

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