Scam victims re-scammed
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's Scamwatch has issued a warning about scammers promising to recover money stolen from bank accounts by other scammers.
The dodgy offers target people who have already lost money to previous scams, promising to help victims recover their losses, after they pay a fee in advance.
Scamwatch has been notified of more than $270,000 lost to these scams so far this year.
"Scammers ask for money and personal information before offering to 'help' the victim,then disappear and stop all contact," ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.
Money recovery scams were particularly nasty as the perpetrators posed as a trusted organisations such as law firms, fraud taskforce or government agencies, then caused significant psychological distress for victims who had already lost money or identity information.
Even victims who have not lost money to scams can be contacted by phone or email and convinced they unknowingly were involved and are entitled to refunds.
"If you're contacted out of the blue by someone offering to help recover scam losses for a fee, hang up, delete the email and ignore any further contacts," Ms Rickard said.
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Corrigan to Genetics Aust
Genetics Australia has appointed prominent beef producer and industry leader, Lucinda Corrigan, to its board.
Mrs Corrigan (pictured), who runs the southern NSW Angus genetics business, "Rennylea", with husband Bryan, replaces Rohan Sprunt who served on the Board for six years.
The Corrigans run 4000 performance recorded cattle on seven properties near Albury.
Her off-farm experience has included roles with textile company Dawson International, chief executive officer of the Australian Cashmere Growers Association, a director of DataGene since 2016, and she chairs the of Animal Genetics Breeding Unit (AGBU) in Armidale.
Mrs Corrigan was excited to be joining GA's long, proud history, especially as the business expanded its influence from dairy genetics into the beef sector.
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AACo jobs shuffle
The Australian Agricultural Company is searching for a new manager for its 12,500 square kilometre Barkly Tablelands beef property, Brunette Downs Station, in the Northern Territory after promoting current manager Michael Johnson in a realignment of its pastoral, intensive and supply chain divisions.
He moves to Labelle Downs Station, 180 kms south-west of Darwin, from where he will run AACo's pastoral business operations.
The realignment late last year included the creation of head positions for its intensive and supply chain divisions.
"With experienced senior managers running these parts of the business we can focus more closely on the specific role each station and feedlot plays in our overall company strategy," said managing director, Hugh Killen.
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Urea hopeful's new look
Outback South Australian fertiliser hopeful, Leigh Creek Energy, has rebranded itself NeuRizer as it gets ready to start building its urea plant on a former coal field.
NeuRizer has also teamed with South Korean construction business DL E&C to capture and store up to 3000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a day at the plant when it opens.
The new name, approved by shareholders last week, aims to better reflect the company vision, with "Neu" representing nitrogen fertiliser (urea) and a new way of producing urea using a net zero carbon footprint.
"Rizer" is associated with crops dependent on nitrogen for growth.
"Our ambition is to create a world-leading, low-cost domestic urea manufacturing capability which will help feed the world's ever-growing population," said managing director, Phil Staveley.
The timing was right, given Incitec Pivot's planned closure of its Gibson Island urea plant in Brisbane could cause notable restrictions to local supplies.
NeuRizer will release a detailed feasibility study for the project shortly and plans to launch its investment later this year.
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Rex ambitions fly further
Regional Express plans to expand its jet fleet to as many as 30 B737-800s flying mainstream carrier routes within the next five to seven years, according to chairman, Lim Kim Hai.
Singapore-based Mr Lim's reported comments suggested the Wagga Wagga based country airline group aimed to add six to 10 aircraft a year to its new capital city services to improve its economies of scale, ramping up competition with Qantas, Jetstar Airways, and Virgin Australia.
Rex began jet services a year ago, initially between Melbourne and Sydney Kingsford Smith, extending flights to Canberra, Adelaide and the Gold Coast, but then had to suspend jet services while COVID-19 forced interstate border closures.
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Digital agrifood summit
Robotics, carbon farming and the circular food economy are key themes on the agenda at the Digital Agrifood Summit in Wagga Wagga on June 1 and 2.
Hosted jointly by Food Agility Co-operative Research Centre and Charles Sturt University, the event will bring together agrifood companies, farmers, technologists and scientists.
Keynote speakers include Bega Cheese chairman, Barry Irvin; Food Agility chief scientist and an precision agriculture pioneer, Professor David Lamb, while the Gulbali gala dinner will be hosted by prominent journalist Stan Grant.
Summit attendees will be able to tour the Global Digital Farm, engage with expert panel discussions, visit agtech company exhibits and watch showcases of the latest emerging research.
Food Agility CEO, Richard Norton, said the event aimed to get discussions about the future of food out of the capital cities and into the regions where food is produced.
"Come and have a look at how new technologies are being developed and implemented and hear those making it happen."
- View the agenda and buy tickets at www.digitalagrifoodsummit.com.au
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Namoi jobs shift
Namoi Cotton has appointed Sonya Ryan to act in a joint capacity as company secretary with chief executive officer, John Stevenson.
Ms Ryan has been Namoi's chief financial officer since January, a position previously held by Mr Stevenson before he took on the CEO's duties last year.
She replaces the recently resigned Nikki Scott.
Namoi has been gearing up for a big volume of cotton to be harvested when picking commences this month, with the total NSW and Queensland crop set to be about 5 million bales - well above the historical average of 3.5m.
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WA crop science acclaim
Murdoch University's Food Futures Institute's Centre for Crop and Food Innovation director Professor Rajeev Varshney has been recognised as an Associate Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences for his contributions to agricultural biotechnology and food security on the continent.
Professor Varshney formally joined West Australia's Murdoch University in February following 16 years at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics.
He spent the past six years as global research director for genetic gains and accelerated crop improvement.
The AAS said Professor Varshney had made centrally important contributions towards improving food and nutrition security in India and several countries in Africa and Asia by assembling genomes of "orphan" crops, and making technological advancements in crop improvement programs that have already delivered 11 superior varieties to some of the world's poorest farmers.
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