Costco joins battle for cheap milk, AMP scandal prompts lawsuit, and more trending news

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Bulk goods chain Costco wants to compete with Australian supermarkets on cut-price milk. The household staple has become a contentious issue since Coles and Woolworths discounted milk to the point that dairy farmers struggled to earn minimum wage, causing strikes, protests and inquiries. Costco’s local boss Patrick Noone said: “we’d like to find a milk that’s even cheaper than what we have today but the same quality. If we can do that, we’ll do private label.”

AMP shareholders have filed a class action lawsuit after scandals resulted in $2bn market capitalisation losses. Law firm Quinn Emanuel filed the class action (paywall) in the NSW Supreme Court on the eve of the company's annual general meeting today. The class action states it is "on behalf of affected shareholders who have seen AMP's market capitalisation plummet by approximately $2bn" in the wake of misconduct allegations revealed in the Banking Royal Commission.

Telco TPG has built its own Australian mobile network, positioning it as a competitor to Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. Initially TPG will only provide mobile coverage in the CBDs and select suburbs in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney. It’s seeking customers for a trial later this year, offering six months’ free access to the mobile network. Chairman David Teoh said it “signals a new era of competition in the mobile market”.

Commonwealth Bank will pay $25m to settle an interest rate rigging case. Regulator Australian Securities and Investments Commission launched the litigation relating to a 2012 attempt to manipulate the benchmark interest rate that banks use to set all other rates. Pending Federal Court approval, the settlement includes a $5m penalty, $15m to a financial consumer protection fund, and $5m legal fees. National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking Group settled similar cases while a Westpac case is pending.

Brisbane and Perth are on a global list of top-performing real estate for the first time. The Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index measures the value of the top 5% of the housing market. Of the top-performing 43 cities, Perth ranked 21st after a 2.8% surge in top-tier properties in the March quarter while Brisbane ranked 19th after a 3.6% surge over the same timeframe. A list spokesman suggested Baby Boomers downsizing created the growth.

Idea of the Day: “Careers unfold over a lifetime,” says Kellogg School of Management Dean Sally Blount; there are always obstacles — and opportunities — that can’t be planned. But the decisions you make early on in your career are crucial.

“There are multiple paths and no guarantees. It’s all part of the journey. But we do know that certain choices, especially early in one’s career, can set people on trajectories that increase the likelihood of long-term career success.”

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