Ampol has unveiled plans to redevelop additional highway sites following the grand opening of its flagship Pheasants Nest Service Centres on the Hume Highway in New South Wales.  The highway redevelopment strategy is part of Ampol’s five-year plan to invest in premium highway service centres along key commuter routes across Australia.  The newly developed Pheasants Nest sites include a large food court area with both indoor and outdoor dining areas, children’s play areas, truck driver amenities, separate fuel and diesel canopies, outdoor spaces to refresh, dedicated caravan and coach parking spaces and a fresh convenience offer to help meet the needs of commuters and local customers on both sides of the highway. In addition to Ampol Foodary, Hungry Jack’s, Oporto, Oliver’s, Krispy Kreme, Boost Juice and Durk’s Café is now available at Pheasants Nest.  The Pheasants Nest sites also house first-of-its-kind AmpCharge electric vehicle charging hubs, with 12 charging bays…

United Convenience Buyers continuous partnership with Rural Aid, demonstrates our commitment to being part of a community that supports over 17,000 Aussie Farmers. Rural Aid provides critical support to Aussie farmers, affected by natural disaster through financial, wellbeing and fodder assistance. In many communities across Australia, retailers are the glue that brings the community together and betters it through cause-related marketing and collaborations. 2023 has been another challenging year with fires causing significant disruption, costs are rising, and supply chains have been running short – our farmers and rural communities have battled hell and high water to keep production high and their communities safe. Following on from the success of UCB’s 2022 “True Mates Campaign” and “The Big Giveback” initiative with Asahi Lifestyle Beverages, August 2023 brought a new UCB & Rural Aid initiative “Mates in the Bush” with 0.10c from each and every participating product sold throughout the UCB Member network, being donated…

Here are some more financial supports that many NSW businesses are eligible for right now. Regional Skills Relocation Grant NSW This program helps regional NSW businesses in identified industries attract skilled and specialised employees from NSW metropolitan areas, interstate or internationally, to regional NSW. Funding of up to $12,500 is available. Eligible costs covered by this grant include the following relocation expenses: Electric vehicles rebate The NSW Government is offering $3,000 rebates for the first 25,000 new battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles with a dutiable value of less than $68,750. This incentive, along with the abolition of stamp duty, will save eligible EV purchasers up to $5,540. The stamp duty exemption and the rebate for all eligible EV purchases will end on 1 January 2024.  https://www.nsw.gov.au/driving-boating-and-transport/nsw-governments-electric-vehicle-strategy/ev-rebates Small Business Export Loan The Small Business Export Loan provides small to medium export businesses with loans to cover up to 80% of…

David Littleproud says a $6 billion tax windfall could be used for harm reduction measures to address the growing problems surrounding vaping. Nationals Leader David Littleproud has called for a highly regulated legal vape industry, admitting his government “got it wrong” by pushing a “failed” prescription model. Mr Littleproud’s comments come after The Daily Telegraph revealed that taxing nicotine vapes could inject up to $6 billion to the state’s bottom line by 2026. “I backed the prescription model, but I’ve got to be big enough I’ve got it wrong,” Mr Littleproud said. He said vapes should be regulated similar to cigarettes. “We’re letting a black market take over and its just got out of control,” he said. It comes after research from the Australian Taxpayer Alliance suggested regulating and taxing vapes could generate billions in tax revenue. The Nationals leader said that money should be spent on “better health outcomes…

Today bp (NYSE: bp) announced a deal in which bp pulse, bp’s EV charging business, will acquire ultra-fast charging hardware units from Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) for $100 million. The investment will facilitate the expansion of the bp pulse public network across the US, while also enabling support for EV fleet customers by deploying chargers at their private depots. The introduction of Tesla’s chargers to the bp pulse network is the first time the hardware will be purchased for an independent EV charging network. The roll-out is planned to begin in 2024 and locations will include key sites across the bp family of brands, including TravelCenters of America, Thorntons, ampm; and Amoco, as well as at bp pulse’s large-scale Gigahub™ charging sites in major metropolitan areas and at third-party locations, such as Hertz locations, as part of previously announced collaborations. The first installation sites have been identified in Houston, Phoenix, Los…