THE NEWS WRAP: Shorten says “no silver bullet” for Fair Work productivity concerns

Bill Shorten, the federal Workplace Relations Minister, has played down the prospect of further government regulation to boost productivity ahead of the release of a review into the Fair Work Act.

The report, which is due to be released this week, has been put together by an independent panel following employer concerns that the Act has taken away flexibility from the workplace and dampened productivity.

However, Shorten told Sky News that there was “no silver bullet” to the issue of productivity and rebuffed suggestions that further legislation was needed.

Telstra hikes phone charges

Many small businesses are set to be faced with higher costs after Telstra announced it is to up the price of its fixed-line and mobile phone plans for the first time in nine years.

The telco said that access fees for half of its HomeLine plans will go up on October 1, with the cost of local calls set to rise by two cents.

Hackers sought for ‘coding island’

Fancy living on a tropical island for two months doing nothing but write computer code? If so, you’ll be pleased to know the Come Hack With US hackathon has opened up for applications.

The initiative, which aims to boost creativity in the tech start-up space, is inviting participants to pay a fee to live together on a small island, probably in the Philippines, to work on coding.

Organisers say they have already had 4,000 applications for the scheme.

Markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 187.73 points, or 1.46%, to 13,075.66 on Friday. The Australian dollar was up to US104.74 cents.