Summary: Interview with John Casella, CEO of Casella Wines Interview with economist Nicholas Gruen Leon and Garry discuss issues including: how the debt crisis that has ravaged Europe for the best part of three years has exposed a dislike of the single currency but little desire to abandon it. The big worry now is Spain overtaking broken Greece as the new flashpoint for the wobbling Eurozone. In worrying news for bricks and mortar retailers, ABS figures show retail sales have fallen and a new study shows Australians spent more than $11 billion buying goods online in the 12 months to April. Internet sales made up 5.1 per cent of total retail spending in the 12-month period, up from 4.9 per cent a year earlier. Nearly three quarters of the $11.1 billion spent by shoppers was on buying goods from Australian websites. Coles and Woolworths are being challenged. 100,000 Australians are believed to have paid their $60 annual membership fee to shop at the US bulk goods discounter Costco as it steps up its battle with Coles and Woolworths. Wesfarmers has reached agreement on an employment contract with Coles chief Ian McLeod, which will enable him to remain in the role after his current agreement expires in June 2013. But his salary will be pared back significantly from the $15 million-plus he took home last year to about $5 million to be in line with other Wesfarmers executives. The number of new home sales rose in April but Housing Industry Association (HIA) says more interest rate cuts are needed for a sustained recovery in the housing sector. Business leaders have urged the Gillard government to stick with its decision to allow 1700 foreign workers to work at Gina Rinehart’s $6.5 billion Roy Hill iron ore mine. The government is allowing mining magnate Gina Rinehart to use up to 1700 workers from overseas for a major project in Western Australia. The decision has infuriated trade unions and some Labor MPs. The first coal mine to be built in Queensland's resource rich Galilee Basin has been given the green light. About 2700 jobs will be axed after embattled engineering company Hastie collapsed under an estimated $500 million of debt. The company's collapse will cost some 2 wipe an estimated $300 million from the profits of banks, in addition to investor losses. Commonwealth Bank has gone further than the other banks. It has cut interest rates on some fixed rate home loans by up to 0.4 per cent. The mining boom has seen Programmed Maintenance Services Ltd almost tripling its profit in the last 12 months. Programmed, which provides staffing and maintenance services, posted a net profit of $31.2 million in the year to March 31, up from $10.4 million in the previous year. The search of Melbourne's OZ Minerals for a new project to expand its portfolio beyond its South Australian copper-gold interests has led it to strike a deal on an advanced copper-molybdenum project in northern Chile.
