Qantas to cut 1000 jobs; Clive Palmer email leak reveals voters are “bogans”; Australian dollar slumps: Midday Roundup

Australian airline Qantas is readying to cut 1000 jobs over the next year, after it warned of a possible $300 million loss in the first half.

Qantas said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange market deterioration in November was to blame, with passenger loads and yields falling further below the year’s negative trends.

The airline says its outlook for the second half of the 2013-14 financial year remains volatile given uncertain economic conditions impacting fuel prices and foreign exchange rates.

“We will do whatever we need to do to secure the Qantas Group’s future,” Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce says.

“The challenges we now face are immense – but we will overcome them and we will continue to build a stronger and better Qantas for Australia.”

Following the announcement, Qantas shares dropped 15.6% to $1.017 at 11.46am AEDT.

Clive Palmer email leak reveals voters are “bogans”

An email has been leaked in which newly elected federal MP Clive Palmer describes voters as bogans, but the billionaire has dismissed it, saying he, himself, spent most of his life as a bogan.

Palmer told Fairfax Media this morning he cares about bogans, as seen by his political alliance with the Motoring Enthusiasts.

“All I can say is I like chips. I regularly eat at McDonald’s but I’m eating more salads now… I wear Ugg boots and I go four-wheel driving,” Palmer said as quoted by The Age.

“We have got an alliance with the Motoring Enthusiasts. He throws kangaroo poo; what’s so insulting about that? It’s a lot of fun.”

Australian dollar slumps

The Aussie dollar has hit a three-month low, dropping to 90 US cents early this morning.

At 11.48am the dollar was buying 90.23 US cents, according to OzForex.

The US dollar strengthened early this morning following employment information from Automatic Data Processing in the US, which indicated private firms had added 215,000 new jobs in November – a substantial increase on the 170,000 which analysts had anticipated.

Shares down on open

Aussie shares have fallen on open, following Wall Street’s recent run of losses.

The S&P/ASX200 benchmark was down 19.3 points to 5254.5 at 12.01pm AEDT. Overnight the Dow Jones closed 24.85 points lower, down 0.16% to 15,889.77.