Business Wins Policy Changes as Capital Seeks Funding

Venari Minerals NL plans to issue up to 8,139,303 options to placement participants, convertible noteholders and consultants. It also warns that economic conditions could disrupt operations and its ability to raise money. The offer, lodged with ASIC on 23 October 2026, raises no funds directly. If holders exercise every option, Venari expects to receive about $976,716.

Capital and the cost of risk

Venari’s prospectus describes the options as highly speculative. Its capital needs depend on several factors, including whether the company can generate operating income. Venari may need financing beyond its recent placement, and equity financing could dilute existing shareholdings. Debt financing, meanwhile, could impose restrictions.

If it can’t secure financing, Venari says it may have to scale back operations or exploration programmes. The prospectus doesn’t guarantee that funding will be available on favourable terms.

Each option can be exercised for $0.12 and expires at 5 p.m. AEST on 6 August 2028. The offer opened on 23 October and is scheduled to close on 30 October 2026. Venari expects ASX quotation on 2 November for New Options other than New Director Options, and on 24 November for New Director Options, subject to shareholder approval. The company has scheduled its annual general meeting for 23 November.

Venari identifies its Red Mountain Project as being in Nevada, USA. If the company reaches mineral production, commodity prices and exchange rates could affect it. International commodity prices are denominated in U.S. dollars, while Venari accounts for income and expenditure in Australian currency.

Business policy and public costs

In New Zealand, 59% of business leaders surveyed in the NZ Herald’s Mood of the Boardroom 2026 survey said David Seymour had helped make the Coalition Government more business-friendly. Thirty percent disagreed; 11% were unsure.

The survey credited Seymour with helping establish the Ministry for Regulation, restore 90-day trials for all employers, reinstate interest deductibility for residential property, and scrap the ute tax and Auckland Regional Fuel Tax. Act also helped drive the replacement of the Resource Management Act. New planning and environmental legislation passed in September, promising a planning system based more on property rights and faster approvals for development and infrastructure. The article said economic gains would depend on how the laws are implemented.

Business leaders praised the agenda, though some pointed to its limits. An unnamed utilities chief said, “Act is clear and consistent with their policy as it pertains to making it easier to do business in New Zealand.” An unnamed investment banker called Act “the best in Government on economic matters” and suggested Seymour should be the next Minister of Finance.

Hayden Wilson of Dentons NZ said, “Act's diversion into Treaty rhetoric has distracted it from its contribution to the Government.” An unnamed local government chief executive said, “I don't see the pursuit of distracting culture wars as being business-friendly in the long term. We have been focused on the wrong things.” An unnamed energy chief warned that Act’s Treaty positioning risked affecting investment decisions by major commercial Māori entities.

Public debate and accountability

An Australian Financial Review opinion article described flames engulfing the Hotel de Ville in Limoges, looters smashing storefronts and setting Renaults ablaze, and police clashing with demonstrators at Paris’s Place de la Republique. It linked the unrest to labor costs and welfare-state policies, calling it among the worst and most violent France had seen in years. The headline cast the unrest as a warning to Labor about the “handout state”; the standfirst argued that getting voters off public assistance takes honesty about fiscal-repair trade-offs and political courage.

The Australian’s item on Snowy Hydro 2.0 appeared only with its headline and a subscription prompt. The headline said the project had “destroyed voters' faith in mega-renewable energy projects.” The page also displayed the line, “Feeble excuses and a $25bn cost trap should make us angry, but the absolute worst part of Snowy 2.0 is that these days no one is held accountable.” The retrieved text gave no reported capacity figure or details about grid stabilization.