Budget must ‘help, not hinder’ RBA’s inflation challenge
With inflation still too high, more than a dozen top analysts have warned that Treasurer Jim Chalmers needs to adopt spending restraint on May 14.
- Updated
- Gaming & wagering
‘Not a scenario’: Star concedes it’s unfit to operate Sydney
The gaming giant’s chairman has also told a NSW inquiry that he was “trigger-happy” when he sent messages suggesting the regulator be scrapped.
Seven Group says talk of Cleanaway buyout ‘completely untrue’
Shares in Australia’s largest waste collection company surged 15.8 per cent, to a two-year-high, after reports that the conglomerate was contemplating a bid.
- Opinion
- Workplace culture
Taxpayers should be furious over public service’s ‘ghost’ offices
On a recent Friday in Canberra, a deflated public servant friend revealed that there were only three people at work on a floor space that can seat 30 to 40.
CSIRO-backed Trellis Data shops con notes; seeks $100m value cap
The convertible notes would pay 10 per cent a year, accruing daily and capitalised, with 24-month maturity.
- Analysis
- Social media
Australia could treat Musk like a troll
The federal government has options against X that extend beyond fines that probably are unenforceable, writes Michael Pelly.
Woolies cuts prices in bid to catch Coles’ growth
A JPMorgan survey of private label products shows the supermarket giants are competing more aggressively on price, closing the gap with discount retailer Aldi.
Breaking news on companies, politics and economics, in your inbox as it happens.
tuesday tech
- Analysis
- Cyber warfare
Did one guy just stop a huge cyberattack?
A 38-year-old software engineer at Microsoft inadvertently found a backdoor hidden in a piece of software that was a possible prelude to a major cyberattack.
- Updated
- Social media
Court grants injunction forcing X to take down terror video
The eSafety commissioner won an emergency injunction in the Federal Court late Monday to force Elon Musk’s X to remove videos globally of last week’s Sydney terrorist attack. But the order has limited application.
- Analysis
- Tech Observed
How much has Canva made Blackbird’s partners? Hundreds of millions
Publicly disclosed share sales and industry estimates suggest the fund’s partners are deep in yacht money, and they deserve to be.
Social media giants ‘no longer fear reputation risks’
Tech policy advocates say the era of tech companies complying with local regulations to protect their reputation is over.
- Exclusive
- AI
Business is about to get a say on AI rules
The government plans to announce a revamped expert group to shape its thinking on the pivotal new technology around the time of the May budget.
Get the latest business news on the go with the AFR’s new iOS app.
Companies
Seven Group says talk of Cleanaway buyout ‘completely untrue’
Shares in Australia’s largest waste collection company surged 15.8 per cent, to a two-year-high, after reports that the conglomerate was contemplating a bid.
Electric vehicle sales set to surge, IEA predicts
EV numbers will be strong this year and Chinese carmakers will increase their dominance, the International Energy Agency predicts.
Woolies cuts prices in bid to catch Coles’ growth
A JPMorgan survey of private label products shows the supermarket giants are competing more aggressively on price, closing the gap with discount retailer Aldi.
Lehrmann rejected offer to settle, should pay all costs: Ten
Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson offered to settle with Bruce Lehrmann in August last year. He rejected it within two hours.
Top Binge executive quits Foxtel as end of HBO deal nears
Amanda Laing, who has been a senior content and commercial executive at Foxtel for six years, will leave in September, the company has told staff.
Qantas, Virgin flight delays are starting to ease
The latest official figures show the best on-time performance among major airlines since the easing of travel restrictions introduced in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Big four consultants ‘commoditised’, says fast-growing boutique firm
Rennie Advisory has appointed former senior EY partner Tim Eddy as its new chairman, as small firms capitalise on client dissatisfaction with the big four.
Companies in the News
Search companies
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Markets
Tech lifts ASX, Brambles sinks
Shares gain; Northern Star output misses forecasts; Westpac flags $164m hit; Brambles sales up; First Sentier shuts credit funds; Seven ups Boral stake. Follow updates here.
Tesla confounds investors ahead of Musk’s big test
Investors have pulled nearly half-a-trillion dollars from the struggling automaker ahead of what’s widely expected to be Tesla’s worst result in seven years.
First Sentier shuts fixed income funds, hands back $14b
Once a giant of the Australian fixed income scene, the Mitsubishi UFJ-owned fund manager will close four units that manage $14 billion in a major restructure.
ASX shoots for one-day settlement dream
The market operator is examining a move to a one-day settlement cycle, following the lead of counterparts in the US and Canada.
Copper eyes $US10,000 as ‘super squeeze’ intensifies
The metal surged to a two-year high this week as traders ramped up bets that copper’s bull market is unfinished business.
Opinion
Chalmers’ puzzling budget strategy for year ahead
Ideally, the 2024 budget should be slightly contractionary or, at most, neutral to help the Reserve Bank deliver the difficult last mile of disinflation.
Editorial
Taxpayers should be furious over public service’s ‘ghost’ offices
On a recent Friday in Canberra, a deflated public servant friend revealed that there were only three people at work on a floor space that can seat 30 to 40.
Economics editor
Will Future Made in Australia push the RBA off the narrow path?
If the budget does deliver policy changes that add to demand, inflation will probably keep falling slowly and stay too high for the central bank’s inflation target.
Economist
Why Beijing’s latest manufacturing strategy could backfire
Chinese industrial firms are facing intense downward pressure on their profit margins because they lack pricing power in their domestic and export markets.
Columnist
Albanese’s investment fund doesn’t want to pick winners?
The new $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund is already doing strange things, including holding its first two board meetings on the same day.
Senior correspondent
Chalmers confronts Australia’s budget dilemma
Despite the global tensions and the national gamble on the “Future Made in Australia”, the treasurer is about to hand down another surplus next month, writes.
Columnist
Politics
King opts out of call on NSW gas project over her past attacks
Resources Minister Madeleine King pulls out of making decisions around high-profile gas project off the coast of NSW that she once described as risky and a threat to jobs.
NSW government must ‘consult’ before changing WestConnex
Transurban has confirmed that the state cannot alter the structure of WestConnex without permission from the toll road group, a hearing revealed.
Economists dispute Chalmers’ downbeat growth tone
Leading economists have dismissed Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ pessimistic assessment of the global economy, and say it should not be used to justify inflation-boosting spending.
‘You’re the chief now’: Crowds greet Albanese at start of Kokoda Track
Long-time residents of Papua New Guinea said it was the most lavish welcome an Australian leader had received since Paul Keating in 1992.
Musk an ‘egotist’ out of touch on decency: Albanese
The escalating war of words between the tech billionaire and the Australian government follows a Federal Court ruling against X on Monday.
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World
Arrests sweep elite US universities as Israel tensions erupt
Police have made arrests at Yale and New York universities and the gates have been locked at Harvard as tensions between protesters and authorities boil over.
Electric vehicle sales set to surge, IEA predicts
EV numbers will be strong this year and Chinese carmakers will increase their dominance, the International Energy Agency predicts.
‘Iran is broke’: How clerics crippled the Islamic Republic
Behind all of Iran’s posturing, there seems to be a backstop. The country cannot afford all-out war because its economy is on its knees.
- Opinion
- Global economy
America’s ‘supercharged’ economy can’t last
One overlooked reason for US resilience is a tonne of stimulus still coursing through the economy.
Trump hush money was ‘pure election fraud’, jury told
Prosecutors allege the former president was part of a “planned, long-running conspiracy” at the start of his hush money trial in New York.
Property
Building materials supplier Lutum goes into administration
The move by directors to try and salvage the Boral spinoff shows casualties in Australia’s precarious home-building sector have spread well beyond builders.
Melbourne car park near Queen Vic Market tipped to sell for $120m
The large car park site at 380 Queen Street, which could support a multi-tower project overlooking Queen Victoria Market, is owned by Singaporean investors.
HTW employee details may have been compromised in valuer data breach
Banks are still waiting for an independent evaluation of the data breach and some are increasing their restrictions on the valuation firm.
Buying a unit cheaper than renting in only 11pc of suburbs
The number of suburbs where buying was cheaper than renting plummeted to just 2.5 per cent across Australia, and 10.8 per cent for unit buyers.
- Opinion
- Stamp duty
What Victoria’s new commercial property tax means for investors
Victoria is abolishing stamp duty for commercial and industrial properties and replace it with an annual property tax. Now, here’s the fine print.
Wealth
The three reasons your portfolio needs emerging markets
A key attraction is the ability to invest across segments that often react differently to various macroeconomic environments.
- Opinion
- Investing
What you’re missing out by investing only in Australian shares
With low forecast earnings domestically, if you aren’t diversifying across markets, it’s time to do so now.
The homeschooled billionaire who built a fortune before turning 40
Shaun Bonett was the country’s richest person under 40 in 2007. Now a billionaire, he shares his story, including a humiliating $25 million mistake.
Technology
Billionaire Elon Musk ‘shouldn’t be dictating to us our social norms’
We went to western Sydney community leaders and asked if the videos of a church stabbing should be allowed to stay on X. Here’s what they said.
- Opinion
- AI
AI keeps going wrong. What if it can’t be fixed?
Pessimists warn it could wipe out humanity. Optimists hail a medical revolution. But sceptics argue that the technology is simply flawed.
Got a small audience? This start-up could help you monetise it
Kindling is figuring out what AI tools can help podcasters and YouTubers “supercharge” their content, and find someone willing to pay for it.
Work & Careers
Forrests poised to tip more Fortescue shares into their charity
The financial endowment behind Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s philanthropic Minderoo Foundation is expected to grow towards $40 billion by the end of the decade.
Can you job-share a seat in parliament? These two women want to try
Lucy Bradlow and Bronwen Bock want voters to elect them together to represent the inner-Melbourne electorate of Higgins.
Life & Luxury
How the Spice Girls look so good at 50
The group were glowing at Victoria Beckham’s birthday party – here’s how they achieve their youthful look.
Samsung’s new OLED TV is the best TV ever. Or is it?
The idea that anything could be inferior to this device has forced us to ponder the very essence of what it means to have eyes in your head.
Mastering the little things: How bonsai got so big
Stressed? The ancient Japanese practice of cultivating miniature trees is finding followers globally as an excellent way to unwind.
- Opinion
- Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift is stuck in a 17-year-old’s mind
The superstar’s new album feels like an intentionally miserable performance. I listened to it so you don’t have to.
‘I thought bing, bang, boom, I’ll be pregnant. But IVF was different’
Olympic gold champion Kaillie Humphries is used to success, so she was unprepared “for things not working perfectly” when trying to start a family.
