Yesterday
US-China talks seek to save face, and their economies
Tariff negotiations between the two superpowers this weekend offer the prospect of retreat from a full-on trade war. But will the market’s sense of relief prove premature?
This Month
Steady hand faces test from Trump’s new American revolution
Anthony Albanese is promising a reformist, orderly government with no surprises but what will happen when the shocks keep coming?
Dutton is now the least of the Liberals’ problems
How and why the Liberals lost the campaign so very badly and why there’s no rescue coming.
What went wrong – and right – in this election
A sullen electorate appears to be reluctantly accepting more of the same from Labor. For the Coalition, it adds up to a discordant failure of tactics, strategy, policy, preparation and imagination.
April
The numbers headache for Canberra and Washington
Jim Chalmers and US counterpart Scott Bessent have a few things in common – the threat of tariffs, the risk of recession and a budget that doesn’t add up.
Trump is boosting left-wing victories. That’s bad news for Dutton
America’s president is harming, not helping, other conservative leaders. But what is the reaction within the US?
Lynas blasts Labor over critical minerals stockpile plan
Lynas CEO Amanda Lacaze has warned Labor’s critical minerals stockpile will be counterproductive and may damage Australia’s only rare earths producer.
Albanese tries (and fails) to not sound overconfident
Peter Dutton’s campaign is in deep trouble as the Coalition loses its mojo and the federal government’s confidence surges.
Albanese and Dutton dodge economic reality
Trump has warned his tariffs may cause temporary pain. Albanese and Dutton are not even trying to level with Australian voters about the cost of their spending.
China weaponises rare earths in tariff war
China’s dominance in processing rare earths metals and high-performance magnets means Beijing’s curbs on the crucial exports are a major threat to US manufacturing.
Tax cuts, housing help: parties spend big to grab attention and votes
A federal budget far less healthy than previous ones hasn’t reined in Labor’s willingness to spend and spend more, and the Coalition is ready to counter in kind.
Labor’s efforts to link Dutton to Trump are proving effective
Like the rest of the world, WA politics has been upended by Donald Trump’s reckless tariff war, which has a sharp edge in a resources-dependent economy closely intertwined with China’s growth.
‘Trump-proof’ Australia, business leaders tell Chalmers
Business groups have rounded on Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton in the election campaign to shore up Australia’s economy against Donald Trump’s trade war.
Trump’s game of bluff on tariffs and tax
China is threatening to “fight to the end” if America imposes yet more tariffs. The respite on global sharemarkets is likely to be temporary if trade tensions continue to escalate.
Tariff maelstrom bears down on Dutton’s election hopes
Labor is as alarmed as any government as Donald Trump’s sharemarket carnage unfolds. But it also sees a political advantage.
Trump’s colossal misjudgment will cost the US – and the world – dearly
Donald Trump is pretending the sharemarket carnage is all part of his grand plan to use tariffs to reboot the US economy. What happens when Main Street revolts?
How Trump has soured my American dream
There was a chilling edge to the president’s declaration this would be “an entirely different country within a short period of time”.
Australia counts cost of gas manoeuvres
Peter Dutton is the latest political leader with a new plan to lower energy prices. Will his gas policy work any better than all the others?
RBA won’t join desperate guessing game
Central banks are as much on edge as markets, as the world waits to learn the impact and extent of Donald Trump’s tariffs. Caution reigns at the Reserve Bank.
March
Why Albanese is confident of winning – partly thanks to Trump
The government quietly hopes the Trump effect will boost its chances, but the focus of the election campaign will be resolutely on domestic cost-of-living pressures.