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Jim Chalmers

Today

While economists expect inflation is falling faster than the RBA’s forecast, the question is whether the decline is rapid enough for the central bank to shift gears.

Inflation figures make or break for pre-election rate cut

While economists expect inflation is falling faster than the RBA’s forecast, will the decline be rapid enough for the central bank to shift gears?

  • Michael Read

This Month

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

Proposed lunch tax deduction to hurt productivity, warns Eslake

Labor accuses the Coalition of using taxpayer money to ‘shout your boss steak tartare’, but the opposition says its policy will help the hospitality sector.

  • Michael Read
Donald Trump and Anthony Albanese.

Trump tax threat could force Aussies out of the US

Financial advisers say it would be financially unviable for Australians to continue living in the US if Donald Trump doubled taxes on expats.

  • Michael Read and Tess Bennett
Police investigate anti-semetic graffiti overnight at the Newtown Synagogue, in Newtown, Saturday 11th of January 2025. Photo: Dion Georgopoulos / The Sydney Morning Herald

Woolworths NZ supermarkets boss to exit

Woolworths’ new CEO has made her first major change; NSW Police arrest 10 people for antisemitic behaviour; wildfire breaks out in LA. How the day unfolded.

  • Updated
  • Lucy Slade
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

Release costings on tax-free lunches, Chalmers tells Dutton

Tax experts warned the Coalition’s proposal to allow small businesses to deduct meal expenses would encourage dining out at the expense of investment.

  • Michael Read
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Both leaders have been on the campaign hustings this week.

Election spending already tops $10b

Economists warn that the commitments could give the Reserve Bank a reason not to cut interest rates in the near term.

  • John Kehoe, Michael Read and Ronald Mizen
Crowds pack into trains at Chatswood on Wednesday.

Wage wars: Chaos as salary demands push state budgets to the brink

This week, simmering tensions between essential workers and cash-strapped governments caused mayhem around the country. Can leaders contain the fallout?

  • Michael Read
Commonwealth Bank has told the Reserve Bank to ban surcharges completely for both debit and credit payments.

CBA urges Reserve Bank to scrap all card surcharges

The bank believes a complete ban on debit and credit card imposts is the simplest way to deal with surcharging inequity.

  • Lucas Baird
Treasurer Jim Chalmers and RBA governor Michele Bullock.

Jobs boom puts election rate cut on a knife edge

The stunning employment surge makes a pre-election rate cut less likely than the Albanese government would be hoping.

  • John Kehoe
The jobs market continued to defy expectations of a looming slowdown in December, with participation hitting a record high and underemployment falling to a 22-month low.

No need for a February rate cut after bumper jobs report: economists

In the face of a resilient labour market, some experts say the central bank may opt to wait until May 20 to start easing.

  • Updated
  • Michael Read
Jim Chalmers is not God’s gift to 21st century economics, but a spin doctor for the ages.

Coalition government will go back to basics on fiscal responsibility

Economic theory and empirical evidence demonstrates that a responsible approach to managing the nation’s budget is a prerequisite for prosperity.

  • Jane Hume
Finance secretary Jenny Wilkinson and Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy.

Please explain: Treasury and Finance in hot seat over $7.4b black hole

The heads of Treasury and Finance are being urged to explain why no extra money was set aside to pay for public servant wage increases over the next three years.

  • Updated
  • Michael Read
Jim Chalmers.

Tax surge puts shock third budget surplus within reach

Soaring tax revenue so far this financial year has shrunk the federal budget deficit to half the size it was expected to be.

  • John Kehoe
The irony is that Labor’s bigger spending during the past three years has, in part, made inflation harder to tame and helped keep interest rates higher for longer.

Rate cut can’t paper over Australia’s economic problems

The near-term focus on the RBA highlights the worrying fact that an election fought mainly over the cost of living will mask Australia’s budget and growth problems.

  • The AFR View
Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg has withdrawn Facebook from media content deals in Australia.

Meta reversal on political news boosts case for payments

Facebook owner Meta is facing fresh calls to reopen negotiations to pay Australian media outlets for news content.

  • Andrew Tillett
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Labor has hired thousands of extra public servants to cut back on outsourcing, which Finance Minister Katy Gallagher says has saved $4 billion.

$12b blowout in public servant wages since election

Labor is on track to spend at least $12 billion more on public servant wages than it forecast in its first budget, but says it has clawed back $4 billion by cutting down on outsourcing.

  • Michael Read
RBA governor Michele Bullock.

Soft inflation data brings February rate cut into sight

Economists and markets are increasingly confident the RBA will cut the cash rate in February after price pressures cooled further in November.

  • Updated
  • Michael Read

Inflation figures show ‘substantial and sustained progress’: Chalmers

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says headline inflation has now been in the RBA’s target band for four months; Victorian Liberal leader’s plan to scrap SEC would increase power prices, minister says. How the day unfolded.

  • Updated
  • Lucy Slade and Timothy Moore
Jim Chalmers, in his mid-year budget update, revealed a $22 billion deterioration in the nation’s bottom line over the next four years.

Chalmers pledged a spending diet, but Labor is on a binge

There is a big difference between what a government forecasts it will spend in the years ahead and what it actually spends.

  • John Kehoe
Treasurer Dr Jim Chalmers and Minister for Finance Katy Gallagher Labor has put aside almost no money for public sector wage rises despite already agreeing to increase the salaries of 185,000 public servants.

Labor’s $7.4b black hole from public service budget blunder

Labor has put aside almost no money for public sector wage rises despite already agreeing to increase the salaries of 185,000 public servants.

  • Michael Read

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/person/james-edward-chalmers-1n0b