August
More exclusive than any restaurant: how top deal makers dine
Investment banks and law firms have fostered a thriving in-house dining scene where they can break bread away from prying eyes.
- Aaron Weinman
‘You don’t embarrass the New Yorker in Trump’ says military adviser
Chris Miller, a former acting secretary of defence and Project 2025 contributor, says the AUKUS military alliance will be fine if Donald Trump wins the election, but Vladimir Putin could be in a jam.
- Kevin Chinnery
- Exclusive
- Defence
Prominent think tank fears the loss of its ‘superpower’
The rarefied world of public intellectuals and scholars is braced for a bombshell following a government review into think tank funding.
- Emma Connors
July
Aussies in Lebanon told: ‘get out while you can’
The government has plans to extract as many as 15,000 citizens from Lebanon using ferries if need be, but is urging them to leave now as there can be no guarantees.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Building Bad
Only a full judicial inquiry can lift the lid on the CFMEU
The scandals at the construction union leave a host of unanswered questions that will shape the future of industrial relations in Australia.
- Graeme Watson
June
- Analysis
- Political leadership
Peter Dutton is going right. Conservatives love it
But party moderates fear their leader’s tough policies on climate change and immigration could cost inner-city seats.
- Aaron Patrick
May
- Opinion
- Immigration
Giles scandal shows we disdain bureaucracies until we need services
Slashing the capabilities of government departments means that in the real world, dodgy characters escape scrutiny and genuine needs go unanswered.
- Laura Tingle
- Opinion
- Federal budget
The Coalition swings back to the immigration playbook
The irony is that Peter Dutton of all people should understand how complicated migration numbers really are.
- Laura Tingle
- Opinion
- Canberra Observed
This budget sees the return of government as saviour
Two decades ago, Australia was poised to shed the hard-done-by battler mindset. Now it is more entrenched than ever.
- Phillip Coorey
‘Larger than life’: packed memorial farewells Lang Walker
Friday’s two-hour public service for the property developer and Rich Lister, who died in January, was attended by a who’s who of Australian business and politics.
- Robert Harley
April
Australian Club showdown gives members indigestion
You know what totally ruins the vibe? Democracy. Of which members of Melbourne’s prestigious Australian Club have had a gutful.
- Updated
- Myriam Robin
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Bondi Junction tragedy brings out the best
The carnage at Bondi Junction Plaza may have lessons for mental health management. But it was also a violent exception that proves the rule of a harmonious society.
- The AFR View
March
- Opinion
- Hobart
State polls position Albanese for a second term
Polling booths around the country show Labor’s support base is growing enough for another narrow federal win.
- John Black
- Opinion
- Foreign relations
A British friend with important lessons for Australia
The UK is a good strategic partner for us. It is also a public policy laboratory for what works – and what does not.
- Alexander Downer
Australia’s long history of short governments
Extending the timeframe for politicians to remain in power has widespread support from government, business and unions. It’s voters that need to be convinced.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Federal election
Senate a sticking point for four-year terms
The conundrum that must be squarely faced is 1988’s defeated take-it-or-leave-it constitutional amendment that rolled in a shorter term for the upper house.
- Helen Irving
The one thing John Howard says could get four-year terms over the line
Former prime minister John Howard and his one-time Labor rival Kim Beazley have thrown their support behind calls to extend the federal parliamentary term to four years.
- Tom Rabe
Dick Humphry, inventor of shareholder democracy, dies at 85
A man whose habits and approach were set in the “old school”, Richard Humphry nevertheless led a technology-driven revolution in Australia’s financial markets.
- Andrew Clark
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Four-year terms to end short-termism
New Business Council of Australia president Geoff Culbert pushed the idea at The Australian Financial Review Business Summit to “break out of the jail of short-term thinking” in Australian politics.
- The AFR View
- Opinion
- Canberra Observed
Chalmers’ third budget will fight and stoke inflation and growth
Timing for the next election will be about picking a sweet spot between things getting better and things getting worse.
- Phillip Coorey