Yesterday
Wage rises to blow out ‘unrealistic’ state budgets: S&P
Psychiatrists in NSW and teachers, nurses and police in Queensland are the latest essential workers to demand significant wage rises from state governments.
- Michael Read and James Hall
- Opinion
- Interest rates
Reserve Bank should not bow to political pressure for February rate cut
Giving in to the pile-on by Labor-aligned commentators calling for cuts would be a bad look and would damage the central bank’s credibility.
- Richard Holden
- Exclusive
- Federal budget
Opposition savings from housing, green energy funds in doubt
Senator Jane Hume says the Coalition will interrogate Labor’s billions of dollars tied up in funds for housing, clean energy and manufacturing, but admits they may be difficult to unwind.
- John Kehoe and Michael Read
This Month
Like Elon Musk, Jane Hume wants to make government more efficient
Hume says her approach as a finance minister would be more efficient government and restoring a deregulation agenda for business across a suite of policy areas.
- John Kehoe
- Exclusive
- Federal budget
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.
- Michael Read
- Exclusive
- Federal budget
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
- Analysis
- Aussie dollar
Winners and losers from the Aussie dollar’s near five-year low
There’s something strange going on with the currency. Expect expensive overseas trips, takeover activity, more foreign buyers in the real estate market and a federal budget boost.
- John Kehoe
Seven ways everyday Aussies – not CEOs – would fix productivity
From pumping seawater into the lake in the South Australian outback to creating hydroponic farms in inner-city high rises, Australians say we can get productivity growing.
- Michael Read
- Analysis
- Federal budget
With a $7.4b black hole, Gallagher tries to explain the unexplainable
Budgeting no money for public servant wage rises may have made sense under a stingy Coalition, but it makes no sense under a Labor government hiring like mad.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- Productivity
For business, AI can be the new electricity for productivity
If we are to shift productivity momentum back in our favour, it’s worth asking what this kind of progress means in our modern context.
- Bran Black
Fed officials wary of new inflation risks around Trump policies
The minutes described the December rate cut by the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee as “finely balanced”.
- Howard Schneider
The harsh economics of mining the Arctic
Donald Trump’s plan to purchase Greenland is just one symptom of the world’s lust for polar minerals. But who wants to work in a frozen wasteland?
- The Economist
$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
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.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- Federal election
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
- Exclusive
- Federal budget
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
- Exclusive
- Federal election
‘Smears and lies’: Spender blasts claim she wants to raise taxes
The teal MP has called for truth in political advertising laws after a new right-wing campaign group, Australians for Prosperity, paid for ads saying she wants to lift taxes.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- Inflation
RBA should cut rates and not be fooled by trimmed mean inflation
The actual inflation rate Australian consumers and businesses feel is now within the designated target range of 2-3 per cent. The RBA should not ignore this.
- Craig Emerson
- Analysis
- Holidays
How to turn four weeks of leave into 49 days of holidays in 2025
As the summer silly season ends, the idea of returning to work for a whole new year can be overwhelming.
- Sarah Mitchell
Top super investors dash pre-election rate cut hopes
But they say investors should be optimistic about inflation easing despite later cuts and risks associated with Donald Trump taking the White House.
- Hannah Wootton
PM’s $7.2b Qld road pledge has states clamouring for more funding
Anthony Albanese has caved to Queensland’s new premier to pay 80 per cent of a $9 billion upgrade of the Bruce Highway, igniting demands from three states.
- John Kehoe, Gus McCubbing and Tom Rabe
No, the budget is not out of control
Readers’ letters on Australia’s economy, sport and climate change, wage theft, populism, emissions reporting, AustralianSuper’s performance and beer bellies.
Why housing affordability is now a top problem for CEOs
Business leaders say high house prices and skyrocketing rents are affecting where people choose to work and making it harder to find talent.
- Michael Read
- Exclusive
- Federal budget
Labor’s social spending budget blows out by $26b
The Albanese government’s spending on aged care, disability, medicines and childcare – where it will campaign – is $26 billion higher than first budgeted.
- John Kehoe, Michael Read and Cecile Lefort
Emissions reporting boosts financial sustainability
Readers’ letters on emissions reporting, renewable energy, green-left politics, productivity, government advertising and an idea for state governments.