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Albanese and Chalmers have the change to steer towards reform.

This is Labor’s chance for real reform. Business must make the case

Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers have the chance to tackle big-picture reform in a way that was unimaginable a few days ago. Business should lean into that.

This Month

The Chanticleer podcast features James Thomson and Anthony Macdonald.

Next PM’s to-do list | Woodside hits go | Minecraft powers Woolies turnaround

This week, what the election means for investors, a telling $27 billion investment, and the latest weapon in the supermarket wars: cheap cardboard toys.

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor and Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume .

Budget will get worse before it gets better under Coalition

A surprise new $3.6 billion tax on vaping and a massive $17 billion cut to the public service will not prevent a Coalition government posting bigger budget deficits.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

Chalmers didn’t know a key budget number. This is why it matters

Treasurer Jim Chalmers failed to recognise a $47 billion deficit figure in an oversight that economist Saul Eslake says exposes the government for glossing over so-called “off budget” spending.

April

Trump’s tariff war will have unintended consequences.

Meat price rises could be just one (of some) unintended tariff hits to Australia

Australian business leaders are scrambling to understand the second- and third-order impacts of Trump’s trade war. And they might not play out as expected. 

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There could be an argument for a big rate cut based on taking pre-emptive action to manage risks from the trade war.

Is there a case for a jumbo-sized interest rate cut next month?

Given the cash rate is now 4.10 per cent, this suggests that the RBA board could deliver a 50 basis point cut in May and still leave policy mildly restrictive.

Bookmakers say the odds of Tony Abbott winning his seat are drifting out.

Voters are still fed up with major parties

Readers’ letters on the teal independents, Peter Dutton’s fears of bias at the ABC and Guardian Australia, defence policy and taxation on superannuation.

Jim Chalmers and Katy Gallagher say the government’s election promises will improve the budget by $1 billion over four years.

Labor’s missing $8b for housing makes a mockery of budget

More than 80 per cent of the $10 billion that the government committed to build 100,000 homes for first buyers was nowhere to be seen in its election costings.

Shoppers at a supermarket.

Inflation result opens door to post-election rate cut

The RBA’s preferred measure of underlying inflation has dipped below 3 per cent for the first time in three years, opening the door to a likely interest rate cut for the second time this year.

More and more Australians are prisoners to their mortgage.

Voting Green may be the greatest act of self-harm by a generation ever

Under the Greens’ housing proposal, rent could rise by an average $83 a week, on top of the rent increases likely to happen anyway.

Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy and Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

Treasury to axe 250 jobs under Labor

The federal Treasury will cut 250 jobs over the next two years if Labor is returned, despite the government attacking Peter Dutton for proposed public service cuts.

The Labor government’s proposal of taxing unrealised gains could have significant repercussions for the Australian housing market by incentivising retirees to shift assets into their primary residence.

Labor’s tax on unrealised gains could wreck your retirement

This new tax warrants rigorous scrutiny and a more comprehensive reassessment before it inflicts lasting damage on our nation’s financial well-being.

Labor must do more after the election

Readers’ letters on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the federal election, road-user charges for electric vehicles, Tasmanian salmon farming, Peter Dutton’s nuclear power policy.

Anthony Albanese has ridiculed the S&P Global warning that Australia’s prized AAA credit rating could be at risk due to surging off-budget spending and deteriorating budget fundamentals and blamed the previous Coalition government for the fiscal position.

Mocking S&P’s credit warning risks Australia’s prosperity

The nation’s AAA rating is not an ornament. It was hard-won through decades of careful fiscal management by successive governments.

Election promises are adding to pressure on the budget from government spending.

Albanese scoffs at credit rating agency over AAA warning

The prime minister took aim at an S&P Global report that warned the highest government spending since World War II was risking the nation’s prized credit rating.

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Over the past 50 years of economic partnership, ASEAN has played a meaningful role in America’s economic ascent.

Trump tariffs cut deep for America’s trillion-dollar ASEAN partners

The damage to Washington’s image and its relationships with the rest of the world, including South-East Asia, may be lasting.

Gold fever | The CBA mystery | Trump insult shakes markets

This week, James and Jonathan Shapiro unpack gold’s surge, try to solve an ASX mystery, and assess the Treasurers debate.

Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller expects the central bank to deliver more rate relief.

Fed’s Waller will support rate cuts if Trump’s tariffs lead to job losses

US Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller says unemployment could rise, and quickly, if high tariffs come into play in July.

Interest rates

RBA says interest rates don’t hit households as hard as you’d think

The RBA wants you to know that changes in household cash flow from interest rates get too much attention.

Jim Chalmers and Angus Taylor held a debate on Thursday.

Tax surge improves budget but deficits still loom

Strong jobs growth and robust commodity export prices have put the federal budget on track to record a deficit about half the size of the $27.6 billion forecast last month.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in Hobart.

Dutton denies backflip on EV tax break. The transcript is clear

The opposition leader claims he was misunderstood when he said he would not scrap Labor’s signature tax break to encourage electric vehicle uptake.

Why Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will do a deal

This week on The Fin podcast, Australian Financial Review columnist and former ambassador to China Geoff Raby on the US-China trade war, what it means for Australia and how it might be resolved.

The time has come to mount a counterattack. But the counterargument cannot be technocratic

Trump’s shock-and-awe approach to China is working

The US president knew he needed to drop neutron bombs to shock his counterparties out of their stubborn stupor.

The statement comes less than a week after the opposition leader said his “aspiration’ was to index tax brackets to eliminate bracket creep and lower income tax.

Dutton to pay for $21b defence boost through income tax hike

The statement comes less than a week after the opposition leader said his “aspiration” was to index tax brackets to eliminate bracket creep and lower income tax.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/policy/economy