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The AFR View

Yesterday

Led by Anthony Albanese, politicians have blamed Coles and Woolies for higher supermarket prices.

Australia must catch up and get serious about cutting red tape

Deregulation is a good place to start, but cutting red tape alone is not a silver bullet to fix Australia’s economic stagnation.

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This Month

Trump’s tariff war will force investors to recalculate their assumptions.

Trump’s trade war could hit inflation, rates, and growth in Australia

The pressure is on the Albanese government to negotiate the same deal the Turnbull government did in 2018, which exempted Australia from steel and aluminium tariffs.

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What real promise to make people better off would look like

The prime minister’s “narrative” glosses over the key lesson of the past three years; it’s impossible to improve living standards without meaningful reform.

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January

DeepSeek, a Chinese-owned open-source artificial intelligence platform, was developed with far less investment, time, and infrastructure than its US big tech competitors.

Australia should lean on natural advantages in AI race

We need scientists and technology experts embedded in company boardrooms, political offices and regulatory bodies.

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Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek is putting “nature positive” reforms back on the legislative agenda, despite objections from the WA premier and mining sector.

‘Nature positive’ is high risk for Labor in the west

The short-term politics are a sideshow to the bigger danger of further slowing down Australia’s already sluggish economy.

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CEOs are keeping a close eye on RBA governor Michele Bullock’s interest rate calls and press conferences.

No side of politics has a plan to make you better off

The depressing reality is that no party can convincingly articulate a strategy to improve Australians’ fortunes in the next three years and beyond.

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The sudden emergence of DeepSeek should not be a surprise given the US has long dealt with competitive threats in technology.

China’s AI leap means security must trump economics for Australia

Australia’s dilemma is that there is a tension in balancing the commercial advantages of cheaper Chinese technology with our national security interests.

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The Australian Open 2025.

Brisbane should learn lessons of Australian Open’s success

It’s always tough for governments to justify spending money on sporting venues. Yet, long-term thinking and the best option for leaving a legacy should be factored into the plans for Brisbane’s Olympic stadium.

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Donald Trump’s inauguration had more tech billionaires than any other.

More than bluster to Trump’s pro-business agenda

Donald Trump’s second coming must focus the mind of the political class on progressing the tax, workplace and regulatory reform agenda required to sharpen Australia’s international competitiveness.

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Gisele Kapterian is the slight favourite to gain Liberal preselection in Bradfield.

Liberal party must be a broad and inclusive church

All institutions need to pick the best people on their merits, yet half the population is significantly underrepresented in one of Australia’s major political parties.

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The great cultural question of the moment in Western countries like Australia is, why the left has turned viciously, demonically against Israel, and more generally against Jews.

States must step up the antisemitism fight

The antisemitic attacks on Jewish Australians are a national scandal. It’s up to state governments and police to protect all citizens equally.

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Who’s who at the inauguration zoo: in attendance will be (from left) Jeff Bezos, Kevin Rudd, Mark Zuckerberg, Penny Wong, Gina Rinehart, J.D. Vance, Ivan Kanapathy, Elon Musk, Anthony Pratt, Donald Trump, Barron Trump, Donald Trump jnr, Eric Trump, Pete Hegseth, the Village People.

Trump’s ‘unwokening’ is a cautionary tale

The US experience raises questions about how corporate Australia should achieve sensible diversity goals without fuelling a populist backlash.

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Hours after TikTok went dark across America, Trump rushed to the rescue by switching the app back on.

Look to AI, not TikTok, for Trump’s China intentions

Trump’s TikTok’s reprieve is a sideshow that reflects his personal popularity on the platform. He will fight much harder in the real geopolitical technological battle – the global struggle for AI supremacy.

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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

Poll suggests times may suit Dutton, not Albanese

As Labor doubles down on making Australia a green superpower, its climate-related priorities and election strategy risk alienating voters.

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BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s declaration of climate awareness heralded an ESG sea-change in global finance and the wider business world.

Business must maintain courage of climate convictions

The political attacks on ESG make it more challenging for businesses to put their heads above the parapet and support climate action.

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It is clear US foreign policy will be all about the art of the deal during the second presidency of Donald Trump.

Four Middle East truths of the ceasefire deal

We shouldn’t draw too many conclusive lessons from the latest Israel-Palestine conflict, but it does point to some realities about geopolitics in the age of Trump 2.0.

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Commonwealth Bank of Australia CEO, Matt Comyn is a thought leader in this area.

AI looms as new battleground for IR

A Luddite regulatory overreach on the industrial relations of AI would impose another dead weight loss on the economy.

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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.

Unrealistic public sector pay claims risk an inflation budget hangover

The wage demands at the tail end of the inflation-cycle will add to the fiscal pressure on state government’s already deep in debt and deficit.

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Businesses ‘social licence’ now hinges on helping safeguard our regional interests, according Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy.

Business enlists in Team Australia in the Pacific

Business engagement in diplomatic initiatives is welcome, but engagement in the Pacific must be in the best interests of customers, shareholders and employees.

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In Australia, however, we should be having a rational and constructive discussion in Australia about combating climate change and climate preparedness and resilience.

LA burning a reminder that climate action matters to Australia

In a hotter world, the risk of more common, more extreme weather is part of the prudent economic case for improving the environment.

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Original URL: https://www.afr.com/the-afr-view