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Canberra

This Month

 The budget Jim Chalmers will hand down on March 25 was not part of Labor’s original election strategy, regardless of whatever anyone tells you.

Australia cannot afford a phoney budget debate next week

The budget and budget reply will be failures if they do not include a genuine plan for fiscal restraint and do not explain how higher defence spending must be paid for by cuts in other policy areas.

People sit atop a vehicle travelling along a track in Viqueqe. East Timor is opening up more of its land for mining and exploration, and has awarded the majority of the licences to Australian companies.

Timor-Leste hands most new mining licences to Australian groups

The developing nation is thought to hold deposits of copper, gold, zinc and manganese, as well as rare earths and other critical minerals.

Olympia Yarger, the founder of Goterra, at her waste facility in Canberra.

Can our ‘most loved, least-funded’ founder turn garbage into gold?

Olympia Yarger says there’s a good business in rubbish. Her battle to raise millions of dollars is nothing compared to what she has been through to get here.

Cyclone stops flights; PM mulls non-budget election options

Millions of residents across south-east Queensland and northern NSW are in a holding pattern as the destructive arrival of the tropical cyclone is pushed back.

US President Donald Trump departs following a joint session of Congress.

Trump’s glory moment upstages the world

The US president’s address to congress was Donald Trump’s favourite version of reality TV, featuring himself as the star.

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February

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government is limping to the end of a first term.

Albanese hit hard by live fire from all sides

From Chinese warships, to Trump’s tariffs, to Australia’s sense of itself, Anthony Albanese is struggling to show he has convincing answers.

Wu Qian: “China’s actions are in full compliance with international law and international practices and will not affect aviation safety.”

China slams Australia for ‘hyping up’ live-fire drills in Tasman Sea

The defence ministry has hit back at Australia’s response to its naval exercises off the east coast, labelling Canberra’s protests as “unreasonable”.

China tests Australia’s, Trump’s resolve on Taiwan

The shifting geopolitical landscape has opened new opportunities for Xi Jinping in his plans to wrest back control of Taiwan. Australia is increasingly exposed.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a $2.4 billion support package for the Whyalla steel mill.

Why Albanese is going for broke at Whyalla

The prime minister is intent on saving jobs and the South Australian steel industry with a joint government bailout of $2.4 billion. But his hopes of a green steel future are much more tenuous.

Matt Comyn announces CBA results.

Why Comyn is cautious celebrating CBA’s bumper profit

Chief executive Matt Comyn has plenty to celebrate in the bank’s results. Unlike politicians, he prefers to avoid claiming much credit for that.

January

Treasurer Jim Chalmers, is happy with the fall in inflation

Falling inflation boosts Labor’s election push

The Albanese government will be even more relieved than the Reserve Bank that the latest consumer price index shows a further drop in inflation.

Former US ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy and her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

‘Predator’: Caroline Kennedy warns America of RFK jnr

In a searing letter, the former ambassador to Australia said Robert F. Kennedy jnr had led family members to drug addiction, and was unfit to be health secretary.

Substantial productivity improvements in the economy are still possible, but the regulation of our economy is extraordinary.

Nicholas Moore: blame bigger government for falling living standards

Much of the cost-of-living malaise in Australia is the result of policies that have expanded the role of government at the cost of long-term productivity.

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The ultimate in destination dining around Australia

At these restaurants, located from the Gold Coast to the Mornington Peninsula and the Adelaide Hills, the setting is a fundamental ingredient.

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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.

WA Premier Roger Cook and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

This year’s election gives miners a chance to flex their muscle

With plenty of marginal seats up for grabs, the road to power for both Labor and the Coalition could run through Western Australia, rather than western Sydney.

Eric Siegloff with Christine Collins, whose face we have deliberately blurred at her request.

What it’s like to fall for a crypto scam

Christine Collins, 79, was unknowingly in the thrall of cryptocurrency scammers who had hacked her computer.

December 2024

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks with members of the Prime Minister’s XI and the Indian cricket team on Thursday.

PM chooses journalists over cricket elite

Albo made the photoshoot and the game, but not the sold-out function, where the list of dignitaries sending their apologies was long.

November 2024

President Donald Trump was more polite to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2019. New US tariffs will change that.

Trump’s tariff war won’t spare America’s allies

Donald Trump is promising 25 per cent tariffs on supposedly close allies like Canada and Mexico as well as China. Where does that leave Australia?

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/canberra-7y4