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Cost of living

September

Coles managing director Leah Weckert and Woolworths chief executive Amanda Bardwell face a long dispute with the ACCC.

Fight or fold? Coles, Woolies face the angry shoppers they ‘fooled’

With its bombshell allegations this week the ACCC has given the big supermarkets two options, neither particularly palatable. Do they fight or do they fold?

  • Patrick Durkin
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Parents’ eye-watering education bills don’t end with school

Helping kids get started in life has arguably never been more expensive. Plan and save early, experts say. We’ve also found the most generous scholarships available.

  • Michelle Bowes
Jim Chalmers is expected to deliver his fourth budget early next year, but it could come after the next election.

Drop in spending gives Labor cost-of-living flexibility

Ahead of an election campaign expected to start as early as March, departments have been told the mid-year budget will focus on consumer issues.

  • Ronald Mizen
US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has given Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock plenty to think about.

Suddenly the RBA seems very isolated

Australia’s central bank looks neither hawk nor dove on monetary policy. It seems more of a shag on a rock in a sea of interest rate cuts.

  • Warren Hogan
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ASX nears record; Trump shooting crisis; Bunnings CEO hits back

Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.

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Atlas Arteria’s attempts to increase toll fares on the Dulles Greenway by as much as 40pc have been knocked back.

End of the road for Dulles Greenway’s 40pc toll increase

Atlas Arteria’s aspirations to push up tolls on its US road have been dashed after a regulator ruled out the hefty increase.

  • Jenny Wiggins
Jim Chalmers, Michele Bullock and the inflation dragon.

Treasurer v the RBA: Why Chalmers and Bullock are both right

Jim Chalmers says the economy is getting smashed by high rates, but it’s still running too hot for the RBA. The answer is simple: productivity.

  • Michael Stutchbury

August

Treasurer Dr Jim Chalmers.

Cost of living concerns start to moderate, but it’s still number one

Concerns have moderated for the first time in almost three years, but it leaves no room for complacency for the Albanese government as the federal election approaches.

  • Phillip Coorey
Family offices are ready to invest their cash reserves.

Two-speed economy exposes the great Australian divide

The gap has widened between younger and older Australians, small and large businesses, and resources-rich Western Australia and the east.

  • John Kehoe, Michael Read, Carrie LaFrenz, Tom Rabe, Ayesha de Kretser, Lucas Baird and Sam Buckingham-Jones
Ryan Stokes has the Seven Group sailing ahead.

Winners from profit season’s big Wednesday

All eyes were on CBA’s monster numbers, but Seven Group Holdings and AGL also delivered nice profit growth – and Pro Medicus impressed yet again.

  • James Thomson and Anthony Macdonald

July

Former TPG Telecom email customers to be slugged up to $95 annually

Accounts with iiNet, Internode and Westnet addresses will start paying a yearly fee from September after they were transferred to a Norwegian-owned company.

  • Jenny Wiggins
Cash Converters said retail store revenue increased by 11 per cent in 2024 after 600,000 transactions took place in its pawn shops.

Booming Cash Converters revenues point to squeeze on the poor

The ASX-listed pawnbroker told investors the increase was partly tied to “mainstream finance” being “more difficult to access” for many of its customers.

  • James Eyers
North Richmond in Sydney’s west. The volume of refinancing has begun to slow, likely pushing delinquency rates lower.

Mortgage cliff turns into ‘a wave’ that is already subsiding

The tailing off of refinancing is fuelling a rosier outlook for housing delinquencies as borrowers come to terms with higher-for-longer interest rates.

  • Lucas Baird
Protesters clash with riot police during May Day demonstrations in Paris, France.

Australia’s great threat is a clash of civilisations

Seismic undercurrents of discontent are surfacing in society as religious beliefs collide and a generation is locked out of the housing market.

  • John Carroll
Rhythm Snowsports owner Mick Klima taking in the sights at Thredbo on Friday.

Ski season finds cold comfort from a slow start

Ski industry operators say soft early snowfalls combined with 13 interest rate rises have led to a slower start to the season. But things can change quickly.

  • Gus McCubbing
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday.

Albanese quietly frees up funds for election fight

The prime minister has implemented a shift in budget strategy that allows him to free up funds for election priorities, causing some dismay among senior officials.

  • Phillip Coorey
Governor-General Sam Mostyn after the swearing-in in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday.

Why ‘care’ will be at the centre of Mostyn’s governor-general term

Business leader Sam Mostyn, who was sworn in on Monday, warned that younger people were concerned they could miss out on privileges enjoyed by previous generations.

  • Tom McIlroy

June

University of Sydney student Abby Bonic lived in a residential college for three years in order to have an authentic uni experience.

Why parents are forking out $40k for their kids to live on campus

Residential colleges used to be the preserve of country boarders and blue-blood families, but there’s a growing trend among parents who want their kids to have the kind of university experience they had.

  • Michelle Bowes
Anthony Albanese on Monday.

Middle-aged, middle-income women lead drift away from PM

The “bill payers in the house” have soured on Anthony Albanese over the past 12 months.

  • Phillip Coorey

Jobs are booming in this industry, but the cause is rooted in sadness

A mental health services recruiter says demand for employer assistance programs has skyrocketed since the pandemic as people battle cost of living pressures.

  • Gus McCubbing

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/cost-of-living-jfq