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Patrick ComminsEconomics Correspondent

Patrick Commins is The Australian’s economics correspondent, based in Canberra. Before joining the newspaper he worked for more than a decade at The Australian Financial Review, where he was a columnist and senior writer. Patrick was previously a research analyst at the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.

@ComminsP

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BudgetPolitics

(L-R) Australia's Treasurer Jim Chalmers shakes hands with Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt as US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen looks on following a meeting of the Five Eyes Finance Ministers at the Treasury Department in Washington, DC, on April 18, 2024. (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY / AFP)

Treasurer flags budget revision

Jim Chalmers says the May budget will include an updated fiscal and economic strategy aimed at underwriting future growth and boosting national resilience against a hostile global backdrop.

Patrick Commins

JobsNation

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos SEPTEMBER 28 2023. GENERIC - signage - employment & jobs, staff wanted, position available, in Sydney CBD. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers

Unemployment inches up to 3.8pc as hopes of rate cut fade

An only slight lift in the unemployment rate to 3.8 per cent in March has underlined the remarkable resilience of the labour market and will add to the Reserve Bank’s reluctance to cut rates any time soon, economists say.

Patrick Commins

Interest ratesNation

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos, MAY 16, 2022. General editorial generic coverage of homes and apartments for sale in Melbourne as the national housing crisis continues to dominate the 2022 federal election.: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

Borrowing costs to climb even without rate hikes: RBA

The rolling expiry of hundreds of thousands of ultra-cheap fixed-rate mortgages means there is further pain to come, RBA analysis reveals.

Patrick Commins

BudgetDefence

Australia and the UK will deliver SSN-AUKUS, a new conventionally-armed nuclear-powered submarine, based on a UK design, incorporating cutting edge Australian, UK and US technologies. *** Local Caption *** The inaugural Nuclear-Powered Submarine Propulsion Challenge was launched in high schools across Australia on 19 June 2023, giving a new generation of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students the chance to win a trip to HMAS Stirling in Western Australia to see first-hand how submarines work. The introductory-level, nationwide program will provide teachers with learning resources to help students design their own engineering plans for submarine nuclear propulsion. The program aims to inspire students to discover how nuclear propulsion works and how it makes submarines more capable. The challenge is free to enter and open to all high school students in years 7–12. The winners from each state and territory will have the opportunity to take part in an immersive submariner experience at HMAS Stirling; the home base of Australia’s Collins-class submarines.

Extra defence spend won’t blow up budget

The ramp-up in spending on federal defence spending over the coming decade comes as no surprise but highlights how future governments will need to tackle the intensifying pressures on the nation’s structural budget position, economists say.

Patrick Commins

Interest ratesPolitics

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos APRIL 10, 2024: Treasurer Jim Chalmers after delivering the annual Bannerman Competition Lecture at the MCA. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

Labor’s Made in Australia policy ‘risks higher inflation’

Economists say the US’ extraordinarily loose budget settings were in part to blame for this year’s reacceleration in consumer prices, and warn of a similar challenge locally.

Patrick Commins

Economics

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 15: A woman passes by a sign during the annual Spring Meetings outside the IMF headquarters on April 15, 2024 in Washington, DC. The World Bank and IMF annual Spring Meetings are held from April 15 â 20, 2024 in Washington. Alex Wong/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by ALEX WONG / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

IMF warns on ‘stalling’ progress to reduce inflation

The International Monetary Fund has declared the global economy remains ‘remarkably resilient’, even as it warned that rapid progress on inflation over the past year had stalled at the start of 2024.

Patrick Commins

exclusivePolitics

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA, NewsWire Photos. JANUARY 29 2024: Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers holds a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Labor picks $400m transition ‘winner’

Labor will inject $400m to help develop a green alumina processing facility in Queensland in its first cash-splash under the Future Made in Australia policy banner.

Patrick Commins

Economic stoushPolitics

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos May 16, 2023: Annual national oil and gas conference (APPEA 2023 Conference & Exhibition) in Adelaide. Federal Government Address given by The Hon Madeleine King MP, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Naomi Jellicoe

King ‘agrees’ on Productivity Commission warnings

Resources Minister Madeleine King has backed in some of the concerns raised by Productivity Commission chair Danielle Wood over the government’s Future Made in Australia plan.

Sarah Ison and Patrick Commins

COMMENTARYCommentary

21/11/2023 Productivity Commission chair Danielle Wood during a panel on the State of Economy during the ASIC annual forum at the Sofitel in Melbourne. Aaron Francis / The Australian

Frank, fearless advice should be cherished, not condemned

We should be grateful for the Productivity Commission chair’s common sense and timely warnings that the PM’s Made in Australia policy risks wasting taxpayer money.

Patrick Commins

exclusivePolitics

Hidden cost of PM’s intervention agenda

Jim Chalmers’ hand-picked Productivity Commission chair warns the Future Made in Australia plan would divert investment from more productive parts of the economy.

Tom Dusevic and Patrick Commins

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/patrick-commins/page/8