Opinion
The happy tale of Aurizon’s privatisation
Chanticleer | Queensland’s decision to spin-off QR National proved wise as cost cuts and solid coal haulage volumes over the past year have pushed the rail-freight company’s share price to fresh highs.
Investors wary about any Qantas frequent flyer float
Anne Hyland | As 2014 shapes up as the year of whether Alan Joyce survives as Qantas CEO, institutional investors privately question why they would want to own shares in the airline’s frequent flyer business.
Once-bitten Telstra dips toe back in Asia
Telstra chief David Thodey is good at talking the talk when it comes to what he wants to do in Asia, but as anyone who has done business in the region knows, it takes time to walk the walk.
Navy blunder could sail nation into dark waters
It passed through the news cycle with all the speed and ferocity of a summer storm: a story which at any other time of year would have run for days disappeared almost as soon as it arrived.
Why big banks don’t like peer-to-peer
Jonathan Shapiro | The world’s most powerful banks are paying attention to peer-to-peer and other new forms of lending. But they seem more concerned about moonlighting than the financial system.
Tax and spend is still alive and well
Do not believe the government’s rhetoric about cutting tax and stopping waste, at least not yet. The budget update, released a week before Christmas, includes worrying indications of rising taxation and more wasteful spending.
Start-ups move into banks’ natural habitat
At this week’s World Economic Forum in Davos, international consulting firm Oliver Wyman launched its 17th annual report on the state of the financial services industry.
Open for business but not for all
Jennifer Hewett | As Murray Goulburn finally and formally concedes defeat in its pursuit of Warrnambool Cheese & Butter, Gary Helou’s sense of grievance is understandable.
Clarity needed on Arrow’s future
Angela Macdonald-Smith | The mystery surrounding Arrow’s coal seam gas reserves in Queensland is making more than a few people nervous.
Birrell passing shot a Kew for Frydenberg backhand
At Rod Laver Arena on Sunday night, all eyes were on centre court and the fourth-round battle between Canadian Eugenie Bouchard and local girl Casey Dellacqua. Well most eyes anyway...
Dollar alone won’t rescue us
Editorial | News from the retailers and the oil and gas industry this week indicate that major players in the economy may be relying too much on the falling dollar to revive the non-resources sectors of the economy. Instead of companies cutting costs and competing, or unions restraining wages, both groups are acting as if nothing has happened.
Silent office floors say volumes on economy
Editorial | Around Australia’s CBDs, the number of empty office floors is rising, with nearly 12 per cent of the nation’s downtown office space empty – the worst since 1997.
Welfare ‘blowout’ doesn’t add up
Welfare numbers went down as a proportion of the population over the decade, so where is the blowout?
Benefits of renewable power may not match the subsidies
The electricity market is flawed by subsidies to renewable power which fall on business users, and by power price caps.
