Key business group whacks TPP

'Noodle bowl' of agreements is difficult for business to navigate

ABS prepares to cut critical surveys

• COMMENT

A decade ago in the leadup to the global financial crisis the Bureau of Statistics dimmed the lights. It suspended its job vacancies survey and slashed its employment survey by a quarter.

Business group lashes PM over deficit, tax scare campaign

Six months ago the business-backed Committee for the Economic Development of Australia presented the Turnbull government with what it said was a clear and practical plan to return the budget to surplus. There were 5 of them in fact, including different mixes of proposals such as better taxing superannuation contributions, halving the tax discount for capital gains, ending negative gearing, boosting taxes on luxury cars, alcohol and tobacco, and taxing the private health insurance rebate.

PM's man says Australian managers below par

Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull's most senior advisor has lashed out at Australian managers, saying they are failing to pursue opportunities and holding back national income.

Women half as likely to benefit from tax cuts as men

Male mining engineers, school principals, surgeons and anaesthetists will be the biggest beneficiaries of the high-end tax cut currently before the Senate, with men more than twice as likely to benefit as women.

Blame all around as Bureau deflects Census 2016 criticism

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has blamed the media for the failure of its census hotline and blamed an overseas denial of service attack for the failure of its census website in a strongly worded submission to a Senate inquiry that also attempts to deflect blame for the overwhelming of its website on its contractor IBM.

Help me out, run up more debt, says RBA boss

Incoming Reserve Bank chief Philip Lowe has appealed to the Turnbull government to help him out with economic management by borrowing big for infrastructure, saying there's only so much further cuts in interest rates can do.

Government mulls national default super scheme to save $1.5b

• EXCLUSIVE

The Turnbull government is considering a radical shakeup of Australia's superannuation system that would pit banks and industry funds against each other for the right to manage the deposits of every new entrant for at least two years.

Retrospective? Pull the other one, but it's a win for PM

• ANALYSIS

Limiting the amount anyone could contribute out of their own money into tax-advantaged super on top of employer contributions was never retrospective, but those who thought it was can relax. The government is imposing a limit by another means.