Push ahead with reopening despite outbreak: PM
Australia must learn to live with COVID-19 and not retreat every time there is an outbreak, Scott Morrison says, as some states delay reopening borders.
Broken global leadership a bigger threat than pandemic: WHO
South Korea is battling a "second wave"; Australia must learn to live with COVID-19 and not retreat every time there is an outbreak, Scott Morrison says. Follow our live blog here.
'Ashamed': High Court apologises over Heydon
In what Law Council president Pauline Wright called a '#metoo moment' for the legal profession, an independent inquiry found six women were sexually harassed while they worked for former justice Dyson Heydon as associates.
Victoria's renewed virus crackdown 'unfair' to hospitality
Victoria's decision to tighten COVID-19 restrictions as cases in Melbourne spike could prove a deadly blow to small businesses relying on eased rules to reopen, a restaurateur warns.
NAB CEO backs more stimulus, tips W-shaped recovery
Ross McEwan nominates industries hurt the most by efforts to contain the virus as worthy recipients of targeted stimulus.
- Exclusive
- Big four consultants
Deloitte to cut at least 700 roles across the firm
Deloitte will cut about 7 per cent of its workforce, or roughly 700 professionals, as the COVID-19 downturn hits demand for its consulting services.
Pentagon to invest $73m in Aussie shipbuilder
The US Department of Defence will back Austal's push into building steel-hulled warships.
Expert advice for getting ahead in the new world of work left by COVID-19
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Companies
Bain Capital in last-ditch pitch to Virgin workers
The private equity giant will honour all $450 million of entitlements owed to workers if its bid for Virgin Australia is successful, and offer equity to workers who stay with the business after its restructure.
ME Bank hands back $100m in redraw facilities
ME Bank has succumbed to customer pressure and handed back 25 per cent of adjusted redraw facilities, as shareholders risk a fall in value from any potential sale.
Big investors unimpressed by MCA's climate pledge
A group of major investors have demanded the Minerals Council of Australia provide more information on how its members will reach net zero carbon emissions.
Shoppies' Union calls for shopping centre crackdown
Shoppers are getting tested for COVID-19 and heading straight into stores rather than isolating until they get the all clear.
Northern Australia fund kicks in $150m for mineral sands mine
The federal government has backed the new mine as it continues to focus on developing critical minerals supply chains.
James Hardie rebound built in North America
Building products group James Hardie lifted guidance for the June quarter, prompting analysts to call for the company to reinstate the dividend.
Challenger to wade back into corporate bond market
The annuities provider will tap the market in a $300 million raising after CET1 capital buffers shrunk to just 1.01 times the regulatory requirement.
Markets
Travel stocks take a beating on second wave fears
Travel stocks have been hit hard by fears a second wave of COVID-19 could delay the resumption of domestic travel as Victoria struggles with a spike in cases.
ASX closes flat after volatile session
Investors torn between the upside of the economic recovery and the risk of a second wave meant Monday was another volatile day for Australian shares.
Splitit, Sezzle, Zip catch fire in US deal frenzy
The major US credit card companies are rapidly embracing the buy now, pay later sector through deals with smaller players. Can it last?
- Analysis
- Federal Reserve
Dollar crunch appears over as central banks rely less on Fed backstop
Data from the US Federal Reserve on Thursday showed its peer banks around the world last week tapped it for the fewest dollars in nearly three months.
Investors dismiss prospect of ‘V-shaped’ recovery
Investment management professionals have rubbished the idea of a quick global recovery from the coronavirus crisis, warning of several years of stagnation.
Opinion
The rupture with China is permanent
Calls from Australian business leaders to mend the diplomatic relationship – or at least to not further widen the division - now seem from a distant political era.
Columnist
Markets are mistaken, the new normal is here to stay
The earliest economic recovery will not be until 2024-25, and bigger government is one of the long-term changes now under way, says a special adviser to the COVID-19 commission.
Contributor
Is UK-Australia FTA more than Tim Tam flim flam?
UK trade with Australia, at $32.5 billion last year, is a fraction of the $1.2 trillion trade with the EU, which stands to lose existing tariff treatments following Brexit.
Contributor
Fresh spike a blow for Andrews and Canberra
The federal government is trying to avoid public criticism of Victoria's surprise decision to reverse the scheduled easing of restrictions Monday.
Columnist
Fee shake-up will nudge universities in right direction
The Morrison government's university fee shake-up seeks a higher return on the national investment in higher education amid Australia’s long and expensive pandemic recovery.
Editorial
ACCC faces huge task to make big tech pay
The Treasurer wants the ACCC to go hard against the tech giants in its digital media code. But extracting money from them won't be easy.
Investigative journalist and columnist
Politics
Experts urge review of hotel quarantine in Victoria
The Victorian government needs to urgently tighten up its quarantine measures at hotels after the spike in cases linked to "leakage" from travellers, experts say.
Fees for degrees plan faces uncertain Senate ride
Plans by the Morrison government to use higher education fees to steer university students away from the arts and towards science and maths are not guaranteed passage through the Senate.
What the RBA chief prescribes for the economy to rebound
Philip Lowe is concerned the economy will 'meander' along unless businesses are incentivised to take risks to aid the recovery from COVID-19.
- Analysis
- ALP
Rudd's plan to outlaw factions is ridiculous and cynical
The Labor leader was removed a decade ago not because of the existence of factions, but because he overestimated his power over them, writes Aaron Patrick.
Scam losses top $2.5b but true cost much higher
Dodgy investments and dating sites lead scams that are booming in Australia; one-third of people who are ripped off do not report the issue.
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World
Cracks appear in China's steel boom
Amid the recent sector-wide bustle has been a lopsided reliance on metal demand from construction sites that has partially masked weakness from manufacturers.
Abattoir outbreak drives up Germany's infection rate
Germany's coronavirus infection rate rose for a third day, lifted by local outbreaks including in the region of North Rhine-Westphalia, where more than 1300 people working at a slaughterhouse tested positive.
- Analysis
- Coronavirus pandemic
Hungry neighbours cook together as virus pummels Latin America
Economic shutdowns have forced poor Peruvians, Argentines and tens of millions of others to fall back on community-based efforts unseen in large numbers since the region's crises of decades past.
COVID-19 surge in US south, south-west raises alarm
Infectious disease experts in the US have expressed alarm over the pace of new coronavirus infections in several states, with one likening the spread in parts of the country to a 'forest fire'.
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
Second wave of virus cases? The US is still in the first
Scientists generally agree the nation is still in its first wave of coronavirus infections, albeit one that's dipping in some parts of the country while rising in others.
Property
Stockland boss Mark Steinert to retire
The managing director of the country's largest listed developer will stay on in a transitional, flexible, capacity.
Maple plan ticked for Brisbane's Quay Street
The $200 million mixed-use project will include the restoration of the historic Davidson’s Residence, built in 1868.
Comcare leases top floor in the Top End
The national authority for work health and safety, and workers’ compensation, has leased a whole floor of Sentinel Property Group's Jacana House in Darwin.
Primewest takes charge of berries and citrus trust
Primewest has added $275m worth of berry and citrus farms to its $4.1 billion portfolio as it pushes deeper into agricultural real estate.
HomeBuilder sends wreck in Holden's backyard 53pc over asking price
The grant gave a big push to the Public Trustee sale of a run-down house in northern Adelaide's Elizabeth East.
Wealth
ASIC's fact sheet on SMSFs 'sheer fantasy', MP says
Details issued by the regulator about the time and cost involved in running SMSFs are 'misleading and deceptive', Tim Wilson claims.
- Opinion
- Sharemarket
Four stocks set to ride the IT boom
Private enterprise has stepped up to fill the imminent void in new technology infrastructure.
- Opinion
- Property investment
Winter may be the season of vendor content
Fewer sellers and more buyers may reward those who opt to put their properties on the market earlier than the usual selling season.
Technology
Turnbull leads Aussie push to back anti-trolling technology
The former prime minister and other prominent local business figures are piling in to back a US company using AI to spot and report abusive content on social media.
- Exclusive
- Software
Start-up races to $17m revenue in first eight months
Serial entrepreneur Philip Weinman and Deloitte Digital founder Peter Williams have taken aim at the seemingly bland world of packaging.
- Exclusive
- Start-ups
Former AFL player raises $6.6m for online advertising start-up
Former Adelaide Crows and North Melbourne player Brad Moran has already scored big-name clients like Woolworths, Coles and Sainsbury's for CitrusAd.
Work & Careers
Minimum rise mostly not for the low paid
Research provided to this year's minimum wage panel found 64 per cent of those on award rates were earning above the 'low paid' threshold, defined as two-thirds of the median hourly rate.
- Exclusive
- AFR focus defence
Shipbuilding on a mission to build future workforce
Shipbuilding is seeking high-tech talent to be trained in the latest generation of equipment.
Life & Luxury
‘Welcome back to restaurants’: Grand venue hails new era
Andrew McConnell's just-announced CBD bar and fine-diner, Gimlet, means there's even more to look forward to as pandemic restrictions ease.
This CEO's rear bike light doubles as a radar
Consultant Himanshu Dua feels scared every time he rides the Spit Bridge in Sydney – but it doesn't stop him doing it every Sunday.
RevelWell shapes up to be the Peloton of Australia
This start-up is banking on the staying power of digital fitness, even as gyms reopen amid easing restrictions.
White rice 'has almost the same effect as eating pure table sugar'
Brown and white rice can be dangerous in large amounts, but the white version spikes blood sugar levels, says Harvard Medical School.
- Analysis
- Fashion retail
Dressing up again? Fashion eyes recovery from ‘brutal’ crisis
As many people have found themselves working from home, demand has shifted to yoga pants and leisure footwear. But will such casual looks stick around when Zoom meetings give way again to power lunches?
