Today
Victoria's epic battle to keep supply chains open
Victorian businesses expected the COVID-19 crisis to escalate this week but did not foresee how tough the new rules would be and how they would chop and change as the week went by.
- Jenny Wiggins and Simon Evans
Inside the fight to beat Melbourne's lockdown mayhem
Melbourne's lockdown threatens to reverberate through economic supply chains. Here's how business owners rallied to keep their firms open.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Satire
In plagues down the ages, there has always been an Andrews on hand
From Anthony Andrews to the Andrews Sisters, this famous Scottish clan have brought inspiration. Except perhaps one.
- Rowan Dean
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Growing cause to question the Andrews strategy
We may still all be Melburnians, but the huge national cost of Victoria's lockdown demands more answers than the country is getting.
- The AFR View
- Analysis
- GDP
Forecasting has never been more fraught
The Reserve Bank's assistant governor Luci Ellis mentioned the word uncertainty no less than a dozen times in a speech on Friday.
- Matthew Cranston
Yesterday
Lack of lockdown consultation raises business hackles
The CEO of pharmaceutical group Sigma says lack of consultation brought extra panic, while Gerry Harvey says getting 'adjustments' right in Victoria is crucial.
- Simon Evans, Carrie LaFrenz, Lucas Baird, James Fernyhough and Aleks Vickovich
Victoria's shutdown threatens critical deliveries
Critical deliveries of food, medicines and school supplies are at risk as a midnight lockdown of distribution centres, required by Victoria's virus shutdown, threatens to disrupt supply lines and parcel deliveries.
- Patrick Durkin, Simon Evans and Phillip Coorey
Sydney property bounces back
The Reserve Bank had some good news for the Sydney market on Friday, declaring a "strong bounce-back" in auction rates and listings returning to normal levels.
Virgin administrators rebuff new bondholder bid
The last ditch bid by two Asian hedge funds would offer creditors a better return but Deloitte has dismissed it.
- Lucas Baird and Jemima Whyte
Quarantine audit needed to prevent repeat of Vic disaster
Restrictions on Australians returning from abroad will stay in place for "some months", and the states have been advised to audit their quarantine procedures.
- Phillip Coorey
PM open to virtual participation in federal Parliament
Scott Morrison says MPs voting on legislation must be in Canberra, but options for video conferencing could be considered.
- Tom McIlroy
Teacher assessment to boost year 12 exams in Victoria
The Victorian government says year 12 students studying their final year exams will be individually assessed this year to compensate for adverse effects of the coronavirus.
- Robert Bolton
Deja vu for tourism operators as Qld shuts its borders again
Orpheus Island owner Chris Morris said he expected there to be some kind of border restrictions on Australia's east coast until Christmas.
- Mark Ludlow
More pay cut pain ahead, warns RBA
More than one in three businesses will implement a wage freeze over the next 12 months and household incomes will shrink a record 6 per cent by the middle of next year, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia.
- Updated
- John Kehoe
- Opinion
- First Person Pandemic
'I knew this high couldn’t last forever': From start-up to shutdown
The first two years for Etoile Collective felt like a "constant high" but the pandemic has changed everything for the start-up's founder.
- Michelle Hu
- Opinion
- Australian recession
Virus leaves no room for politics or ideology
The reality of a long and deep economic depression – and one in which no one can confidently predict the end – has been sinking in, writes Laura Tingle.
- Laura Tingle
PM offers vaccine optimism, but RBA is not baking it in
The RBA is not betting on a COVID-19 vaccine any time soon and says even if there is a medical breakthrough it would likely take until 2022 to become widely available.
- Andrew Tillett and John Kehoe
Victoria could have virus under control within weeks, experts say
The state is on track to get daily case numbers down to around 200, allowing the health department to get on top of contact tracing and cut down community transmission.
- Hannah Wootton and Tom McIlroy
News Corp to cut harder as COVID-19 bites amid $1.8b loss
News Corp has suffered a major hit to earnings, with the COVID-19 pandemic dragging down its full-year result across all areas.
- Updated
- Max Mason and Natasha Gillezeau
'Recession for the ages': Philippines economy on its knees
The Philippines this week recorded its biggest contraction in memory and economists are concerned there is no path back.
- Emma Connors
