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Scott Morrison, and his government, are struggling to navigate their way through a series of scandals.

Morrison finds himself all at sea – again

In a political sense, COVID-19 came along at the right time for Scott Morrison. Yet the Prime Minister is back where he started – with questions over his judgment and agenda.

Tech investors are wary of the rising tide of bond yields.

How tech investors can navigate the bond yield storm

Rainy days have arrived for technology stocks, leaving shareholders wondering if now is the time to double down or take their profits and run.

The charge is on: Big business is entering a period of rapid and tumultuous change - both in strategy and leadership.

Australia faces disruption on steroids

Iron ore billionaire Andrew Forrest’s ambitious plan to turn Australia into a green steel powerhouse was a highlight of a tumultuous week in business.

What happened in Vegas drives Blackstone’s Crown bid

Blackstone’s experience in rescuing an ailing casino in Las Vegas will be crucial to its tilt at Crown Resorts. But patience will be required if it is to win the prize. 

AMP shareholder revolt dooms De Ferrari

After the market and Francesco De Ferrari himself were blindsided by news of his impending departure, it has emerged that shareholders frustrated at the slow pace of the turnaround have been pushing for more dramatic change.

As JobKeeper ends, ‘subsidy shame’ catches on

There’s no doubt JobKeeper provided a lifeline for the economy at the start of the pandemic. But the scheme, which ends on Sunday, had a major design flaw.

PM’s fantastical edifice of process is teetering

This week the Morrison government could no longer hide behind a screen of reviews, formalities and news management, writes Laura Tingle.

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THE SURE THING PODCAST

Lukas Kamay outside the Melbourne County Court in August 2014.

‘I have absolutely no doubt he was planning to do this’

A source has revealed Lukas Kamay talked about insider trading on the currency market years before teaming up with his university friend Christopher Hill.

Listen now: The Sure Thing episode 5

As a commerce student, Lukas Kamay was fixated on the lightly regulated currency markets and saw them as vulnerable to insider trading.

Chris Hill, speaking publicly for the first time on The Sure Thing, a Financial Review podcast.

‘You’re famous now’: the moment Chris Hill learnt of betrayal

It was only when he heard of a $7 million figure that Hill, who was in a police car after being arrested, realised the scale of the conspiracy he’d been plunged into.

Lessons from the making of The Sure Thing 

Video: Angus Grigg and the University of Sydney’s professor Clinton Free on white-collar crime and the making of The Sure Thing podcast at the AFR Business Summit.

How white-collar criminals sleep easy at night

A researcher who has spent the past decade in prisons across the US and Australia says there are four main ways white-collar criminals justify their actions.

The Sure Thing Podcast

The untold story of how two university friends hatched the perfect crime only to be undone by the desire for more.

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Companies

Lex Greensill’s financial empire fell apart at breakneck speed.

Greensill’s long and winding road to oblivion

Sorting out the global ruptures caused by the collapse of Greensill Capital will be anything but simple and is likely to take years.

David Teoh, in a letter to shareholders: “This is only the beginning for TPG Telecom.”

Teoh bombshell wipes nearly $1b from TPG

Investors have followed outgoing TPG Telecom David Teoh to the exit, meaning his 17.2 per cent stake in TPG is now worth nearly $170 million less than before his resignation became public.

AMP chief executive Francesco De Ferrari arrived too late to turn the company around.

Breaking up isn’t easy at AMP

AMP is about to be broken up, so it makes sense the company’s chief executive, Francesco De Ferrari, would be contemplating his future, too.

Thousand of orange trees just planted by Moree farmer Dick Estens are sitting in flood water.

‘Money flood’ for some farmers amid misery for others

Moree grower Dick Estens welcomes a ‘money flood’ as water fills up dams and promises bumper crops. Meanwhile, farmers closer to on coast count the cost as the flood clean-up begins.

Solar tariff reforms to drive smarter power use

Those on the front line of Australia’s booming rooftop solar industry say proposed reforms to solar tariffs will be worthwhile, despite some bumps as solar households get used to changes.

Qantas loses appeal on Virgin defector

The NSW Supreme Court has dismissed Qantas’ appeal of a decision that held it must challenge the defection of former executive Nick Rohrlach to Virgin Australia in Singapore with costs.

Teoh’s exit raises more questions than answers

Whether David Teoh became frustrated at his diminished control or TPG’s larger shareholders have other goals in mind is unclear. But it is hard to believe he was done with his empire building.

Markets

The Australian sharemarket closed the week higher.

ASX gains 0.5pc capping best week since early February

The S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.5 per cent to end the week 1.7 per cent higher in a week driven by healthcare and utility stocks.

Airtasker founder Tim Fung voted ‘yay’ on a Post-It Note when deciding to list the company.

How Airtasker was primed to pop

The decision to float Airtasker turned out to be an easy one, with all of the board and management team united. Then came the hard work.

Investors agree retail can thrive without JobKeeper

The Australian sharemarket appears confident the end of JobKeeper will not harm domestic retail stocks, with the consumer discretionary sector staying firm in the final days of the wage subsidy scheme.

Two reasons buying a Tesla with bitcoin is a bad idea

Those who purchase an electric car with cryptocurrency will face tax consequences, and any refund would be in cash, unless the digital coin’s value has fallen.

Australia won’t follow NZ down housing tax path

New Zealand’s unveiling of a suite of new measures to crack down on an exuberant housing market roiled financial markets on both sides of the Tasman, but fund managers say Australia won’t follow suit.

Opinion

Scott Morrison’s fantastical edifice of process is teetering

This week the Morrison government could no longer hide behind a screen of reviews, formalities and news management.

Laura Tingle

Columnist

Laura Tingle

Government must fight its way back on reform

The Morrison government must wake from the political nightmare that has buried its pandemic successes, and start paving the way for the May budget.

The AFR View

Editorial

The AFR View

Budget surprises only going to get bigger

The economy’s trajectory back to a new normal will not be a straight line. The good and bad news is that the Commonwealth budget is massively surprising on the upside.

Joe Biden has a wildcard with China

Does the US President put security or the economy first in tackling Beijing. Or is there a potentially even bigger issue in play here?

Ian Bremmer

Contributor

Ian Bremmer

The new cultural reality finally mugs the Parliament

Twenty years ago sex in the meditation room was a laughing matter. But the jokes aren’t funny after the tidal wave of allegations and revelations of mistreatment of women.

Phillip Coorey

Political editor

Phillip Coorey

Co-operation not separation best for trans-Tasman banking

Westpac’s move to look to sell off its NZ operations is a worrying sign the RBNZ may scare global capital away from a small, isolated and capital-importing economy.

The AFR View

Editorial

The AFR View
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Politics

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was hopeful there won’t be further restrictions.

Qld hoping to avoid another COVID-19 lockdown

A new local coronavirus transmission from an unknown source in Brisbane has people worried about whether the Easter holidays will be ruined.

Liberal MP Andrew Laming in Parliament House.

Social media corroding standards, says PM as he admonishes backbencher

Labor is demanding Scott Morrison sack MP Andrew Laming for harassing two female constituents, including on social media. 

One of the quarantine hotels.

Hotel giants make last-ditch plea to save jobs

With Sydney and Melbourne’s occupancy rates shattered, accommodation operators have called for urgent help from the Morrison government.

JobKeeper eligibility challenge expands access

A court ruling could see business owners denied access to the $93 billion JobKeeper scheme have their eligibility reconsidered.

Tasmanian Premier calls early poll, accused of cashing in on pandemic

Tasmanians will go to the polls on May 1, almost a year earlier than expected, after Liberal Premier Peter Gutwein lost his majority.

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World

Residents were forced to sleep in the open for days after a fire destroyed Moria camp on Lesbos.

An Australian’s unflinching gaze lights up Europe’s dark side

Athens-based journalist Zoe Holman’s unsettling new book puts a human face on Europe’s protracted and difficult migration crisis.

Marhaba Salay, with her mother Bahar and father Yakub, says no company should be importing goods made in the Xinjiang province, given the human rights abuses.

A money transfer to Australia landed this Uighur in prison

A proposed bill that aimed to ban goods produced by Uighurs in forced labour camps recently failed as companies file their first Modern Slavery Statements. But investors are demanding more.

A member of the Uighur community living in Turkey joins a protest against China in Istanbul last month.

China sanctions Britons after UK joins EU move on Xinjiang

The move was the opening salvo in its latest full-bore response to criticism and sanctions from the West.

North Korean missile tests loom as new headache in China relations

Australia says countries need to enforce sanctions against North Korea. China has faced accusations it has not done enough to clampdown on Kim Jong-un.

Trade turmoil as ships plan re-route to avoid Suez

Detours around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa could add a week to voyages and hold up consumer goods.

Property

Developers sell clean air, sunshine as perks

A pool and a gym won’t cut it any more. Apartment buyers also want amenities that bolster their health and well-being in the form of fresh air, clean water and sunlight.

Australian Unity rejects NorthWest’s $2.5b bid for healthcare fund

The Canadians’ sweetened bid has not been enough to sway the board of Australian Unity Fund Management, which says the offer still significantly undervalues its healthcare property fund.

99 Thackeray Street, Norman Park QLD 4170.

What $1m now buys you in Australia’s biggest cities

Rapidly rising prices mean what you can expect to snare on a budget of this size in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane is changing almost weekly.

Byron boom heads north, doubling property prices

Property prices are rising by up to $100,000 a month in the Casuarina-Kingscliff area north of Byron Bay, with beachfront land values doubling in the past year.

AMP Capital malls fund posts $517m loss after COVID-19 disruption

The release of the $3.6 billion fund’s financial result coincided with another dramatic development for its ASX-listed parent AMP: the expected resignation of its chief executive, Francesco De Ferrari.

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Wealth

Why Volkswagen could be the new Tesla

Expect the iconic German manufacturer to easily become and hold the position of the most electric vehicle unit sales globally by 2030.

How Vanda Gould’s secret world fell apart

He spent months coaching his Belgian lawyer to lie in court to protect his double life. It ended badly.

Devil in the detail with indexed super transfer cap

Most self-managed super fund members and their advisers were coming to grips with the new rules around transfer balance caps. But then along came indexation.

Technology

Baraja founders Federico Collarte and Cibby Pulikkaseril.

Baraja raises $40m to make driverless vehicles see better

The investors in the Sydney-based maker of light detection and ranging systems include a global giant determined to embed it in the mining and construction industries.

AFR Innovation Summit 2018. Photo by Peter Braig. 30 July 2018.  Scott Farrell, Chair, The Open Banking Review, Partner, King Wood & Mallesons.

‘Action initiation’ will empower customers to make use of their data

The consumer data right is not just about sharing data for recipients to read – but to act upon, to facilitate switching and competition.

Quantum computing leap puts ANU spin-off on $1b track

Research from Australian National University could make quantum computing ubiquitous, with a world-first development allowing super-charged computational power at room temperature.

Work & Careers

YMCA NSW chief executive Susanah Le Bron found an advocate in her former executive assistant: “I love her... she’s supported some significant people.”

The career move that made me

BOSS asks six prominent leaders to reveal the career move that made them.

I’m 49 and I’m doing an apprenticeship: Lark MD

Serial entrepreneur Geoff Bainbridge sees his role as managing director of Lark Distilling as a springboard to building an export foods and beverage business.

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Life & Luxury

Nicholas Molnar.

Nick Molnar’s runaway success starts with style

Where to start with the story of a man, who, at 31, is worth $2.2 billion, is a CEO with a staff of 1000 over three continents, a husband and a father of two – all that on just one shot of coffee?

Shaka Cook.

From the Pilbara to Hamilton’s big stage

Shaka Cook was on country in the Pilbara when he got the call to become the fourth president of the United States, and a place in the hottest show in world theatre.

Qantas is trialling two apps as airlines consider how to add vaccination checks to boarding procedures.

Have app, will travel: how vaccination passports work

The race is on to create a digital credential that will allow quarantine-free travel.

Agnes restaurant’s harissa chicken with labneh and lime. The recipe is below.

How to cook this revered smoking-hot harissa chicken dish

No wood-fired kitchen? No worries. Even a conventional oven can recreate Agnes restaurant’s Harissa chicken with labne and lime.

Rebecca Wilson began painting Kate Kelly before she wrote a biography about the gang member.

Reclaiming Kate Kelly – the story of Ned’s little sister

An artist became so obsessed with the famed bushranger’s sibling, she was inspired to write her biography – and discovered an unusual family connection to her.

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