RBA holds rates, lifts key economic forecasts
The RBA has given improved unemployment and economic growth forecasts but warned investors are on the rise in the property market.
ASX firms 0.6pc to within 100 points of record high
The Australian sharemarket came within 100 points of hitting a record high on Tuesday after the RBA gave an upbeat assessment of the domestic recovery.
Senate scrutinises BCG’s $1.32m AusPost work
BCG received $1.32 million for less than four months’ work for Australia Post last year, but the board says it offered ‘nothing new’ in its analysis.
ME Bank slapped down for ‘serious and systemic’ breaches
The sanction amounts to a naming and shaming for the lender after it launched a remediation plan last year to rectify the redraw scandal, which took place at the height of the COVID-19 crisis.
UBS hits Goldman Sachs, Macquarie for new hires
Street Talk understands the Swiss bank inked two new signings this week to bolster its financial institutions investment banking coverage and equities team.
Westpac home loans face delays despite ‘renovations’
Borrowers are being forced to wait weeks before the bank picks up a file as it overhauls its approvals process.
- Live
- Need to Know
Indian biosecurity bans contrary to international law says Robertson
RBA joins the bulls; Scott Morrison defends biosecurity bans against multiple criticisms; new 3D quarantine surveillance system. Follow updates here.
Companies
AGL Energy stands firm on demerger
AGL interim CEO Graeme Hunt sought to reassure investors that lenders are on board after analysts and investors had questioned how the demerger of AGL, which has $2.8 billion of debt, could work in practice.
- Updated
- Aviation
Virgin Australia still saddled with $1.2b debt
Financial filings to the corporate regulator reveal the full scale of the airline’s strife before it was rescued from administration.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Perpetual’s value pitch; Domino’s dilemma: bosses take stock
The scars - and opportunity - after a year of pandemic were clearly on display as business leaders fronted the Macquarie Australia Conference.
CBA buys Whitecoat, makes a move on health payments
The battle between CBA and NAB over business banking has become more intense, with CBA buying a health app that could challenge NAB’s health dominance via HICAPS.
Oil Search gets keen interest for Alaska oil sell-down
Government-owned oil companies, US and Asian parties are interested in buying a slice of Oil Search’s $3.9 billion oil project in Alaska, leaving CEO Keiran Wulff hopeful of a deal this year.
Mineral sands miner digs deep early to secure workers in WA
Strandline locked in contractors a long way out in the face of hot demand for the workers needed to build new mines in WA.
Top three Aussie dairy portfolio hits the market, PwC on board
Duxton Asset Management is getting ready to milk its decade-long investment in Victorian dairy business Ace Dairy Holdings.
Markets
- Live
- Markets Live
ASX up 0.6 per cent; RBA upgrades GDP, holds cash rate
The Australian sharemarket closed 0.6 per cent higher on the back of strong gains from gold miners. The RBA has increased its GDP growth expectations to 3.5 per cent over 2022 and anticipates the unemployment rate will continue to fall to around 4.5 per cent at the end of 2022. Follow the latest here.
Deal-hungry Perpetual eyes performance fees
Perpetual’s boss Rob Adams has a spring in his step since value strategies recovered.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Successor must tackle the issues Buffett won’t
Warren Buffett’s successor Greg Abel has big shoes to fill. But Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting also suggests he has key issues to tackle.
Farm owners cash in on surging prices
Farmland prices have jumped almost 13 per cent in a year on the back of strong commodity prices and low interest rates.
Billionaire Buffett names his successor
Succession has been a closely guarded secret at Berkshire Hathaway but as Warren Buffett enters his 90s, he’s given his strongest indicator of the person who will replace him.
Opinion
Fed policy risk is the biggest challenge for investors
Ultimately, the US Federal Reserve may be forced to slam on the brakes, risking undermining what should be a long-lasting inclusive recovery.
Contributor
Higher corporate taxes make paying for Biden’s spending harder
Penalising US business investment will ultimately slow the growth in the tax base needed to finance the Biden administration massive expenditures.
Contributor
Westpac digs in for the long haul in a low-rate world
Westpac boss Peter King is dispensing with the frills as the Sydney-based bank digs in for a long period of ultra-low interest rates and growing margin pressures.
Columnist
Why ‘McMansion’ is no longer a derogatory term
Lifestyle tastes have changed. Now no house in Australia can be considered too large no matter how many bedrooms on whatever size block it is.
Columnist
The West must learn to match China’s weaponised economics
China is using economic heft to create the dependency and appeasement that the empires of old achieved through war. But Beijing is also sensitive to collective push-back.
Contributor
Making Tasmania less healthy, wealthy and educated
The bigger problem with the Tasmanian election result is the Liberal Party’s failure to seek a mandate to undertake the structural reform needed to fix the state’s serious underlying problems.
Editorial
Politics
- Analysis
- Electric cars
Subsidy battle brewing over electric cars
Despite their contested green credentials, electric cars are forecast to become as cheap as regular cars by 2030 without subsidies.
- Exclusive
- Super wars
European fund giant questions Frydenberg proxy reforms
Dutch giant PGGM, which oversees $416 billion in savings and is a shareholder member of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors is concerned about the new proposals.
Fight China with boycotts, sanctions: Liberal MP
The Morrison government’s China expert, Ted O’Brien, wants Australia to form new alliances that could use boycotts and sanctions to combat China’s economic warfare.
India travel ban may be lifted sooner
Facing claims the ban on Australian citizens and permanent residents returning from India was racist, Scott Morrison said the restrictions would be reviewed.
Funding plan ready to build gas-fired power station
Provision will be made in next week’s budget for the construction of the fossil-fuel plant in NSW, amid a growing view the project will go ahead.
SPONSORED
World
At least 20 dead after rail overpass collapses in Mexico City
At least 15 people have been killed and 70 hurt after a Mexico City overpass carrying metro train cars partially collapsed onto a road on Monday night.
Buffett, at 90, still puts his money where his mouth is
Berkshire’s unwillingness to virtue-signal when it comes to climate change may irritate some shareholders, but the way it votes with its wallet is more significant.
After a year of restrictions, New York accelerates reopening
The relaxation of rules starting on May 19 offers a chance to jump-start the recovery in a region that became a centre of the pandemic last northern spring.
Bill and Melinda Gates to divorce after 27 years
The couple have together emerged as leading figures in the global fight against COVID-19, and their separation is likely to send shock waves through the worlds of philanthropy, public health and business.
Border bribes, testing scams expose Indonesia to virus surge
Public health experts say the chinks in Indonesia’s COVID-19 armour could prove fatal for the world’s fourth-most populous country.
Property
Return of investors pushes new home loans to record high
Surging investor lending pushed new mortgage commitments to a record $30.2 billion in March, new Australian Bureau of Statistics figures on Tuesday showed.
Rents fall as Vicinity gets set for rebound
Owners of major shopping malls were among the hardest-hit businesses during the pandemic disruption, even as some big retailers accelerated.
Pace of boom eases, but prices to rise for another year
House prices rose at a slower pace in April, a month after hitting a 32-year high, but strong demand is expected to further drive the boom for at least another year.
Dexus pops Parkville deal into $1b healthcare fund
Dexus, the country’s largest office landlord, has been steadily expanding its exposure to healthcare real estate, since seeding an unlisted wholesale fund to invest in the sector four years ago.
Charter Hall ‘heading to $20b’ industrial portfolio, lifts guidance
Property investment and development company Charter Hall loves industrial property and has bought a 25-site portfolio from PFD Food Services for $269 million.
Wealth
- Opinion
- SMSFs
COVID-19 can kill DIY super funds
If the pandemic is keeping you from Australia, take steps to ensure your SMSF does not lose its tax concessions.
- Opinion
- Aged care
Many definitions of ‘couple’ for aged care rules
Determining whether two people are assessed as a member of a couple is not always straightforward due to varying relationship arrangements.
- Opinion
- Superannuation
Retirees should splash on themselves, and save the economy
There is a boost to the economy if cautious retirees could be encouraged to open their savings wallets more often.
Technology
- Opinion
- Review
The verdict is in on the Apple AirTag
We’re excited to find something that works so well, and at the same time a little concerned Apple’s AirTags might work too well.
- Exclusive
- Funding
SafetyCulture cracks $2b valuation with huge funding round
The Aussie workplace safety and operations software scale-up has more than doubled its value after one of the year’s biggest investments in the country.
- Exclusive
- Space
Aussie space start-up aims to revolutionise satellite communications
Quasar wants to do for space ‘what Wi-Fi did for earth’ by creating a way for satellite ground stations to communicate with hundreds of satellites at once.
Work & Careers
Telstra exec moves to consulting firm
Matt Saggers has moved to Protiviti in the firm’s Enterprise Cloud business after working at Telstra and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Frank Costa, who saved the Geelong cats, has died at 83
Hometown hero Frank Costa stepped in to save the AFL team and stood up to organised crime in Melbourne’s fruit and vegetable market - building a $770 million business along the way.
Life & Luxury
Melbourne’s newest hotel is a time machine to the ’70s
With its retro glamour, the new 123-room Ovolo South Yarra lets you luxuriate – or party – like a rockstar.
- Opinion
- Cars
Porsche delivers world’s first electric station wagon
The entry-level Taycan 4 Cross Turismo can handle off-road terrain and is a better buy than its far more expensive top-of-the-range sibling.
- Opinion
- Review
The verdict is in on the Apple AirTag
We’re excited to find something that works so well, and at the same time a little concerned Apple’s AirTags might work too well.
This surfing property specialist had a scary encounter
Scott O’Neill, founder of Rethink Investing, says he likes ‘a random little surf on a nice day, somewhere not too crowded’, but it has got hairy in the past.
Eleven Madison Park goes vegan because beef is ‘gluttony’
Inspired by climate change, the acclaimed New York restaurant’s menu will still cost $US335, but chef Daniel Humm says there will be cow’s milk for your coffee.
