Government pledges $1.2b in 24 hours, budget yet to come
The government has rolled out more than $1.2 billion on three separate measures, including $600 million to establish an agency to co-ordinate disaster relief.
Rumble of inflation runs through corporate Australia
Three ASX-listed companies used the Macquarie Australia Conference on Tuesday to highlight price increases, adding to a chorus of concern that the post-pandemic economy will run red-hot.
- Opinion
- Big four
Why Phil Lowe is sticking with ultra-low rates
The strong rebound in economic activity has so far failed to ignite wages growth or inflation. That means that the Reserve Bank will refrain from raising rates.
VanEck, BetaShares in race for bitcoin ETF
VanEck and BetaShares have each lodged submissions with the ASX as they race to list the country’s first cryptocurrency-backed exchange-traded fund.
Is the RBA signalling a tapered QE3?
What the RBA has said about inflation and employment has ramifications for the extent of its bond buying program.
Indian Premier League suspended after more COVID-19 cases
The Board of Control for Cricket in India says local authorities and tournament officials took the decision unanimously ‘to postpone IPL 2021 season, with immediate effect’.
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.
Companies
Pandemic winners pick up the pace
Eating a Domino’s pizza sitting on a Nick Scali sofa and planning a camping trip after a shopping spree at BCF makes a pandemic trifecta.
Strategy to get more women in STEM jobs falls flat
Vast amounts of money and marketing have gone into promoting the idea that women need to join the STEM workforce. But evidence suggests maybe not.
AGL Energy stands firm on demerger
Interim CEO Graeme Hunt sought to reassure investors that lenders are on board after analysts and investors questioned how the demerger 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.
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.
- 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.
Markets
RBA nails rates down as economy pumps
The bank upgraded its economic growth forecast to hit 4.75 per cent over 2021, up from 3.5 per cent forecast in its February statement.
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.
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.
Opinion
Who checks when super funds cross the line?
Industry super funds are a good example of the age-old agency problem. The Treasurer is right to call for more transparency.
Editorial
India travel ban backfires as cricketers enter fray
After jumping in head first, the Morrison government is now trying to scramble back out of a political hole over repatriation flights from India.
Columnist
Blame weather for Queensland insurance prices, not government
Insurance is expensive in northern Australia because of natural disasters, and Scott Morrison’s bailout may not help much.
Senior correspondent
The market can generate a power supply fix without state involvement
EnergyAustralia’s Tallawarra B gas plant proves the private sector can deliver cost-effective, low-emissions electricity, and why the government should step back from big stick interventions.
Contributor
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
Politics
Fears travel ban threat will hurt trade ties with India
Despite Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying there is ‘pretty much zero’ chance Australians will be charged for flying home, the backlash has now spread to Indian-Australian business leaders.
Stuck in India: ‘Even if I get a flight it may be infected’
Tax agent Nagaraj Veerachettiar is worried Australia’s ban on travellers from India will mean he can’t get home to run his business ahead of the busy mid-year period.
PM ‘listening’ to North Queensland with $10b reinsurance pool
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said a $10 billion reinsurance pool will help underwrite 500,000 new policies in cyclone-prone northern Australia.
Super funds should butt out of companies’ lobbying: Bragg
Senator Andrew Bragg said it was crucial for companies to have a plan on how to mitigate climate risks, but parts of a recent push by ACSI went too far.
- 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.
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.
Australians in the thick of it as Biden’s infrastructure plans heat up
A challenge to a huge Australian-led project to expand one of America’s most congested freeway systems shines a spotlight on US infrastructure investment risks.
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.
Property
Sydney asking prices spike 6.1pc in four weeks
Higher vendor asking prices could lead to higher prices in the June quarter compared to the first three months of the year, despite a flood of new listings.
- Exclusive
- Office
Cromwell buys in Brisbane and on the hunt for more properties
Brisbane’s CBD office market has recorded another big sale, with Cromwell Property Group paying almost $120 million for 545 Queen Street.
Investor surge brings macroprudential clouds back over housing market
Surging investor lending pushed new mortgage commitments to a record $30.2 billion in March, new Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows.
- Exclusive
- Office
Archer Capital finds its mark with $14.6m office sale
The private equity firm has sold the boutique harbour-view offices it has owned since 2004 at a hefty rate of over $16,000 per square metre.
Office occupancy to normalise by 2022: Dexus
Effective rents, taking into account incentives, have dropped over the past year as the pandemic curbed business growth.
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
Nine boss fires shot at Foxtel in sports streaming wars
Nine Entertainment CEO Mike Sneesby has praised the success of Stan, the business he has nurtured from a start-up to a key player in Australia’s TV streaming wars.
- 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.
Work & Careers
Loan fee on vocational courses a hex on economic growth
Students who choose not to study at a university get hit with a 20 per cent charge on top of their unsubsidised fees which is both unfair and bad for the economy.
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.
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.
