- Exclusive
- JobKeeper
Businesses distorted turnover to access JobKeeper
Treasury analysis of 450,000 JobKeeper recipients showed a significant spike in firms reporting revenue falls slightly above the eligibility threshold.
- Exclusive
- Property tax
Soaring stamp duty ‘bracket creep on steroids’
Stamp duty imposed on home buyers has more than quadrupled in major capital cities over the past 20 years and appears to be deterring people from moving house.
- Opinion
- Federal politics
With Morrison in an unworkable position, Labor sees a chance
With all his backflips, the PM has destroyed his own credibility and his government’s capacity to find any credible policy, writes Laura Tingle.
- Analysis
- Federal election
Climate critical to Labor’s election hopes
The focus this week has been on the Morrison government’s flimsy climate plan, but it’s what Labor does next that matters now.
- Exclusive
- International students
Colleges ‘bleeding students in ridiculous numbers’
There is no clear signal from government that the pain being felt across the international education sector will be resolved any time soon.
Japan wants in on AUKUS
Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who still wields influence in the ruling coalition, said Tokyo should increase cooperation with Australia, Britain and the US to gain artificial intelligence, and quantum and cybersecurity technology.
Australia’s great jab divide puts society to the test
With vaccination rates high but COVID-19 far from vanquished, politicians face tough calls about how long they should shut out the unvaccinated.
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THE DANGEROUS DECADE
How ‘the heaviest share trader in Australia’ collapsed
Spiralling interest rates, inflation and low growth led to a litany of big company crashes in the ’70s.
Why the 1970s was the decade of living on the edge
The decade started with hope and experimentation as social attitudes to women, First Australians and immigration changed. But economic chaos and a constitutional crisis made it a wild ride.
- Decade Series - The 70s
- Platinum Year
When Sydney overtook Melbourne as Australia’s financial centre
Melbourne dominated Australian business and politics for more than a century, but during the 1970s power shifted to the Emerald City.
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Australia’s wasted decade: lessons from the 1970s
What we learned from the decade in which the ‘dream economy’ of the 1960s squandered its luck helped transform Australia over the following 30 years.
- Opinion
- Platinum Year
Exposing the tariff bludgers
As an editor of The Australian Financial Review and as an industry commissioner, Peter Robinson was a scourge of rent-seeking and cosy industrial arrangements.
Podcast | How Australia’s top entrepreneurs built their fortunes and what they learnt along the way.
Companies
Star on alert as Blackstone ups Crown bid
Crown Resorts has received takeover offer of $12.50 cash per share from US giant Blackstone, its second-biggest shareholder.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Packer will have final say on Blackstone’s Crown deal
Blackstone’s fresh bid for Crown is exquisitely timed. But is it high enough to win over the Crown board and James Packer after their painful winter?
New British import wants QBE to cull border silos
The new chief executive is aiming to improve internal succession after the insurer routinely tapped outsiders for top roles – including himself.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
CBA’s Winklevoss bet shows its crypto caution
The bank is trying to balance what it hopes are reduced risks in crypto for its customers against the risk of it missing the crypto boat.
Treasury Wines’ US boss revs up with Snoop Dogg and luxury wines
Ben Dollard has American rappers and Napa Valley wine brands on his side, but a lot of work to do to help offset a China profit hole.
Farmers collect data to measure improvements, tap carbon markets
Regen Farmers Mutual is raising funds to create a ‘digital twin’ of farms using drones and sensors to open up new revenue streams from carbon credits.
House price growth to cool from ‘dizzy height’: McGrath
Chief executive Eddie Law says the listed real estate agency is working to manage vendors’ expectations down as buyer fatigue sets in.
Companies in the News
Search companies
View stories and data from an ASX listed company
Markets
Crown’s eye-popping jump trims ASX weekly loss to 0.6pc
The Australian sharemarket edged up on Friday, buoyed by casino group Crown Resorts whose shares skyrocketed after Blackstone sweetened its takeover bid.
Five signs to watch for peak inflation
Easing order backlogs, stable housing costs and calmer commodity prices will help investors identify the high-point of pandemic inflation.
Supply chain squeeze intensifies, retailers sizzle
There has been no relief for the supply chain backlog, according to US retailer Macy’s and the ASX’s WiseTech; so it’s just as well consumers are wanting to spend.
ASX rises 0.2pc; Crown soars 16.6pc
The S&P/ASX 200 adds 17.3 points to 7396.5; Blackstone bids $12.50 a share for Crown Resorts; Accent takes $40m earnings hit from store closures. Follow the latest here.
RBA warns of ‘faddish’ crypto crash
The value of $US2.6 trillion in cryptocurrencies could plunge when central banks assert control over their monetary systems, the Reserve Bank has warned.
Opinion
With Morrison in an unworkable position, Labor sees a chance
With all his backflips, the PM has destroyed his own credibility and his government’s capacity to find any credible policy.
Columnist
Only 10pc of industries meet RBA’s wages test
Wages growth is a long way from the level required to convince the RBA to raise interest rates.
Columnist
This is no time for a policy-free federal election
Australia’s political middle ground remains surprisingly large. It’s just that no party wants to capture it in the name of economic reform.
Editorial
This election could be a choice between plane food and train food
Scott Morrison has borrowed from the playbook of John Howard as two very small targets prepare to face off in next year’s federal election.
Political editor
Once again, APRA turns up late to the house party
The regulator is now taking timid steps to cool a red-hot property market, which has been fuelled by an unprecedented borrowing binge. But what took it so long?
Columnist
Andrews’ smile can’t mask Victoria’s division
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews was all smiles on Thursday but his good news couldn’t mask the division in the state.
BOSS Deputy editor
Politics
Unvaccinated shut out for the foreseeable future in Qld
The Queensland government said there were no plans to lift restrictions on unvaccinated residents even after the state reaches the 90 per cent double-dose threshold in January.
- Exclusive
- Super wars
‘Significant risk’ CareSuper trustee could be insolvent from January
CareSuper is the latest super fund to seek court advice about a new law threatening to render industry fund boards insolvent next year.
Politicians unite in condemning attack on MP’s daughter
Animal Justice MP believes attack on adult daughter is linked to his role as a politician; Tim Paine apologises for the hurt a sexting scandal has caused his wife and family; Australia’s vaccine rollout passes 32.82 million doses; Follow updates here.
Pandemic’s economic toll weights most heavily on Victoria
Living standards south of the Murray River fell for the second consecutive year.
MP demands an end to Andrews’ ‘separated society’
Victorian Independent MP Catherine Cumming won’t support the state government’s controversial pandemic management bill until rules that bar the unvaccinated until 2023 are dropped.
SPONSORED
World
Virus lessons from Europe’s fourth wave
A surprise fourth COVID-19 wave is sweeping Europe as winter approaches. Will Australia see a similar surge in cases and hospitalisations in six months?
Kishidanomics: Old problems, new slogan?
Many Japanese are clueless about the details of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s $670 billion stimulus package and worry it’s a rehash of Abenomics.
The crypto tax crackdown hidden in Biden’s infrastructure bill
The Internal Revenue Service has been granted greater powers to chase billions of dollars’ worth of tax fraud related to cryptocurrency trading.
- Opinion
- China relations
Don’t underestimate Xi’s ambitions
China’s foreign policy was for decades patient and unthreatening. But Xi Jinping is already a very different kind of Chinese leader.
Biden’s $1.7trn social policy will send deficit soaring: budget office
The White House insists its huge spending plan for healthcare, housing, climate change and other measures will pay for itself, despite a nonpartisan budget office assessment that it will add $367 billion to budget deficits for a decade.
Property
Power shifts to property buyers in Sydney, Melbourne
Home buyers are snagging deals they could only dream of just a few months ago, as listings surge and vendors are forced to reduce their asking prices.
Investors vote against Goodman’s ‘excessive’ pay plan for execs
Logistics giant Goodman Group failed to sway shareholders on the merits of its new long-term incentive plan, after suffering a first strike on its remuneration policy.
House price growth to slow before falling in 2023
House price growth is expected to moderate to 6 per cent nationally next year before falling by 4 per cent in 2023, according to the ANZ.
Name and shame underquoters, real estate agency boss says
The NSW real estate industry wants the newly appointed Property Services Commissioner to strengthen the arm of the consumer watchdog.
WhatsApp messages reveal how Grocon was kept in the dark
Infrastructure NSW’s Tim Roberson chose not to tell Daniel Grollo about the progress of its negotiations over crucial “sight lines” at Central Barangaroo.
Wealth
Why mortgage loyalty is costing you thousands
Existing borrowers could be paying a lot more than those taking out a new loan.
How to find a winning super fund
Want a dud fund to follow you to your next job? Here’s what to do to ditch a poor performer and boost your superannuation balance.
As the older get richer, young people pay the price
Today’s younger households are underwriting the living standards of older Australians to a much greater degree than before.
Technology
Critical infrastructure facing cyber security risks
There has been a big increase in ransomware and cyber crime incidents and the government is keen to protect critical infrastructure.
- Opinion
- Cyber security
Grey zone actors pose threat of cyber Cold War
Cyber security reforms to strengthen the protection around our critical infrastructure will soon be in place, but businesses need to be ever vigilant.
Big businesses veer towards war games simulation and cyber resilience
Boards are coming to terms with the harsh reality that nothing will keep cyber criminals out if they are determined.
Work & Careers
More pain before relief for Australia’s universities
The international student sector is set to get worse before it gets better, with confusion, competition and border restrictions set to keep the pressure on well into next year.
Pendal boss has no interest in replicating ‘ruthless’ BlackRock
The chief executive describes his switch from passive investing to active funds management and how M&A can fuel the company’s growth.
Life & Luxury
This super boss says it’s time Boomers pulled their weight
HESTA CEO Debby Blakey has influence over $80 trillion, and is keen those funds are distributed responsibly. Over pasta, she talks sex, politics, power and poetry.
‘Bodices rip and blood flows’: yarns spun from an interesting life
Wilbur Smith had few pretences to literature, but his swashbuckling stories sold more than 140 million copies around the world. The author has died at 88.
Want a stronger bond with your dog? Try sleeping with it
Results from a Mayo Clinic study show humans who share a bed with their pooch may lose some sleep over it – but most wouldn’t have it any other way.
How Radiohead predicted our future 20 years ago
Two decades after they first appeared, the twin albums ‘Kid A’ and ‘Amnesiac’ – now combined in the box set ‘Kid A Mnesia’ – are more relevant than ever.
Move over, green hydrogen: Japan unveils a bizarre new fuel source
Waste from adult nappies used by Japan’s ageing population is growing by tens of thousands of tons a year, but one town has a solution: recycle them into fuel pellets.
