CBA cuts growth forecasts, places odds of recession at 50pc
Australia’s biggest lender now sees annual growth slowing to 0.7 per cent in the final quarter of this year as the RBA’s rate rises hit consumption.
What bracket creep is costing every Australian taxpayer
A worker earning $100,000 is paying nearly $1500 more per year in tax, compared with 2011-12, analysis of new ATO figures shows.
Cash rate of 4.85pc to drain thousands from borrowers
Borrowers with a $1 million loan will see their monthly repayments hit $7401 if the Reserve Bank of Australia delivers three additional cash rate increases.
- Exclusive
- Carbon challenge
Qld to commit $14b for mega pumped hydro project
The Palaszczuk government’s funding of the Borumba pumped hydro project is part of the state’s push to reach 80 per cent renewable energy by 2035.
- Opinion
- Russia-Ukraine war
This is no time to become gun-shy about backing Kyiv
Ukraine has become a real-world experiment in protecting vulnerable democracies. But defence bureaucrats everywhere have made haste too slowly.
PwC’s tax scandal victims pile up
It wasn’t only four former partners thrown under the bus this week. Dozens of would-be partners are also paying the price for the scandal that just won’t end.
ATO victorious over Binetter tax scheme’s ‘extraordinary deceit’
What started with the seizing of a laptop in Geneva in 2003 has led to one of the biggest legal affairs the ATO has pursued.
- Exclusive
- Pets
The not-so-secret life of pets
AFR Weekend: The big stories, best reads and expert advice. In your inbox on Saturday.
weekend reads
PwC’s tax scandal victims pile up
It wasn’t only four former partners thrown under the bus this week. Dozens of would-be partners are also paying the price for the scandal that just won’t end.
The Kathleen Folbigg case, the DPP and ‘getting away with blue murder’
Business veteran Peter Yates was never meant to wade into Folbigg’s legal battle. But when he did, he changed the course of her fight.
- Analysis
- Russia-Ukraine war
How to survive trench warfare in the 21st century
The goal is to get as close as possible before the enemy has an opportunity to fire on the soldiers, who are open and vulnerable as they manoeuvre.
- Analysis
- Coal
The capital strike against coal has failed
The industry is easily circumventing the international campaign to deny it financing and looks likely to thrive into the next decade, The Economist reports.
- Opinion
- Royal family
Prince Harry’s paranoia shows he can’t cope with fame
Harry’s witness statement betrayed his growing lack of objectivity in suggesting that the tabloids were the same as trolls and that journalists ‘had blood on their hands’.
smart investor
Seven ways to cut mortgage stress as rates rise yet again
As households struggle with the 12th interest rate rise since May last year, it pays to know which strategies will cost you less over the long term.
- Opinion
- Property market
Why the cash rate could hit 5pc before the RBA is done
With labour costs, not profits, the biggest driver of inflation, the central bank will have to go higher to crush Australia’s wage-price spiral.
The family member most likely to steal your savings
Baby Boomers are expected to bequeath about $224 billion each year in inheritances - and the possibility of fraud or financial abuse from a close family member is real.
Forgotten to withdraw full pension amount? Prepare for big fallout
A reader whose SMSF underpaid him by $30,000 finds the implications are huge, ranging from a non-compliant pension to a large tax bill and inheritance issues.
- Opinion
- Flat Chat
How to cope when apartment owners can’t afford strata levy
When too many can’t pay the fees, strata committees have more options than just calling in the debt collectors.
Get the latest business news on the go with the AFR app. Now available for Android and iOS.
Companies
Rescuing borrowers from mortgage prison is risky, banks warned
The prudential regulator has written to banks to warn them not to cut the serviceability buffer for borrowers en masse.
- Investigation
- Healthcare
GenesisCare’s undoing leaves more questions than answers
The collapse of the cancer care provider has left reputations in tatters, raising questions about why its backers left it so late before declaring bankruptcy.
15 years for a merger? Suncorp canes Bendigo alternative
Suncorp, aiming to convince the ACCC to green-light ANZ’s $4.9b offer to buy its bank, argues no deal can happen with rival Bendigo.
Westpac to cut 300 head office jobs
Project delivery and program management workers in the retail and business bank will bear the brunt of the cuts.
No deal: HWL Ebsworth will not pay ransom to Russia-linked hackers
HWL Ebsworth says it will “not submit” to Russian hackers who claimed on Friday to have released massive amounts of employee and client data after a month-long standoff with the huge law firm.
Record labels fight to scrap cap on what radio stations pay them
The likes of Lachlan Murdoch’s Smooth FM pay less than 1 per cent of revenue for the records they play. The labels providing them have had enough.
Victoria’s SEC could end up with offshore profits
Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio says the SEC will only produce one-fifth of the state’s new energy generation by 2035.
Companies in the News
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Markets
Artificial intelligence powers US shares into a bull market
Heavyweight technology stocks have surged this year to help US markets outperform Australia as investors eye the US Fed meeting next week.
ASX rises, led by tech and mining rally
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3 per cent, or 22.8 points to 7122.5 at market close on Friday, buoyed by a rally on Wall Street.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Why this bull market isn’t all that it seems
It’s fitting that bad news delivered Wall Street’s 20 per cent rise. Because, as local shareholders discovered this week, a hot economy is not good for stocks.
ASX rises, mining and tech stocks rally
Shares finish higher at close; Techs help power S&P 500 to 20pc rise from October low; Suncorp responds to ACCC; Jennifer Morris to leave Fortescue board; $A leaps. Gold, iron ore advance. Follow updates here.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Inside Blackstone’s six big bets
Blackstone boss Jon Gray says the private capital giant wants to be in ‘good neighbourhoods’ that can deliver cash flow growth in a world where multiples are unlikely to rise.
Opinion
Australia can make a Hornets’ nest for Moscow
The people of Ukraine have done enough to stop Vladimir Putin winning the war. The counteroffensive is to help them win the peace.
Editorial
Labor sets up the RBA for a recession blame game
The economy will slow sharply, making governor Philip Lowe’s narrow path to a soft landing more precarious and the prospect of a hard landing plausible.
Economics editor
Why the cash rate could hit 5pc before the RBA is done
With labour costs, not profits, the biggest driver of inflation, the central bank will have to go higher to crush Australia’s wage-price spiral.
Columnist
This is no time to become gun-shy about backing Kyiv
Ukraine has become a real-world experiment in protecting vulnerable democracies. But defence bureaucrats everywhere have made haste too slowly.
Foreign affairs, defence correspondent
Indictment to supercharge Trump’s campaign (again)
The former president is poised to get another bump in the polls after he was indicted over how he handled classified documents, writes Matthew Cranston.
United States correspondent
Cutting private schools’ funding will make them more elitist
Aspirational families, many of them newer Australians, would be priced out by a push to end government aid to the private sector.
Senior correspondent
Reports
Growth Nation - The opportunities of AI
An investigation into the rise of Artificial Intelligence and how new technologies are shaping how we live and work.
Sponsored
by AccenturePolitics
Opposition turns up heat on Gallagher over Higgins contacts
Anthony Albanese says the scrutiny on Finance Minister Katy Gallagher over whether had she prior knowledge of rape allegations was “bizarre”.
- Exclusive
- Carbon challenge
Qld to commit $14b for mega pumped hydro project
The Palaszczuk government’s funding of the Borumba pumped hydro project is part of the state’s push to reach 80 per cent renewable energy by 2035.
What bracket creep is costing every Australian taxpayer
A worker earning $100,000 is paying nearly $1500 more per year in tax, compared with 2011-12, analysis of new ATO figures shows.
Labor gears up for an economic marathon
Slowing growth, rising interest rates and contentious wage demands are going to test the government’s relationship with voters.
Philip Lowe’s productivity problem (in four charts)
The RBA governor says productivity is key to the key to interest future rate decisions. The problem is, productivity isn’t growing at all.
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World
The counterpunch: Ukraine’s secret, dangerous plan to attack Russia
After months of grinding, attritional winter battles, with blood and treasure spilled copiously in the taking of tiny tracts of Donbas terrain, the war is stepping up a gear, writes Hans van Leeuwen.
Trump charged in classified documents investigation
The former president has been become the first in American history to face federal charges. He has been summoned to appear in a court in Miami over the indictment.
Ukraine’s new tanks target Russian lines in counteroffensive
Ukraine is counting on the campaign in the south-east to drive Russian forces from more of its territory, cementing support among its allies.
- Analysis
- Russia-Ukraine war
How to survive trench warfare in the 21st century
The goal is to get as close as possible before the enemy has an opportunity to fire on the soldiers, who are open and vulnerable as they manoeuvre.
How a hedge fund titan evaded sexual assault allegations for decades
Thirteen women have accused Crispin Odey of harassment, abuse and fostering a toxic workplace.
Property
Home buyers hold off as rate rises likely to lift listings
A double whammy of higher listings and weaker demand could turn the housing market into a buyer’s market later this year, experts say.
Developers say lack of planning certainty holding back housing supply
A survey of 145 developers and investors by Wingate found a lack of certainty around planning outcomes was a key reason for the slump in housing supply.
Why house prices are rising now, and how long it will last
This week in The Fin podcast, property editor Nick Lenaghan on why prices are rising, whether it will last and what is wrong with the housing market.
- Exclusive
- Financing
Green lender backs Mulpha with $80m for Sydney apartments
As borrowing costs rise, energy-efficient apartment buildings are showing that they can cut development costs by tapping into the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
Quarter of homes are bought mortgage-free
Broadbeach, Toorak and Mosman lead for cash purchases of residential property in an east coast housing market where one in four homes is acquired loan-free.
Wealth
Seven ways to cut mortgage stress as rates rise yet again
As households struggle with the 12th interest rate rise since May last year, it pays to know which strategies will cost you less over the long term.
The family member most likely to steal your savings
Families should put these steps in place to avoid theft and fraud.
Forgotten to withdraw full pension amount? Prepare for big fallout
A reader whose SMSF underpaid him by $30,000 finds the implications are huge, ranging from a non-compliant pension to a large tax bill and inheritance issues.
Technology
- Opinion
- Review
How Apple’s Vision Pro could change the way you watch
Halfway into my review of Apple’s new virtual reality headset, I saw something that changed the way I think about VR.
Airtasker sells 20pc of UK subsidiary for $6.5m in free advertising
Airtasker has sold a slice of its British subsidiary to the UK’s Channel 4 in return for $6.5 million worth of free advertising.
CBA limits crypto payments as US-led crackdown spreads
CBA has limited transfers to high-risk crypto exchanges, just days after US regulators launched court action against the world’s two largest exchanges.
Work & Careers
Suncorp pays back staff $32m after eight years of underpayments
Suncorp has agreed to pay a $520,000 “contrition payment” after failing to pay staff basic entitlements since 2014.
Successful and content: a stockbroker’s rich life
University dropout David Constable found success in finance when practical experience and good instincts were valued over advanced degrees.
Life & Luxury
- Opinion
- Review
How Apple’s Vision Pro could change the way you watch
Halfway into my review of Apple’s new virtual reality headset, I saw something that changed the way I think about VR.
The Kathleen Folbigg case, the DPP and ‘getting away with blue murder’
Business veteran Peter Yates was never meant to wade into Folbigg’s legal battle. But when he did, he changed the course of her fight.
Successful and content: a stockbroker’s rich life
University dropout David Constable found success in finance when practical experience and good instincts were valued over advanced degrees.
‘Our responsibility’: Fashion retailers poised to pay landfill levy
Surfwear brand Rip Curl says it wants to be among the first companies to pay a levy designed to unravel fast fashion.
