Albanese kills early election talk, plans two more budgets
The PM said the 2025 budget would be brought forward to March, setting the scene for the government serving the full three-year term, rather than holding a snap poll before Christmas.
Rio Tinto beats estimates as profit hits five-year low
The country’s biggest iron ore exporter has paid a bigger than expected dividend as its top Australian director announced plans to retire.
Keating: It’s not just his age, Biden’s party lost the working class
The Democratic Party’s political problem is that it has lost touch with the concerns of ordinary working Americans, former prime minister Paul Keating says.
- Updated
- Supermarkets
Brad Banducci quits Woolworths amid food price pressure
Amanda Bardwell, head of loyalty and e-commerce, will succeed him as CEO of Australia’s biggest supermarket chain.
What we learnt from WiseTech, Domino’s, Scentre and Santos results
WiseTech’s steady results send shares soaring, Domino’s tweaks its debt covenants, Scentre sings for its supper, and Santos’ boss says he has unfinished business.
Here’s what to expect from new Qantas chairman John Mullen
The businessman made his name running ports and freight railway lines. Now he’s landed what’s often considered the number one gig in corporate Australia.
Chalmers flags crackdown on ‘restraint clauses’
Almost one in three Australian workers is subject to a non-compete clause, the Australian Bureau of Statistics says.
Breaking news on companies, politics and economics, in your inbox as it happens.
EARNINGS SEASON
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Woolies has got Banducci’s ugly exit wrong
Woolworths insists Brad Banducci’s departure is not tied to his Four Corners farce, but his exit will not end the scrutiny on the group. Here’s why.
WiseTech returns to all-time high after profit beats forecasts
Freight software provider WiseTech has added $3 billion to its market cap after its first-half results beat expectations.
Orica doubles down on gold, eyes battery chemical companies
The company hopes the acquisition of US chemical firm Cyanco will create an integrated sodium cyanide manufacturing and distribution network.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Serial deal maker or serial offender? Orica jumps on corporate M&A train
Merger activity is firing up and being led by companies buying for strategic purposes, rather than private equity. The Australian explosives company is back in on the action. Will it work?
Domino’s slices dividend as weak Europe sales dent profit
Chief executive Don Meij said there had been a turnaround in another poorly performing market after the new products were introduced.
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Companies
Qantas appoints Mullen to succeed Goyder
The chairman-elect has revived hopes the airline can win back the support of its staff and unions as he prepares to succeed Richard Goyder in the coveted role.
Iluka in talks for more taxpayer funding for rare earths refinery
Iluka Resources spells out strategic importance of its rare earths refinery with taxpayers again on the hook to support the critical minerals sector.
Airlines face more scrutiny on Sydney Airport flight cancellations
The Albanese government is proposing audits of landing and take off slots at the country’s busiest airport as part of a crackdown on anticompetitive behaviour.
Santos’ record dividend justifies pay despite profit slide: CEO
The oil and gas giant’s shareholders were left disappointed two weeks ago after the company and its bigger rival called off talks of an $80 billion merger.
Corporate Travel shares sink as earnings miss forecasts
The travel booking agency has been hit by macro conditions and timing delays for its controversial UK immigration contracts.
Rio Tinto’s giant Queensland bet on Andrew Forrest wind farm
The deal marks another major step in moving the company’s coal-powered aluminium production assets away from fossil fuel.
Banking and business lobby blast 583-day wait for ANZ’s Suncorp deal
The ACCC’s former chairman Graeme Samuel was also critical of the decision to block the deal, saying it was clear to him that it was wrong from the outset.
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Markets
Hedge funds target Lovisa in $100m short
The number of short sellers betting against the discount jewellery retailer has surged to the highest level in almost four years, but some funds remain bullish.
- Live
- Markets Live
ASX falls; Rio beats estimates; Woolworths sinks; CSR jumps
Shares decline at the closing bell; Woolworths’ Brad Banducci leaves; John Mullen named Richard Goyder’s Qantas successor; WiseTech lifts profits; NAB warns of growing arrears as earnings slump. Follow updates here.
- Opinion
- Sharemarket
Are we in a bull market or a bubble?
Wall Street is fixated on a quarterly earnings release that has been described as more important than the US Federal Reserve. Its outcome may justify or undermine the sharemarket’s rally, writes Jonathan Shapiro.
- Opinion
- Interest rates
Federal Reserve Flight 2024 hasn’t landed yet
If hopes for rate cuts are dashed, financial conditions could tighten and restrain growth too much. Striking a balance is the Fed’s challenge.
What happened overnight? Nvidia drops in pre-earnings bout of profit taking
The Nasdaq paced losses in New York amid nervousness before Nvidia’s Thursday AEDT results. BHP, Rio shares drop in line with spot iron ore as China demand lags.
Opinion
Awakening of a maritime nation 50 years in the making
It is a historic day when the government has finally agreed to support an enhanced surface combatant fleet capability for the Royal Australian Navy.
Naval expert
Merger ruling, miner cut through the populist policy madness
Amid the stew of populist hysteria around banks, miners, supermarkets and stevedores, two clear voices have blasted through the policy incoherence.
Editorial
Victorian blackouts cast misinformation over grid reliability
Electricity is so political that a technical fault was spun in erroneous directions by all sides of the renewables debate.
Energy expert
Why economist Richard Holden is wrong on energy
Here is our response to Richard Holden’s common misrepresentations and distortions of our carbon solutions levy proposal.
Putin’s global fan club is only getting stronger
Admirers of the Russian leader may soon lead the world’s largest democracies of India and the US, after Indonesia also elected a Putin fan this month.
Columnist
The Garnaut-Sims power plan is Argentina on steroids
The $100 billion carbon tax proposal would be an act of amazing self-harm and would destroy Australia’s big export industries to force-feed unproven ones.
Economist
Reports
The Critical Minerals dilemma
This report looks at the disconnect between ESG ambitions and market pricing; new biofuels; and alternatives to lithium batteries.
Politics
Wages growth hits fastest pace since 2009
Annual growth in the wage price index increased to 4.2 per cent in December from 4.1 per cent in September.
- Exclusive
- Keating at 80
It’s time for Australia to break out of its ‘timidity’: Keating
At the age of 80, Paul Keating urges Australia to be bolder, to reassess its links with Britain and the US and its failure to reconcile with Indigenous peoples.
The Voice was a ‘mistake from the start’
Former prime minister Paul Keating is calling for an Aboriginal legislated body to build on the gains of native title.
Plibersek says fashion industry must act on environment, or she will
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek delivers a call to arms for fashion brands to rethink volume and speed of manufacturing.
- Analysis
- Mergers & acquisitions
ACCC undone by ‘double negative’ in merger analysis
Lawyers said ANZ’s win will create a strong precedent, and also shows the importance of the tribunal continuing to have a role conducting merger reviews.
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World
- Exclusive
- South-East Asian economy
She helped save Indonesia’s economy. Now she’s likely to be sacked
Sri Mulyani Indrawati steadied the ship at critical moments for Indonesia, but the Prabowo camp says her approach to development differs from the new government’s.
‘Get these folk back’: Trump’s donor numbers falling
The drop in donor numbers compared to 2019 has sparked Republican concerns about the depth of enthusiasm for the party’s 2024 presidential frontrunner.
Biden backs Australia’s push on clean nickel standards
The White House says more transparency is needed on nickel mining, so buyers know whether the mineral is clean or dirty amid a Chinese-driven supply glut.
‘Riddled with bullets’: Russian defector hunted down in Spain
The helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine last year was found dead in a Spanish coastal town, fuelling speculation Moscow’s intelligence services were responsible.
Assange too sick to attend last-ditch bid to halt US extradition
The imprisoned Australian founder of Wikileaks did not attend a high-stakes court hearing in London. But his supporters turned out in force.
Property
Westfield owner Scentre beats guidance with 5.4pc lift in payout
Scentre’s leasing spreads, the difference in rents between old and new agreements, is expected to remain positive even as consumer spending slows.
Distressed listings to surge if interest rates stay on hold this year
The proportion of vendors desperate to offload properties jumped to 20 per cent in some mortgage belt areas as owners struggle to meet higher mortgage repayments.
Bad property debt exceeds reserves at largest US banks
Loan loss provisions have thinned even as regulators highlight the risks in the commercial real estate market.
Lendlease tax dispute exposes Aware Super
Superannuation fund Aware is set to become entangled in Lendlease’s $260 million dispute with the Tax Office over a portfolio of retirement village assets.
Ingenia settlement revenue jumps as home-building constraints ease
The developer of affordable housing for downsizing over-55s could not avoid higher building costs, which have narrowed its new-home profit margin.
Wealth
We’ve spent $40,000 on IVF. I want to continue, but my partner wants to stop
No one’s doing fertility treatment because they want it, says psychologist Narelle Dickinson, so make time for compassionate conversations and be honest.
Banks tread softly on bad debts – but will it last?
Experts say the market could be underestimating bad debt charges for the big four.
- Opinion
- Office
Five A-REITs worth a second look
While the glory days of real estate investment trusts may over, the sector will surely stage a comeback.
Technology
- Analysis
- Web culture
Apple is forced to loosen up its nanny state app store
Europe is making the tech giant relax long-held restrictions on what is sold through its app store, including pornography.
How the hackers were hacked by federal agents
A coalition of international law enforcement breaches the world’s most prolific ransomware syndicate, LockBit, which left prints on the DP World hack.
Start-up says it will beat famous Aussie rival to make a quantum computer
Diraq says it’s on track to beat Michelle Simmons’ company – backed by Telstra, the CBA and the government – to the punch with a commercial model by 2028.
Work & Careers
Meet the CEO who doesn’t do Friday drinks
Karl Morris, CEO of stockbroking firm Ord Minnett and chairman of National Rugby League team Brisbane Broncos, is trying out intermittent fasting. But he is “no disciple”.
Corrs partner jumps to Ashurst, where firm ‘walks the talk’ on gender
Corrs’ former head of gender equality Felicity Healy said Ashurst’s superior record on promoting women played a role in her decision to join the global firm.
Life & Luxury
Best airlines to fly first and business class to Europe
Which international carrier has the longest beds and widest seats? And who pours Dom Pérignon? Here’s a handy guide to what you’ll find up the pointy end.
Why Paul spent $100,000 on this Tesla
Welcome to our weekly series where we speak to EV drivers who explain the highs and lows of electric life in Australia.
Auction houses target Asian art, farewell market stalwarts
Two auction houses are investing in their Asian art expertise, and the industry is mourning three deaths in the art market family.
- Opinion
- Motoring
The concept cars top that auto designers dream about
From a hyper Mercedes to a humble Ford Focus, these concepts are inspiring tomorrow’s cars.
Adelaide’s best new and revamped restaurants
When the City of Churches kicks off its giant season of festivals next month, these new and revamped restaurants will be waiting.
