Langton says Keating was ‘right’ on the Voice
The Indigenous leader said the former PM was right about the Voice being “a mistake from the start” and that a legislated body should have been established before a referendum.
French building materials giant Saint-Gobain lobs $4.3b bid for CSR
The European giant said late on Wednesday that it had succeeded in securing due diligence from the ASX-listed company’s board with the $9 a share offer.
- Exclusive
- Carbon challenge
Why the Coalition wants more homes with solar and batteries
Labor runs the risk of being outflanked by an emerging Coalition plan to expand household and business solar and storage, at the expense of big business.
- Exclusive
- Gas
West Australians back lifting export ban for onshore gas
Almost twice as many Western Australians support opening up the state’s onshore gas fields for international export than those who oppose the plan, new polling shows.
- Analysis
- Mergers & acquisitions
The junior banks at the top of the big four wishlist
Could Judo Bank or Bank of Queensland be a target for National Australia Bank?
Tax commissioner says 47pc rate fuels tax minimisation
Chris Jordan says Australia’s top tax rate is encouraging people to minimise tax through trusts and companies, as Paul Keating argues a rate above 39 per cent is “confiscatory”.
New Woolies CEO Amanda Bardwell’s first job in retail was at 14
An ex-managing director of the Dan Murphy’s liquor superstores is not surprised his former head of online operations is ascending to a much higher role.
Breaking news on companies, politics and economics, in your inbox as it happens.
EARNINGS SEASON
Rio warns Labor’s IR changes could reignite workplace tensions
The country’s biggest iron ore exporter has paid a bigger than expected dividend as it warns production costs could soon be 77pc higher than six years ago
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.
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.
- Updated
- Earnings season
NAB warns of growing arrears as quarterly earnings dive 16.9pc
A $193 million impairment charge in Australian home lending marred the bank’s result, which outgoing boss Ross McEwan argued was “sound”.
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.
Get the latest business news on the go with the AFR’s new iOS app.
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.
Orica doubles down on gold, eyes battery chemical companies
The company hopes the acquisition of US chemical company Cyanco will create an integrated sodium cyanide manufacturing and distribution network.
- Exclusive
- Gas
West Australians back lifting export ban for onshore gas
Almost twice as many Western Australians support opening up the state’s onshore gas fields for international export than those who oppose the plan, new polling shows.
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.
Lululemon turns to Aussie start-up for its next activewear bet
Samsara Eco, with its plastic-eating enzyme technology, is poised to raise capital after securing $56 million in a funding round in 2022 from its blue-chip backers.
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.
Audacious V’landys outlines plan to turn NRL towards Britain, hotels
The NRL chairman has set his sights on expanding to England and turning the league into a major hotel operator – and handed his board a big pay rise
Companies in the News
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Markets
UBS bets Aussie dollar among best trades of 2024
The $5.8 trillion wealth manager expects the Australian dollar will jump 10 per cent this year, and is also betting on a rally in Chinese and Indian stocks.
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.
- 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.
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
- 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.
Opinion
At 80, Keating keeps throwing down the gauntlet
Not everyone will agree with the former PM on AUKUS. Yet all should agree that a more independent security posture would not be sustainable if Australia continued to squander its opportunity of prosperity.
Editorial
Nickel miners exploit PM’s battery-making pipe dream
Instead of taxpayer bailouts, Australia would be better off letting workers from loss-making mines become home builders to help housing affordability.
Economics editor
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.
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
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
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
The number of public servants working from home has doubled
Many new employees say flexible conditions contributed to their decision to take a job.
- Exclusive
- Carbon challenge
Why the Coalition wants more homes with solar and batteries
Labor runs the risk of being outflanked by an emerging Coalition plan to expand household and business solar and storage, at the expense of big business.
Give the ATO law enforcement powers: Chris Jordan
Fighting fraud and waves of new identity theft and scams requires giving the Tax Office new investigative powers, like those held by authorities overseas.
- Opinion
- Income tax
The Tax Office changed for the better under Jordan
There’s been a noticeable shift in attitudes on the part of tax officers I deal with at all levels of the Tax Office.
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.
SPONSORED
World
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.
Iranian-backed hackers target Israel after Hamas attack
New threat assessment from global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike also warns AI-generated deepfakes pose a threat to democratic elections.
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.
- 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.
‘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.
Property
‘I love Gold Coast property’: Clive Palmer on $28m beachfront buy
Billionaire mining magnate and former Gold Coast real estate agent Clive Palmer has reset the region’s residential record with a $28 million Mermaid Beach buy.
- Exclusive
- Luxury property
Chinese star to sell $18m landmark Point Piper unit
A luxury apartment owned by a Chinese singer Tian Zhen has joined the prestige market with an $18 million guide.
New sales inquiries up 20pc as rate expectations stabilise: Stockland
The developer and landlord has kept its earnings outlook unchanged even as residential earnings slumped in the six months to December.
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.
Back to office mandates a boon for battered sector: Charter Hall
Fund managers and landlords such as Charter Hall are set to benefit from companies compelling more workers to come into the office more often.
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
Why ‘romantasy’ books are in a sales boom
Readers are devouring spicy tales of dragon riders, beautiful assassins and brooding faerie lords, and say there’s no “guilt” in this pleasure.
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.
