Latest
- Exclusive
- Renewables
Solar firm 5B readies Indian manufacturing after $50m US deal
The company will build a US Customs-compliant plant partnership with top Indian panel maker and engineering group Waaree.
- Ben Potter
Chalmers warns over weak economic growth
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has warned next week’s GDP growth figures are expected to be weak, as former RBA official Luci Ellis says negative growth is possible.
- Michael Read and John Kehoe
Cheap online shopping slowed inflation: report
A report commissioned by retail giant Amazon found that without competition created by online shopping, inflation would have been 0.7 percentage points higher.
- Ronald Mizen
‘Major shift’: Young women taking more drugs and drinking heavily
A snapshot of the Australia’s habits after the pandemic shows vaping has tripled, and more women and fewer men are experiencing harm from others’ drinking.
- Jill Margo
Soaring rents and building costs threaten inflation outlook
The RBA will struggle to get inflation back to the middle of its target range as long as the costs of renting and building a new home increase at rapid rates.
- Michael Read, Simon Evans and Michael Bleby
Victorians stay to protect homes ahead of catastrophic fire warning
Victorians under threat from bushfires have largely fled before catastrophic conditions descend, but others are staying to protect their homes.
- Callum Godde
Opinion & Analysis
Data centres are hot property - and not just for the returns
Macquarie Technology CEO David Tudehope says data centres are not just good investments, they will allow Australia to participate in the entire AI value chain.
Columnist
Australia’s defence plans are a charade
The announcement on Australia’s new ships doesn’t pass the pub test. Like its predecessors, this government isn’t serious about the threat it consistently talks about.
International editor
Tax carbon, but don’t gamble on green energy ‘superpower’
A carbon levy is required, but the money should be returned to households, not bureaucrats trying to pick ‘green’ winners, writes John Kehoe.
Economics editor
Maths show supermarkets not to blame for cost-of-living crisis
The ferocity of the political campaign against Coles and Woolworths tells us more about politics than about alleged “price gouging” by the big two.
Economist
Yesterday
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Data centres are hot property - and not just for the returns
Macquarie Technology CEO David Tudehope says data centres are not just good investments, they will allow Australia to participate in the entire AI value chain.
- Jennifer Hewett
- Opinion
- Defence
Australia’s defence plans are a charade
The announcement on Australia’s new ships doesn’t pass the pub test. Like its predecessors, this government isn’t serious about the threat it consistently talks about.
- James Curran
- Opinion
- Energy transition
Tax carbon, but don’t gamble on green energy ‘superpower’
A carbon levy is required, but the money should be returned to households, not bureaucrats trying to pick ‘green’ winners, writes John Kehoe.
- John Kehoe
Inflation holds steady | Guzman y Gomez delays IPO | The seven candidates left in the US election
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
Inflation holds steady at 3.4pc
Ongoing price pressures in the housing market offset outright price declines in pantry staples such as beef and seafood in January.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- Inflation
Maths show supermarkets not to blame for cost-of-living crisis
The ferocity of the political campaign against Coles and Woolworths tells us more about politics than about alleged “price gouging” by the big two.
- Robert Carling
- Opinion
- NATO
Europe needs to prepare for the end of NATO
Russian aggression and American wavering reveal how ill-equipped Europe is to defend itself.
- The Economist
Goldman CEO sees more uncertainty to soft-landing expectations
David Solomon says while optimism persists on the economic outlook, “my own view is it’s a little bit more uncertain”.
- Sally Bakewell
This Month
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Board seats for super raise governance issues
Paul Keating’s 80th birthday interview raises the under-discussed issue of the impact of the $3.6 trillion union-influenced superannuation funds on the nation’s capital markets.
- The AFR View
Poor university teaching ‘a drag on productivity’
The Productivity Commissioner says there are no incentives inside universities to lift their game and no way for students to know what they are signing up to.
- Julie Hare
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
We don’t have time for more gas
Readers’ letters on the dangers of NT fracking, Andrew Forrest’s nuclear warning, wage earners as whipping boys, and Alexander Downer’s misplaced faith in the US.
- Opinion
- Energy transition
Forrest is right: don’t swallow the Coalition’s nuclear and rooftop fairytales
It’s just more disrupt and delay tactics from the incorrigible climate denialists who brought us a devastating decade of energy policy failure.
- Tim Buckley and Annemarie Jonson
US economy set to expand faster than previously expected
The US economy looks set to expand 2.2 per cent this year after adjusting for inflation, according to the National Association for Business Economics.
Scramble to set up camp ahead of extreme fire danger
The Wimmera region is slated to have catastrophic fire danger on Wednesday, while extreme fire danger is predicted for five of Victoria’s nine weather districts.
- Callum Godde and Cassandra Morgan
Smaller minimum wage rise needed to fight inflation: business
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is preparing to argue for a smaller increase in the minimum wage than it was prepared to accept last year.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- Defence
Keating’s strategic illusion dies hard
The former prime minister’s timid isolationism, leaving others to do the heavy lifting, has its roots deep in Labor’s history.
- Alex McDermott
- Exclusive
- University
Unis that would pay the most – and the least – under ‘envy tax’ plan
Just six of the country’s 41 universities would bankroll half of the annual contributions to the higher education future fund proposed in the Albanese government’s universities accord.
- Julie Hare
- Opinion
- Federal budget
As budget bonanza flows, fiscal caution is the first casualty
The rivers of resources gold coming into the government’s coffers are turning into most expensive marginal seat strategy in the nation’s history.
- Chris Richardson
‘Paradigm shift’: How to switch to spending in retirement
After decades spent saving, lean into the fear, plan obsessively and let go of the guilt, experts say.
- Joanna Mather