Featured Opinion
Rebooting farm productivity will help achieve climate goals
Delivering sustainability outcomes is paramount for farmers, but more work needs to be done to understand the challenges in the sector as costs rise faster than revenues.
Head of ABARES
Dunkley sets up Labor’s 2025 win
While the Liberals look down rabbit holes like crime and refugees, Labor plans to claim vindication on economic policy.
Former Labor minister and economist
If we don’t take advantage of ASEAN’s rewards, others will step in
Australia’s trade and investment with its giant Asian political and economic neighbour is seriously underdone. Where should we start to change things?
Economist
Dunkley shows Liberals can win Teal seats
Defeat for Liberals in the byelection offers “blue shoots” in seats that turned teal if they focus on the economy.
Dunkley exposes further shift away from major parties
With the core demographics exposed and projected nationally, the byelection points to a narrow majority for Labor in 2025.
Election analyst
It’s a mistake to think about ASEAN in binary terms
It is unrealistic to think the outcome of this week’s summit will be the next step in Australia building a broader network of Asian allies against China.
International editor
The Liberals go downmarket after Dunkley
The Coalition should have used the Sunday morning after Dunkley to start talking about an alternative economic narrative that would have broad appeal.
Editorial
Albanese claims vindication as well as victory
Labor has reason to be pleased by a moderately sized swing against the government in the Dunkley byelection, but with no knockout blow.
Columnist
More From Today
- Analysis
- World politics
Ukraine needs total Western support - and so does Israel
Both are fighting for Western civilisation - one against Russian imperialism, the other against Iranian-backed Islamism. And we should want both to win.
- Niall Ferguson
- Opinion
- Critical minerals
In WA, a lesson in the tough reality of processing lithium
Albemarle’s emerging plant is a living example that reality is much harder than Australia’s rhetoric about more downstream processing in lithium hydroxide.
- Jennifer Hewett
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Downer’s stoush with KPMG a big test for corporate Australia
Cosy relationships between big four audit firms and directors have greased corporate Australia’s wheels for decades. Now they are coming under pressure.
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Corporate ethics
Why we need an Australian Institute for Applied Ethics
Capitalism depends on government to provide a trusted framework of rules around it. But when politics turns into reality TV, we must ask the ethical questions ourselves.
- Ken Henry
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Why rising house prices make RBA rate cuts less likely
The latest data from the housing market says supply remains weak, and prices are rising again. That will probably give the RBA a headache.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Macquarie stoush exposes private capital’s ‘make-believe’ problem
The dispute between the investment bank and Switzerland’s Julius Baer highlights the problem of how valuations in private markets lag those in public markets.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Gender equality
Vanessa Hudson is not alone. Why women teeter on ‘glass cliff’
Female workers are deemed more likely to rise to the top when the job is dire, the risk of failure is high and men are less interested in the gig.
- Pilita Clark
- Opinion
- Digital Life
We don’t believe it. A smart home device that actually works?
Every six months or so, we perform in-depth experiments to see if smart home devices are still as bad as ever. This time, we got a different answer than usual.
- John Davidson
- Driving With Tony Davis
- Motoring
BYD’s fast new EV sedan is hot on Tesla’s tail
The Chinese makers of the BYD Seal Performance Sedan are so proud of its acceleration they’ve put a badge on the boot boasting of the rate. But this fast EV has other surprises, too.
- Tony Davis
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Big profit margins at Woolworths and Coles are only part of the story
Australia’s supermarkets do make higher profits than offshore peers. But one of the sector’s top analysts says there is an important reason why.
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Media bargaining code
The time has come for parliament to fire its cannon – at Meta
The owner of Facebook is an unavoidable partner for many businesses. Our response to their refusal to pay for news will be watched closely around the world.
- Michael Miller
Yesterday
The Australian considers moving with The Times in new radio play
A proposal to expand The Australian’s daily podcast The Front is going upstairs at News Corp; Barrenjoey’s two-sided Southern Cross deals.
- Sam Buckingham-Jones
- Opinion
- Earnings season
Corporate Travel and Reece trip up traders in wild reporting season
They are two very different companies. But the difference between earlier remarks and their final results set the scene for massive share price swings.
- Jonathan Shapiro
Customers may hate supermarket anti-theft tech, but investors don’t
Coles share price rise is partly due to its ability to take advantage of tech like artificial intelligence to stop thieves and appeal to more shoppers.
- Paul Smith
- Opinion
- University
Trouble with the universities accord goes from ridiculous to unreal
The report is little more than a la-la-land wish list drawn up by vice chancellors, campaigning groups and the public sector.
- Salvatore Babones
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
Accountants body shows a disregard for its public interest duty
Readers’ letters on Chartered Accountants ANZ’s poor oversight, Australia’s Indo-Pacific challenge, why uni fees are too high, and the diminishing role of the post office.
- Opinion
- East Asia Forum
ASEAN must anchor regional security through co-operation
Australia needs ASEAN leaders now, more than ever, to be an effective anchor for security in the region.
- Peter Drysdale and Mari Pangestu
- Opinion
- Bonds
Don’t bet on deep rate cuts from the RBA
While the market is pricing in rate cuts in the US as soon as June, inflation and the real rate argument is far more finely balanced in Australia.
- Chris Dickman
This Month
- Opinion
- The AFR View
No productivity revolution coming from the couch
Working from home to get through an emergency is not the same as the concerted drive for growth and productivity Australia desperately needs.
- The AFR View
- Analysis
- Media & marketing
Meta opts to fight the type of journalism it once lauded
The company behind Facebook and Instagram had its best quarter in Australia ever. It’s decided to put more value in the latest viral meme than quality content.
- Sam Buckingham-Jones
- Opinion
- Byelection
Dutton’s Dunkley plan is crime and utes, not cost of living
The opposition wants to talk about everything except the hip-pocket pain that voters are most exercised about.
- Laura Tingle
