‘Don’t they get it?’: Putin warns West of nuclear war risk
Vladimir Putin has vowed to complete his invasion of Ukraine and says Russia could use nuclear weapons if the West sent in troops.
- Live
- Markets Live
ASX eyes new highs, NAB’s McEwan to join BHP, Wall St hits record
Australian futures up 0.3pc. Life360 hits 61.4m users. Wall St gains, bond yields ease on US inflation data. Bitcoin tops $US61,000. Gold climbs, oil falls. Follow here.
- Live
- Need to Know
100 dead in Gaza aid chaos, Israeli troops accused of firing on crowds
Israeli troops fired on a crowd of Palestinians racing to pull food off an aid convoy; Scott Morrison has been appointed to the advisory board of a Dubai-based engineering group. Follow updates here.
Chalmers flags pre-election budget pivot from inflation to growth
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has begun laying the groundwork for increased spending closer to the next federal election.
- Updated
- Foreign relations
‘We won’t yield’: Marcos’ extraordinary speech to parliament
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos jnr used incredibly frank language for a South-East Asian leader not heard before in Australia’s parliament.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
The WFH message in corporate job cuts
The list of companies trimming staff has grown in the last months as cost-cutting programs proliferate. Could that shift the WFH debate again?
- Exclusive
- Carbon challenge
Debelle rings alarm on green energy backlash
The former top RBA official says green energy critics wilfully ignore the need to replace rusting fossil fuel assets regardless of any carbon goals.
Breaking news on companies, politics and economics, in your inbox as it happens.
Edition
AFR Magazine – innovation issue
How the $8.8b Chemist Warehouse deal was done | Crypto investor reveals his rare car collection | Why a Rolex is about to get easier to buy
review
The CIA’s secret mission to help Ukraine defeat Putin
Once seen as thoroughly compromised by Russia, Ukraine’s intelligence agencies have been turned by US spies into deadly weapons against the Kremlin.
- Analysis
- Byelection
The Dunkley byelection could make history
By-elections are important, but it’s mainly marketing with little policy content in the race for Dunkley.
Megacorps are the 21st century’s great threat
Labor minister and economist Andrew Leigh argues that companies as big, financially, as nations are a danger to consumers and their employees.
In China a poor social score affects where you can sleep, dine or live
The social credit system is designed to be a huge network of control covering businesses and government agencies as well as individuals.
- Opinion
- Charity
A philosopher’s view on the secret to business success
Companies which donate their profits to good causes grow faster, live longer, and are more profitable, such as ticketer Humanitix.
Get the latest business news on the go with the AFR’s new iOS app.
Companies
- Exclusive
- Media & marketing
Major Southern Cross shareholders in push to oust board and executives
The media group’s three largest backers say they have lost confidence in the management of the operator of the Triple M and Hit networks.
PAC Capital name to be taken off funds, stay on building
Clayton Larcombe’s controversial funds management business is distancing itself from its own name following negative publicity.
Ramsay warns of hospital closures as costs blow out
The country’s largest private hospital group said at least 16 rival facilities had shut in the last year and called for more funding from health insurers.
Harvey Norman sales crunched but retailer bullish on outlook
Revenue in Australia has begun to rise as renovations and home building increases, the country’s largest whitegoods and furniture retailer said.
BlueScope considers tilt at South32 mines to pre-empt $2.5b sale
The move could reunite the Illawarra coal mining and steel assets that were once owned by BHP. South32 has agreed to sell the mines to an Indonesian group.
‘Radio silence, on hold for hours’: How insurers treat their watchdog
Justin Untersteiner helps run the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. But that didn’t stop him getting “radio silence for months” and being kept “generally on hold for 2½ hours” when he tried to claim.
Pubs, casinos deal revenue blow for Star
The company was forced to delay its financial results after the NSW casino regulator announced a second inquiry into its conduct.
Companies in the News
Search companies
View stories and data from an ASX listed company
Markets
Ray Dalio says magnificent seven are ‘fairly priced’
While some of Bridgewater’s readings look frothy, “we do not see bubbly conditions in aggregate”, the billionaire hedge fund founder said.
What happened overnight? Nasdaq Composite closes at record high as techs rally
US shares were mostly higher, paced by tech, after a key Fed inflation metric met expectations, bolstering rate pivot hopes.
Fed’s preferred inflation metric increases by most in a year
The core PCE data, on a six-month annualised basis, registered at 2.5 per cent in January, rebounding above the Fed’s 2 per cent target.
Hedge funds flag comeback from ETF rivals
Retail investor interest in Australian hedge funds has dwindled to 10-year lows, as measured by assets, but Regal and Tribeca are not phased.
Bitcoin soars to $A record ahead of supply crunch
“It’s a demand, demand, demand story,” the CEO of Digital X said of the world’s largest cryptocurrency, which broke through $96,000 in Australian dollar terms.
Opinion
Philippines partners Australia on peace, stability and success in Asia
President Marcos’s speech is in keeping with the tightening network of Asian nations who are keen to keep the US engaged and are suspicious of Beijing’s intentions.
Editorial
Voters tuned out by Voice harder to fix than first thought
Should Labor suffer a large swing against it, or worse in Dunkley, it will be a serious setback. Equally, Peter Dutton needs a win in Victoria.
Political editor
Three reasons the green energy transition will be non-inflationary
Renewable technologies will get cheaper, price spikes from retiring coal plants will be avoided and exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets will be reduced.
Dunkley byelection is about nothing but politics
A lot will be read into the implications of Saturday’s poll because it’s essentially a purely political horse race short on substantial policy ambition.
Editorial
Any carbon tax needs to help fund the energy transition
Readers’ letters on the best model for a price on carbon, car makers dragging the chain on improving fuel standards, and why the ATO must better police tax debts.
Contributor
Flaws in the fix for universities
The Universities Accord is supposed to be a blueprint for Australia’s higher education sector, but there are more questions than answers about how its goals will be achieved.
Columnist
Reports
Wealth: Turbocharging your retirement
This series of articles looks at the options for retirement income, the best asset mix heading into retirement, and what you need to know to retire overseas.
Sponsored
by Australian Retirement TrustPolitics
Australia can launch a new trade boom with China, Farrell says
The trade minister says that with feuds on wine and lobster exports potentially soon sorted, Australia could aim to stack on another $100 billion in trade.
‘We’ve gone soft’: Labor old guard backs Keating
Chairman Tony Shepherd has backed Paul Keating’s sentiment that “we have gone soft” but billionaire Gerry Harvey says Keating is living in the past.
GDP growth fears firm on tepid business spending figures
Treasurer Jim Chalmers foreshadowed on Thursday morning that the December quarter GDP growth figure was likely to be “quite weak”.
- Exclusive
- Carbon challenge
Debelle rings alarm on green energy backlash
The former top RBA official says green energy critics wilfully ignore the need to replace rusting fossil fuel assets regardless of any carbon goals.
‘I’ve worn his shoes’: Hanson introduces her latest recruit
The One Nation leader believes new West Australian firearms reforms and resentment over the COVID-19 response will spark her party’s west coast revival.
SPONSORED
World
100 dead in Gaza aid chaos, Israeli troops accused of firing on crowds
Health authorities said more than 100 Palestinians were shot dead as they waited for an aid delivery, but Israel said they were run over by aid trucks.
Biden calls Chinese EVs a national security threat
A Commerce Department investigation is the first of a range of policy responses to stop low-cost Chinese electric vehicles from flooding into the US.
‘Don’t they get it?’: Putin warns West of nuclear war risk
Vladimir Putin has vowed to complete his invasion of Ukraine and says Russia could use nuclear weapons if the West sent in troops.
New China spying law sparks foreign investor fears
The legal change, which could further limit access to information, is part of an increasingly hostile environment facing foreign businesses in the country.
Winklevoss twins’ crypto firm Gemini to return $1.7b to customers
Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has agreed to return the money to customers of its defunct lending program as part of a settlement with authorities.
Property
Cromwell pins hopes on $500m Polish malls sale to curb debt worries
The Brisbane property fund manager’s gearing level is close to 45 per cent, well past its target range, as devaluations hit its balance sheet.
How worried should you be about commercial real estate?
Strains are surfacing four years after the pandemic. Valuations take a long time to adjust to shifts in demand, mortgages can take years to mature.
Melbourne estate hits the market for $49m
More than a hectare of inner Melbourne is on offer, with the historic estate re-entering the market alongside a neighbouring property for $48.8 million.
$500m raising to turn unloved hotels, offices into rental housing
Fund manager and hotel developer Pro-Invest Group is in the midst of an equity raising to fund the development of 10 co-living apartment towers with 2000 units.
Swatch adds gloss to Melbourne’s luxury watch precinct
The Swiss watchmaker cements a city block as the country’s premier luxury watch precinct after opening a flagship store on Collins Street.
Wealth
- Exclusive
- Pubs
Jon Adgemis in financial dispute over his grandmother’s estate
The businessman’s Public Hospitality Group has been struggling with cash flow problems and is saddled with high debts.
‘Investments of passion’: Why I spent $15,000 on wine in three years
Tim Baker was bitten by the wine bug in France.
- Opinion
- Super Q&A
How much cash can my parents pump into superannuation?
This strategy could allow a couple to contribute $940,000 to super.
Technology
‘Keeps me up at night’: How Australia’s government sees hacker threat
Home affairs Minister Clare O’Neil has warned of a growing threat of cyber sabotage to Australian power, telecommunications, health and water infrastructure.
- Exclusive
- AI
Labor minister says AI may be ‘humanity’s last invention’
Andrew Leigh’s concerns about the threat to people from computers adds to momentum to introduce restrictions on artificial intelligence.
Former Blockchain Global director barred from leaving country
Liang “Allan” Guo is being investigated by the corporate regulator over claims that he used money from the collapsed cryptocurrency group to pay his mortgage.
Work & Careers
CFMEU and Hutchinson overturn $1.35m fines
The CFMEU has wiped out a $750,000 fine after the court held a builder kicking a non-union contractor off site was simply a commercial decision to avoid strikes.
Why Corrs CEO Gavin MacLaren has a target on his back
Gavin MacLaren has become the best-known law firm leader in the land. And that’s not a good thing.
Life & Luxury
Why death metal is feel-good music
Can some forms of music actually be bad you? That’s what Plato thought in 4th-century BC, and it has been a cause for moral panic ever since.
‘Landmark’ research links processed food with 32 ways to die
Experts say a review of the link between ultra-processed foods and health shows governments should step in with restrictions akin to those on tobacco.
This opera turns the orchestra pit into a lake
Robert Lepage’s production of Stravinsky’s “Nightingale” for Adelaide Festival throws the singers into the deep end, literally.
Deep-sea robot finds walking fish among 100 new species
The discovery off the coast of Chile has intensified calls to protect submarine mountains in international waters.
From TISM to Ben Elton, seven shows you must see in March
Your downtime won’t be a letdown with our guide to some of the best shows happening around the nation this month.
