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WA budget

Mining-fuelled $3.2b surplus to fund WA spending splurge

Overflowing mining royalties leave Treasurer Rita Saffioti boasting her state has yet to peak.

CBA chief executive Matt Comyn says the bank lost market share by staying out of the mortgage wars.

CBA shows this is not your parents’ slowdown

CBA’s chief executive started banging the drum on loss-making mortgages early last year. Now, the broader banking sector appears to be thinking along the same lines.

Households are increasingly optimistic about their financial position. But retail spending remains weak.

Shares smashed as optimistic shoppers prove no match for retail weakness

JB Hi-Fi and Baby Bunting were among stocks to slide amid disappointing earnings. But new Barrenjoey analysis suggests that the worst may have passed.

Perpetual backer Soul Patts says board got a good price out of KKR

The investment company, which holds nearly 15 per cent of Perpetual, believes the trust and wealth businesses have been traded for more than it was ever willing to pay.

‘Why would I invest a single cent in Australia?’ asks Orica boss

The explosives giant’s CEO, Sanjeev Gandhi, is getting a little tired of hearing about the Albanese government’s much hyped Future Made in Australia policy.

Shares fall; Baby Bunting crashes, retailers dive, banks drop

Shares slip 1.1pc. Retail worries mount on multiple trading updates. CBA’s profit slips 5pc, consumer debts creep higher. Westfield lifts investment after Bondi attack. Follow here.

Westfield Bondi owner says shoppers are back after horror attack

Scentre chief executive Elliott Rusanow said the mall operator had increased security spending as it returned to a “different” normal after the fatal attack.

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Companies

CBA’s third quarter update has rounded out the latest reporting reason for the major banks.

CBA profit falls to $2.4b but ‘momentum’ improves

Lower margins reduced profits at the country’s largest bank over the last three months, as higher interest rates saw late loan repayments rise.

The PSC deal was struck on Wednesday.

PSC takeover delivers $350m payday for insurance broker

Analysts say Ardonagh’s offer of $2.3 billion for the Melbourne-based insurance broker represents an “attractive multiple” as chairman Paul Dwyer realises a huge windfall.

West Australian billionaires Andrew Forrest and Kerry Stokes.

After losing a deal, Stokes’ newspaper pursued Forrest

The West Australian published dozens of critical articles about Fortescue’s founder after he refused to buy trucks from a related company.

Kerry Stokes’ Seven West Media has delivered an ultimatum to The Australian Financial Review’s owner, Nine Entertainment.

AFR to stop printing in WA after Seven’s ‘abuse of power’

Nine has been forced to pull its print editions of The Australian Financial Review from Perth after Seven West Media demanded double the cost of printing.

Accenture warned of ‘$40m back-pay risk’ for overtime

A former human resources executive claims she warned Accenture’s board it was at risk of having to pay up to $40 million to staff who worked excessive hours.

ASIC says JPMorgan missed dozens of suspicious commodities trades

The banking giant was fined after the corporate regulator found it failed to pick up the unusual orders which were likely intended to manipulate wheat prices.

Allen & Overy merger creates $5.3b firm in push for US clients

Local managing partner Jason Denisenko says the new-look firm will occupy the same space in the market, but will increasingly take on US firms with Australian arms.

Companies in the News

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Markets

Maple Brown-Abbott Garth Rossler, Vertium Asset Management Jason Teh, Lazard Aaron Binsted and Atlas Funds Management’s Hugh Dive.

Stock rally ‘too good to be true’, warn CIOs

Investment chiefs say the market looks too expensive given the uncertain economic backdrop and that there’s good reason to be cautious for the rest of this year.

Officials met with more than 100 investors across five continents to sell its first green bond.

Investors are set to pile into Australia’s first green bond

European fund managers are backing the federal government’s plans to shed its reputation as a coal polluter, with its $7 billion bond looking well oversubscribed.

A worker counts money at a grocery store in Buenos Aires.

Argentina launches 10,000-peso notes, worth $17, as inflation bites

The new note, worth five times more than the previous largest note, was introduced as Argentina’s annual inflation rate reached 287 per cent in March.

Why Rio Tinto is worth more than its $130 price tag

Maple-Brown Abbott’s Emma Pringle is betting the iron ore giant’s share price has more room to run. She’s also bullish on Healius despite a shaky 12 months.

Some fundies unconvinced the RBA’s done with rate increases

Fortlake Asset Management’s Christian Baylis has joined a small number of economists who expect rates to rise, not fall. He says inflation isn’t under control.

Opinion

No place for antisemitic incitement on campus

The protests that reduce the complex history of the Middle East to simplistic anti-Zionist slogans hardly align with universities’ founding institutional mission.

The AFR View

Editorial

The AFR View

Why Albanese is going all in on gas

The Labor government has infuriated climate activists by insisting that gas will play a crucial role in the energy transition for many decades to come. Big producers like Woodside will wait to see what that means.

We will need new sources of gas

Australia is committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050, and we will need gas to get there.

Madeleine King

Resources Minister

Madeleine King

Half-priced detergent every few weeks? Shoppers can smell a rat

Deep food and grocery discounts have become increasingly popular with consumers, but the cost is unfairly borne by suppliers, prompting calls for change.

Sue Mitchell

Columnist

Sue Mitchell

A responsible pre-election budget is a delicate balancing act

The treasurer must not stimulate the economy, but cannot ignore the fact that some Australians are bearing more than their share of the pain.

Aruna Sathanapally

Budget expert

Aruna Sathanapally

Why now is not the time for Palestinian statehood

We cannot just hope that Hamas will lay down its arms – it will never happen. Nor can we hope that an alternative Palestinian Authority will emerge. We need to demand it, as a pre-condition of any form of recognition.

Jeremy Leibler

Contributor

Jeremy Leibler

Reports

BOSS Best Places to Work

The awards celebrate the achievements of the best small, medium and large organisations and nine sector winners.

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Politics

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and RBA governor Michele Bullock.

The budget is already adding to inflation

The federal budget has injected $22 billion of new policy spending over two years, which economists say will cause higher interest rates than necessary and delay any rate cuts.

A Senate Economics Committee interim report says borrowers should be able to access their super.

Let first-home buyers drain super to buy: Senate committee

Australians should be able to drain their super to buy a house, as the benefits of owning a home in retirement outweigh a large super balance, a Coalition-dominated Senate committee has found.

WA budget winners/losers

The winners and losers in WA’s budget

Households and prospective home buyers are expected to benefit from new spending measures, while there is no additional funding for farmers, and still no changes to the state’s payroll tax system.

Everything we know about the budget so far

Treasurer Jim Chalmers will hand down Labor’s third budget on May 14. Here’s what we know about the proposed spending measures.

Labor backs gas ‘to 2050 and beyond’

The government has shed its ambivalence towards gas and adopted a strategy that locks in its use for several more decades along with measures to promote carbon capture.

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World

Israeli soldiers work on armored military vehicles at a staging ground near the Israeli-Gaza border.

Biden says US will not supply weapons for attack on Rafah

The US president’s ultimatum is aimed at trying to deter Israel’s planned operation in Gaza.

Bundles of steel tubes at a trading market in Jinan. China’s steel exports have swelled.

China’s exports return to growth in boost to shaky economy

China’s exports edged higher in dollar terms last month as Beijing pinned its hopes on a manufacturing-led revival to boost flagging growth.

 Zeekr EVs were all the rage at the  China Auto Show in Beijing last month.

This is how China’s car dealers are driving the EV revolution

Chinese car dealers are ditching foreign brands slow to respond to the EV transition, while turning to homegrown makers that have been gobbling up market share.

China’s flood of cheap exports is about to get worse

EU leaders were this week the latest to scold China about overcapacity, but there are no quick fixes to its factory glut.

Biden fights back after Druckenmiller’s reckless spending lambast

Campaigning in a key state, Joe Biden defended his government’s massive government industry subsidies from critics including the billionaire investor.

Property

The lower end of the housing market could get even more competitive in the coming months according to experts.

Why $800,000 homes are in hot demand

Competitive pressure is building up in this segment of the market as investors and first-home buyers return in droves.

CEO Greg Goodman.  The China market is weaker.

Goodman’s data centre push gathers speed

Occupancy across Goodman’s China portfolio was 93 per cent over the March quarter, compared with 98 per cent across its overall portfolio.

Holding up construction: Australia has too few workers to build the homes it needs. But it also has a productivity problem, economists say.

Government’s $91m tradie plan only ‘modest’ boost for home building

Australia’s target of 1.2 million new homes is a crisis of surging demand and a construction workforce facing its own demographic challenges.

Dutch pension fund giant puts $700m into Sydney build-to-rent start-up

Apt.Residential has won the backing of PGGM, which has committed $700m to the rollout of 2500 apartments.

Cotton On CFO lists Melbourne mansion with a contemporary twist

Cotton On CFO Michael Hardwick and his wife Diana have put their Melbourne mansion on the market guiding up to $13.75m after a major renovation.

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Wealth

While governments find it tempting to punish people holding large balances with more tax, what we really need is to learn from the past.

A smarter way to tax high super balances

The government has tried to keep things simple, but in doing so fairness has gone out the window.

Coalition to oppose ‘sophisticated investor’ test overhaul

Labor is grappling with backlash from the start-up sector over calls to limit access to venture capital to investors worth more than $4.5 million.

We have $700,000 in super – can we buy investment property with it?

If you want to add a geared investment property to your retirement savings, here’s what you must think about.

Technology

Larry Marshall speaks at CEDA’s climate and energy forum.

Ex CSIRO boss would pick different ‘winners’ in $1b quantum push

Larry Marshall, former CEO of CSIRO, says taxpayer money should be targeted at points in the quantum computing supply chain, not the finished product.

Emma Foley is Uber’s new Australian managing director, while Ed Kitchen will run Uber Eats.

New Uber bosses to see through gig economy transition

There will be new heads of both Uber and Uber Eats in Australia, ahead of gig economy rules that threaten to significantly raise its cost of doing business.

Will Apple’s new iPad Pro finally replace your laptop?

Apple says its new M4 iPad Pros will have better AI, better performance and better battery life than laptops. But don’t throw away your laptop just yet.

Work & Careers

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‘The gap below Cartier and Tiffany’: Michael Hill’s luxury play

ASX-listed jeweller Michael Hill has been undergoing a major rebranding exercise.

Melbourne shuns office return, Sydney coaxed by redundancy fears

New figures also show Canberra has the second-lowest office attendance rates as public service workers do not face the same scrutiny as Sydney’s private sector.

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Life & Luxury

Cafe Sydney

The 10 best private dining rooms in Australia

Whether it’s for a corporate event, a birthday, or just because, these venues take a lot of beating for excellent food, top wines and exclusive service.

Brisbane’s best restaurants for a business lunch

Where to go when you’ve got a deal to discuss, when you want to impress your top client or thank the team – as tested by our reviewers.

Where to dine for business in Canberra, Darwin, Hobart and Launceston

Where to go when you’ve got a deal to discuss, when you want to impress your top client or thank the team – as tested by our reviewers.

An Equinox fitness centre in Manhattan. The fitness chain has offered high-end memberships for years. Its newest one includes high-touch exercise, nutrition and sleep coaching.

Could this gym’s new $60,820 membership really help you live longer?

US fitness chain Equinox’s latest offer includes high-touch exercise, nutrition and sleep coaching “based on members’ unique biodata” taken from blood tests.

Monster and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ and ‘Monster’ movie reviews

One is set to be a blockbuster, but the other is one of those critically acclaimed films that can expect to enjoy only a modest success at the box office.

From the gallery