If your business is turning inspiration into innovation, it’s time to be recognised.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Investors shouldn’t believe Chalmers on inflation just yet
For inflation to get back to target by Christmas, more pockets of pain will have to emerge. But the corporate sector is holding up well.
‘Horrible on every level’: Universities object to migration changes
Changes to limit the number of foreign students at educational colleges, universities and schools are highly interventionist and prescribe not only where students can study but what they can learn, providers said.
Rate rise still priced in despite Chalmers’ ‘optimistic’ forecasts
Bond markets are continuing to bet that the RBA will have to lift rates this year, despite new government forecasts predicting inflation will fall faster than the central bank expects.
- Exclusive
- Quantum Computing
UK’s bet on PsiQuantum is one-fiftieth the size of Australia’s
Leading British quantum computing specialists have expressed surprise at the Albanese government’s decision to invest nearly $1 billion in backing the start-up.
R&D boost needed for Future Made in Australia plan to fly
Australian firms that develop innovative technologies say they are disincentivised to build their products in Australia and are calling for R&D incentive changes.
- Live
- Markets Live
ASX closes flat, Fletcher, Lendlease drop
Shares flat; Fletcher hit by weak housing market; Lendlease disputes ATO claims; Iress in security breach; ANZ investigated by ASIC. Follow updates here.
These 5 ETFs posted double-digit returns in April’s shock sell-off
The fall in global sharemarkets stopped the fast-growing ETF industry in its tracks in April, but proved profitable for several short-style strategies.
Lendlease doubts tax bill; Musk’s video win; Wall St legend’s truths
FEDERAL BUDGET
Budget tips fast inflation fall, reviving rate cut hopes
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says measures in Tuesday’s federal budget will help bring inflation down to within the Reserve Bank’s target band by Christmas.
The little-known budget figure you should care about
The figure, known as the ‘table of truth’, cuts through the spin and shows how the treasurer’s saving and spending decisions affect the bottom line.
- Opinion
- Federal budget
Jim Chalmers rips up Paul Keating’s economic playbook
The treasurer is breaking from Labor’s previously claimed belief in the Hawke-Keating market-based economic model that helped deliver 30 years of prosperity, writes John Kehoe.
Everything we know about Tuesday’s budget so far
Treasurer Jim Chalmers will hand down the Labor government’s third federal budget this week. Here’s everything we know ahead of the announcement.
- Exclusive
- Federal budget
Budget to extend $20,000 business tax breaks
Businesses with a turnover under $10 million a year will be able to claim a $20,000 tax deduction for the cost of assets including cars, computers or R&D, under an extension of the ‘instant asset write-off’ in Tuesday’s budget.
MONDAY MEDIA
ARN throws a Hail Mary to revive collapsed radio merger
Takeover target SCA gave a dim view of the revised plan, which doesn’t include private equity firm Anchorage Capital.
- Updated
- Media & marketing
$250m deal to reshape radio market collapses
Southern Cross Austereo’s regional TV stations proved the sticking point for Anchorage Capital Partners’ deal. ARN is left to try and salvage a way forward.
- Opinion
- Media & marketing
New laws risk the end of free sports on TV
The government has one chance of modernising how broadcast rights are organised. Otherwise, iconic sporting events will be harder to find.
The researchers influencing billions in global marketing
The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute is sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company, McDonald’s, Mars, Nestlé and PepsiCo. Its findings guide global business decisions.
Showtime! Media CEOs’ last stand with Foxtel over future of TV
Years of lobbying by free-to-air networks and Foxtel have come down to this week, when two crucial pieces of legislation are set to go before the Senate.
Get the latest business news on the go with the AFR’s new iOS app.
Companies
- Updated
- Tax disputes
Lendlease tax troubles could trigger second profit downgrade this year
The country’s largest property group told investors it would dispute a $112 million tax bill related to the 2017 partial sale of its retirement business.
ANZ confirms investigation of its government bond sale
ANZ said is “co-operating fully” with ASIC as it investigates “suspected contraventions” of the Corporations Act relating to a government bond sale last year.
NSW toll reform suggestions ‘a recipe for disaster’: IPA
NSW’s tolling review should dump suggestions of overriding the state’s toll road contracts with legislation because it risks spooking investors, says Infrastructure Partnerships Australia.
Partners Group to restart Guardian sale after childcare review
The Swiss private equity firm expects deals to ramp up in the second half, and primed its early learning business to be the first off the block.
PwC elevates tax and legal into its service line
The new model will also bring together the firm’s deals and private advisory professionals and its consultants into a renamed “advisory” service.
Tesla buyers using tax breaks bring spike in EV leasing
FleetPartners shares have climbed 48 per cent in six months and the CEO said 63 per cent of its novated lease customers in March bought an EV, taking advantage of a $3000 tax break.
- Exclusive
- Regulation
ASIC investigates ANZ over Treasury trades
The corporate regulator acted after receiving a complaint from the Australian Office of Financial Management, which raises government debt, sources said.
Companies in the News
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Markets
Airlie’s Emma Fisher is making her next big bets
Mineral Resources and Reece have been career-defining picks. This year, she’s sold down CBA and is going large on one of the most shorted stocks on the ASX.
US shale companies accused of collusion over oil price
ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum and Diamondback Energy are among the companies named in at least 10 class actions alleging they conspired to constrain production.
Brookfield’s Healthscope debt trap is a mess for everyone involved
The investment giant is bringing its punchy approach to restructuring – and tactics more often found in the US – to Australia as it works on the hospital group.
How markets were looking before the ASX opening bell
Australian shares were set to edge lower on Monday as they waited to assess the impact of federal budget spending on the central bank’s path to an interest rate cut.
- Opinion
- Bonds
Forget the hawks, the RBA’s next rate move will be lower
In my over 20 years in financial markets, I’ve never seen such a wide dispersion of views on interest rates – we are at a pivotal moment in monetary policy, writes Angus Coote.
Opinion
Substantial surpluses, not bigger deficits, should be running at this point
Instead, Jim Chalmers has confirmed that forecast deficits will widen as Labor’s Future Made In Australia budget centrepiece rolls out subsidies for the green energy and advanced manufacturing subsides.
Editorial
The one standout success metric for the budget
More investment is required to drive productivity. We won’t get this without cutting red tape and making the things more business-friendly.
BCA chief executive
As India votes, doubt grows about Modi’s intentions
India’s prime minister is set to extend his power once the election results are known. That is likely to bring further tests for Australia and the world.
International editor
This is a bold opportunity to refocus Australia’s economy
The Future Made in Australia Act is not picking winners. It is about reshaping whole sectors around a mission of managing climate change.
Economist
On his third budget, Chalmernomics has finally emerged
The Albanese-Chalmers government embodies a short-term and emotive response to wage stagnation, not a rational one.
Economist
Bonza’s failure is a warning for corporate Australia
The private equity-backed airline’s abrupt collapse shines a spotlight on the potential risks brewing in the massive, unregulated private credit market.
Columnist
Reports
BOSS Best Places to Work
The awards celebrate the achievements of the best small, medium and large organisations and nine sector winners.
Politics
Plane makes safe emergency landing in Newcastle
A light plane with three people on board and no functioning landing gear has landed safely after circling for two hours. Here’s how the day unfolded.
- Exclusive
- Australia's China challenge
Meet Taiwan’s new ‘matchmaker’ for Australian business
As Taiwan prepares to welcome a new president and bolster economic ties with Australia, the self-ruled island’s envoy issues a warning over Chinese coercion.
- Exclusive
- Infrastructure
Labor warned of risk from Victoria’s $200b rail loop
Infrastructure Minister Catherine King is fighting to keep secret the details of 30 projects that her hand-picked review said should be scrapped, as well as warnings over Victoria’s controversial Suburban Rail Loop, which will cost more than $200 billion to build and operate.
Palestinians’ aggressive lobbying upset Labor but it worked
Australia’s decision to support Palestinian UN membership follows seven months of intense, and aggressive, lobbying by a network of activists.
- Opinion
- BNPL
Payments innovation under threat from RBA
Buy now, pay later, which revolutionised Australia’s highly concentrated payments system, is under potential threat from increased regulation, writes Tony Boyd.
SPONSORED
World
Fighting flares anew across Gaza as Hamas regroups
Close-quarters ground combat between Hamas fighters and Israeli troops raged in parts of northern Gaza over the weekend as people continued to flee Rafah.
Putin replaces defence minister in rare cabinet shake-up
The Kremlin said Russia’s ballooning defence budget warranted putting economist Andrei Belousov in charge.
- Opinion
- East Asia Forum
‘Nothing to see here’ as Singapore gets new PM
Lawrence Wong is considered a safe pair of hands. But Singapore is facing many challenges that need radical new ideas rather than technocratic continuity.
Ken Griffin urges Harvard University to embrace ‘Western values’
The hedge fund founder who has given his alma mater more than $US500 million has slammed the pro-Palestinian protests sweeping colleges as “almost like performative art”.
- Opinion
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Why the campus protests are so troubling
Hamas is against the existence of a Jewish state and believes there should be an Islamic state between the river and the sea. When protests on college campuses ignore that, they are part of the problem.
Property
First home buyers purchase from investors in $780,000 sale
This Central Coast home’s proximity to the M1 highway made it popular with tradies commuting to Sydney – and with rates outlooks stabilising, they were confident about buying.
- Exclusive
- Luxury property
Retiring Reece chair lists $12m family mansion in South Yarra
Melbourne-based Reece chair Tim Poole and his wife Jane have listed their South Yarra home, Atherley, after 24 years owning the Italianate mansion.
Killara Golf Club’s greenkeeper house sells for $700,000 above reserve
Auction clearance rates fell at the weekend as buyers grow cautious from interest rates staying higher for longer, but well-located properties remain popular.
House builders can’t compete with states’ cash splash
In the race for talent and materials in Australia’s construction game, housing has consistently run in second place to the infrastructure sector.
- Exclusive
- Construction
Gurner-Roberts merger plan sinks
A lack of “chemistry” between the two Rich List business leaders also hindered a merger of their development and construction businesses.
Wealth
ASIC finds super funds still charging fees for no service
Super funds are obliged to ensure members are only charged for financial advice they actually receive but not all are doing so.
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.
Technology
Business warned payroll software is not up to speed on new IR laws
The disconnect between the hours that payroll systems think people work, and how long they’re actually working, is only going to get more expensive to ignore.
Apple will revamp Siri to catch up with chatbot competitors
Apple is expected to release an improved Siri that is more conversational and versatile at its developer conference in June.
15 minutes to get around X’s stabbing video ban, court hears
Lawyers for the social network argued that they had complied with a government take-down notice, which they said was invalid, by blocking footage in Australia.
Work & Careers
Aged care providers back delaying pay rises
Aged care employers have supported the government’s proposal to phase-in aged care pay rises, clashing with unions who are demanding the full rise by July 1.
- Opinion
- Domestic violence
Domestic violence is also a workplace issue
Governments should take the lead on the problem, but other groups can do more, including employers. Companies can achieve much more than many imagine.
Life & Luxury
The best European summer motor events in 2024
From the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, top-shelf events are luring car enthusiasts to northern climes.
The interior designer who swears by secondhand fashion
Shona McElroy loves measuring things, having Veuve to serve, and Buddha’s hand
The number on your smartwatch you should pay most attention to
Your VO2 max is a good measure of your heart, lung and muscle function – but what exactly is it, and how can you find out yours?
- Drinks With Max Allen
- Trends
Top restaurants can’t get enough of the mother of all vinegars
Tasmanian cider maker Tim Jones has branched out into barrel-aged craft vinegars and a refreshing sweet-and-sour cordial.
A managing partner’s guide to great skiing
When Stewart Cameron isn’t heading up Hicksons Lawyers, he’s hankering for an opportunity to shred the powder – preferably in the US or Canada.