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    Policy

    Economy

    Today

    David Rowe

    Solar panels debunking makes case for critical minerals leg-up

    Even in a world of geopolitical and supply chain risk, the old economic orthodoxies of international specialisation and comparative advantage still apply.

    • 33 mins ago
    • The AFR View
    Applause from colleagues, but it’s really an ominous message.

    Australia’s new course is to be managed decline

    The budget is our politics writ small: too lacking in confidence and optimism to seek out new growth.

    • John Roskam
    Treasurer Jim Chalmers may be feeling the pressure when he resorts to describing the Coalition’s “clown show”.

    Budget is pure politics

    Readers letters on Jim Chalmers’ federal budget; Scott Morrison’s meeting with Donald Trump; and Gina Rinehart’s push against her portrait in The National Gallery of Australia.

    Unemployment increased to 4.1 per cent in April.

    Jobless jump could unwind next month, economists say

    Economists predict some of the lift in unemployment in April may unwind in May, amid broader signs the jobs market remains strong and is absorbing a surge in migrants.

    • Updated
    • Michael Read
    Lithium mining in Western Australia. There is a cogent argument for refining critical minerals here.

    It’s right for Australia to join the critical minerals subsidy rush

    The scepticism about government interventions is understandable. But this time, they are creating new industries of immense value.

    • Warren Pearce
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    Jonathan Kearns says “the inflation dragon still lurks in our future”.

    RBA will ignore budget’s ‘miracle’ inflation forecast

    Former Reserve Bank official Jonathan Kearns has cast doubt on whether the budget can produce a “magical” drop in inflation beyond the short term.

    • John Kehoe
    The housing market is failing to keep pace with surging demand.

    RBA says ‘no quick fix’ to house prices

    RBA chief economist Sarah Hunter warns that undersupply of homes means house prices and rents will continue to rise as the market fails to keep pace with strong demand.

    • Michael Read
    The Fin podcast Lucy Dean Joanna Mather

    What happens when Australia’s Boomers hand $5 trillion to their heirs

    This week on The Fin podcast, Lucy Dean and Joanna Mather explain what’s happening in the great wealth transfer and how it will shape the economy, politics and intergenerational rivalry.

    Yesterday

    More than $80 billion of under-the-radar spending on initiatives such as Snowy Hydro, NBN and clean energy undermines budget forecasts, Saul Eslake says.

    ‘Dangerous’ to rely on key budget number given $80b spending splurge

    More than $80 billion of under-the-radar spending on initiatives such as Snowy Hydro, NBN and clean energy undermines budget deficit forecasts, Saul Eslake says.

    • John Kehoe
    UniSuper chief investment officer John Pearce and Australian Investment Council chief executive Navleen Prasad.

    Investors welcome Chalmers’ new ‘front door’ service (with caveats)

    Big investors want to be consulted as the proposal for an investment concierge moves from budget papers into reality.

    • John Kehoe

    Unions to ramp up pay claims despite inflation slowdown

    Unions want to make up for “lost ground” after years of cost-of-living pressure, despite Treasury forecasts that inflation could fall beneath 3 per cent by Christmas.

    • Updated
    • Michael Read and David Marin-Guzman
    Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers at the National Press Club post-budget event in Parliament House on Wednesday.

    Chalmers is telling a big budget fib

    Treasurer Jim Chalmers stood in front of 600 guests at his post-budget speech in Parliament House on Wednesday and repeated a misleading number about spending.

    • John Kehoe

    Projected cash deficits are inflationary, financially irresponsible

    Readers’ letters on Labor’s budget; Sir Frank Lowy’s views on antisemitism; the flaw in the Tax Practitioners Board’s proposed breach reporting obligations; and Australia’s chance to be bold.

    The US is in a state of near panic about the green-industry tidal wave coming out of China.

    US-China trade war choices for Chalmers’ green budget

    The new incentives for critical minerals and green hydrogen are about more than industry policy. They will play out in a global contest over rival political systems.

    • Richard McGregor
    Innes Willox (left) and Bran Black (right), and Andrew McKellar (centre)

    ‘Higher costs, more taxes’: Business warns budget could fuel inflation

    Business has warned the third Chalmers budget could add to inflation, and urged the government to rein in spending to prevent a decade of deficits.

    • Michael Read
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    This Month

    Australia’s debt interest cost set to surge.

    Decade of deficits to spark debt interest surge

    While Treasurer Jim Chalmers was spruiking debt in 2023-24 being $904 billion, gross debt is forecast to rise sharply in the years ahead.

    • Ronald Mizen

    NDIS spending blows out by $5.4b

    The budget reveals government spending on the NDIS ballooned by another 21 per cent in 2023-24, with the scheme tipped to cost $61 billion by 2027.

    • Michael Read
    Andrew Forrest’s big wins arrived in the form of tax incentives that will boost both his publicly listed giant Fortescue Metals Group and private interests.

    Why Andrew Forrest is a big budget winner

    Jim Chalmers’ $23 billion bet on turning Australia into a green industry superpower ignores many of the issues on the top of the business sector’s wishlist.

    • James Thomson
    Minister for Women Katy Gallagher.

    Gender and family advocates will have to wait a bit longer

    The issue with announcing a rise in wages for childcare workers is that there is a multi-enterprise bargaining process underway.

    • Sally Patten
    Belinda Coniglio, pictured with her daughter Jacinta Rose, supports the super guarantee on parental paid leave.

    Super on parental leave adds $4250 to retirement balance

    The government will also spend $55.6 million over four years to establish the Building Women’s Careers program.

    • Sally Patten and Joanne Tran