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    Dutton to slash migrant intake, ban foreign property buyers

    The opposition leader has vowed to slash permanent migration by a quarter and ban foreign investors buying established homes for two years.

    Treasurer Jim Chalmers: politicians spent a long time telling voters that they were hard done by, and government was there to help.

    This budget sees the return of government as saviour

    Two decades ago, Australia was poised to shed the hard done by battler mindset. Now it is more entrenched than ever.

    Greens leader Adam Bandt and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

    Labor slammed for offshore gas approval backdown

    A deal with the Greens means Labor is close to passing Petroleum Resources Rent Tax changes and vehicle emissions standards, but it has shelved fast-tracked gas approvals.

    Why bad news has the ASX bulls running

    Bad news from the job market turned a good day on the ASX into a great one. Investors are ploughing into market darlings in the firm belief that rate cuts are coming.

    Mortgage relief in sight after traders scrap rate rise bets

    A surprise pickup in the unemployment rate has bolstered bets that the next move from the Reserve Bank may be lower. Cooling US inflation data overnight also helped, sending the Aussie dollar to a four-month high.

    How to build a cash war chest - and get permission to spend it

    Thursday’s two big profit results show what investors want from Australia’s big companies. And it doesn’t have to be just buybacks and special dividends.

    Vladimir Putin’s preparing for a long war

    The Russian president’s idea of the motherland is much larger than the country’s globally recognised borders, an atavism that’s widely shared within his nation.

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    FEDERAL BUDGET

    Qantas and Airbus have committed to investing $300 million to accelerate the establishment of a SAF industry in Australia.

    Budget gives $1.7b boost for green aviation fuel but still no mandate

    While the EU, Singapore and Japan have all signed on to sustainable fuel mandates, the Albanese government will study the idea for another two years.

    Migration hit would ‘destroy’ $48b education export sector

    Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s plan to slash Australia’s annual permanent migrant intake from 185,000 to 140,000 would deliver a near fatal blow to the country’s fourth-largest export.

    The ADF faces a shortfall of nearly 5000 soldiers, sailors and airmen and women.

    The ADF will grow by just 358 people next year. That’s a big problem

    If Defence is to attract the 5000 new soldiers, sailors and aviators it desperately needs, it must do a much better job looking after its current ones.

    Can Australia become a green energy superpower? Five charts that say yes

    The Albanese government is taking a big punt on its signature Future Made in Australia policy, betting $24.3 billion over 10 years in Tuesday’s budget – these charts show why.

    ‘Business spends bugger all’: what landmark R&D review aims to fix

    Technology industry experts warn a new government review into the R&D system must not cut tax incentives, and must kick-start anaemic business investment. 

    Features include the ability to save articles, dark mode and real time notifications.

    Get the latest business news on the go with the AFR’s new iOS app.

    Find out more

    Companies

    Anglo American wants to “rapidly” sell its Australian coking coal assets.

    Anglo American wants a single buyer for its Australian coal division

    The London-listed diversified miner this week unveiled a major divestment plan designed partly to keep a $64.4 billion buyout proposal from BHP from succeeding.

    Air Vanuatu’s single Boeing 737-800 has been out of action since March.

    Liquidators say a ‘clearly’ broke Air Vanuatu owes at least $99m

    The airline had “a significant level of debt”, and employed “a high number of staff for an operation of [its] size and nature”.

    Aristocrat’s Trevor Croker is bullish about the company’s prospects in North America.

    Aristocrat pops as pokies giant takes share in lucrative US market

    Shares soared nearly 12 per cent after it rewarded shareholders with a 6¢ increase to its fully franked interim dividend. It expects to continue to grow there.

    Incitec Pivot’s new CEO Mauro Neves started in January. He says a two-year transformation phase of the Dyno Nobel explosives business should deliver a strong improvement in return on capital.

    Incitec Pivot blames gas prices for $498m fertiliser write-down

    But the company said it could double returns if it sold those struggling operations to Indonesia’s PT Pupuk Kalimantan Timur and focused only on explosives.

    ACCC intervenes in bidding war over Namoi Cotton

    The regulator’s intervention pushed shares down eight per cent at the start of trade on Thursday. It has fielded offers from France’s Louis Dreyfus and Olam.

    Fonterra puts its Australian dairy assets up for sale

    The New Zealand-based co-operative is behind household brands such as Western Star butter and Mainland cheese and has eight local manufacturing sites.

    Biofuels battle: GrainCorp puts $500m-plus price tag on oilseed plant

    Robert Spurway says market was underestimating the cost of building a major expansion, and the potential returns amid growing demand for biofuels.

    Companies in the News

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    Markets

    Mortgage relief in sight after traders scrap rate rise bets

    A surprise pickup in the unemployment rate has bolstered bets that the next move from the Reserve Bank may be lower. Cooling US inflation data overnight also helped, sending the Aussie dollar to a four-month high.

    Damage inflicted on a manganese loading wharf after bulk carrier MV Anikitos crashed into it during Cyclone Megan on Groote Eylandt.

    This small cap has rocketed since South32’s manganese mine disaster

    Shares in Jupiter Mines have doubled in value since Cyclone Megan forced the closure of one of the world’s biggest producers of the steel making commodity.

    A report from Bloomberg citing anonymous sources said South Korean regulators were asked to investigate Phil King’s Regal Funds Management.

    Regal allegedly embroiled in South Korean securities investigation

    The prominent hedge fund told investors in September it was shorting stocks in South Korea, saying it was focused on “one specific bank”.

    The Aussie stock picks that made this fund a top 10

    Platypus Asset Management’s Prasad Patkar names Reece among the $5 billion money manager’s key investment calls. But he’s wary of BHP’s big M&A bet.

    Panic sets in as short squeeze rockets copper price

    A violent spike in copper futures traded in New York has caught markets off guard and sent traders scrambling to cover short positions.

    Opinion

    This budget sees the return of government as saviour

    Two decades ago, Australia was poised to shed the hard done by battler mindset. Now it is more entrenched than ever.

    Phillip Coorey

    Political editor

    Phillip Coorey

    The big fail in Australia’s housing

    The Albanese government’s promises of 1.2 million homes over five years are now in the realm of political fantasy, despite the billions of dollars it has pledged for housing.

    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.

    The AFR View

    Editorial

    The AFR View

    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

    Economics editor

    John Kehoe

    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

    Columnist

    John Roskam

    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

    Industry leader

    Warren Pearce

    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

    Student protesters at Melbourne University on Wednesday afternoon.

    ‘End it now or we’ll call police’: Uni toughens up on protesters

    Melbourne University says protesters ‘crossed a line’ when they occupied a building and warned they could be charged by police if they don’t leave immediately.

    Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan have ordered the party “sort it out.“.

    PM tells Vic Labor to sort out Gaza split

    Labor factional powerbrokers were ordered to an emergency meeting to make sure a split on the Palestinian-Israel issue +does not erupt at the Victorian Labor conference.

    Julie Inman Grant

    Police contacted over threats to eSafety chief: court documents

    Australia’s e-safety watchdog went to police after commissioner Julie Inman Grant received threats and online abuse after telling X Corp to take down a video of a brutal church stabbing.

    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.

    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.

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    World

    Donald Trump.

    They still hate him, but Wall Street’s big donors turn to Trump

    Exasperated with Joe Biden’s policies, top financiers are increasingly on board for a second Trump term despite being alienated during his first presidency.

    Electric vehicles from China’s Geely car maker bound for shipment from the Port of Taicang.

    America’s race to tear up trade rules hurts everyone

    The US is growing tired of upholding the economic rules it laid out for the world after 1945. But tariffs only punish consumers and undermine competitiveness.

    Rescuers carry the body of a boy found in the rubble following an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp in Nuseirat, central Gaza.

    Hamas regroups and Israel’s Gaza endgame is missing

    US and Israeli officials are offering blunt assessments about Hamas’ resilience and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failure to plan for post-war Gaza.

    Morrison says Trump legal ‘pile-on’ political

    Speaking in Washington, Scott Morrison backed Donald Trump’s assertion that America’s legal system is being used against him.

    Dalio warns of US debt pile, and he wants Taylor Swift for president

    The billionaire founder of Bridgewater Associates is worried about investors being able to absorb new supply, and why he would vote for Taylor Swift as president.

    Property

     A pool of outer-ring suburbs such as Somers in Victoria are among the newly minted top-end housing market after posting strong price growth since the onset of the pandemic, according to CoreLogic.

    Suburbs 100km from CBDs join upper echelon as prices surge

    Strong demand for stand-alone homes during COVID-19 has catapulted a string of outer and previously affordable middle-ring suburbs to the top of the housing ladder.

    The resort includes a pool and bar.

    NRMA snaps up Yamba holiday park for more than $40m

    The association will add the Blue Dolphin Holiday Resort in Yamba to a tourism portfolio that includes Cradle Mountain Hotel and Freycinet Lodge in Tasmania

    Not a home office: cafe finds coffee and laptops don’t blend well

    The same reasons that drove19th-century writers from their garrets have led office workers to colonise café tables.

    Perth property ‘went nuts’, but these sisters managed to get in first

    Jennifer and Maxine Gamble are sisters who have bought a house together to future-proof aged care issues that might arise in the future for them.

    Restaurant duo splashes on mansion with dark history

    Nomad Group’s Al and Rebecca Yazbek have paid about $11 million for Hambleton House on Albert Park’s best street in Melbourne’s bayside.

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    Wealth

    When we eventually sell the properties, how will the capital gains be calculated?

    Labor’s ‘double taxation’ in super may not be as steep as you think

    A 30 per cent tax rate is unlikely to ever apply to the entirety of annual earnings for people with balances above $3 million.

    ‘Don’t waste it’: Smart ways to spend your income tax cut

    Some workers will have an extra $350 a month from July 1. Don’t waste this “powerful” opportunity, experts say.

    My partner earns far more than me. Should we still split bills 50/50?

    One partner in the relationship earns $200,000, while the other earns much less. What’s the fairest way to divide their living expenses?

    Technology

    Aristocrat chief executive Trevor Croker has delivered another solid profit result.

    How gridiron and cartoon elves sent this ASX giant surging

    The 12 per cent surge in Aristocrat Leisure’s share price reflects a solid profit beat. But there’s a secret sauce behind its long track record of growth.

    Iress chief executive Marcus Price is leading the financial services company through a turnaround.

    Hackers steal the keys to Iress’ OneVue platform

    Financial software provider Iress is investigating if any client data has been breached after discovering hackers stole a credential to gain access to its systems.

    Google steals OpenAI’s thunder with something 15 times bigger

    The new version of Gemini can write poems about objects it’s seen, or even tell the user where it last saw her glasses.

    Work & Careers

    AAT

    Law graduates are about to crack a salary record

    Top-tier graduates will earn more than $100,000 this year – in Sydney only – but law firms remain tight-lipped on pay rates despite moves towards transparency elsewhere.

    Directors welcome ‘no change’ report on disclosure laws

    A review of continuous disclosure laws says the end of the no-fault regime for class actions has had no impact on “meritorious” claims

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    Life & Luxury

    Perhaps the most spectacular vista anywhere, especially given how hard you have to work to get to this elevation.

    Mount Everest from your tent? That’s a view worth the trek

    Waking up to behold Nepal’s most renowned mountains is a dream come true. But you’ve got to put in the hard yards to get there.

    Martha (Jessica Gunning) is a relationship seeker.

    The five types of stalker – a clinical psychologist explains

    “Baby Reindeer” accurately portrays the relentless intrusion into another person’s life and the damage it causes to the victims and the people around them.

    Russell Brand shared the news of his baptism in a typically verbose Instagram video on April 29.

    The unlikely relationship between Russell Brand, Bear Grylls and God

    Why would chief scout Grylls, a man with a flourishing global career, team up with the “cancelled” Brand – and risk harming his own squeaky-clean brand?

    At her funeral, says Saskia Havekes:  “No one is to play Ave Maria and definitely no white coffin. Those two things I can absolutely say no to.” Illustration by Sam Bennett

    Society florist to sign off with a signature flower

    Grandiflora founder Saskia Havekes plans to be dressed in white, with a floral scent and a magnolia bloom.

    Short, steep and with a wall at one end and a perilous drop at the other, the runway at Lukla’s airport isn’t for the faint-hearted.

    This airport is one of the world’s most scenic – and treacherous

    Trekking in Nepal’s Everest region is on many a bucket list. But the adventure starts well beforehand, with a landing at Tenzing-Hillary Airport.

    From the gallery