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    Featured Opinion

    From euphoria to subsidies to kick-start the next great mining hopes

    An Australian mining industry more used to being threatened by super-profit tax raids is being offered handouts to kick-start its way into the low carbon era.

    The AFR View

    Editorial

    The AFR View

    Gas industry hawks its carbon credentials

    Barrow Island and its inhabitants of kangaroos, perentie lizards and rare native fauna is also home to the world’s largest dedicated carbon capture and storage project.

    Why you can’t argue the $300 energy rebate will lower inflation

    Energy bill relief increases real disposable income and boosts aggregate demand. We can debate how far they push inflation, but not that the direction is up.

    Arrest warrants huge blow for Israel and massive gamble by ICC

    The question of how the US president responds to this, along with Congress, now becomes critical.

    Hamas’ defeat, helping Ukraine win, best for West

    The sooner Israel defeats Hamas, the better. And also the sooner the US focuses attention on helping Ukraine win the war, the better.

    The AFR View

    Editorial

    The AFR View

    Why WA loves the critical minerals budget boost

    Peter Dutton’s refusal to endorse Labor’s plan for production tax credits for critical minerals processing and green hydrogen won’t make him popular in must-win seats in Western Australia.

    China and Russia have one bed but different dreams

    Russian weakness has enabled China to emerge as Eurasia’s dominant power. But it also limits the partnership of the two.

    Geoff Raby

    Columnist

    Geoff Raby

    Australia needs to relearn the reform lessons taught to Greece

    The Greeks took Gary Banks’ advice on productivity-enhancing policy. But political short-termism now holds sway here.

    Jenny Bloomfield

    Former diplomat

    Jenny Bloomfield
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    Hot inflation and the fading prospect of rate cuts won’t help Joe Biden.

    Seven theories of why Biden is losing

    The US president is running like he’s winning, which he isn’t. From his age to economic management, voters are turning off the Democrats’ nominee.

    • Ezra Klein
    Lendlease chief executive Tony Lombardo is feeling the heat from major investor John Wylie’s Tanarra Capital, while David Di Pilla’s HMC Capital is among other prominent investors in the construction and real estate giant.

    Prospect of Lendlease writedowns impossible to ignore

    It’s hard to get a good price when trying to sell assets quickly and cleanly: that’s the juggle inside Lendlease ahead of Monday’s investor day, where writedowns are on the cards.

    • Anthony Macdonald
    RBA governor Michele Bullock.

    RBA independence is more important than ever

    Readers’ letters on political spin and the Reserve Bank; the Albanese government’s poor record; final pleas for a printed paper; predicted blackouts; and Jim Chalmers’ charm offensive.

    Telstra boss Vicki Brady is making hard choices as she looks ahead to 2030.

    Telstra’s biggest surprise isn’t its 2800 job cuts

    Telstra boss Vicki Brady is sending a message to the market: the telco must lift returns on investment, and that means hard choices.

    • James Thomson

    What campus protesters get wrong about divestment

    Resisting magical thinking about how financial markets work would help them better direct their efforts today.

    • The Economist
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    The bulls have started 2024 firmly in charge, and the bears are giving up.

    Nine signs there’s a ‘mini melt-up’ on the ASX – and 12 stocks to buy

    UBS strategist Richard Schellbach says Wall Street’s relentless grind higher will inevitably flow through to the ASX, and has picked some local stocks to watch.

    • Updated
    • James Thomson
    Underperformance is closely correlated to the fees charged by active fund managers.

    More zeros than heroes in active funds management

    Don’t be fooled by short-term performance data and carefully assess after-fee returns.

    • Ben Smythe
    Cash often moves a portfolio toward the lower end of the expected return spectrum.

    Why holding too much cash can be harmful to your wealth

    As a standalone asset class cash has long underperformed bonds, property, and shares.

    • Maziar Nikpour
    GME’s XRS-660: With an unobstructed line of sight, the range can be 10 kilometres or more.

    How to lose yourself in the wild without getting lost

    Having wireless communications with you when there’s no mobile reception isn’t just about making adventure travel more social. It’s safer, too.

    • John Davidson

    Yesterday

    We need to prepare in good times for the next big shock. These are the good times

    We are a long way from even a balanced budget. If we are going to have a fiscal war chest for the next big shock, we need to prepare now.

    • Updated
    • Jonathan Kearns
    Adam Bell’s findings will be crucial to the Star Sydney’s future profitability.

    Star bidders need to answer one big question

    That the stricken Star would attract potential bidders is no surprise. But there’s one question buyers will struggle to answer.

    • James Thomson
    A guitar-shaped hotel tower anchors the remade and expanded Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino near Hollywood, Florida.

    Star suitor Hard Rock knows a thing or two about the mass market

    If a deal proceeds, there’s every chance casinos in Sydney and Queensland will look very different. Just look at their guitar-shaped Florida palace.

    • Primrose Riordan and Zoe Samios
    Tony O’Reilly, former chairman and CEO of HJ Heinz in London in 1999.

    The day I predicted the downfall of Tony O’Reilly

    Regarded for much of his life as the most successful Irishman in modern history, the industrialist’s charm wasn’t enough to save his business empire.

    • Aaron Patrick
    An over-reliance on gas is no sure way of delivering 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030.

    The Coalition must give up its nuclear dreaming

    The opposition’s current nuclear proposal is an unserious political wedge being used to pry open a climate war Pandora’s box. A new round of the climate wars would be catastrophic.

    • Paul Farrow
    Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visits the Azerbaijan border, just hours before a helicopter in which he was a passenger crashed.

    Raisi’s death deals blow to Iranian regime’s grand plan

    Raisi was integral to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s plans to cement the influence of regime hardliners and ensure a smooth succession to the republic’s top post.

    • Andrew England
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    A Kanak flag waving next to a burning vehicle at a roadblock at La Tamoa, in the commune of Paita in New Caledonia.

    Penny Wong must speak up on New Caledonia

    It’s time for Australia’s foreign minister to act as the honest friend and tell France that they are mishandling their Pacific territory.

    • Hamish McDonald
    Perpetual chief executive Rob Adams. The company bit off more than it could chew by paying too much for rival funds manager Pendal – and using debt to fund the deal.

    Two things can be true in Perpetual’s shock break-up

    Perpetual is trying to get shareholders to look strictly at the numbers in a bid to take emotion out of its break-up. KKR’s $2.2 billion of cash can’t hurt.

    • Anthony Macdonald
    Apple’s new iPad Pro with its new Magic Keyboard.

    Why the iPad Pro still hasn’t made itself useful enough

    Apple’s latest tablet is undoubtedly one the greatest feats of computer hardware engineering ever. But what about its software?

    • John Davidson
    BHP’s Mike Henry and Duncan Wanblad his Anglo American counterpart.

    The $64b question at the heart of Mike Henry’s biggest test

    Key BHP investors including AFIC are supportive of the mining giant lifting its bid for Anglo American. But the question is: how much?

    • James Thomson

    How much fun should you have at work?

    Jokes at work need to be deployed with skill and care. Yet, the best are glorious and the working world would be a far better place if we had a great deal more of them.

    • Pilita Clark