- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Inside BHP’s failed tilt for Anglo – and what comes next
The post-mortems are under way, but two things are already clear: the tight time frame was never going to be enough, and BHP’s inability to win over Anglo shareholders eventually killed the deal.
PwC, OpenAI announce ChatGPT integration deal
The US and UK arms of consulting giant PwC have become the biggest direct corporate client of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, announcing a deal to use and resell the AI firm’s tools.
Thames Water’s big stink: Is Macquarie to blame?
The crisis in England’s water sector is coming to the boil. Macquarie, with more than $3 billion invested and its UK reputation on the line, will be feeling the heat.
- Live
- Markets Live
ASX drops as sell-down enters third session; BHP leads miners lower
Australian shares open lower in line with losses in New York. Catapult Sports rallies on results. BHP tracks miners lower. Follow here for more.
NZ government cuts taxes even as deficit widens
The tax cuts are almost identical to the pledge Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s National Party campaigned on ahead of the October election.
- Live
- Need to Know
Government using drones to track freed former immigration detainees
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles says a $250 million funding boost is helping agencies track the 153 freed detainees; New Zealand’s new centre-right government delivered on its election promise to cut taxes in its first budget. Follow live.
‘Radical, illogical’ cap on super ASX stakes would cost savers
Instead of helping Australians buy ASX shares, a cap as proposed by Andrew Bragg would just help foreign capital own more of the market, industry experts warned.
Inside BHP’s failed Anglo bid | Beef ban lifted | Is Macquarie to blame for UK’s big stink?
rich list
- Exclusive
- Rich List
Australia’s 10 richest people revealed
Gina Rinehart has broken through the $40 billion barrier, topping the Rich List for the fifth time. The 10 wealthiest are worth $223 billion in 2024, up $7 billion from last year.
‘Biggest challenge by a mile’: why developers can’t build homes people can afford
Developers Tim Gurner, Sam Tarascio and Maha Sinnathamby have kept their places on this year’s Rich List amid a housing crisis. This is how they did it.
- Exclusive
- Rich List
More than half the 11 new Rich Listers are already billionaires
Two cryptocurrency giants, an under-the-radar mattress mogul, a former mechanic and an ex-NRL player are among 17 new and returning faces on this year’s Rich List.
How the Turner women are creating a legacy beyond Flight Centre
Graham Turner may have turned Flight Centre into a household name, but wife Jude and daughter Jo have a different approach to business.
What Rich Listers think about money – and what they teach their kids
Nine of Australia’s wealthiest people reflect on their journey with money and whether material success leads to a rich life.
Get the latest business news on the go with the AFR’s new iOS app.
Companies
Denholm stares down proxy firms in Tesla governance stoush
Tesla’s board led by chairwoman Robyn Denholm is facing opposition from Glass Lewis over its insistence that Elon Musk’s mega pay deal be reinstated.
‘Not financially sustainable’: Melbourne Rebels shut down
Troubled rugby union club Melbourne Rebels have been shut down after 14 seasons.
- Exclusive
- Defamation
Former PwC partner sues firm for allegedly linking him to tax scandal
Richard Gregg alleges people have shunned and avoided him because of an implication by PwC that he was involved in the tax leaks scandal, when he was not.
Kidman Resources boss ‘likely’ source of insider information, court hears
The corporate cop claims Martin Donohue “is the most likely source” of inside information relied on by his brother-in-law Duncan Stewart to buy shares in the firm.
Guzman y Gomez co-founder quits board as it pursues IPO
The Mexican-themed chain has recently lured new investors at a $1.73 billion valuation and is backed by TDM Growth Partners and Barrenjoey Capital Partners.
Don’t believe the banks, mortgage brokers are a good deal: Jefferies
Jefferies analyst Matthew Wilson argued that “the proverbial genie was let out of the bottle” and “we doubt banks can successfully in-source this craft”.
- Exclusive
- Investment banking
Grant Samuel recruits ex-Goldman Sachs banker for Hong Kong expansion
The investment bank’s chief executive, Damien Elias, believes Asia is ripe for disruption because the region houses fewer boutique advisory shops.
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Markets
No rate relief in sight as traders ramp up rate bets
Investors are becoming more convinced the RBA will have to raise the cash rate to tame stubborn inflation, in contrast to economists who expect a cut.
Inflation ‘clearly’ still strong: RBA chief economist
Sarah Hunter says price pressures remain strong, after hotter-than-expected inflation data led investors to push rate cuts to December 2025.
- Updated
- Interest rates
No rate cuts until December 2025 as inflation stops falling
Investors have pushed back the timing for the RBA’s first cash rate cut after inflation edged higher for a second straight month.
RBA ‘one bad inflation report’ away from hiking, say economists
Yields rose and equities sank on Wednesday, after another hot inflation print fanned rate rise worries among Australia’s traders and economists.
What happened overnight? US bond yields rose and hope for rate cuts further faded
All three main US equity benchmarks closed lower though Nvidia extended its rally. A third auction of US debt this week failed to inspire enthusiasm.
Opinion
Investors find little to celebrate as focus shifts to US election
Investors are becoming increasingly anxious that massive US government deficits and increasing tariffs represent a dangerous inflationary cocktail.
Columnist
Cutting company tax is not the only way to spur investment
Recognising the cost of equity in the tax system is the equitable, effective and productive way to achieve corporate tax reform.
Banks are at war with each other, not mortgage brokers
The major lenders’ market share is not being “taken” by the mortgage broking industry. It is being taken by more than 100 other lenders in the market, writes Anja Pannek.
CEO of Mortgage & Finance Association
Taxpayers are poorer without a carbon tax
Instead of imposing a carbon levy on polluters to fund big personal income tax cuts, governments are gambling taxpayer money on climate and energy projects, writes John Kehoe.
Economics editor
Why we commemorate D-Day 80 years on
The Red Army did most of the dying and killing necessary to smash Hitler’s Wehrmacht but the Normandy landings were the decisive military event of war in the West.
Contributor
Three reasons the Trump train is unstoppable
Halting the former US president is proving very difficult for Joe Biden as the rivals head towards November’s election.
Columnist
Reports
The future of financial advice
This special report looks at options to make financial advice more accessible and affordable, including robo-advice, as well as tips for the new financial year.
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China drops most Australian beef export bans
Just two Australian beef exporters remained locked out of the Chinese market, the latest thawing in the long-running trade dispute between Beijing and Canberra.
Greens will demand Palestinian statehood if there’s a hung parliament
As political skirmishing over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continued, immigration officials revealed more than 60 per cent of visa applications by Gazans are being rejected.
Chalmers wrong on Husic’s corporate tax call: experts
Business leaders and tax watchers say overdue changes to corporate rates could be a good place to start a major reform push.
- Analysis
- Company tax
Competitive tensions abound on policy and ambition
Jim Chalmers wants to be Labor leader one day. Cabinet colleague Ed Husic’s public intervention on company tax policy this week shows he’ll have to work for it.
Labor revamps deportation directive to stem visa crisis
The controversial Direction 99 will be rewritten to ensure legal authorities “give weight to community safety” when hearing appeals against visa cancellations.
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World
Israel seizes control of Gaza border with Egypt, cutting off Hamas
Israel said it has secured control of Gaza’s southern border with Egypt and discovered numerous smuggling tunnels, in moves that raised tensions with its neighbour.
NZ government cuts taxes even as deficit widens
The tax cuts are almost identical to the pledge Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s National Party campaigned on ahead of the October election.
Trump trial jurors end first day of deliberations without verdict
The former president compared himself to a saint as he left the court earlier in the day: “Mother Teresa could not beat these charges. These charges are rigged.”
Trump mulls ‘advisory role for Musk’ if he wins White House
The pair have held talks on a possible advisory role for the Tesla billionaire in a Trump presidency, a sign their once-frosty relationship has thawed.
The disease detectives trying to keep the world safe from bird flu
Frontline work in low-income countries is increasingly vital to a global system to detect viruses that jump between animals and humans, the way COVID-19 did.
Property
Interstate buyers drive $600k rise in new Gold Coast apartment prices
Interstate investors drove the average price of a Gold Coast apartment purchased off-the-plan to $1.73 million in the March quarter.
Lendlease sells US construction business days after strategy reset
The development giant had on Monday outlined plans to progressively offload its international construction and property assets as investor unrest mounted.
Home construction activity nears two-year low amid tradie shortages
Builders are struggling to find tradies to complete homes as new ABS data shows a second successive quarterly fall in the value of completed residential work.
Rising house prices, mortgage stress spark short-term resale
Recent home buyers are selling up their properties in droves to cash in on the recent windfall or to get out of financial trouble.
- Opinion
- Commercial real estate
Why Lendlease couldn’t grow like Westfield or Goodman
The developers’ mantra “think global, act local” makes sense but too often the offshore investments, by Lendlease and many others, have lacked discipline.
Wealth
- Opinion
- Super Q&A
I’m a high earner about to encounter Division 293 tax. What can I do?
The best strategy is to reduce your taxable income below $250,000 by claiming allowable deductions such as donations to charity.
- Opinion
- Shopping centres
Why shopping centres are a good investment prospect
Population growth, a robust employment market and rising incomes will stoke retail spending, and much of the extra money will end up in shopping centres.
Baby Boomers are loaded. Why are they so stingy?
Recent evidence has cast doubt on the notion that a spending splurge by those born between 1946 and 1964 is on the way.
Technology
Why fake women are a popular use of our powerful new tech
The author of a new book about artificial intelligence says AI is not evil, but has no moral compass.
Here are all the best AI uses from a day talking about it
Will it be useful or “just cool”? Executives and industry insiders spent the AI Summit discussing how they are already using artificial intelligence in their work.
OpenAI is training a model with human brain power
The start-up said it expected the new model to bring “the next level of capabilities” as it strove to build a machine that can do anything the human brain can do.
Work & Careers
Why dads take less time off than mums
Gender stereotypes are discouraging men from taking paid parental leave, a survey has found, making it harder for Australia to close the gender pay gap.
CFMEU redundancy fund push sparks call for worker choice
Builders are calling for workers to have the right to choose their own redundancy fund in response to a CFMEU push to oust a fund that returned thousands of dollars to workers.
Life & Luxury
When a marathon isn’t a big enough challenge
Running 42.2 kilometres continuously will always be impressive. But for a rising number of extreme exercisers, it is no more than a starting point.
Seven shows you don’t want to miss in June
From the original ‘Evita’ to Coppélia set in the Adelaide Hills, here’s our pick of the top performances and exhibitions around Australia.
How this spiky sculpture got the fashion world swooning
Among those stopped in their tracks by Mexican ceramicist Andrés Anza’s indefinable work was Pharrell Williams. But, in the end, it’s nothing, says the winner of the Loewe Craft Prize.
Movie review: High & Low – John Galliano is a breathless ride
This documentary tracks the rise and fall and rehabilitation of the acclaimed fashion designer, whose grotesque extravagance was no impediment to success.
The CEO who’s also a seriously elite World Masters sprinter
He’s 42 and took up sprinting only recently, but Hyper Capital’s Gabriel Jakob recently clocked 6.70 seconds over 60 metres.
