Latest
All change as Prabowo prepares for the top job
Economic nationalism has been a constant in Indonesia and the incoming President has some firm views on the topic.
- 35 mins ago
- Emma Connors
Fed policymakers see one rate cut in 2024, four in 2025
By the end of 2025, Federal Reserve policymakers anticipate a policy rate of 4.1 per cent, according to the median of their projections.
- 1 hr ago
- Ann Saphir
NSW unis in a sea of red, but worse to come
NSW universities struggled for a second year in a row, but their annus horribilis is still on the horizon.
- Julie Hare
Queensland cash splash could send inflation below 3pc
But economists warn billions in household subsidies will not make a rate cut more likely and could make the inflation problem worse.
- Michael Read
- Updated
- Queensland budget
Labor’s $11b election pitch a ‘deliberate choice’ for debt and deficit
Queensland Labor is mulling borrowing billions for a pre-election $11.2 billion giveaway budget that economists warn risks stoking inflation.
- Updated
- James Hall
Bain offers $1.83b for Bapcor | Apple brings AI to iPhones | Cranbrook settles with former headmaster
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
Opinion & Analysis
Carbon wars won’t help reach Australia’s climate target
The warning from the boss of one of Australia’s largest energy companies underlines the irrationality of self-imposed obstacles to all possible net-zero paths.
Editorial
The contradictions in Australia’s China policy
Australia will promote the visit by China’s Premier Li Qiang as evidence the relationship has “stabilised”. But policy tensions and hard choices are only increasing.
Columnist
Why 2030 targets are in trouble and Australia may fall short
In hindsight, the scale and pace of the task were underestimated by federal and state governments.
Energy expert
Climate war fears confirmed
Readers’ letters on Peter Dutton’s climate strategy; the Queensland budget; the role of migrants in the housing crisis; and the rejection of a ceasefire in Gaza
Contributor
Yesterday
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Carbon wars won’t help reach Australia’s climate target
The warning from the boss of one of Australia’s largest energy companies underlines the irrationality of self-imposed obstacles to all possible net-zero paths.
- The AFR View
- Opinion
- China relations
The contradictions in Australia’s China policy
Australia will promote the visit by China’s Premier Li Qiang as evidence the relationship has “stabilised”. But policy tensions and hard choices are only increasing.
- Jennifer Hewett
- Opinion
- Energy transition
Why 2030 targets are in trouble and Australia may fall short
In hindsight, the scale and pace of the task were underestimated by federal and state governments.
- Tony Wood
Climate war fears confirmed
Readers’ letters on Peter Dutton’s climate strategy; the Queensland budget; the role of migrants in the housing crisis; and the rejection of a ceasefire in Gaza
- Opinion
- Nuclear energy
The flaws in CSIRO’s anti-nuclear, pro-renewables report
The CSIRO must give a better “apples with apples” comparison of nuclear and renewables to inform the energy transition debate.
- John Kehoe
This Month
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Queensland budget a populist clown show
The budget further trashes the Sunshine State’s traditional reputation as a low debt, lower taxing, business-friendly jurisdiction as Labor tries to spend its way back into power.
- The AFR View
Unions have a lot to learn about apprentices
Readers letters on the union push to pay teens more; Coalition plans to scrap the 2030 emissions reduction target; NDIS rorts; and the war in Gaza
- Opinion
- Renewables
Why Dutton is hitting Labor on climate targets
Peter Dutton is taking aim at Labor’s 2030 emissions reductions targets as unrealistic to try to reset the debate on nuclear power.
- Jennifer Hewett
- Opinion
- Energy transition
Climate pivot is Australia’s next China opportunity
The visit by Premier Li Qiang is an opportunity to consolidate our strategic relations with the world’s green economic powerhouse undergoing an era-defining transformation.
- David Olsson
- Opinion
- Interest rates
Jobs report kills hope on the Fed to cut rates
Investors fear the ruddy health of the US economy could persuade officials on Thursday to hold off on cutting rates until after the November presidential election.
- Karen Maley
The trouble with psychedelics
The gold-standard methodology for testing a drug’s efficacy, the double-blind trial, does not work for substances that affect the mind.
- Jonathan Lambert
- Exclusive
- Queensland budget
Qld to slug miner with $20m tax rise
Mining giant Glencore will be the sole company affected by a Queensland payroll tax tweak that will cost the business $20 million and threaten to deepen tensions between the Labor government and resources sector.
- James Hall
- Opinion
- Electric vehicles
EV charging network needs urgent upgrade
Electric vehicles will only become more popular – but the power supply to charge them is not keeping up with the pace.
- Jennifer Hewett
- Opinion
- Energy transition
Libs won’t pretend Labor’s 2030 targets are on track
The claim the Coalition is pulling out of the Paris Agreement is a lie. But we won’t be shy in holding the government to account for locking Australia into emission reductions goals it cannot meet.
- Ted O'Brien
The NDIS desperately needs reform
Readers letters on the National Disability Insurance Scheme; interest rates and the economy; the union push to boost teens’ pay; and the war in Gaza
Dutton worse than Morrison on climate change, says PM
Anthony Albanese has accused the opposition of putting Australia’s international reputation at risk by abandoning the 2030 net-zero targets.
- Poppy Johnston
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Recessions are nasty and shouldn’t be engineered to tame inflation
Talk of a need to increase the cash rate is misguided – especially so when the main culprits behind the 3.6 per cent inflation rate are identified.
- Craig Emerson
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Australia’s cost-of-living crisis has reached a critical juncture
Without policies to raise productivity, fiscal spending will increase inflation and require higher interest rates or higher inflation if interest rates do not respond.
- Warwick McKibbin
- Opinion
- Regulation
The man who made economic rationalism popular
Working out how to lower his household water bill set Professor Tom Parry on the road to lowering prices for electricity, water and transport in NSW.
- Michael Easson
- Exclusive
- International students
2000 jobs lost in foreign education sector the ‘tip of the iceberg’
The Albanese government’s migration cuts have triggered staff cutbacks at colleges and recruitment firms, and at least one university has imposed a hiring freeze.
- Julie Hare