- Exclusive
- Federal budget
Albanese quietly frees up funds for election fight
The prime minister has implemented a shift in budget strategy that allows him to free up funds for election priorities, causing some dismay among senior officials.
- Exclusive
- AUKUS
‘A cruel joke’: Why AUKUS might leave Australia stranded
A group of defence experts says that the Albanese government is on course for a financial and strategic AUKUS disaster, in the final part of an exclusive series.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Small caps’ wild EOFY ride exposes market’s dirty little secret
Monday’s list of worst performers looked like Friday’s best performers turned upside down. It was laughable.
France teeters towards dysfunction as vote puts far-right at ‘gates of power’
Emmanuel Macron’s gamble looks set to usher in a populist government or a paralysed parliament, unless voters rally to him in the poll’s July 7 second round.
- Exclusive
- Federal budget
Deeming rate freeze costing up to $1.8 billion a year
If the freeze is maintained over the forward estimates, the overall unrealised savings could be more than $7 billion, according to government figures, though this is not reflected in the budget.
Private hospital operators to hand over profitability data
Data about break-even points and investability will be handed to the Health Department by next week, The Australian Financial Review has learnt.
- Exclusive
- Immigration
Queensland to cop skilled migrant cut amid boost to smaller states
Queensland will be the only Australian state to suffer a reduction in the number of skilled migrant allocations this financial year.
Wealth Generation: News and views to help aspirational investors grow their wealth. In your inbox every Wednesday.
tuesday tech
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
The untold story of struggling start-up survival rounds
Delivery company Sendle raised almost $90 million in good times, but venture capitalists have likened the terms on its latest raise to payday lending.
Big tech ordered to develop solutions to stop kids finding porn
The eSafety Commissioner has given internet companies six months to find a plan to stop kids stumbling across porn while searching for sites such as YouTube.
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
Frazis unveils venture capital fund, makes first investments
The Gen Y tech investor has nabbed stakes in a dozen start-ups in tech, health and e-commerce, thanks to $10 million raised from wealthy investors.
- Exclusive
- Funding
Financial adviser tech firm $20m richer after funding dash
Dash Technology, a Sydney fintech that sells software to financial advisers, has secured $22 million funding, with $20 million coming from ASX-listed VC firm Bailador.
How Kim Teo pulled off a mega-merger with her start-up’s biggest rival
The co-founder of restaurant ordering app Mr Yum is now the boss of its former competitor me&u, after the heavily backed Aussie start-ups merged to survive.
Get the front page and latest edition of the Financial Review as it was printed, delivered to your inbox every morning.
Companies
Rising interest rates are bad news for bank stocks
Another cash rate increase would do more damage to arrears than it would help net interest margins, according to Morgan Stanley.
Power prices to surge amid sluggish rollout of clean energy: UBS
Wholesale power prices could be almost 50 per cent higher than last year, the investment bank’s analysts warn, as renewables project development has stalled.
I-MED snaps up US teleradiology player StatRad
Aussie imaging giant I-MED is hoping to recreate its fast-growing teleradiology business in the US with a major acquisition.
How Kim Teo pulled off a mega-merger with her start-up’s biggest rival
The co-founder of restaurant ordering app Mr Yum is now the boss of its former competitor me&u, after the heavily backed Aussie start-ups merged to survive.
Fortescue’s ex-iron ore boss joins Evolution board after abrupt exit
The long-time resources executive has become a director of the gold and copper producer almost a year after leaving Andrew Forrest’s iron ore and energy group.
Transurban denies employee fired for whistleblowing
The toll road group has asked courts to dismiss a claim by a former employee who alleged he lost his job after alleging coercion, manipulation of records and safety failings.
Baby Bunting plots expansion on the back of HMC’s property portfolio
The retailer fell on tough times but its new CEO is expanding the network into fresh areas with smaller formats and exclusive products.
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Markets
European stocks rise after first round of French vote
France’s blue-chip CAC 40 index jumped 1.1 per cent to lead gains among regional markets. The European banking index had its best day in more than a year.
Wall Street maps out what a Trump victory would mean for bonds
Wall Street strategists are urging clients to position for sticky inflation and higher long-term bond yields.
Shares to rally as profits grow at fastest clip in years
Analysts have set the bar high for the second-quarter reporting season on Wall Street, with US companies tipped to post the fastest quarterly earnings growth since 2021.
Investors hunt for diamonds among ASX dogs
With the new financial year kicking off, funds are busy hunting through the sharemarket’s bargain bin for oversold names, betting on a rebound.
Inflation has no chance of hitting Chalmers’ forecasts: survey
Higher-than-expected inflation will take at least 12 months to fall anywhere near the Reserve Bank’s target, casting doubt on Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ more optimistic forecast.
Opinion
AUKUS ‘moonshot’ may be a tragically expensive failure
It is alarming that both Coalition and Labor politicians fail to acknowledge the risk that Australia could be left with no submarine capability by the end of the 2030s.
International editor
The public sector is the key to Australia’s productivity puzzle
There is some cause for cautious optimism for increased productivity in health if outcomes can be more accurately measured, writes Alex Robson.
Productivity Commission deputy chair
On AUKUS, Australia must catch up, not start again – yet again
Australia’s political, diplomatic and defence chiefs need to work with AUKUS counterparts in America and Britain to find a way through the gridlock.
Editorial
Labor’s identity politics tensions exposed
Senator Fatima Payman is also now part of the Greens’ political weaponisation of the Gaza war to try to win Muslim votes in Labor-held seats.
Editorial
Why you should vote at the ballot box and not with your portfolio
Election uncertainty looks to increase volatility, but investors should be cautious about over or underestimating the impact of political change.
Managing Director at UBS Global Wealth Management Australia
Why central banks are in two minds on the private credit boom
The US Fed is not worried about the systemic risks of private credit, but the BoE and the ECB are not so sure.
Former deputy governor of the Bank of England and chair of Natwest group.
Reports
Powering our energy future
With our renewable energy capacity needing to increase ninefold to meet our net-zero commitments, electrification is critical to our energy and economic future.
Sponsored
by AusgridPolitics
Overseas students cap will protect integrity of universities: Varghese
While the university sector reels from a raft of measures designed to limit net migration, there is growing support for caps on overseas student numbers.
- Exclusive
- Immigration
Queensland to cop skilled migrant cut amid boost to smaller states
Queensland will be the only Australian state to suffer a reduction in the number of skilled migrant allocations this financial year.
‘I’ve been exiled’: Payman threatens to quit Labor
The WA senator has hinted she may quit the Labor Party after claiming to have been “exiled” in a bid to force her resignation from parliament.
How Fatima Payman is defying political traditions
In the era of identity politics, are rules requiring Labor MPs to bind behind collective decisions out of step with the views of younger voters?
Why ‘care’ will be at heart of governor-general position
Business leader Sam Mostyn, who was sworn in on Monday, warned that younger people were concerned they could miss out on privileges enjoyed by previous generations.
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World
China’s home sales downturn slows after cities ease policy
The turn in the trajectory of new home sales may offer some relief for China’s economy, which is on track to undershoot the official growth target this year.
Israel to test Hamas-free ‘bubbles’ in postwar Gaza plan
The pilot scheme for the “humanitarian enclaves” – a template for what Israel imagines would follow the war – will soon be launched in northern Gaza neighbourhoods.
- Analysis
- World elections
Victory no certainty for Marine Le Pen as France faces second vote
Sunday night was a major victory for Marine Le Pen’s National Rally. However, round two of this lightning contest is far from an electoral slam dunk for the right.
- Opinion
- World elections
Macron’s reckless gamble leaves French voters with invidious choice
Thanks to Macron’s miscalculations, the eurosceptic, anti-immigration RN has a shot at securing an absolute parliamentary majority in the second round of voting on July 7.
Democrats back Biden as voter poll shows rising unease over fitness
A CBS News-YouGov poll shows that 72 per cent of registered voters think Joe Biden should not be running for president, up from 63 per cent in February.
Property
Lendlease sells US military housing business for $480m
The divestment of its contract to maintain and manage 40,000 military housing units is the latest part in the $4.5 billion divestment and global retreat.
Quintessential’s $250m Brisbane office deal confirms valuation slump
Quintessential Equity $250m purchase of 240 Queen Street in Brisbane from Brookfield crystallises a 17pc fall in the tower’s value from its peak.
The unusual move that made this seller $4.8m
Most people with a large block to offload would do just that, but this vendor developed it – and made a much bigger profit in the process.
Kevin Maloney on selling Segenhoe and bringing Kentucky to the Hunter
Kevin Maloney on why he’s selling elite equine stud Segenhoe, and why the Upper Hunter is ripe for Kentucky-style tourism.
Meet the mayor who sees Airbnb as an agent for good
It’s better to have a short-term rental in a house that’s been refurbished than to have a ruin, says the head of Portugal’s second-largest city.
Wealth
‘I had my bank account cleaned out and $5000 is all I got back’
With scammers getting increasingly sophisticated, don’t rely on your bank to bail you out.
- Opinion
- Sharemarket
What to do if you have big wins in your share portfolio
It’s easier to manage concentration risk if you hold direct shares, but not so simple if you’re an ETF investor.
- Exclusive
- Class action
Litigation funder touts 165pc returns in bid to sign up more clients
Pitched as an “ESG asset”, Sydney-based funder CASL aims to raise a further $150 million on top of the $156 million in its first fund.
Technology
What this start-up founder learned from the public death of her company
Mina Radhakrishnan, the only founder of a collapsed start-up brave enough to speak at the Financial Review Entrepreneur Summit, hopes the industry values battle scars as she tries again.
- Opinion
- Mergers & acquisitions
Adore Beauty acquisition is a great deal … for the other company
Adore Beauty’s $25m purchase of Aussie brand Ikou doesn’t come cheap, and poses questions about whether it has overpaid, and used up too much of its cash.
Why this $4300 home Wi-Fi router may just be worth it
In two of the three criteria that matter most to us in the Digital Life Labs, Netgear’s Orbi 970 is the best home Wi-Fi router we’ve ever reviewed.
Work & Careers
Why underperforming executives need to be worried
It’s about doing more with less and finding leaders who can operate in that environment, says the managing partner at an executive search firm.
Aged care pay rise delayed due to Labor funding decision
Pay rises for 250,000 aged care workers of up to 14 per cent – likely costing up to $5 billion extra in government funding – have been delayed until next year.
Life & Luxury
Beware the chop: What your home’s cushions reveal about you
Do yours have the right filling and requisite roundness? Or do they have ‘bunny’s ears’ and unspeakable foam? Here is a purist’s guide.
I drank like a Boomer. Here’s what it did to my body
A tot before breakfast, a brightener here, a livener there – the older generation has perfected the art of perma-imbibing. Could I keep up?
This 59-year-old play about broke divorcees oddly suits the times
Two of Australia’s great comedic actors make this revival of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple a funny, relatable affair.
- Exclusive
- Saleroom
Fine art collection of late Ron Walker to fetch up to $8m
He helped build modern Melbourne but the works that hung in his Toorak mansion, and are now for sale, had a very Sydney flavour.
- Driving With Tony Davis
- Motoring
Noosa gears up to show off some of the world’s most collectable cars
From Ferrari to Porsche, ultra-luxury and rare cars will take over the main drag next Saturday for its Concours d’Elegance.
