Latest
- Special Award
- Sustainability Leaders
This trailblazer turns destructive weed into a replacement for coal
Biomass Projects has plans to build the world’s largest biochar production on a 225,000-hectare Pilbara plot that is overrun with mesquite.
- Gus McCubbing
More RBA rate rises ‘unwarranted’ as non-migrant jobs growth tumbles
Yarra Capital chief economist Tim Toohey has cut his economic growth forecast from 2.25 per cent to 1.75 per cent in 2024-25, well below the RBA’s 2.1 per cent.
- Ronald Mizen
Federal Court allows class action contingency fees
Law firms will be able to run class actions off their own balance sheets in the Federal Court and share in damages awards.
- Ronald Mizen
US jobs data bolsters rate cut bets: Wall Street
US bond yields fell and equities extended their rally as the path to a Fed pivot has become ever so slightly wider.
- Timothy Moore
How solar beat every forecast to win the renewables race
Solar power is on track to generate more electricity than all the world’s nuclear power plants in 2026, its gas-fired power plants in 2030 and its coal-fired ones in 2032.
- The Economist
AOFM chief puts banks on notice as bond trading probe heats up
The head of the government’s debt agency has reminded the banks, which are hired to help it sell billions of dollars of bonds, what is expected of them.
- Jonathan Shapiro
Opinion & Analysis
Where do Australia’s China ties go after hack?
The public outing only raises the question of where Australia takes the matter from here, and what it expects China to do.
Editorial
Starmer’s centre-right policies will not bring meaningful change
Readers’ letters on the shrinking centre of politics; harsh punishment in Queensland; Peter Dutton’s supermarkets plan; Victoria’s Suburban Rail Loop; and the ambiguity of Palestinian protesters.
Contributor
Control of the sea is worth gambling on AUKUS
To any objective observer it is apparent acquiring nuclear-powered submarines has significant advantages for national security. However, these come with major costs and risks.
Defence expert
CSIRO brings science, not politics, to electricity cost debate
Some nuclear fans claim the agency has a position on Australia’s energy mix. That is both wrong and a misinterpretation.
CSIRO
Yesterday
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Where do Australia’s China ties go after hack?
The public outing only raises the question of where Australia takes the matter from here, and what it expects China to do.
- The AFR View
Starmer’s centre-right policies will not bring meaningful change
Readers’ letters on the shrinking centre of politics; harsh punishment in Queensland; Peter Dutton’s supermarkets plan; Victoria’s Suburban Rail Loop; and the ambiguity of Palestinian protesters.
- Opinion
- AUKUS
Control of the sea is worth gambling on AUKUS
To any objective observer it is apparent acquiring nuclear-powered submarines has significant advantages for national security. However, these come with major costs and risks.
- Richard Dunley
- Opinion
- Energy transition
CSIRO brings science, not politics, to electricity cost debate
Some nuclear fans claim the agency has a position on Australia’s energy mix. That is both wrong and a misinterpretation.
- Doug Hilton
- Opinion
- World elections
Confused despair grips Democratic voters
Joe Biden seems to be revelling in his determination to once again prove his doubters wrong. The Trump campaign is confident it ensures their victory on November 5.
- Jennifer Hewett
This Month
Labor strife exposes risk to our cohesion
Readers’ letters on Fatima Payman’s exit from the Labor Party; Monique Ryan’s call for an early election; handouts for Baby Boomers; the changing face of pharmacies.
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Economic logic always trumps junk politics
Brexit, MAGA trade policies, and the Coalition’s nuclear power push will fail because they make no economic sense.
- Craig Emerson
- Opinion
- Immigration
Our larrikin egalitarianism is more appealing than tribalism
This is another critical time for this nation’s multiculturalism. Anthony Albanese must lead the case against sectarian identity politics that might unsettle it.
- Tanveer Ahmed
- Opinion
- World elections
Immigration is the reason swing states are turning back to Trump
Joe Biden is still betting big he can move key swing states his way, but Arizona was shifting back to Trump well before that debate. Jennifer Hewett reports from the south-west.
- Jennifer Hewett
- Opinion
- Defence
Pezzullo bangs the war drums against placating an ‘imagined China’
The former Home Affairs secretary does not, however, present a philosophy of international relations that might form a basis for Australia’s position in the world.
- James Curran
- Opinion
- Investing
Why Michele Bullock’s next rate call will be one of the toughest
The RBA governor faces one of the hardest calls any central banker has ever had to make. The chances of getting it wrong are higher than ever, and so are the costs.
- Jonathan Shapiro
- Opinion
- AUKUS
There is no catastrophic failure of AUKUS Plan A
The “optimal pathway” may not run exactly to plan, but the risk is known, is being managed, and all three partners have demonstrated their commitment to the process.
- Jennifer Parker
Mental health crisis for young women started in 2012, study finds
More research has found a strong link between the emergence of social media and depression, anxiety and self-harm.
- Julie Hare
Which states are in ‘the slow lane’ for retail spending?
Retail sales in Victoria and Queensland are lagging the rest of Australia on a per-person basis, while Western Australia tops the spending charts.
- Updated
- Ronald Mizen
- Analysis
- AUKUS
AUKUS future is resting on belief alone
Defence and government figures brim with confidence over Australia’s nuclear submarine program, but there’s no Plan B and – to some – there’s an air of desperation.
- James Curran
- Opinion
- Nuclear energy
Why we need to have a genuine look at nuclear energy
Nuclear energy is the kind of nation building policy we need when our lucky country’s luck is running out.
- Georgina Downer
- Opinion
- Immigration
Slashing foreign student numbers would be economic self-harm
Before the government puts the squeeze on Australia’s $48 billion university export industry, it should consider how much GDP it is prepared to sacrifice.
- Bran Black
- Opinion
- Energy transition
Energy transition will cost much more than politicians are pretending
The brutal reality is that taxpayers and consumers will be on the hook for much higher costs under a renewable or nuclear energy system.
- John Kehoe
Powell: The US is back on a ‘disinflationary path’
Still, US policymakers need to have more confidence that price pressures are continuing to ease before pivoting to rate cuts, the central bank boss said.
- Updated
- Balazs Koranyi and Howard Schneider
- Opinion
- Open banking
Open banking offers a salutary tale
The lesson is that governments trying to regulate their way to a greater bank competition can have anti-competitive effects.
- The AFR View