The search is on for the 2025 Best Places to Work.
PM yet to be convinced housing tax changes won’t hurt supply
The prime minister says Treasury is looking at ways to curb the use of negative gearing and capital gains tax, but it wasn’t his idea.
Raising property taxes would reduce home prices but increase rents
Curtailing negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount would slightly reduce home prices, but put upward pressure on rents, housing economists say.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Star funding deal done, now to prevent a white elephant
Star Entertainment’s directors will get over one hurdle, only to face the next. Such is the life of a casino operator in 2024.
Star’s Queen’s Wharf comes to life – unless you want to shop or eat
It’s been dubbed a “multistaged opening” or, in other words, a work in progress. But the sight of hi-vis and faint smell of sawdust haven’t deterred visitors.
- Exclusive
- Energy
Bowen uses gas to fire up offensive on Coalition’s nuclear plans
Energy Minister Chris Bowen claims the Coalition’s energy plans will require spending tens of billions of dollars to build and service new gas power plants.
Cannon-Brookes’ Grok fails to back AGL board on exec pay
The decision by Mike Cannon-Brookes’ private company to abstain on the remuneration vote signals tensions over emissions reduction plans are unresolved.
Qube sues own employees for damages for blocking ship services
A wage dispute between logistics group Qube and wharfies in Melbourne has escalated after the company sued more than 20 union members.
The best of travel, fashion, cars and more, straight to your inbox every Saturday.
POWER LIST
Australia’s 10 most powerful business leaders in 2024
The strongest voices for corporate Australia in a year when cost-of-living pressures have ripped through the most vulnerable parts of the economy.
Australia’s top five powerbrokers in the law for 2024
It was a momentous year for the High Court, the competition regulator and outspoken judges. Here are the people setting the agenda in legal circles.
The 10 most culturally powerful people in Australia
What does it mean to be Australian right now? These 10 people made the biggest mark on our national culture this year.
Power list reveals diminished influence of Australia’s corporate sector
This year’s list reflects the fading voice of CEOs and the growing size, scale and power of the superannuation sector.
The five most powerful Australian tech leaders in 2024
The biggest deal of the year, the end of an era at Atlassian and the rising influence of super funds helped to shape the list of technology’s most powerful in 2024.
The best of travel, fashion, cars and more, straight to your inbox every Saturday.
Companies
- Updated
- Gaming & wagering
Star Entertainment set to sign financial accounts as bailout finalised
The company – which operates casinos in Sydney, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast – has been in turmoil after it failed to lodge its accounts with the ASX.
Star’s Queen’s Wharf comes to life – unless you want to shop or eat
It’s been dubbed a “multistaged opening” or, in other words, a work in progress. But the sight of hi-vis and faint smell of sawdust haven’t deterred visitors.
RBA issues scathing assessment of ASX’s derivatives upgrade
In a lengthy review, the central bank has said the sharemarket operator was too slow in disclosing problems and suggests it was keeping regulators in the dark.
Pro Medicus’ billionaire boss says simplicity secret of success
Pro Medicus’ stranglehold on cloud-imaging healthcare tech means its growth trajectory has a long way to go.
Google to test its AI-powered search in Australia
Known as AI Overviews, the change is the biggest to the platform in years. But news publishers and e-commerce sites fear it could leave them out in the cold.
Record $12.9m greenwashing penalty puts fund managers on notice: ASIC
Federal Court fined Vanguard $12.9 million for failing to exclude certain investments against ESG criteria and instead relying on third parties.
Hanwha walks away from $1b pursuit of ASX-listed shipbuilder Austal
The Korean conglomerate has accused the company of making it impossible to conduct due diligence despite four separate approaches since its first last year.
Companies in the News
Search companies
View stories and data from an ASX listed company
Markets
China kills ASX bank rally as money piles into miners
Traders are scrambling after China’s latest effort to boost its economy prompted investors to rapidly pull money from the big four banks and pile into the mining sector.
Bond markets too punchy on RBA rate cuts, say investors
Fund managers say traders have overblown the comments from governor Michele Bullock and are siding with the central bank on the rate outlook.
ASX ends lower as rotation churns; Rightmove rejects third REA bid
Inflation falls within RBA’s target for first time in 3 years. Investors shift money from banks to miners. Lew sidelines demerger plans. Aussie dollar hits 18-month high. Follow updates here.
Meta stock bulls look for next rally catalyst
Meta’s annual Connect conference kicks off this week, with industry buzz around the latest technology reveal and updated by chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.
Traders up bets on RBA December rate cut, ignoring Bullock
The bond market is sticking with its prediction of some rate relief by Christmas, despite governor Michele Bullock saying that inflation remains “too high”.
Opinion
Why Labor seems to be flirting with housing tax breaks again
The real story is that the government is desperately looking for a way out of the political dead end that has stalled any momentum in its drive to an election.
Columnist
Real tax reform could help fix the housing crisis
The political system lacks the maturity to even discuss using tax policy as a serious instrument to help solve the housing shortage.
Editorial
Beware the hidden cost of Dutton’s nuclear plan
The Coalition’s timeline will need major expansion of gas to replace sidelined renewable energy projects, which will be a huge and needless expense.
Minister for Climate Change and Energy
Keir Starmer’s honeymoon hardly got started
The UK prime minister already has a marginally lower approval rating than the recently deposed Rishi Sunak. Even by modern standards, the fall has been swift.
Contributor
Why is Australia stuck in the slow lane on driverless cars?
Australian regulations put a far higher bar on robot drivers than human ones. That makes little sense when it’s likely that the tech is already safer.
Infrastructure and transport expert
Government spending blowout is the size of the mining boom
Like the mining investment boom of the early 2000s, the economic shock from higher government spending will have implications for inflation, productivity and interest rates.
Economics editor
Reports
Technology - Valuation shift
This special report looks at shifting valuations for tech companies in public and private markets, plus how AI will change work.
Politics
Electricity bills to surge 47pc next year as government support ends
The Albanese government has hinted it could extend the federal government’s $300 electricity bill rebate to avoid a sharp rise in out-of-pocket energy costs.
A quick guide to the politics of housing tax breaks
Anthony Albanese won’t be the last political leader to mull changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount, and he certainly is not the first.
ADF prepares land and air capability for possible Lebanon evacuation
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has warned evacuation operations will not be able to accommodate all of the up to 30,000 Australians in the region.
Fire service chiefs’ email hacked to help union boss, inquiry finds
Union boss Peter Marshall asked staff at the Metropolitan Fire Brigade to gather sensitive information, a report by Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog has found.
‘NATO of critical minerals’ deal to hit China dominance
Local mining and processing projects could be funded by more than a dozen like-minded nations as part of a new joint financing body agreed to by 14 countries.
SPONSORED
World
- Updated
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Hezbollah fires missile at Mossad HQ as tensions rise
The military said Hezbollah fired the missile from Lebanon, in what appeared to be the first attempted attack by the group on a target as far south as central Israel.
- Opinion
- UK politics
Keir Starmer’s honeymoon hardly got started
The UK prime minister already has a marginally lower approval rating than the recently deposed Rishi Sunak. Even by modern standards, the fall has been swift.
- Opinion
- Middle East tensions
Why Hezbollah is everyone’s problem
The world is now in the opening stages of yet another contest between the free and unfree. It’s a conflict reaching far and wide, and will last for decades.
Trump has a radical economic plan. Critics say it does not add up
The Republican candidate is promising sweeping new tariffs, including a 60pc levy on Chinese goods. Experts warn they would cause huge damage.
UK property site Rightmove knocks back REA again
Pressure is increasing on the Murdoch-owned REA’s $11 billion-plus foray, with just five days left to get a deal across the line.
Property
- Exclusive
- Commercial real estate
BlackRock seeds $1.5b laboratory real estate fund
BlackRock is partnering with local private equity firm Wentworth Capital on a “pure play” laboratory fund that has already secured a number of seed assets
Jose was priced out of his inner-city home. So were 16,000 others
KPMG data shows rising costs are squeezing out much-needed workers from Sydney and Melbourne’s most sought-after suburbs.
‘Paying whatever it takes’: Prestige home prices jump 20pc a year in this city
International and east coast buyers are helping fuel a price boom in Perth’s most sought after luxury coastal and riverside properties.
Country’s biggest builder warns on housing slowdown
Forget fiddling with tax settings and focus on fixing red tape and the tradie shortage to deliver more housing, says Metricon boss Brad Duggan.
Commercial property is coming back to life in US
But at what price will beaten-down offices, apartments and other properties actually change hands?
Wealth
- Opinion
- Cybersecurity
SMSFs are a $1 trillion honeypot for hackers
The success of the retirement savings system has become an irresistible target for global cybercriminals.
Perks, points and fees: How to choose the right credit card
Understanding the four credit card types will help you make smart choices.
The $1 rule, and 43 other easy ways to be better with money
Not everything about money has to be hard. We asked experts for their top tips on how to be better at saving, budgeting and investing.
Technology
How a Caramello Koala helped catch Coles and Woolies out
As consumers’ belts tightened, price-sensitive shoppers vented their frustrations online on Reddit, TikTok and X. The ACCC, it seems, was listening.
Will AI be a bust? A Wall Street sceptic rings the alarm
Jim Covello, Goldman Sachs’ head of stock research, warns that building too much of what the world doesn’t need “typically ends badly”.
Inside Elon Musk’s mushrooming security apparatus
The world’s richest man has long cultivated a devil-may-care persona. But in private, he has increasingly barricaded himself behind a growing phalanx of armed bodyguards.
Work & Careers
Dentons CEO to fight anti-vax, antisemitism claims
Dentons chief executive Doug Stipanicev has stepped down after he was accused of ignoring bullying allegations and sending a conspiratorial report.
‘We need to talk’: the hidden cost of unclear messages
The “emotional overhead” of trying to decode ambiguous emails is just one piece of problematic fallout from poor communication at work.
Life & Luxury
Heading to Melbourne for the footy? It might pay to book a stop-over
Brisbane fans might choose a less-than-ideal path to save a few dollars in the pilgrimage to the MCG this weekend – booking a flight via Sydney or Canberra.
$300 still life flowers into a 70-bagger
A forgotten work by a forgotten Australian artist was one of several to do well as the great financial reappreciation of women artists continued at Leonard Joel.
- Driving With Tony Davis
- Motoring
This is one of the quietest cars we’ve ever driven
The Volvo EX90 electric SUV combines safety with size and silence – or superior sounds via its 25 speakers, if you choose.
Travel is the key to staying young, says this new study
Academics at Edith Cowan University have discovered that, as well as the mental and physical benefits, tourism can keep people looking younger.
Dolce&Gabbana CEO in Australia to party and sell the dream
The Italian fashion powerhouse is moving boldly into skincare, homewares – even dog fragrances.
