Dutton’s housing fix ‘will worsen supply’
One of Australia’s biggest property developers says slashing permanent migration as a way to fix acute housing shortages will only exacerbate the problem.
Albanese and Dutton fight on the home front for voters
With the countdown now on to the election, both sides used budget week to stake out their territory on the hot-button housing issue. But it’s already a crowded policy space, and there are no quick fixes.
Super for housing could only work for the fastest movers: experts
First home buyers struggling to save a deposit might welcome the Coalition’s promise to let borrowers tap their super for property, but economists say it will only push up house prices.
How the west’s miners won over Canberra
The production tax credits on critical minerals processing unveiled in the federal budget were the result of months of careful negotiations that started with a meeting in Perth.
- Analysis
- Federal budget
Chalmers and Dutton put their economic credibility on the line
Chalmers has made a big, bold gamble on inflation, while Dutton’s rhetoric is bigger than the reality on immigration.
RBA considers selling HQ as renovation blows out to $1.1b
The blowout, caused by large amounts of asbestos, makes the redevelopment of the RBA building one of the nation’s most expensive non-defence public works.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
The stocks Australia’s biggest LIC is buying
While the LIC sector is under pressure, the 98-year-old Australian Foundation Investment Company is staying patient and hunting for value.
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smart investor
Higher living costs are eating into your super. Here’s what to do
Retirees are vulnerable to inflation because higher living costs eat into carefully calibrated savings plans that do not benefit from the injection of regular wages. Here’s what to do.
‘Window of opportunity’ for graduates to score debt reprieve
An accounting quirk means some graduates can escape the brunt of indexation, but only if they act fast.
- Opinion
- Interest rates
RBA caught in political spin
Political considerations may explain the central bank’s unusual cheerleading of the federal budget.
‘Don’t waste it’: Smart ways to spend your income tax cut
Some workers will have an extra $350 a month from July 1. Don’t waste this “powerful” opportunity, experts say.
- Opinion
- Superannuation
Labor’s ‘double taxation’ in super may not be as steep as you think
A 30 per cent tax rate is unlikely to ever apply to the entirety of annual earnings for people with balances above $3 million.
weekend reads
Inside the weird, deluded world of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago
The former president exists in a parallel universe inside the walls of his beloved Florida estate.
‘We don’t know the truth’, says senior CIA officer
Beth Sanner was Donald Trump’s daily intelligence briefer for two years. Few people know the boundaries between secrecy and democracy so well.
The number that sums up Biden’s biggest economic problem
While price rises have cooled from more than 9 per cent to 3.4 per cent, household budgets have not recovered since Biden took office.
The red line on Gaza: PM draws it, students ignore it
Tensions have come to a head after Australia voted “yes” in a United Nations vote to support a Palestinian bid to become a full member.
The Taste of Things movie review – a feast for the eyes
Director Anh Hung Tran has created an utterly absorbing film about cuisine as a model for life.
Get the latest business news on the go with the AFR’s new iOS app.
Companies
Traders finger ‘pre-hedging’ in ANZ bond probe
Fixed income traders say pre-hedging is “a grey area” riddled with inherent conflicts of interest. ASIC has already targeted Westpac over the practice in swap markets.
Lendlease sells down Asia venture amid campaign for overhaul
The $147 million sale of a stake in its life sciences business comes as activist investors demand the property giant pulls back from overseas markets.
Transurban network operator claims he was fired for whistle-blowing
The former employee has alleged in court that he was dismissed after blowing the whistle on coercion, manipulation of company records and raising safety issues on toll roads.
SkyCity agrees to $67 million AUSTRAC penalty for breaking the law
The AUSTRAC matter was based on allegations the company allowed high-risk patrons to gamble more than $4 billion in dirty cash through its Adelaide casino.
Qatar Airways returns with new push for more flights
Tourism industry and export market players have warned the government not to repeat the same mistakes, as the airline tries to expand, again.
- Exclusive
- Oil
Shell sues ATO over claim it was short-changed $99m in CGT bill
The ATO believes the company should have declared capital gains $330 million higher than first reported for its exit from the old Woodside Petroleum.
Company has rare win over work bans that jacked up its power bill
Agribusiness giant Manildra has won orders to stop Endeavour Energy workers’ long-running industrial action after arguing it would cost millions of dollars in extra electricity costs.
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Markets
Nvidia bulls are selling – here’s what one fundie is buying instead
The AI market darling is reporting earnings next week, following a jaw-dropping share price run in the last 18 months.
BlackRock’s Rieder says rate cut would tame US inflation
High interest rates are generating more income from fixed-income investments for well-heeled Americans, the firm’s chief investment officer said.
Shares drop; Bendigo Bank jumps, SkyCity to pay $67m AUSTRAC penalty
Shares drop 0.85pc. Star’s license suspension extended. US equities swing lower. Iron ore climbs as China posts mixed data. Oil firms.
Millennium, Point72 and Elliott are among bitcoin ETF buyers
No matter the reason, and there could be several, Wall Street is clearly dipping its toes into the world’s largest digital asset.
What happened overnight? The Dow broke 40,000 for the first time
ASX futures were lower. US equities pared their early advance to close modestly lower. Gold slipped, oil edged up, iron ore rose. Bitcoin was steady.
Opinion
Budget kicks off a populist election season
The housing crisis demonstrates how both major parties insist there are easy answers where none exist.
Editorial
The Coalition swings back to the immigration playbook
The irony is that Peter Dutton of all people should understand how complicated migration numbers really are.
Columnist
Trump shows the cost of pettiness among the powerful
Donald Trump’s vendetta against wind turbines is not unusual among plutocrats and tech lords who believe they should have more say.
Contributor
Peter Dutton’s housing policies look tinged by race
The Liberal Party leader’s complaints that foreigners are competing with Australians for homes tap into resentment towards outsiders.
Senior correspondent
What a ‘free Palestine’ means in practice
The campus protesters are not the first generation of Western activists who have championed movements that promised liberation in theory and misery and murder in practice.
Contributor
This budget sees the return of government as saviour
Two decades ago, Australia was poised to shed the hard-done-by battler mindset. Now it is more entrenched than ever.
Political editor
Reports
BOSS Best Places to Work
The awards celebrate the achievements of the best small, medium and large organisations and nine sector winners.
Politics
Peter Dutton’s migration and housing changes explained
The opposition leader says his changes to permanent migration and housing laws will help Australians by “restoring the dream of home ownership”. Will the changes be effective?
One in, one out: Dutton plan ‘risks $48b foreign student industry’
Peter Dutton’s promise to reduce temporary migration to 160,000 people would smash the country’s fourth-largest export sector, experts say.
- Analysis
- Government Observed
Labor’s green superpower plan will need a new public service
Expertise in green hydrogen, photonic quantum physics, large-scale lithium batteries and next-generation mineralogy are not skills you typically see on Canberra CVs.
Critics say Aussies can’t make cheap solar panels. This start-up says they’re wrong
The brains behind SunDrive say Australia has the material, the best resources, and even national security reasons, for keeping solar panel expertise here.
- Analysis
- Federal budget
Chalmers and Dutton put their economic credibility on the line
Chalmers has made a big, bold gamble on inflation, while Dutton’s rhetoric is bigger than the reality on immigration.
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World
China unveils dramatic steps to rescue property market
China announced a slate of measures aimed at reinvigorating its ailing property industry and stabilising growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
No more buzz – hydrogen is finally trying to get real
At the World Hydrogen Summit this year, vaulting ambition began giving way to pragmatism and a paring back of priorities.
More troops, better tech: Putin’s Ukraine push worries West
Multiple factors are helping Russia’s military advance, including a delay in US weaponry and Moscow’s technological innovations on the battlefield.
‘Massive’ French police force arrives in riot-hit New Caledonia
Deadly violence has raged across the French Pacific territory this week over electoral reforms pushed in Paris, forcing France to impose a state of emergency.
- Analysis
- Critical minerals
China-US clean energy trade war could get dirty
History suggests Beijing will reply in kind and lift tariffs on a range of American exports, which will raise the stakes once again in their long-running tit-for-tat tussle.
Property
Why Aesop is putting algae on its shopfronts
The upcoming Melbourne Design Week reveals ideas already in use that could change our world. But getting them to scale is no simple task.
Tradies are the thing we need most: Developers to Dutton
Developers warned that cutting immigration would not only slow home building, but have ramifications for the entire Australian economy.
- Exclusive
- Luxury property
Laser Clinics co-founder to sell Mosman super pad
The cosmetic industry entrepreneur has listed his striking mansion on Mosman’s exclusive Balmoral Slopes with a guide of $17.5 million.
- Exclusive
- Luxury property
Adam Flaskas to sell luxury Brisbane ‘sky home’ before Manly move
The developer and his fiancee have put their five-bedroom penthouse on the market ahead of a southern relocation.
- Exclusive
- Luxury property
Ex Pendal CEO to sell $18m harbour mansion with trophy boatshed
Emilio Gonzalez and his wife, Nicola, have called time on their Cremorne harbourside address, offering it to prestige shoppers.
Wealth
‘Window of opportunity’ for graduates to score debt reprieve
An accounting quirk means some graduates can escape the brunt of indexation, but only if they act fast.
How this Millennial plans to retire at 35
Saving hard and opting out of the consumer lifestyle has helped these people retire decades before their parents did.
The $150b club: Record number of super rich
The combined net worth of the world’s super-rich club is up 13 per cent this year to $3.3 trillion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Technology
Online music platform Melodie banks $1m funding
The Funded blog is the home for news on the tech deals that are done in Australia, as soon as we hear about them.
Children glued to their phones at meal time face obesity risk
Experts say letting youngsters scroll social media, watch videos or eat in front of the TV is “dangerous” and may be fuelling a growing obesity epidemic.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
How gridiron and cartoon elves sent this ASX giant surging
The 12 per cent surge in Aristocrat Leisure’s share price reflects a solid profit beat. But there’s a secret sauce behind its long track record of growth.
Work & Careers
Sydney Uni wins appeal over academic dismissed over Nazi slide
Tough-talking university administrators are showing signs their patience is wearing thin, but police involvement is still a last resort.
Westpac brings back time sheets for salaried staff up to $140k
Time recording for high-earners is becoming the new norm in the finance sector as firms guard against underpayments from excessive overtime. But some white-collar workers “hate it”.
Life & Luxury
‘We don’t know the truth’, says senior CIA officer
Beth Sanner was Donald Trump’s daily intelligence briefer for two years. Few people know the boundaries between secrecy and democracy so well.
Dream of the 1990s comes alive at Fashion Week
Grunge, denim and sexy slip dresses were all over the runways at Australian Fashion Week.
Sizzling Schauffele grabs early PGA Championship lead
Not even the two hottest golfers on the planet, world number one Scottie Scheffler and number two Rory McIlroy, could muster a challenge to Xander Schauffele.
Think you know this week’s news? Answer these 10 questions
Have you been paying attention this week? Test your knowledge across politics, business and world news.
This week’s lovely luxuries: chi-chi coffee to divine dog blankets
Plenty to savour here, from stylish kitchen essentials to gifts for friends – furry ones included.
