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Labor’s bold $1b bet on Aussie quantum start-up

Australia will invest $940 million in Silicon Valley start-up PsiQuantum in a major bet that it will build the world’s first commercially useful quantum computer.

An alleged CFMEU representative filmed on CCTV jumping a building site fence to get into the Queensland government’s Centenary Bridge Upgrade project on the morning of April 29.

Police called to ‘keep the peace’ in CFMEU showdown

A stand-off between a crowd of CFMEU representatives and security guards at a Queensland project allegedly involved unionists jumping fences to get on to site.

Students at Sydney University: The Albanese government is mindful of damaging the international student industry.

Government baulks at hard caps on foreign student numbers

The Albanese government is shying away from a Canadian-style hard cap on foreign student numbers and will opt for more nuanced measures to control migration.

Investors need to turn detective in the hunt for interest rate pain

Several sectors on the ASX have surged on the prospect of rate cuts that aren’t coming any time soon. It’s time for investors to reassess. 

Super Retail legal action expands to at least four staff

Lawyers acting for employees say they offered to settle confidentially for less than a third of the $30 million to $50 million sought.

BHP goes big game hunting on the African savannah

BHP and Anglo American are undisputed industrial champions in their home countries. The vast gap between them says a lot about Australia and South Africa.

BHP investors fear costly second tilt at Anglo American

Shares in BHP have dropped 5.2 per cent since it made the $60 billion bid for Anglo-American that was swiftly rejected last week.

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tuesday tech

Shane Hodgkins, CEO and co-founder of Melbourne-based construction start-up Matrak, has opened a China office.

Aussie tech pushes into China, Taiwan despite geopolitical risks

Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht has warned start-ups China should not be their first market but says it has massive rewards for companies that can make it there.

Chief executive Jane Hunter and Tritium’s leadership engaged KPMG to start contingency planning for a formal insolvency process in December.

Controversial SPAC listing hobbled Tritium

The charging company’s leaders were preparing for a potential collapse before Christmas as it failed to get state government cash.

Canva is planning a new office in the pricey inner Sydney suburb of Surry Hills, helping to explain staff members plan to put money from shares into real estate.

VCs are banking on Canva staff cash, but they’re buying houses instead

While most staff say they plan to put the money towards real estate, an investing program just for Canva staff already has the interest of more than 100 people.

Snapchat going backwards in Australia

Elon Musk’s takeover crushed Twitter, but Snap is still a fraction of the size of the dominant Meta-Google online advertising machine.

Melbourne rivals hope Kyle and Jackie O’s sins haunt advertiser demand

Kyle Sandilands and Jackie Henderson signed a 10-year, $200 million contract late last year. Now they’re taking on Melbourne’s $220 million radio market.

Features include the ability to save articles, dark mode and real time notifications.

Get the latest business news on the go with the AFR’s new iOS app.

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Companies

David Foster was removed as chairman of Star over the weekend.

Board ousts Star chairman as inquiry blowback continues

David Foster will be replaced by director Anne Ward. She was one of the few directors who wanted former CEO Robbie Cooke to step down in December.

BHP goes big game hunting on the African savannah

BHP and Anglo American are undisputed industrial champions in their home countries. The vast gap between them says a lot about Australia and South Africa.

BHP CEO Mike Henry.

BHP investors fear costly second tilt at Anglo American

Shares in BHP have dropped 5.2 per cent since it made the $60 billion bid for Anglo-American that was swiftly rejected last week.

Optus has struck a $1.6 billion deal with rival TPG Telecom.

Optus parent writes off billions and strikes $1.6b deal with TPG

Singtel has had to write off billions of dollars on Optus, offset partly by the beleaguered telco striking a $1.6 billion deal with Australian rival TPG.

Investors need to turn detective in the hunt for interest rate pain

Several sectors on the ASX have surged on the prospect of rate cuts that aren’t coming any time soon. It’s time for investors to reassess. 

Super Retail legal action expands to at least four staff

Lawyers acting for employees say they offered to settle confidentially for less than a third of the $30 million to $50 million sought.

Nickel miner axes 530 jobs as pressure builds for budget bailout

Resources Minister Madeleine King says government alone cannot solve nickel industry woes as job losses near 2000 since December.

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Markets

RBA governor Michele Bullock is expected to upgrade the central bank’s inflation forecasts.

RBA’s next move will still be a rate cut, say investors

Market pundits argue that interest rates are still going down, not up, because inflation is declining, albeit at a slower pace than many had expected.

Perpetual CEO Rob Adams is edging closer to a deal with KKR

Perpetual inches closer to KKR deal

The wealth manager is one step closer to breaking up the business after it confirmed talks with KKR that would leave Perpetual solely with asset management.

The ASX 200 is set to drop.

ASX bounces as real estate, tech rally; First Quantum mothballs mine

Shares close higher. Perpetual confirms exclusive talks with KKR. Tech stocks rise ahead of Apple and Amazon earnings.

Fed rate cut debate shifts from when toward if on sticky inflation

US policymakers are widely expected to hold rates steady at a more than two-decade high this week, so much of the focus will be on any pivot from the Fed chairman.

Javier Milei fuels wild rally that makes peso No. 1 in world

The currency has, in fact, not only stopped plunging day after day but in one key foreign exchange market, it’s actually rallying sharply.

Opinion

Labor green lights toxic bully-boys of the CFMEU

The political protection racket the modern ALP is running for the toxic behaviour of the CFMEU, which would be condemned in any other setting, is disgraceful.

The AFR View

Editorial

The AFR View

Albanese confronts domestic violence crisis

Women are angry, and the prime minister is dodging criticism even as he calls an emergency meeting of national cabinet on domestic violence.

Politicians alone cannot stop violence against women

Malcolm Turnbull best summed up the challenge a decade ago when he sought to address domestic violence. The challenge for Anthony Albanese is little different.

Phillip Coorey

Political editor

Phillip Coorey

RBA must ignore the band of economists pushing a rate rise

The Reserve Bank should not be firing up its interest rate models on the strength of inflation that is now steadily dropping into target range.

Craig Emerson

Former Labor minister and economist

Craig Emerson

Australia’s last-mile inflation looks like the last 10 miles

The Albanese government took power promising to increase wages. It was a risky gamble that is not paying off.

Richard Holden

Economics professor

Richard Holden

How Australia is losing the equity market war

Australia’s equity capital markets are slipping behind global competitors on market value, shares traded and foreign listings. That trend is unlikely to change while the ASX is fixing its monopoly clearing and settlement system.

Tony Boyd

Contributor

Tony Boyd
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Politics

Budget spending cuts must ‘take heat off’ interest rates

To limit the RBA’s interest rate rises, tens of billions of dollars in federal and state government expenditure must be unwound, economists say.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus said the increase would act as an “interim” rise to achieve full pay equity.

Union push for 9pc gender-based pay rise risks inflation: employers

Employers have lashed a landmark union push to apply gender pay principles to this year’s minimum wage increase.

Anthony Albanese called an urgent meeting of national cabinet for Wednesday.

PM flags tougher treatment of men who harm women

Bail law reform and tougher penalties for men who engage in violence against women are set to be considered at this week’s national cabinet meeting.

Albanese out, Pope in for G7 summit

Despite Australia being a regular fixture in recent years, Anthony Albanese is off the guest list for the June leaders’ summit of the world’s most advanced economies.

The NIMBY council singled out by Minns for rejecting density

The NSW government has released its reforms for increasing housing near transport, and will immediately enforce it on the one council that has opposed density.

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World

This image from video provided by the Indian Space Research Organisation shows the surface of the moon as the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft prepared for landing in August last year.  India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole.

China set to launch high-stakes mission to moon’s ‘hidden’ side

China has made leaps forward in its lunar exploration, narrowing the technological chasm with the United States and Russia.

Humza Yousaf at a press conference in Edinburgh.

Scotland leader quits after coalition power play backfires

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf had pulled out of coalition with the Greens - a move that has triggered political chaos.

A dancer enlivens the mood at the Auto China motor show in Beijing. EU carmakers can’t compete with EV exports from China.

EU would need 50pc tariffs to curb imports of Chinese EV

Researchers at the Rhodium Group say any punitive action arising from a blockbuster anti-subsidy investigation is likely to be too timid to deter Chinese car makers.

With Trump in court, can Biden take control of the election?

As polls show the race tied, the president is campaigning around the country and his opponent is stuck spending his days in a Manhattan courtroom.

Tesla clears key regulatory hurdles for self-driving in China

CEO Elon Musk’s surprise visit to the US vehicle maker’s second-largest market appears to have paid off.

Property

Tarun Gupta.

Stockland says interest rates key to further market improvement

The country’s largest listed diversified developer said sales picked up in the March quarter, but lower borrowing costs were needed for the housing market to pick up.

Property investors spooked by renewed talk of rates rise

Having recently returned to the housing market in droves – outpacing owner-occupiers – investors could face a potential slowdown in capital gains.

Dexus head of industrial Chris Mackenzie at a new warehouse project in Truganina, Melbourne

Batteries to power up warehouse pipeline as big as 40 MCGs

Dexus’ program to install batteries in all its new warehouses will cut its tenants’ energy bills by almost $100,000 a year and reduce their carbon emissions.

Real estate agent doubles his money by selling own apartment for $6.5m

There’s a national shortage of suitable units for downsizers, so a man who sells them for a living has just sold his own home – at quite a profit.

BTR push in Sydney’s west gains steam despite flood risks

The NSW planning department concluded that increasing housing supply outweighed potential risks such as flooding for one BTR project.

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Wealth

For those fortunate enough to have good health and money, semi-retirement is an increasingly popular option.

Why more Australians are choosing semi-retirement

Fusing the parts of work you still enjoy with hobbies, travel and passion projects is the dream for many. Here’s how to make a go of it

Why you’ll live longer than you think (and what it means for your wealth)

Very few people die at their age of life expectancy, giving rise to financial planning’s biggest conundrum: longevity risk.

A child won a share of her dad’s estate – despite planning to kill him

A 75 per cent success rate in contesting wills is encouraging more family members to sue for a bigger share. Here’s how to protect your final wishes.

Technology

Snap chief executive Evan Spiegel’s app claims eight million users in Australia.

Snapchat going backwards in Australia

Elon Musk’s takeover crushed Twitter, but Snap is still a fraction of the size of the dominant Meta-Google online advertising machine.

A newly trendy Mark Zuckerberg with Bill Gates and Paula Hurd at a high society wedding in India.

The Meta-morphosis of Mark Zuckerberg

The robotic nerd depicted in The Social Network has turned into the kinder, more accessible face of Silicon Valley. What’s going on?

Why Apple has a $US300b ‘Made in China’ problem

Apple is gradually weaning itself off China as a longstanding and mutually-beneficial relationship between the corporate giant and the country begins to fray.

Work & Careers

Yasmine Johnson says the pro-Palestinian protesters at Sydney University will “stay as long as possible”.

Pro-Palestinian protesters are peaceful here, say university bosses

A series of encampments are popping up on campuses as students take up the pro-Palestinian cause. But it’s very different from what’s happening in the US.

Steep rise in student visa rejections ‘scaring applicants away’

News of the federal government’s clampdown on student visas is spreading far and wide and the US is becoming the destination of choice.

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Life & Luxury

You’ll forget you’re even wearing these earbuds

The OpenFit earbuds by Shokz might not look the best, but they certainly feel the best of any earbuds we’ve ever reviewed.

SAS Australia DS - Ollie Ollerton, Ant Middleton, Jason ‘Foxy’ Fox, Mark ‘Billy’ Billingham.

13 tactics you’ll need to thrive in midlife

Jason Fox, a former special forces operative turned TV star who has experienced more than his fair share of gritty situations, shares his life tips.

‘It’s not tough, it’s different,’ Jaeger-Le Coultre CEO ‘It’s not tough, it’s different,’ Jaeger-Le Coultre chief executive Catherine Rénier says of the watch market.

Nobody actually needs a watch, says Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO

Artistry and occasion influence buyers today, Catherine Rénier tells Life & Leisure ahead of JLC’s uniquely hands-on pop-up store opening in Sydney in May.

The all-new Porsche Macan 4 (EV) performs beautifully.

The new Porsche Macan 4 EV is coming to Australia this year

Priced from $133,700-plus for the entry-level model, this highly popular SUV has been upgraded – and performs brilliantly in every respect.

The brain benefits really start to emerge when we work out consistently over time.

How exercise strengthens your brain

Perhaps most remarkably, exercise offers protection against neurodegenerative diseases.

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