Economy
CBA boss calls for spending cuts, bold reform in budget
5 March
The bosses of Australia’s largest companies have urged Treasurer Jim Chalmers to take a bold agenda to the May budget to salvage the country’s faltering international competitiveness. Speaking at the Australian Financial Review Business Summit,...[Read More]
Pressure to fix gas tax raising less revenue than beer
4 March
Labor faces a push for a parliament inquiry into Australia’s underperforming gas tax amid growing calls to make fossil fuel multinationals pay a larger share. As Treasurer Jim Chalmers mulls tax reform to make the economy more productive and...[Read More]
‘Dumbest option’: top economist slams housing tax break
26 February
A major rewrite of Australia’s tax rules is needed to make them fairer and more efficient, one of the nation’s top economists has warned. Former Treasury secretary Ken Henry, who led a 2010 review of taxes, said the current system could be...[Read More]
Self-interest widening wealth gap between old and young
1 January
Is the wealth gap between old and young Australians becoming a gulf? Former federal Treasury secretary Ken Henry has declared young workers are being “robbed” by the tax system, while ex-Victorian treasurer Tim Pallas calls the intergenerational...[Read More]
Tax reform call as data centre boom plugs in investment
18 December
The treasurer has been urged to raise the GST, lower the capital gains discount and introduce a modest inheritance tax to fix his ailing budget as Australia’s nascent data centre boom lifts productivity hopes. In next week’s Mid-Year Economic...[Read More]
The gift of trust: How talking about us strengthens our business and community
4 December
Referrals mean more to us than words can easily express. When a happy client shares their experience and recommends us to a friend, colleague, or family member, it is one of the greatest compliments we can receive. We never take that trust for...[Read More]
Uni debts slashed for more than one million Australians
4 December
Half of all Australians with a student debt have had their loans slashed by 20 per cent. The Australian Taxation Office will automatically apply the one-off reduction, with a further 1.5 million people to receive the cut by the end of next week. In...[Read More]
Timeline set for easing of student debt burden
9 October
Some three million Australians with a student debt will soon see their balance owed reduced as the tax office prepares to implement a 20 per cent cut. The Australian Tax Office will apply the reprieve from mid-November and anticipates half of...[Read More]
‘It’s crunch time’: productivity puzzle must be solved to help young Australians
27 August
It’s “crunch time” for the Australian economy. Young Australians face the prospect of being the first generation to be worse off than their parents and Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ economic roundtable is crucial to ensuring that doesn’t happen....[Read More]
Real wages boost for workers, but costs might worry RBA
21 August
Workers have enjoyed the strongest annual growth in real wages in more than five years, but the Reserve Bank will be on alert in case labour costs cause inflation to fire up again. Wages grew by 3.4 per cent in the year to June, slightly above...[Read More]
AI not a ‘straightforward’ fix for ailing productivity
20 August
Australia has been warned against the “seductive” pull of artificial intelligence as the federal government looks to the technology to help solve its productivity woes. AI is expected to take centre stage during the second day of the...[Read More]
Jobless fall gives RBA room before next rate cut
21 August
A modest fall in the jobless rate shows Australia’s labour market is still resilient, giving the Reserve Bank breathing room before it cuts interest rates again. The unemployment rate edged down to 4.2 per cent in July, the Australian Bureau of...[Read More]
Cutting ‘nightmarish’ red tape may awaken productivity
21 August
Border-crossing tradies and other small business owners are being hammered by regulatory burdens, but a sweeping plan to slash red tape could save them more than $1 billion a year. Canberra-based deck builder Xavier Duffy is forced to navigate a...[Read More]
What is the government’s productivity roundtable?
20 August
WHAT IS THE ECONOMIC REFORM ROUNDTABLE? * A three-day event aimed at lifting living standards primarily by boosting productivity, which has stagnated in Australia and other western countries * Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised it will...[Read More]
Real wages boost as annual growth holds at 3.4 per cent
14 August
Wages grew by 3.4 per cent in the year to June, and above expectations, providing a boost to workers’ real incomes. The annual figure was steady from the first quarter, but because inflation fell to 2.1 per cent in that March quarter, real wages...[Read More]