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The Afr View

The Afr View

Financial Review

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Political class must heed lessons of Trump’s comeback

Will our leaders heed the warning that the best defence against populism is to take the hard decisions needed to restore the prosperity most...

20.12.2024 20

Financial Review

The Afr View

Nuclear costings put heat on uncosted renewables plan

Both sides of politics should end the charade of promising cheaper power prices while debating the least costly transition to a net zero economy.

19.12.2024 4

Financial Review

The Afr View

Bigger and hidden deficits are the real MYEFO result

In it’s mid-year budget outlook, Labor is effectively doubling down on the bigger-spending, bigger government that has crowded out private...

18.12.2024 6

Financial Review

The Afr View

US extremism shows Australia’s health system gets the balance right

The critical question is how best to maintain the sustainability and affordability of private healthcare amid the stoush between health funds and...

17.12.2024 4

Financial Review

The Afr View

Pallas’ disastrous fiscal legacy

Regretting not being able to spend even more money is a fittingly risible sign-off from a treasurer who lost control of Victoria’s finances.

16.12.2024 6

Financial Review

The Afr View

Credit to Chalmers for non-partisan RBA picks

The Coalition’s fears that a Labor treasurer would stack the new board with political appointees have not been borne out. The crucial independence...

16.12.2024 4

Financial Review

The Afr View

Labor marked down again for no growth agenda

The fading prospect of an interest rate cut ahead of the polls combined with serious failures of economic management, both count against Labor’s...

15.12.2024 6

Financial Review

The Afr View

How Australia should seek to influence events from afar

Labor has acted too slowly in shoring up defences at home, where the government really can make a difference.

13.12.2024 6

Financial Review

The Afr View

Big tech should not be above the law of the land

In general, the last thing Australia needs is a new tax. But Meta’s thumbing its nose at Australia’s pioneering regulation justifies Labor’s...

12.12.2024 4

Financial Review

The Afr View

Labor cuts with one hand, hands out with other

Targeting childcare spending at those who need it most would avoid another overly generous entitlement that becomes a financial problem down the track...

11.12.2024 8

Financial Review

The Afr View

Economic statement won’t make Victoria investable again

The government’s plan is mostly window dressing. It does nothing to fix the state’s fundamental business investment problem which is about the...

10.12.2024 10

Financial Review

The Afr View

The pluses and minuses of Elliott’s ANZ legacy

How the outgoing CEO’s tenure is regarded will hinge on the long-term outcomes of his two signature projects.

09.12.2024 2

Financial Review

The Afr View

Australia must be vigilant about stirring up populism

The challenge of cutting the size of government is made harder by public sector elites receiving outsized remuneration.

08.12.2024 9

Financial Review

The Afr View

Posturing on Israel pandering to ugly racism

Labor continues to walk both sides of the street on the Gaza war, Palestinian statehood, and Israel’s right to self-defence. The net result of the...

06.12.2024 7

Financial Review

The Afr View

The treasurer must ask what he can do for business

Jim Chalmers is asking business to dig Australia’s economy out of the hole. But he also needs to say what he is going to do to help businesses...

05.12.2024 5

Financial Review

The Afr View

Business Person awards celebrate founder success

AirTrunk and Chemist Warehouse’s founder stories underline the importance of innovative and risk-taking entrepreneurship, perceptiveness, and...

04.12.2024 5

Financial Review

The Afr View

Qantas’ misdeeds shouldn’t scuttle Virgin-Qatar deal

The TWU stoush with Bain Capital over the next Virgin boss highlights corporate Australia’s wider reputational issues that have fuelled the populist...

03.12.2024 10

Financial Review

The Afr View

Upholding sovereignty against big tech is not so easy

We credit the Albanese government for continuing to seek to make big tech play by the same rules as other companies. However, the devil is always in...

02.12.2024 8

Financial Review

The Afr View

RBA shake-up must maintain spirit of central bank independence

The new era in Australian central banking should encourage better monetary policy decision-making. But that hinges on whom the treasurer picks to sit...

01.12.2024 9

Financial Review

The Afr View

Report card on 47th parliament: Could do better

Two retiring politicians offered some pointed advice for their colleagues in parliament’s last session for the year.

29.11.2024 10

Financial Review

The Afr View

Allan and Pallas in denial about Victoria’s state of decline

Victoria’s bigger spending and bigger debt trajectory is not sustainable, and no amount of spin from the leaders to blame for making such a mess of...

28.11.2024 20

Financial Review

The Afr View

The truth about transition costs is not out there

Both sides of politics promising cheaper power prices is just setting up another broken election pledge.

27.11.2024 3

Financial Review

The Afr View

Budget slide shows Chalmers’ fiscal luck has run out

If the government calls an early election before the budget is scheduled for March 25 next year, it would underscore how big a political problem –...

26.11.2024 4

Financial Review

The Afr View

Pivotal election for higher education calls for bigger discussion

Beyond the next election horizon that is driving the student caps issue, the challenges universities now face deserve a serious policy conversation.

25.11.2024 4

Financial Review

The Afr View

Politicised overreach on Israel undermines ICC’s standing

There may be legitimate legal case to be heard. But moral questions around the portrayal of Israel as a pariah state also risks undermining the...

24.11.2024 10

Financial Review

The Afr View

West must not flinch in helping Ukraine now

There is something else at stake as Ukraine fights on: the self-respect of the democratic nations that have backed them this far.

22.11.2024 8

Financial Review

The Afr View

Chalmers taints the Future Fund with political intentions

By making the high-profile and unprecedented decision to direct the sovereign wealth fund the treasurer has changed the climate of expectations of...

21.11.2024 5

Financial Review

The Afr View

Did gender diversity and merit collide at Rio Tinto?

The challenge for companies is to find a way to promote pluralism while treating all employees equally and avoiding inflaming a politicised culture...

20.11.2024 7

Financial Review

The Afr View

China should practise what it preaches on free trade

The best way Beijing can persuade the US it is playing fair is to open up its domestic market so America can share in its success.

19.11.2024 10

Financial Review

The Afr View

China should practice what it preaches on free trade

The best way Beijing can persuade the US it is playing fair is to open up its domestic market so America can share in its success.

19.11.2024 6

Financial Review

The Afr View

Branchless banks should not have to prop up bricks-and-mortar rivals

Before the government imposes a new levy to keep regional branches open and head off a Coalition attack, the competition and innovation effects must...

18.11.2024 4

Financial Review

The Afr View

Time running out as incumbents’ curse strikes Labor

According to today’s poll, 42 per cent of voters think our economy will be weaker with Trump restored to the White House. It’s a grim portent for...

17.11.2024 10

Financial Review

The Afr View

Big parties right to set new limits on election funds

But there is still a whiff of self-interest in measures which will clip the wings of well-funded independent disruptors

15.11.2024 6

Financial Review

The Afr View

No Musk, but creating efficiency a must in Australia too

At least the US president-elect is prepared to take serious economic problems head on, even if in unorthodox ways.

14.11.2024 3

Financial Review

The Afr View

No Musk, but cutting government a must in Australia too

At least the US president-elect is prepared to take on the problem of an over-large and unproductive government.

14.11.2024 5

Financial Review

The Afr View

Corporate watchdog puts big super’s service failures on notice

Revelations that Cbus has cheated members on death and disability benefits has now surfaced a new systemic issue.

13.11.2024 10

Financial Review

The Afr View

Bailout keeps Rex flying until after election

The $80 million, handed out with little detail, has to go towards making Rex a sustainable player again. The government needs to make a better case...

12.11.2024 10

Financial Review

The Afr View

Inflation shadow falls over privatised infrastructure model

The political fallout from privatisation colliding with a temporary cost of living crisis could end up gumming up the pipeline of public works in the...

11.11.2024 9

Financial Review

The Afr View

Social media age ban is good for kids and parents

Labor’s move to now run hard on the issue of young peoples’ safety online will resonate with millions of average mums and dads.

10.11.2024 40

Financial Review

The Afr View

Australia must learn the right lessons from US election

Inflation cut across all other issues for US voters, regardless of race, gender and age. What should that be telling us?

08.11.2024 5

Financial Review

The Afr View

Transactional Trump could leave a vacuum in Asia

Trump would find that turning his back on allies was a more costly transaction than he thought.

07.11.2024 6

Financial Review

The Afr View

This election, it’s different, for American exceptionalism

The verdict of the American people will be seen as speaking to America’s continuing decline during the Trump era.

06.11.2024 6

Financial Review

The Afr View

Higher interest rates are partly Labor’s doing

The unfortunate truth for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is that the elevated interest rates will play a big part in next year’s election.

05.11.2024 5

Financial Review

The Afr View

Ellison’s long goodbye shows MinRes’ founder problem lives on

The lesson for directors is that transparent and accountable governance is truly indispensable for properly run companies of all kinds.

04.11.2024 5

Financial Review

The Afr View

Labor’s uni debt election bribe trashes fairness

The principle of ensuring fairness all-round will be trashed by handing out a 20 per cent debt cut regardless of income. It is middle-class welfare on...

03.11.2024 6

Financial Review

The Afr View

Trump’s flaws make Harris the best choice for Australia

Trump’s trade wars will damage Australian interests, and his lies, vulgarity and conspiracy theories taint democracies everywhere.

01.11.2024 10

Financial Review

The Afr View

Inflation now all about the timing for Labor

If interest rate relief comes too late for the election, too bad. What’s really needed is reform of our tax, workplace and regulatory settings.

31.10.2024 10

Financial Review

The Afr View

Don’t suppress democracy in a pandemic

Not even a public health crisis should justify suppression of the normal rules of democratic debate about government actions and policy alternatives.

30.10.2024 10

Financial Review

The Afr View

Lack of advice remains super system’s diminished return

For three decades the super system has been focused on building up assets for members. Less so on creating the infrastructure to service customers in...

29.10.2024 10

Financial Review

The Afr View

Is disclosure enough to clear Albo’s Qantas flights with benefits?

Some might say upgrades are just a perk of the office. But the counterargument is that MPs should be removed from the special type of soft power...

28.10.2024 6

Financial Review

The Afr View

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