The risk of persistent inflation over coming months was behind the Reserve Bank’s decision to hike interest rates for the first time since 2023. Minutes from the central bank’s February meeting – where the board decided to lift the cash rate by to 3.85 per cent...
Treasurer Jim Chalmers won’t change the GST despite urging from an influential global economic body to lift the consumption tax. In its latest report, the International Monetary Fund praised the federal government’s handling of Australia’s economy during difficult conditions as inflation pressures return. “Executive directors welcomed Australia’s...
Thousands of new apprentices could help bring down the cost of construction, but land has been identified as the biggest hurdle to getting more homes built. Fresh data reveals 11,407 carpentry, plumbing and bricklayers signed up to the federal government’s housing construction stream of the Key...
Gen Z is leading a new wave of city dwellers eyeing a move to the regions, with almost half considering swapping skyscrapers for the great outdoors. Australians aged 18 to 29 have overtaken millennials (aged 30 to 45) as the cohort most eager to leave the...
Australia’s biggest bank has extended its reach into the business market and says the sector is doing well, particularly in the regions, despite the threat of higher interest rates down the track. Commonwealth Bank of Australia revealed this week it had increased its share of the...
At launch, the Electric Car Discount was expected to help about 5000 Australians get behind the wheel of a quiet, low-emissions, battery-powered vehicle. The policy, introduced in 2022, removed the fringe benefits tax from some electric cars, potentially cutting thousands of dollars from their price. But rather...
Forcing Australia’s biggest polluters to pay tax for their emissions may no longer be electoral kryptonite, polling indicates. The survey of 3000 Australian adults by Redbridge Group showed most regional and urban voters supported introducing a pollution levy on the nation’s 100 biggest polluting companies. The policy...
The head of Meta’s Instagram has testified during a landmark social media trial in Los Angeles that he disagrees with the idea that people can be clinically addicted to social media platforms. The question of addiction is a key pillar of the case, where plaintiffs seek...
A good kiss has more to do with the “thoughts, fantasies and emotional context we bring to it” than the physical act itself, scientists have discovered. Researchers at Abertay University set out to test the assumption that kissing sparks sexual chemistry, and to explore how cognitive...
While larger businesses are increasingly seeking credit to fuel growth, some companies are struggling just to keep the lights on, new data shows. Overall business credit demand grew 2.3 per cent in the three months to December compared to the equivalent 2024 quarter, according to the...