Flipping toasties with kids at a Brisbane park, the Greens have turned up the heat on their plan to provide free school meals. Party leader Adam Bandt, Senator Penny Allman-Payne and prominent MP Max Chandler-Mather were out on a warm but wet morning at Hanlon Park...
Powering air conditioners in every room, a washing machine, clothes dryer, electric stove and other appliances used to cost Mamoon Reza more than $1200 every year, even with rooftop solar. When his family-of-four installed a battery in 2023, however, the costs disappeared. “I don’t stress about electricity...
Australia loses more than $21 billion in productivity every year due to absenteeism but providing workers with one day of reproductive leave a month would significantly mitigate this economic cost. A report into the costs and benefits of implementing a universal reproductive health leave entitlement has...
Women’s participation in the Australian economy has been remarkably transformed in the past 40 years but more progress is needed, the head of the central bank says. Michele Bullock made history in 2023 when she became the first woman appointed governor of the Reserve Bank of...
Nearly one in 10 hospitality and food services businesses closed in the past year, as cost pressures force Australians to rein in spending. A record-high 9.4 per cent of food service and hospitality businesses shut their doors in the year to March, as economy-wide insolvencies surged...
An error in Virgin Australia’s booking system has overcharged thousands of flyers, with consumer advocates blaming the lack of competition for travellers being taken for a ride. About 61,000 travellers will get partial refunds averaging $55 for the error that occurred between April 2020 and March...
Licking a stamp for an envelope could cost more after the regulator flagged allowing price increases by Australia Post. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has formed a preliminary view not to oppose a 13.3 per cent rise in the price of stamps within months. If granted,...
Australians are turning their backs on travelling to the US as tourism experts point the finger at the weak dollar and President Donald Trump. There were 74,877 Australian visitors to the US in March, compared to 81,208 for the same period in 2024, US International Trade...
Food-obsessed Labradors and Golden Retrievers of all shapes and sizes are being recruited to a study to understand obesity in dogs and how best to prevent or tackle the disease. Researchers are investigating how dogs can be impacted by their curvy physiques, with the hope the...
Delaying coal generator retirements under the federal coalition’s plan for adding nuclear plants to the grid risks power supply shortfalls and price spikes. Australia’s fleet of old and unreliable coal power stations, prone to outages and extra maintenance, are already causing jumps in wholesale prices. With age...