Treasurer Jim Chalmers is defending an extra $18 billion in government spending next financial year despite warnings it will make the Reserve Bank’s fight against inflation harder. The federal budget on Tuesday revealed government spending will climb to $829.6 billion in 2026/27, billions more than forecast...
Tax changes in the budget give the government scope to direct more relief to workers in future, raising the prospect of a 2028 pre-election sweetener. While higher taxes on assets will be returned to workers via tax cuts in the short term, Treasury predicts the budget...
The federal government must crack on with harmonising regulations so that businesses like retailers, airports and farmers can avoid costly red tape, a major business lobby says. The Alliance of Industry Associations, representing 30 groups including banks, business, builders, farmers, transport, tourism and retail, made the...
Two-thirds of Australia’s largest companies are owning up to material climate risk but only a third have put a dollar figure on exposure. The few big firms that have crunched the numbers suggest global temperature rise and decarbonisation will have a material impact on cash flows...
Superannuation performance test changes are being flagged as a way to boost Australia’s lagging productivity rate, as the federal treasurer promises more budget savings. First signalled during Jim Chalmers’ economic reform roundtable in August, changes floated by Treasury on Friday include benchmarking “emerging” asset classes against...
More Australians will be able to pick up their prescriptions for less money, as the government boosts medicine subsidies in the federal budget. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, which regulates prices of life-saving medications, will be increased by an extra $5.9 billion over the next four years...