Australia’s international border will remain open amid overseas foot and mouth disease outbreaks despite a growing push by the opposition to close it, the agriculture minister says. Murray Watt said the biggest biosecurity threat is not travellers but rather undeclared meat products, with mail centres increasing...
Consumer confidence has improved slightly but it’s not likely to last, amid household concerns about rising inflation and interest rates. Those fears are likely to be confirmed as soon as Wednesday when the Australia Bureau of Statistics releases the consumer price index for the June quarter. The...
New Zealand’s Reserve Bank governor has issued an extraordinary statement of regret as the central bank reviews its own response to COVID-19. On Tuesday, Adrian Orr reacted to growing criticism of the central bank’s monetary policy during the pandemic. Like many central banks in developed countries, the...
A proposal to overhaul Australia’s building code regulations has been met with mixed responses from industry bodies, the crossbench and the opposition. Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke on Sunday announced building code regulation changes would come into effect from Tuesday, before he introduces legislation later this...
A Gold Coast tourism campaign once urged visitors to “come back and play”, but new population data reveals many Australians are instead deciding to stay. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released figures on population changes in the cities and regions between 2011 and 2021, and...
The Australian share market has rebounded from its morning losses to finish in the green after inflation data came in slightly below expectations. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Wednesday closed up 15.9 points to 6823.2, a 0.23 per cent rise. The index had been as low...