RBA set for September cash rate cut
Economists predict the Reserve Bank of Australia will start cutting interest rates in September, setting the cash rate on course to hold at a 12-year high of 4.35 per cent for most of the year before relief arrives for borrowers. The Fin
Red Sea clashes signal escalation
Shipping giant Moller-Maersk yesterday (AEDT) again halted transit through the Red Sea after an attack on one of its vessels by Iran-backed Houthi rebels heralded another escalation of tensions in the vital waterway. The Fin
Property values surge 8.1pc in 2023, defying dire forecasts
Home values surged 8.1 per cent nationwide in 2023, a sharp turnaround from the 5 per cent drop in the previous year, and defying forecasts of double-digit declines, data from CoreLogic shows. The Fin
Uni enrolments hit a near-decade low
The number of first-year university students fell by 8.2 per cent in 2022 to the lowest level in nine years, as more young people took advantage of post-pandemic freedoms to do gap years and get work in the robust jobs market. The Fin
Taiwan ‘surely will be reunified’
China’s “reunification” with Taiwan was inevitable, President Xi Jinping said in his new year’s address, with less than two weeks to go before the island democracy elects a new leader. The Aus
Devil is in the detail of Warner’s Test career as he goes out swinging
Australia opening bat David Warner plays his 112th and farewell Test match this week at the SCG, and the old game of cricket will never be the same. The Aus
Burswood play area security flaws in spotlight
Families visiting Burswood Park Playground — just metres from where two children drowned on New Year’s Eve — have been pleading for better safety measures in the area for several years. The West
Labor says ‘24 priority is families
The Federal Government has declared that helping families beat their budget pressures is its “number-one priority” in 2024. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 2: The West Australian native forestry industry is bracing for more job losses as a historic state government decision to ban commercial logging takes hold, with contractors and saw millers still in the dark over key supply details on the first day of the new regime.
Page 9: Australia’s Princess Mary of Denmark will become queen of Denmark on January 14 after the surprise abdication of the Danish throne by Queen Margrethe II, Europe’s longest-reigning living monarch.
Page 11: Price pressures will come down much faster than anticipated as consumer demand, particularly for services, drops, giving breathing room for the Reserve Bank to hold rates for the year ahead, predicts Micaela Fuchila, Bank of America Australia’s economist.
Page 12: The fiercely competitive – and highly lucrative – Melbourne to Sydney flight corridor has retained its status as the fifth-busiest route in the world, with more than 9.3 million travellers making the journey in 2023.
Page 13: Under a blazing sun in outback Western Australia, preparations are under way to remove more than 34,000 solar panels at Doolgunna, which had powered the nearby DeGrussa copper mine for seven years.
Page 14: Australia’s top chief executives say risks associated with cybersecurity threats and the ageing population are being ignored or underplayed and need to be addressed to ensure the country’s long-term prosperity.
The Australian
Page 1: Sending US nuclear-powered submarines to Australia on current timelines is “crazy” and would deny Washington its “ace in the hole” in deterring Beijing, according to two senior national security analysts who are expected to play pivotal roles in the next Republican administration.
Page 2: The Albanese government is considering a request to provide coal to Ukraine, which is facing an- other cold winter under the shadow of Vladimir Putin’s military assault, as the war-torn nation’s top diplomat in Australia warns that an “axis of evil” is emerging on the world stage.
Page 2: A career dream from the age of eight is now a reality after Katherine Bennell-Pegg became the first to train as an astronaut under the Australian flag earlier this year.
Page 5: A dramatic increase in satellite launches over the past five years, together with rising volumes of space debris, means the chance of collisions is rising fast, risking damage to consumer services such as weather forecasting, online banking and Google Maps.
Page 13: Costco is approaching $5bn in annual sales in Australia and more than 1.5 million paid-up members at its warehouse-style supermarket stores, as the chain emerges as a new force in Australian retail, with sales that easily eclipse heavyweights Myer, David Jones, Target and Officeworks. Its sales in 2023 lifted almost 20 per cent, at a time when supermarket majors Woolworths and Coles could only manage sales growth in the region of 5 per cent.
Page 13: As record numbers of Australians board flights for their holidays, newly anointed Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson faces an unprecedented branding crisis.
Page 13: Electricity giant EnergyAustralia has cast doubt on the ability of gas import terminals to fill a projected shortfall in supplies on Australia’s east coast, adding a code of conduct may hamper the industry’s appetite to sanction investment.
Page 15: Resources giant Glencore may be winding down its huge Mt Isa mines after more than 60 years but the former boss of the operation says the city’s best days could still lie ahead.
Page 16: US President Joe Biden’s unprecedented release of oil from the US petroleum reserves in 2022 turned the White House into an unusually active player in the volatile crude market. The flood of emergency supplies helped arrest surging oil prices after Russia invaded Ukraine, and pulled billions of dollars into the Energy Department’s coffers in the process.
The West Australian
Page 9: A Kimberley shire CEO who took a council from the brink of financial ruin to a projected $2.5 million surplus in less than two years has suddenly resigned after being accused of financial misconduct.
Page 9: Police are investigating a fire that damaged at least one car and a building at a John Hughes dealership in Wangara. Authorities were alerted to a blaze at the used-car dealership on Prindiville Drive around 6.30pm on Monday night.
Page 31: US Navy helicopters have repelled an attack by Iran-backed Houthi militants on a cargo ship in the Red Sea, sinking three vessels and killing 10 militants.
Page 33: According to the latest data from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, uranium hopeful Deep Yellow has overtaken Raleigh Finlayson’s Genesis Minerals as the fourth most shorted stock on the Australian Securities Exchange.
Page 33: In a mostly lacklustre 2023 for metals trading, nickel emerged as the worst performer and might not see a reprieve anytime soon.