Features

  • Crisis over, time to get back to reform

    AFR: What should the key election agenda items be, as far as business is concerned?...

  • There's no such thing as a free-trade agreement

    The Howard government was happy to inextricably link foreign policy with free-trade agreements, writes economics correspondent Adrian Rollins....

  • Mining giants face end of the bottomless pit

    A lack of incentives for companies to explore new frontiers could mean the end of the resources bounty, writes Paul Cleary....

  • Agency data could make resources balance sheet a reality

    When resource companies dig up minerals, extract oil and gas from the ground or harvest timber, Australia's gross domestic product records these activities as a contribution to output, even though our endowment of natural resources has in fact declin...

  • Forde shapes as challenge for sitting member

    One electorate which on paper looks difficult to hold for Labor is the South-East Queensland seat of Forde, won by backbencher Brett Raguse with a swing of 14.43 per cent. After the redistribution, he holds the seat with a margin of 3.4 per cent....

  • An affliction that won't go away

    There were legal precedents pointing the way in the latest asbestos-related case, writes James Eyers....

  • CSR pays for the sins of James Hardie

    The welfare of present and future victims of asbestos was a decisive factor in the court's demerger decision, writes Angus Grigg....

  • RBA must drive clarity in any rates message

    Despite its policy of openness, the Reserve Bank surprised all of the experts. Maybe the January hiatus is the problem, writes Adrian Rollins....

  • Spoilt for choice

    There's a big shift in government policy from letting consumers decide to having others decide for them, writes Anthony Sibillin....

  • Malaysia's democracy on trial

    Anwar Ibrahim's trial will be a crucial moment not only for his opposition party, but also the government, writes Chris Wright....

  • Awkward associates

    Australia and Malaysia are strategic allies and trading partners, but the two have often been at odds, writes John Kerin....

  • World banks take cue from RBA

    Globally, the central bank mindset is shifting from supporting recovery to restraining runaway growth and inflation, writes Geoff Winestock....

  • It's a double-cross for R&D

    If this legislation goes ahead, this is the end of the Button revolution and it is the end of the innovation revolution....

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