April
PM’s Made in Australia plan risks forever subsidies
The government’s hand-picked Productivity Commission chair says the Future Made in Australia Act risks creating a class of businesses reliant on subsidies.
- Michael Read and Phillip Coorey
January
‘I misread the environment’: Woolworths boss on Australia Day
Woolworths, Cricket Australia and Tennis Australia have faced a public backlash for boycotting Australia Day, as Gerry Harvey bemoans a “mad, woke world” which is silencing business.
- Updated
- Patrick Durkin
‘Akin to a recession’: business braces for slowing economy
An estimated 40 per cent of leaders expect conditions to be weaker this year, thanks to uncertainty, ongoing supply side constraints and weakening demand.
- Patrick Durkin
November 2023
Greens IR deal would ‘radically reshape’ bargaining: business
Employers are urging Senate crossbenchers to oppose a Labor deal with the Greens on workplace laws.
- David Marin-Guzman
WFH employees may find themselves at the front of a redundancy queue
Employees who spend the vast majority of their time working from home may suffer from being “out of sight and out of mind”.
- Sally Patten and Euan Black
Cautious business backs PM’s China mission
Business groups accept the relationship with China will never be as it once was.
- Phillip Coorey
September 2023
Fury as states let off COVID inquiry scrutiny
Lockdowns, school closures, vaccine mandates, state border closures and contact tracing failures and successes will be exempt.
- Phillip Coorey
States evade scrutiny under COVID inquiry
Lockdowns, school closures, vaccine mandates and border closures appear to be exempt from the Albanese government’s long-awaited pandemic inquiry.
- Phillip Coorey
August 2023
New BCA boss pledges to fly the flag for productivity
Bran Black will start work at the Business Council of Australia as the government releases its second tranche of IR reforms.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
PM must pluck up the courage to hold a COVID-19 inquiry
Pandemic royal commission; Woolies’ underpayment consequences; ID copies are risky; AiG/AFR tax calls; Vic gas ban; Ukraine war; the problem with strong leaders; don’t mess with Picasso.
Labor makes IR changes a political contest on wages
Tony Burke has fobbed off business concerns about his second tranche of industrial relations reforms.
- Phillip Coorey
Tax reforms critical to fix productivity: Willox
Lower taxes on firms and individuals, fewer state taxes and increasing GST should be considered to restore the nation’s flagging productivity, Innes Willox said.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Bleeding obvious tax reform call
Genuinely productivity-enhancing reform should now be on Labor’s agenda to help it fulfil its election promise of growing real wages in a sustainable way.
- The AFR View
IR agenda driven by myths and slogans, not productivity: AiGroup
The government’s IR agenda not only fails to address the productivity problem, it will worsen it, says Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox.
- Phillip Coorey
July 2023
Union delegates paid $3 an hour more than others under new deal
Delegates to the electrical trades union get special protections against termination and better pay under a new deal being rolled out in the construction industry.
- David Marin-Guzman
March 2023
Safeguard deal likely but $10b housing fund in jeopardy
With this being the last sitting week before the May 9 budget, the government needs to pass both bills through the Senate.
- Phillip Coorey
January 2023
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
Letters: Media’s disservice to educators
Education standards and teaching; unions’ demand for bargaining fees; Indigenous Voice; caning for small offences; corporate breaches; artificial intelligence.
Let foreign workers stay permanently to solve labour shortage
Business groups are urging the Albanese government to offer all temporary migrants a pathway to permanent residency and make it cheaper to bring in foreign workers.
- Michael Read
November 2022
Gas price cap speculation rises as Chalmers reassures industry
The government will not allow high gas prices to hollow out the manufacturing sector, Treasurer Jim Chalmers says.
- Phillip Coorey
October 2022
Multi-employer bargaining could hamper recovery, BCA warns
Rushing ahead with multi-employer bargaining risks increased strike action and unemployment, the Business Council of Australia says.
- Phillip Coorey and David Marin-Guzman
