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Australia is in a rut: becoming older, flabbier and less nimble to play to the conditions.
The nation is getting more expensive to run, invest in and house, revealed by a bulging and indebted state, an overly regulated private sector, threats of capital flight and the punitive cost of homes.

In a week when the Albanese government shifted the nation closer towards the planned economy favoured by the left, which seems incapable of understanding the process of wealth creation, the Business Council of Australia pressed ahead with its drive to encourage government to overhaul economic policy to encourage productivity improvements.

Australia is confronted by three big changes in our strategic circumstances that are making our steady-as-you-go approaches to security and economic development untenable.
We face a markedly increased risk of war in the Indo-Pacific; the global economy is restructuring rapidly in adverse ways; and the Australian economy has stalled with essentially zero productivity growth, declining international competitiveness and a flight of much-needed investment.

The last week has seen the creation of a new Australian cottage industry in making predictions about how Donald Trump would hurt the Australian economy. Tariffs, inflation, war, the death of democracy, you name it.

It’s been dubbed a “super-emitter” event – but COP29 is also a super-spender, with revelations taxpayers have been slugged more than $870,000 for a pavilion to allow federal government bureaucrats to “tell their diverse stories of Australia’s climate action”.

In all the post-US election commentary we’ve seen, one question has yet to be posed: what inspiration can Australian policymakers draw from Donald Trump’s second-term economic agenda? Let’s resist the temptation to either demonise or lionise Trump’s policies by association with the man himself and consider them dispassionately.

The Business Council is calling for a national de-regulation agenda to boost economic growth by cutting red tape, and the plan outlined today by the corporate regulator, ASIC, to reduce regulatory complexity is strongly welcomed.

Should Opposition leader Peter Dutton aim to be more like incoming president Donald Trump?

The man charged with delivering Labor’s pledge to source 82 per cent of electricity from wind, solar and hydro power by 2030 says natural gas will be the “ultimate backstop” for keeping the lights on because weather-dependent generators can’t deliver consistent power.

Trump: “We’re going to terminate the Green New Scam.” “Why aren’t we creating great energy plants, great sources of energy, instead of playing this game with wind that is ruining everything, killing

Mining conglomerate Regis Resources will take Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to the Federal Court over her decision to heritage-list part of the $1bn Blayney gold mine site on the advice of a rebel Indigenous group.

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart met privately with tech billionaire and Donald Trump backer Elon Musk in the days after the US election, discussing government spending cuts, freedom of speech and the fate of internet sensation P’Nut the squirrel.