News

Foreign investors will be further scared off Australian mining and energy — pushing up power prices and crippling the nascent critical minerals industry — by a retrospective change to capital gains tax rules.

The climate catastrophe balloon is losing altitude but COP co-president Chris Bowen obviously has yet to get the message. As energy price pressures continue at home, Mr Bowen has set up a modestly titled “office of the presidency” inside his Climate Change and Energy Department for his additional responsibilities in Turkey for this year’s COP31 UN climate conference.

15.05.2026

Explorers warn the Federal Government’s capital gains tax shake-up could choke investment in the next generation of mining projects by making high-risk exploration less attractive.

The NSW government will bail out the struggling Tomago aluminium smelter in its upcoming budget, ending months of speculation about whether the local aluminium manufacturer will be saved from closure.

WA is being thrown into a constitutional brawl with Canberra over an imminent Federal “takeover” of the State’s gas industry amid warnings the new laws could trigger diplomatic friction with two of Australia’s most important allies.

The Albanese government has kept Snowy Hydro’s $8.3bn book value despite cost blowouts potentially reaching $20bn and experts questioning if the project is even technically feasible.

Woodside Energy (ASX:WDS) faces an eight-year wait for regulatory approval that will increase its Browse Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project capital expenditure by up to 78%.

Australia is at risk of under-building long-duration energy storage as governments back batteries that last hours, not days.

Victoria’s public service wages bill continues to spiral despite the government slashing hundreds of jobs, prompting warnings from international rating agencies that employee costs are undermining the state’s finances.

Australia is undertaking a 100 per cent renewables transition without its best players: those reliable old steam turbines that once gave cheap, steady power. Ignoring physics won’t make electricity affordable.

Australia’s biggest employers are pushing Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers to impose strict limits on spending, debt levels and the tax-to-GDP ratio, as the Treasurer promises to save more than he spends in next week’s budget.