Finance

True Lies: Mathias Cormann caught by his own department for economic fairy tales

by Alan Austin -- 14 Oct 2019 -- Finance, Government, The Economy

Mathias Cormann has been exposed for gilding the lily by a report from his own government department, or maybe he just got the facts wildly wrong. The report proved Australia's Finance Minister wrong on Australia's gross debt, net worth, taxation levels, infrastructure, government spending and the surplus

China drives Australian flying school frenzy — and punters are out for blood

by Michael Sainsbury -- 20 Sep 2019 -- Business, Finance
Corporatocracy: inside the Cash Ban

by Michael West -- 20 Sep 2019 -- Comment Analysis, Finance, Government

Tax

Brookfield’s Aveo takeover: Australia’s loss and Bermuda’s gain

by Michael West -- 1 Oct 2019 -- Comment Analysis, Tax

The furtive financial wizards from Brookfield may soon take $3 billion of retirement village loans to Bermuda, and taxpayer-funded nursing homes too, should their takeover bid for Aveo succeed

The Mist: Netflix accounting fantasy conceals half a billion dollars

by Michael West -- 26 Sep 2019 -- Tax
A Netflix Original: Dreams of Theft Downunder

by Michael West and Jeffrey Knapp -- 24 Sep 2019 -- Business, Tax

Energy

Gas: how Australia privatised the profits and socialised the losses

by Clinton Fernandes -- 25 Sep 2019 -- Energy

Norway delivered its oil & gas riches to its people, Australia delivered the profits into foreign hands, having done the exploration, spending years and billions proving up giant gas fields. As the gas cartel rakes in the profits exporting LNG at the expense of local consumers

The Ultimate Gouge: why Australia, the world’s #1 exporter, now imports gas

by Michael West -- 24 Jul 2019 -- Energy
Selling the LNG myth : false economics, selective accounting and political capture

by Stewart Taggart -- 11 Jul 2019 -- Energy, Environment

Government

Frank and fearless advice? Stop political donations from government consultants

by Tom Ravlic -- 27 Sep 2019 -- Comment Analysis, Government
Budget repair well under way? Not so fast Josh Frydenberg

by Alan Austin -- 22 Sep 2019 -- Government, The Economy

Business

Toxic Tests: why is US Army funding Tafenoquine drug trials on Perth students?

by Stuart McCarthy -- 8 Oct 2019 -- Business, Comment Analysis, Featured

Why is the US army funding antimalarial trials on Perth's cash-strapped students with a drug found to be neurotoxic a decade ago?

Streaming Wars: the battle for Australian subscriptions heats up

by Anthony Eales -- 8 Oct 2019 -- Business
The Streisand Effect: lawyers’ threats backfire amid the rising trade in hurt feelings

by Michael West -- 4 Oct 2019 -- Business, Comment Analysis

Markets

Trump’s war on Huawei about control of global computer-chip industry

by Clinton Fernandes -- 4 Oct 2019 -- Markets

Trump's war on Huawei is to choke off the supply of semiconductors and technology to manufacture same to Huawei, thereby limiting China’s ability to compete with the US. Clinton Fernandes reports.

TPG and Vodafone: curious case of a telco merger thwarted

by Kim Wingerei -- 24 Sep 2019 -- Comment Analysis, Markets
Worried about agents of foreign influence? Just look at who owns Australia’s biggest companies

by Clinton Fernandes -- 12 Sep 2019 -- Business, Markets

Despatch

News Takes and Updates

Despatch

Feeding the Chooks

by Michael West -- 3 Sep 2019 -- Despatch
ClubsNSW: silent on toxic pokies culture

by Michael West -- 10 Jul 2019 -- Business, Comment Analysis, Despatch
MW30: the numbers which count

by Michael West -- 16 May 2019 -- Despatch

Stories

Big Cotton eyes off the wild rivers of Northern Australia

by Triskele -- 02 Oct 2019 -- Business, Comment Analysis

Water chasers, with Big Cotton as the central actor, are eyeing off the wild rivers of Northern Australia.

Whither the Economy? the MWI measures the Government on its own priorities

by Michael West -- 27 Sep 2019 -- Business, The Economy

Where is the Australian economy heading? The new MW Index rates the Government according to the...

Mates Deal: ASIC tweaks the law, #Watergate data buried

by Michael West -- 21 Sep 2019 -- Business, Government

The company at the centre of the #Watergate scandal has been gifted a cushy exemption from filing financial reports by the corporate regulator.

MW30: Josh Frydenberg’s quest for a surplus holds a nation to ransom

by Michael West -- 19 Sep 2019 -- Finance, Government

The Morrison Government has put the entire economy at risk to get his “balanced budget”. Instead of spending to revive a floundering economy, the Treasurer has sat on his hands for months to pull off a surplus and grab the political bragging rights

Money for Jam Land: enviro review not as independent as it’s Craik’ed up to be?

by Jommy Tee and Ronni Salt -- 17 Sep 2019 -- Environment, Government

To allow the poisoning of critically endangered grasslands by a company which he part-owned, Angus Taylor pushed to have the environment legislation reviewed. The review was chaired by Dr Wendy Craik, a regular reviewer for government. Will it be a “win-win” for the wealthy financier?

Australia a classic study in how not to build a productive economy

by Alan Austin -- 16 Sep 2019 -- Government, The Economy

Productivity has tanked under this Government and Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, is floundering. Result? Australia is providing a class study in what not to do to build a productive economy. Alan Austin reports.

Trump ends talk with Taliban leaving Aussie troops in limbo in Afghanistan

by Clinton Fernandes -- 15 Sep 2019 -- Government

Last weekend, following a suicide car bomb attack in Afghanistan, President Trump announced he had cancelled a secret meeting with Taliban leaders and Afghan president. His campaign promise to withdraw American troops from an 18-year conflict is now in limbo meaning Australia probably won’t withdraw its continent either. Clinton Fernandez reports.

Smoke and Mirrors: how the ABS tarted up the numbers for Josh Frydenberg

by Michael West -- 13 Sep 2019 -- Government, The Economy

Someone is not getting their funding cut. It’s the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Quiet Australians! It has been a week, and nobody seems to have noticed, but the front page of the GDP release has been doctored

How Premier and News Corp muzzled Virgin’s secret China flight school story

by Anthony Klan -- 12 Sep 2019 -- Finance

The NSW Government interfered in the media to shut down a story involving a secret pilot training facillity backed by powerful Chinese companies. It had earlier denied knowledge of the aviation project despite promising to commit taxpayer funds to it.

Aldi bag flush with cash or party fundraiser, same outcome. Ban donations

by Kim Wingerei -- 11 Sep 2019 -- Business, Comment Analysis, Government

Political party donations are bribes. They should be banned. Defining bribery is more important than a federal ICAC, writes Kim Wingerei.

Angus Taylor’s agency flipped to Tudge, gives executive pay another nudge

by Jommy Tee and Ronni Salt -- 11 Sep 2019 -- Government

There is still no evidence that IPFA does much but Angus Taylor’s brainchild has just delivered executives another round of lucrative contracts. Jommy Tee and Ronni Salt chronicle the latest movements at the enigmatic Infrastructure and Project Financing Agency (IPFA)

Apple Smarts: iPhone as much a creature of public subsidy as private brilliance

by Clinton Fernandes -- 06 Sep 2019 -- Business

At the eve of Apple’s iPhone 11 launch, Professor Clinton Fernandes reminds us that, without US federal funding and government protection of Apple’s interests, iPhone’s touch-screen, LCD and even Siri would never have seen the light of day.

Corporate profits and government spending boom while wages and economy languish

by Alan Austin -- 05 Sep 2019 -- Government, The Economy

The supreme irony of the latest, listless GDP data is that private demand has been propped up by “brisk” government spending. There are serious questions over the Government’s competence to run the economy, reports Alan Austin.

Political Game: boat people demonised, Bilos deported, while record numbers pour in by plane

by Michael Sainsbury and Anthony Klan -- 05 Sep 2019 -- Comment Analysis, Government

Though routinely demonised in the Murdoch press, the numbers of asylum seekers arriving by boat are dwarfed by those arriving by plane. Former News Corp journalists Anthony Klan and Michael Sainsbury look at the latest numbers

Australian nursing homes off to Bermuda as Brookfield swallows Aveo

by Michael West -- 04 Sep 2019 -- Finance, Tax

Control of Australia’s largest aged care and retirement village company is poised to fall to the tax haven of Bermuda – to be owned by the same group of financial engineers who recently took the country’s largest private hospital business to the Cayman Islands.

Scomo’s mate’s mate and the billion-dollar privatisation of Australia’s visa system

by Michael Sainsbury -- 02 Sep 2019 -- Government

Meet the Tripodinas, the Sydney fruit and veg moguls and Liberal Party donors behind the bid to privatise Australia’s visa system

Australia’s monopsonistic relationship with Beijing could tip it into recession

by Michael Sainsbury -- 31 Aug 2019 -- Government, The Economy

With China wielding its big stick over Australia, our monopsonistic relationship could tip it into recession, warns Michael Sainsbury.

Australia backs wrong horse as IP rights loom large in US-China trade war

by Clinton Fernandes -- 28 Aug 2019 -- Comment Analysis, Markets

Intellectual property rights are shaping up to be the key battleground as the trade war between the United States and China escalates. And Australia’s position favours the US, writes Clinton Fernandes, even though it is patently against Australia’s interests

Gonski 2.0 a Sausage Factory

by Paul Johnson -- 26 Aug 2019 -- Comment Analysis, Government

Who will Gonski Gonski? The Gonski 2.0 proposals are flawed, heavy in bureaucracy and will stifle creativity in children, writes classroom teacher, Paul Johnson

Julian Assange smears fade as Wikileaks witnesses concede he was not reckless, did protect informants

by Michael West -- 23 Aug 2019 -- Government

For nine years, Julian Assange has been accused of risking lives and refusing to redact the names of informers in the 2010 Afghan War Logs release. That narrative, driven by governments and global media, exploded last week in an eye-witness speech given by investigative journalist Mark Davis.