AU EditionNumber of the dayNews
RBA Raises Cash Rate to 4.60%, Highest in 15 Years
The 25-basis-point move is the Reserve Bank of Australia's fourth rate rise this year.
The AU edition
Australia
Canberra, the RBA and the resources state, from Sydney at dawn.
19 stories · newest first
AU EditionPolicy & Power
Australia's AI Summons Turns Rogue Agents Into an Accountability Test
Calling OpenAI and Anthropic's chiefs to a Senate inquiry is a useful first step. The harder test is whether governments make controllable deployment, not access to data centres, the price of operating at scale.
AU EditionWhat they said
Australia and New Zealand Sign Defence Science Pact
The two countries have signed a Statement of Intent linking defence science teams through experimentation, personnel exchanges and closer work with industry and universities.
AU EditionForeign Policy
Australia's Ukraine Pact Turns Aid Into a Long-Term Capability Bet
Canberra's 10-year security agreement with Kyiv adds $60 million in support and a promise to deepen maritime, industrial and defence cooperation. Its value will be measured by what Australia can sustain after the headlines move on.
AU EditionDemography & Prosperity
Australia's Population Problem Is Now a Productivity Problem
Treasury says deaths will outnumber births in the 2060s as fertility falls and migration slows. The answer is more homes, faster productivity and a migration system that rewards the work Australia actually needs.
AU EditionHousing & Power
Australia Wants Fewer Migrants and More Builders
The government is tightening student and working holiday visas to hit lower migration forecasts. The sensible test is whether the system produces homes, harvest workers and skills, not whether it creates another queue.
AU EditionRates & Households
Australia's Inflation Warning Has Put the RBA Back on the Trigger
Michele Bullock says upside risks to inflation are materialising even as growth slows. The Reserve Bank now faces a choice between another rate rise and a longer inflation hangover.
AU EditionEnergy & Markets
Australia's Fuel Plan Is a Reserve Strategy, Not a Pump-Price Promise
Canberra is prioritising stockpiles and supply contracts over another fuel-tax cut. That is the right instinct, but it leaves households exposed unless resilience becomes permanent.
AU EditionClimate & Prosperity
Australia's Rising Seas Are an Infrastructure Bill, Not a Future Abstraction
A peer-reviewed study puts a price on coastal flooding under a moderate-emissions pathway. The useful response is not panic or denial, but a public balance sheet for adaptation.
AU EditionGrowth & Prosperity
Australia's Growth Headline Is Hiding a Productivity Problem
The economy grew 0.4 per cent in the June quarter, but GDP per person was flat and productivity remains weak. Australia cannot build lasting prosperity on a headline number alone.
AU EditionHousing & Prosperity
Australia's Housing Downturn Is Spreading Across the Map
New data show dwelling approvals fell 3.6 per cent in July while Cotality recorded a fifth consecutive monthly fall in home values. The squeeze is reaching buyers, builders and households at once.
AU EditionMoney & Prosperity
Australia's RBA Pause Leaves a Live Rate Rise Risk
Minutes from the Reserve Bank's August meeting show a serious debate over another increase. The unanimous hold buys households time, while inflation, energy and data centre investment keep the next decision open.
AU EditionTrade & Prosperity
Australia's Tariff Exemption Test Is Really a Test of Sovereignty
Anthony Albanese has asked Donald Trump to remove a 12.5 per cent tariff. The request is sensible diplomacy, yet the durable answer is a more competitive Australia that can choose its markets rather than plead for favours.
AU EditionMoney & Prosperity
Australia's Rate Pause Is Not Mortgage Relief
The RBA has held the cash rate at 4.35 per cent, but households are still carrying a debt burden near its pre-crisis peak. The way out is not to wait for cheaper money. It is to let Australia build and compete.
AU EditionHousing & Prosperity
Australia's Housing Tax Experiment Is Hitting the Mortgage Pipeline
Westpac says mortgage applications have fallen 20 per cent after Canberra's housing tax changes. The policy may redirect capital toward new homes, but Australia still has to build them.
AU EditionEnergy & Growth
Australia's Solar Rebate Finally Reaches the Missing Middle
Canberra is lifting the federal rooftop-solar incentive ceiling from 100 kW to 1 MW. The sensible part is the market mechanism. The real test is whether Australia lets businesses connect and build.
AU EditionHousehold Economics
Australia's Petrol Tax Holiday Ends at the Worst Possible Moment
Canberra's temporary fuel relief has ended as Middle East risk keeps energy prices elevated. The bill now returns to drivers, businesses and every household that depends on transport.
AU EditionEnergy
Australian Yellowcake Heads to India as the Uranium Trade Comes of Age
Twelve years after signing, Canberra and New Delhi have finalised the rules to ship Australian uranium to India, and the deal is already fuelling calls to lift domestic mining bans.
AU EditionPower & Policy
Australia's Jobs Machine Keeps the RBA's Finger Near the Trigger
A surprise June employment surge has revived bets on a fourth rate rise, leaving the Reserve Bank pinned between 4% inflation and a labour market that refuses to cool.