Australia’s economy is in a “pretty good spot” with inflation inside the central bank’s 2-3% target band and the labor market still tight, Governor Michele Bullock said Friday.

From robots to supercomputers, artificial intelligence is set to become an integral part of the Australian economy, with tens of billions in benefits to be gained … but for whom?

Telstra has activated the Sydney-Melbourne coastal leg of its new fibre network, now called the Aura network, a critical milestone in Telstra’s $1.6 billion investment aimed at powering Australia’s digital future.

The labour market has not hit that target since April and has only averaged 4,460 jobs created per month since then. At the current rate of job growth, the unemployment rate will rise a little more than one basis point per month unless the private sector accelerates or immigration falls away.

Lagging capital and R&D investment is contributing to productivity growth in Australia that is second-last among wealthy countries, analysis shows.

Many Australian businesses still view Indonesia as "too hard", despite recent reforms offering competitive incentives such as tax holidays, import duty exemptions, and super tax deductions.

Having won re-election in a landslide in May, Australia’s Labor government has a big mandate to do something about this. Jim Chalmers, the treasurer, says driving up productivity is his priority. The question now is whether his government has the tools—and the gumption—to reverse the country’s economic problems.

Australia fell into its deepest economic slump on record last quarter as coronavirus curbs paralysed business activity, while fresh outbreaks threaten to upend any immediate recovery, piling pressure on the government to keep fiscal taps open.

Like boxers before a championship bout, America and China are trash talking each other. Last week, Scott Bessent, the US Treasury secretary, said that when it comes to the great punch-up over trade: “This is China versus the world.