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1 month ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael West |Michael Pascoe |Jöshua Barnett |Emma Thomas
March 25, 2025 20:52 | News Taxpayers are being promised $10 a week of relief in a pre-election sweetener, as Jim Chalmers lays out the economic case for a second term of a Labor government.
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1 month ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael West |Michael Pascoe |Jöshua Barnett |Emma Thomas
Wages are set to rise on the back of a robust jobs market, stronger economic activity, sectoral pay boosts and a ban on non-compete clauses. Workers have already seen some let-up in prices eroding hard-won pay gains and new Treasury forecasts suggest the gap between inflation and wages will widen. The 2025/26 budget predicts real wages will grow by a quarter of a percentage point more than predicted in December’s mid-year budget update.
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1 month ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael West |Michael Pascoe |Jöshua Barnett |Emma Thomas
March 25, 2025 19:37 | News Australia is on track for structural deficits as far as the government can see, clouding the economy’s final approach to a soft landing. The federal budget, unveiled by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Tuesday night, locks in underlying deficits until 2035/36 as a result of ballooning spending and lower revenue growth than previous years.
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1 month ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael West |Michael Pascoe |Jöshua Barnett |Emma Thomas
March 25, 2025 19:27 | News The race to the Brisbane 2032 Games is finally under way after a few false starts, with the long-awaited Olympic venue plan unveiled. But the finishing line is already fast approaching, with an expert warning organisers are “up against the clock” to complete projects across Queensland.
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1 month ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Jöshua Barnett |Michael West
Big-name music festivals are shutting down, ticket sales in free-fall, costs are spiralling. But beyond the dirge there are some upbeat tones. Joshua Barnett reports. If you’ve been following the headlines, you might think Australian music festivals are on life support.
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2 months ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Pascoe |Duncan Graham |Wendy Bacon |Jöshua Barnett |Michael West
The prime minister will announce an industry support package while visiting a regional steelworks that has been placed in administration by the state government. Anthony Albanese and Premier Peter Malinauskas will on Thursday visit Whyalla to announce the package, one day after the SA government placed the town’s steelworks in administration.
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2 months ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Pascoe |Duncan Graham |Wendy Bacon |Jöshua Barnett |Michael West
Card surcharges inflating the cost of daily purchases will be in the consumer watchdog’s sights as everything down to the price of a coffee comes under scrutiny. Businesses can legally pass on the cost of paying by card, but providers have come under fire for potentially inflating the surcharges and adding a few cents or more to every purchase.
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2 months ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Pascoe |Duncan Graham |Wendy Bacon |Jöshua Barnett |Michael West
February 19, 2025 20:00 | News Australians and multicultural communities have been the target of attempted assassinations and coercion from hostile countries. At least three nations have plotted to harm people in Australia, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation revealed.
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2 months ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Pascoe |Duncan Graham |Wendy Bacon |Jöshua Barnett |Michael West
Four people have died from a disease linked with heavy rain in a flood-soaked region told to brace for more wet weather. More than 40 cases of melioidosis have been recorded in Queensland’s far north since January 1, with the death toll doubling in a week. The disease is associated with the wet season and is spread through contact with contaminated water, soil and air, causing death in up to 20 per cent of treated cases.
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2 months ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Duncan Graham |Wendy Bacon |Jöshua Barnett |Michael Pascoe |Michael West
It won’t be welcomed by workers, but softening wages growth is good news for borrowers hoping for more Reserve Bank interest rate cuts. Wages growth grew at 3.2 per cent in 2024, down from 3.6 per cent annually the previous quarter, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Wednesday. That will help allay concerns at the central bank that tightness in the labour market was contributing to a rise in staffing costs and inflation.
