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1 week ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Pascoe |Duncan Graham |Andrew Blakers |Mark Zirnsak |Michael West
It’s been billed as an opportunity to save people from the time-consuming task of rummaging through receipts at tax time, but not everyone is happy. At Labor’s official campaign launch, Anthony Albanese promised almost six million workers an instant $1000 tax deduction. The prime minister said the change, originally put forward in a tax reform paper more than a decade ago, would benefit mainly low and middle-income earners who could claim the write-off without receipts or records.
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1 week ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Pascoe |Duncan Graham |Andrew Blakers |Mark Zirnsak |Michael West
Premium hikes, benign weather and surging investment markets have lifted profits for insurers but the business boom could be short-lived. Australia’s insurance industry recorded an annual after-tax profit of $6.1 billion in 2024, according to financial consultancy firm KPMG’s annual review of the sector. That’s three times higher than the five-year average of $2 billion.
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1 week ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Pascoe |Duncan Graham |Andrew Blakers |Mark Zirnsak |Michael West
Fresh light is set to be shed on why the Reserve Bank held off on a further cut to interest rates despite lower inflation. The central bank on Tuesday will release minutes from its meeting on April 1, when it decided to keep interest rates on hold at 4.1 per cent. The bank’s decision on interest rates was made before US President Donald Trump’s tariffs decision threw global markets into chaos.
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1 week ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Pascoe |Duncan Graham |Andrew Blakers |Mark Zirnsak |Michael West
Nearly one in 10 hospitality and food services businesses closed in the past year, as cost pressures force Australians to rein in spending. A record-high 9.4 per cent of food service and hospitality businesses shut their doors in the year to March, as economy-wide insolvencies surged 17 per cent year-on-year, according to CreditorWatch data. Six of the seven industries with the highest closure rates were dependent on discretionary spending.
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1 week ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Pascoe |Duncan Graham |Andrew Blakers |Mark Zirnsak |Michael West
China’s President Xi Jinping has called for stronger ties with Vietnam on trade and supply chains amid disruptions caused by US tariffs, as he kicked off a three-nation trip to Southeast Asia in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. The visit, planned for weeks, comes as Beijing faces 145 per cent US duties, while Vietnam is negotiating a reduction of threatened US tariffs of 46 per cent that would otherwise apply in July after a global moratorium expires.
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1 week ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Pascoe |Duncan Graham |Andrew Blakers |Mark Zirnsak |Michael West
Teachers are pushing back on suggestions they’re to blame for Australia’s low maths proficiency, after a study questioned “faddish” classroom methods. A Grattan Institute study found not only were students struggling with maths but many teachers lacked confidence to teach it even at a year six level. But the teachers’ union said the institute did not understand the reality of classrooms around the nation.
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1 week ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Pascoe |Duncan Graham |Andrew Blakers |Mark Zirnsak |Michael West
China’s exports rose sharply in March after factories rushed out shipments before the latest US tariffs took effect, but an escalating Sino-US trade war has darkened the outlook for factories and growth in the world’s second-biggest economy. US President Donald Trump has ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese goods to hefty levels that many economists say will profoundly impact global trade flows and business investment.
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1 week ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Pascoe |Duncan Graham |Andrew Blakers |Mark Zirnsak |Michael West
An increase in violent attacks on tobacconists could put further pressure on overworked emergency departments, a peak medical body warns, as authorities play “whack-a-mole” on the lucrative trade. Queensland is the latest state to experience a rise in firebombings and ram raids on tobacconists as illegal sales ramp up across Australia.
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1 week ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Pascoe |Duncan Graham |Andrew Blakers |Mark Zirnsak |Michael West
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba says US tariffs have the potential to disrupt the global economic order, issuing his strongest warning to date about the damage President Donald Trump’s decisions could inflict on the world economy. But he stressed Japan will seek common ground with the US on how the two countries can co-operate on issues ranging from trade and national security.
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1 week ago | 
michaelwest.com.au | Michael Pascoe |Duncan Graham |Andrew Blakers |Mark Zirnsak |Michael West
April 14, 2025 14:05 | News As major parties push big-ticket election pledges on housing and tax offsets, an economist warns of an “over-the-top” spend-a-thon that will do little to improve the budget bottom line.
