Stephanie Chalmers

4 days ago | abc.net.au | Emilia Terzon |Stephanie Chalmers

Millions of Australian workers will get a 3.5 per cent pay rise from July 1, following the Fair Work Commission's annual review of the minimum wage and award agreements. Inflation is currently at 2.4 per cent annually. While the national minimum wage covers a small proportion of the workforce, about a fifth of all employees in Australia are paid under awards. The FWC ruling was announced today after lobbying from various groups.

5 days ago | abc.net.au | Stephanie Chalmers

Consider this — you try to log into your bank account to move some money around to pay a bill. When you go to log in, you can't. You really need that cash. There's a message at the top of the website — your bank is upgrading its system. You won't be able to log in to your account for seven weeks. You can't withdraw any of your money, other than in exceptional circumstances. Of course, this isn't a real story of a major Australian bank. That would be ridiculous, right?

1 week ago | abc.net.au | Stephanie Chalmers

Late yesterday, we got the news that the federal environment minister had approved the extension of the North West Shelf gas project to 2070. The proposal has been under assessment by the federal government for six years. It gives Woodside permission to operate the facility to 2070, though it may not necessarily remain in operation until that date. It does not involve the opening of any new gas fields.

1 week ago | abc.net.au | Stephanie Chalmers |Kirsten Aiken

A leading tax expert has warned that if the federal government can't get its proposed changes to tax on superannuation accounts with balances over $3 million into law, it will destroy any chances of bigger tax reform. "If Labor falters in getting this proposal through, then we have no chance for future further tax reform," Robert Breunig, professor at Australian National University, told The Business.

2 weeks ago | abc.net.au | Stephanie Chalmers

Good morning, I'll be joining you for the next few hours — happy Friday!ASX futures are pointing higher after what was a fairly flat finish for Wall Street, while tech stocks rose and the Nasdaq closed in positive territory. The sell off in US government bonds continued overnight, before reversing course somewhat. Yields rose after the US House of Reps passed Donald Trump's tax bill, with 30-year Treasury yields spiking to their highest level since 2023, before easing back.