The Saturday Paper

6 days ago | thesaturdaypaper.com.au | Paul Bongiorno

Labor has entered the Easter holiday period with the wind in its sails, although insiders worry that the break may allow the Coalition to right its flailing campaign. These concerns are based more on memories of shock losses in the recent past than on any evidence that the Dutton opposition can lift its game dramatically in the final two weeks before the election. The nervousness is akin to the post-traumatic stress disorder the party suffered after the 2019 election defeat.

6 days ago | thesaturdaypaper.com.au | John Hewson

As United States President Donald Trump’s tariffs unleash chaos and turmoil across global markets, financial authorities around the world are forced into the unenviable role of working out how to protect their economies.At such an unpredictable juncture, with the leader of the world’s largest economy going rogue, who would want to be a central banker? The risks of a recession in the US and globally are now very real, as are the prospects of increasing inflation, again both in the US and globally.

6 days ago | thesaturdaypaper.com.au | Mike Seccombe

Peter Dutton failed to anticipate the obvious question on Monday, when he trotted his son out to speak to the media about the high cost of housing. Harry, 20, a second-year apprentice, told the reporters gathered at a real estate development in Brisbane that despite “saving like mad”, he saw no prospect of getting into the housing market “in the near future”. It’s a common story, to which millions of other would-be home owners might relate, except in one regard.

6 days ago | thesaturdaypaper.com.au | Kieran Pender

Transparency and integrity are ideals imbued with symbolism, but they have very real practical meaning in our democracy. Transparency means Australians know what governments do in our name – this is the primary way we can properly hold elected officials to account, through informed choices at the ballot box and direct advocacy between elections. Integrity means decisions that are made put people first – instead of being driven by self-interest, corporate greed or improper influence.

6 days ago | thesaturdaypaper.com.au | Jonathan Pearlman

China: Xi Jinping signalled this week he will not back down in the escalating trade war with the United States, as he paused exports of rare-earth elements, halted orders of Boeing planes and toured South-East Asia to rally support against Donald Trump’s “bullying”. In an essay published by Vietnamese state media ahead of his visit, Xi wrote: “There are no winners in trade wars and tariff wars.