Bernard Keane

The big four audit and consulting firms are at the heart of the infinitely complex world of tax avoidance and evasion.

The Morrison government has agreed to drop its requirement for local construction to just 40%, according to a briefing delivered by a senior government figure on Thursday morning.

That $110 million is the absolute minimum — including direct investment by foreign investors would dramatically increase that level of offshore transfers by taxpayers.

Soon Scott Morrison will face questions about job discrimination against the unvaccinated and the rights of employers to protect their employees.

The RBA thinks we're heading for the same rut of low wages growth as before the pandemic. That leaves workers behind and unlikely to catch up for a long time.

Australia is out of step with other advanced economies as inflation jumps, leaving the Reserve Bank's preferred measures wanting.

Despite the constant demands for the restoration of JobKeeper, the government is holding fire and instead trying to gauge the scale of the economic hit of Sydney's lockdown to the wider economy.

A big inflation number is expected tomorrow — right as Australia's growth is about to vanish. It's a dose of something we haven't seen much of since the 1970s.

Suddenly we're talking about a recession that no one suspected a week ago, as lockdowns crush the economy. But the real impacts will be on monetary policy.

Sydney's construction sector can survive a fortnight's shutdown, but if it continues beyond that point, there's a real risk of major economic damage in a vital sector.

Logic would suggest we pursue every opportunity for productivity improvements in the workplace, so is working from home helping?

The RBA has hinted that July will see the start of a normalisation of monetary policy. But there'll still be no interest rate rises for years.