AAP

Wage subsidies will soon be extended after the underpinning legislation was brought to federal parliament.

Vitamin and pet food supplier Blackmores has reported a 66 per cent full-year profit dive after Chinese shoppers limited spending amid COVID-19.

Labor will support an extension of wage subsidies even if concerns about employers cutting working hours are not addressed.

Shares on the Australian market finished higher on optimism for a coronavirus breakthrough, but there was troubling jobs news.

Qantas is planning to cut up to 2,500 more workers at airports across Australia, adding to the 6,000 employees already leaving the airline.

A company part-owned by the Chinese government has been blocked from controlling popular Australian brands like Pura, Dairy Farmers and Dare flavoured milk.

Interstate border closures have helped keep COVID-19 out of Western Australia and are likely to continue to be successful, the Federal Court found today.

Westfield shopping centres operator Scentre Group and property company Stockland have both reported write downs on the values of their assets, pointing to the impacts of COVID-19.

Businesses no longer eligible for wage subsidies will retain emergency powers to change workers' conditions if turnover is down 10 per cent.

Australia's share market has closed marginally higher after miners, led by Fortescue Metals, helped keep indices up.

The AFL has asked whether Perth's Optus Stadium could accommodate a capacity grand final crowd as a decision looms on the hosting rights.

The Australian economy will take a "substantial and heartbreaking" hit from the coronavirus pandemic when official figures are released next week, the prime minister says.

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A corporate governance expert says boards across Australia need change following high-profile departures at AMP over a sexual harassment complaint.

Australia's share market has had a negative week, finishing lower by 0.25 per cent after a flurry of coronavirus-hit earnings reports.

Interest rates are expected to remain at record-low levels for at least three years, Australia's leaders have been told.

Premier Mark McGowan has declared he won't be silenced after his bitter feud with Clive Palmer escalated to defamation proceedings.

Australian shares have had their second worst session of August, with national airline Qantas reporting a $4 billion revenue hit from the COVID-19 crisis.

Qantas chief Alan Joyce is confident the Morrison government will extend its support for the aviation sector during the coronavirus crisis.

Booming sales at Bunnings and Officeworks through the pandemic may have been a bright spot in Wesfarmers' full-year results.

The frustration felt by tourism businesses about coronavirus restrictions and border closures is at boiling point, and jobs are on the line, a Senate inquiry has been told.

South Australia has established a task force to put a plan to the AFL to stage some finals in Adelaide including, possibly, the grand final later this year.

Four new coronavirus cases, all related to a family who returned from overseas, have been reported in Western Australia.

A standout profit from CSL, a gratefully-received bank dividend and optimism that a coronavirus vaccine will come to fruition have helped the share market higher.

Western Australia's legal battle with Clive Palmer is set to drag on, with a Queensland judge delaying a key decision until September.

Every Australian could receive a free coronavirus vaccination early next year, if a promising trial proves successful.

BHP and Westpac have shown the scars of the coronavirus pandemic as reporting season continued but investors stayed optimistic and the ASX closed higher.

Two women from South Australia who breached quarantine after being refused entry to Western Australia have been taken into custody.

BHP's full-year profit has slipped four per cent and it expects its major revenue earner, iron ore, will have less demand from China and greater competition from Brazil.

Westpac will not pay a first-half dividend after third quarter cash earnings dropped by 22 per cent, and has been punished on the share market.

Australia's largest steel maker BlueScope has had a 91 per cent dive in full-year profit after a $197 million write-down of its New Zealand and Pacific Islands operations.

Australians who paid the government money through the controversial robodebt scheme have been reimbursed $545 million.