AAP

The Reserve Bank of Australia might still keep its finger off the interest rate button despite a private sector survey showing slower growth in consumer prices.

Westpac has become the second of the big four banks to post a fall in full year profit, with the tax implications of its takeover of St George causing a 15 per cent fall to $5.97 billion.

Virgin Australia's proposed takeover of Skywest and Tiger Airways Australia is a tricky issue for the regulators assessing the deal, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has warned that the debt-crippled country could be forced out of the euro if parliament fails to approve a new round of austerity measures needed for a lifeline

The controversial $550 million Perth Arena has the potential to become the city's equivalent to the Sydney Opera House, Premier Colin Barnett claims.

Chevron's agreement with the federal government to import 150 foreign workers for its Gorgon LNG project if it can't find enough locals has angered a union, which says Australia's labour shortage i

He may be a free man, but will Lloyd Rayney ever truly be free of the lingering suspicion that he murdered his estranged wife, which many in Perth believe?

The Australian share market finished flat despite positive leads from overseas and weakness in the banking sector.

Steelmaker Arrium faces a $26 million bill from the tax office linked to a sale and leaseback deal involving plant and equipment eight years ago.

The Reserve Bank of Australia's six-year Melbourne Cup streak is set to continue, economists predict.

A leading industry group has warned that Australia will need to raise taxes in the future to avoid the European-style problems of debt and deficits.

A federal coalition government would scrap both the carbon and mining taxes and therefore some of its own plans would have to be delayed, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says.

Australia needs to prepare for the next mining boom by giving tax breaks to start-up resources companies, the head of the nation's stock exchange says.

Paladin Energy says its Kayelekera Mine operations in Malawi are not expected to be affected by planned protests over the company's sourcing of food from outside the country.

More than 400 Retail Adventures employees will lose their jobs after the discount store chain fell into administration.

Australian companies are feeling the squeeze from higher operating costs, but relatively weak product prices, economists say.

Qantas Airways chairman Leigh Clifford has tried to reassure the airline's shareholders about their lack of dividends and languishing shares.

The Australian market has opened higher, led by gains on Wall Street and higher commodity prices.

Peter Tinley, who was once touted as a future state Labor leader, has quit as an opposition spokesman after a company that his wife is linked to went into receivership.

Some buoyant data on consumer confidence and the manufacturing sector gave Wall Street a solid bump higher after Wednesday's flat reopening following the Hurricane Sandy shutdown.

Treasurer Wayne Swan says the latest jobless figures from Europe are a stark reminder of the difficult conditions in the global economy.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has been accused of ditching Liberal party values and sanctioning muckraking against Prime Minister Julia Gillard as Labor continues to seek the political upper hand a

The West Coast Pirates have vowed to make their bid for a Perth-based NRL side "irresistible" when the ARL Commission puts expansion back on the agenda in 2014.

The Australian dollar is almost level, as a weak share market performance puts a lid on any gains it makes on the back of strong Chinese manufacturing data.

Investors wiped almost 13 per cent from the share price of steelmaker Arrium after its Asian suitor walked away from a $1 billion plus takeover bid.

If manufacturing was a boxer, the referee would have stopped the fight and held the Australian dollar's bloodied glove in the air.

The Australian share market has closed more than one per cent lower, despite encouraging manufacturing data from China.

Troubled clothes line, electronics and building products maker Hills Holdings is to start shedding jobs as part of a massive restructure.

Whitehaven Coal managing director Tony Haggarty says investors have sent majority shareholder Nathan Tinkler a clear message after they overwhelmingly re-elected chairman Mark Vaile and four other

Household and automotive products supplier GUD Holdings says most of its businesses are under pressure and has warned that profits in the first half of the current financial year may be 15 per cent

The closure of car component maker aiAutomotive in Adelaide will have a serious impact on the entire automotive supply chain, South Australia's opposition says.

Penalties totalling $36,300 have been imposed against the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and two of its officials over unlawful strikes at Fremantle and Broome in 2009 and 2010.