Government

Australian businesses are mildly confident about the future, despite concerns about possible weakness in the mining sector and political uncertainty in Canberra.

Ramsay Health Care says it will expand operations at Peel Health Campus as soon as it can, after Health Minister Kim Hames revealed it as the new owner-operator of the troubled hospital.

The high costs of compliance with the Minerals Resource Rent Tax are destroying confidence and threaten to push investment offshore, industry leaders have told a Senate committee hearing in Perth.

A business group is urging the federal government to explain the true cost of the national broadband network after claims it could top $90 billion.

ANZ and Westpac will become the first Australian banks to help businesses directly trade Australian dollars for the Chinese yuan.

Australia will continue to benefit from China's economic growth but governments should strive to forge deeper and friendlier ties with the emerging super-power, business leaders argue.

Consumer and business confidence in Australia should rebound in 2013 if the global economy stays relatively stable, says Commonwealth Bank chief executive Ian Narev.

Federal Labor has accused the coalition of a "staggering backflip" after the opposition signalled it might keep the government's extension of the petroleum resource rent tax to onshore projects.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has vowed to "fight ferociously" to block Labor's latest ch

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has touted Australia's friendship with China on the eve of her visit to the regional powerhouse, saying only Labor has a plan to engage with fast growing Asian markets.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott has indicated a federal coalition government would not invest in state urban rail projects, insisting the Commonwealth should “stick to its knitting” of funding roads.

The trucking industry wants to stay protected from the carbon tax beyond 2014.

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has already begun planning with Premier Colin Barnett on potential changes to GST distribution.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard is not worried about the latest mining industry campaign against government tax plans.

Australia's trade deficit has shrunk by more than $1 billion and demand for its mineral resources is set to increase as China's manufacturing and services sectors continue to expand.

Revenue from the federal government's controversial mining tax is likely to remain modest unless there is a sizeable spike in coal and iron ore prices.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has homed in on divisions within federal Labor over possible superannuation changes in the May budget.

Resource companies either want the federal government's controversial mining tax scrapped, or left as it is, as Treasury tries to work out how it got its revenue forecasts for the impost so wrong.

Labor leader Mark McGowan has been re-elected unopposed as the party's leader following an embarrassing election defeat last month.

Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan would be the highest-profile casualty as the coalition cruises to victory at the September 14 federal election, according to analysis of recent polling.

The decline in Australia's manufacturing sector has extended into a 14th month as falling selling prices and a strong currency hit hard.

Visitors to the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition on Cottesloe Beach have been slugged more than $100,000 in parking fines, the local council has revealed.

The federal government says any rise in the minimum wage should take account of both the needs of low-income families and the pressures on business.

It's official: Perth is now home to four of Australia's five most advantaged suburbs, and people are flocking to share in Western Australia's wealth boom in record numbers.

Fruit and vegie prices fell in March, but the savings were eaten up by increases in the cost of fuel, alcohol and tobacco.

The coalition will not confirm whether it would reverse a possible Labor raid on wealthy people's superannuation tax concessions.

Federal Labor could lose at least 24 seats at the next election, according to an opinion poll of marginal seats taken for the Australian Financial Review.

Premier Colin Barnett can't promise he'll secure federal infrastructure funding for his election commitments, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's plan to roll back the carbon tax will put the budget's bottom line under pressure, an investment banker says.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has left open the possibility the federal government will raid wealthy people's superannuation tax concessions in the May budget.