Australia blew the last mining boom and can no longer rely on high commodities prices, federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson says, as China's economy continues to slow.
China's latest economic data should be welcomed by Australian businesses, as the Asian giant appears to have reined in growth to a more sustainable pace.
Former Liberal MP Bernie Masters says he will run against Treasurer Troy Buswell in the March state election because past indiscretions make him unfit to sit in parliament.
The state government has again defended its $440 million waterfront project, this time against its own modelling, which shows it will slow Perth traffic significantly.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has defended her record on improving productivity, after a respected business leader slammed the "sloganeering" of modern political and economic debate.
The Labor Party has kicked a "superbly poorly timed own goal" with attacks by some of its members on the Greens, the minority party's Senator Scott Ludlam says.
Economists are expecting Australia's unemployment rate to have risen slightly in June, while total employment growth remained flat, as the strong jobs growth of previous months grinds to a halt.
Australia should encourage more Chinese investment in domestic industries and reap the benefits of its immense capital reserves, a top foreign affairs bureaucrat says.
Job advertisements have fallen for the third straight month, led by declines in Victoria and the mining boom states of Western Australia and Queensland.
Treasurer Wayne Swan says the eurozone's latest jobless figures highlight the deep-seated challenges facing the region, despite some progress in resolving its debt crisis.
A leading business lobby group has dismissed as a marketing exercise, a statement signed by hundreds of businesses backing the federal government's carbon tax.
Australia's rate of inflation has fallen to its lowest level since the global financial crisis, a survey shows, giving the central bank room to cut interest rates further.
Premier Colin Barnett says it's not too late for the federal government to halve its carbon price "to something around $10 a tonne", even though he does not believe it will reduce greenhouse gases.