Government

Homeowners may be in for an early Christmas present, with the Reserve Bank of Australia expected to deliver at least one more interest rate cut before the end of 2012.

 Federal Labor continues to make gains on the coalition in two new opinion polls, as anger over the carbon tax wanes and state budget cuts rebound on Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

A Chinese government office is forecasting economic growth of between 7.7 and 7.8 per cent for the year in a sign of an expected improvement in prospects for the world's second-largest economy.

Productivity Commission chairman Gary Banks will retire from his position in December, federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says.

Treasurer Wayne Swan says the federal government's Asian Century White Paper will be a long-term planning tool setting ambitious targets to be achieved by 2025.

It obviously takes a bit more than a couple of positive economic statistics to put a smile on people's faces.

Billionaire businessmen Kerry Stokes and James Packer believe Australia has to show China a little more love and respect if it wants to deepen its trade relationship.

Retailers have launched another campaign to have GST charged on internet purchases from overseas, warning that Australian governments would forgo revenue of more than $2.4 billion revenue over the

The construction sector posted the biggest drop in employment over the past year, a fall of 70,200 or 6.7 per cent.

The federal government has dismissed as "scaremongering" reports it has indefinitely frozen a promised $1 billion regional development fund.

 One of Australia's leading economic forecasters says it is shocked and disappointed at how poorly Australia's non-mining sector is performing at a time it should be offsetting a slowdown in t

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman says the chief executive of the world's largest miner has himself to blame for the impost of federal taxes.

Finance Minister Penny Wong says she won't pre-empt a review into the way GST revenue is distributed among states when it comes to reimbursing mining companies for state royalties through the feder

Former treasurer and attorney-general Christian Porter has backed Gina Rinehart's call for a special economic zone in the nation's north.

 Former premier-turned-lobbyist Brian Burke has denied asking a senior public servant to break the law so he could obtain government information.

Consumer confidence has risen slightly, but remains sluggish despite several cash rate cuts and a relatively solid economy, a study has found.

A senior public servant on trial for corruption says he authorised himself to pass government information to former premier-turned-lobbyist Brian Burke, arguing it was not confidential.

Industry and lobby groups fear the Newman government's first budget will drive up unemployment in Queensland, due to substantial cuts to public service jobs and a hike in mining royalties.

Up to 800 nurses are expected to march on parliament to protest against parking fees at public hospitals where they work.

Good news for job seekers: employers are still hiring.A survey of Australian employers suggests the job market is likely to remain steady in the final three months of 2012.

Consumer confidence in Western Australia has fallen to its lowest level since the global financial crisis, with only 37 per cent of respondents to a survey released today saying they expect improve

Acting Prime Minister Wayne Swan has challenged the federal opposition to prove it's ready to roll out new policies by handing them over to the parliamentary budget office.

BC Iron managing director Mike Young has come out in support of Gina Rinehart and accused the federal government of twisting the Western Australian mining magnate's words.

Despite another fall in the unemployment rate, the labour force figures offer plenty of support for the idea that the jobs market is weak.

She brought the big guns - 15 senior cabinet ministers - but in the end, Prime Minister Julia Gillard rarely needed to draw on them in the Labor industrial heartland of Kwinana.

Trade, higher education and green growth will top Prime Minister Julia Gillard's agenda when she meets with Asia-Pacific leaders at a major summit in Russia this weekend.

Australia's principal federal political leaders have rejected Gina Rinehart's suggestion local wages are too high and are holding back the nation's competitiveness.

Treasurer Wayne Swan has criticised the standard of national debate about the economy, saying it's being conducted in a "bizarro world".

Australia has chalked up an unprecedented 21 years of continuous economic expansion, but the central bank may have to step in before the end of the year if the buoyancy is to continue.

Australia's enviable run of solid economic growth is expected to have continued in the three months to June.

The state government has a $7.5 billion black hole in pre-election commitments that it will find harder to plug because of falling iron ore royalties, the Labor opposition says.