Defence Minister Stephen Smith says he is not concerned that incoming Western Australian Labor leader Mark McGowan could battle the federal government on infrastructure funding from the mining tax.
Economists believe the rate of inflation in Australia is continuing to slow although it maybe the cooling world economy that will play a greater role in cutting interest rates.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the government is "determined" to return the federal budget to surplus, despite a soft jobs market and reduced expectations for global growth.
Western Australian Labor leader in waiting, Mark McGowan, says some decisions by the federal government have hurt his party's chances at a state level.
Australia is in for a tough economic year after the World Bank slashed its global growth forecasts and warned there could be a worldwide recession worse than three years ago.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the opposition is being "deeply irresponsible" by talking down the Australian economy while markets are skittish over the European debt crisis.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has warned Europe faces an "unprecedented crisis" but urged calm in the face of Standard & Poor's multiple eurozone rating downgrades.
The mass debt downgrade of eurozone nations has reignited a debate over boosting the bloc's bailout fund, but governments are divided over raising their contributions, a senior EU official says.
The Queensland government has ordered an immediate suspension of some dredging in Gladstone Harbour, which is being deepened to support planned gas exports.
A bid to mine coal in Western Australia's sensitive southwest tourism and wine-producing region has been rejected by the state government after the proponent appealed the original Environ
Tax professionals have questioned the logic behind the federal government’s plan to remove the living away from home allowance for temporary residents, a group of employees used heavily by the mini
The federal government is going after directors of failed companies who, having avoided liability for workers' entitlements and other debts, restart the business under a similar name.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) says it expects global economic growth to stall in the coming year, keeping the door open for more cash rate cuts in 2012.
The Australian economy will inevitably suffer spillover effects from the European government debt crisis, Reserve Bank of Australia deputy governor Ric Battellino says.