Menu Close

Business + Economy – Research and News

Displaying 201 - 225 of 339 articles

The President of the Business Council of Australia, Tony Shepherd, recently has had discussions with Kevin Rudd about productivity. AAP/Alan Porritt

Big business says collect more from the GST

The Business Council of Australia has urged a higher, broader GST and an effort to boost the participation of women in the labour force, in an economic action plan released today. It says there should…
In a well flagged policy move, Kevin Rudd has sped up the date for a floating carbon price. AAP/Lukas Coch

Big saving on car fringe benefits help pay for early ETS

The government has more than financed the $3.8 billion cost of moving early to an Emissions Trading Scheme, with savings including a crackdown on fringe benefits for cars, cuts to the number of senior…
Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens said today that the bank’s board judged that a further decline in the cash rate was appropriate to encourage sustainable growth in the economy. AAP/Alan Porritt

RBA cuts interest rates to 2.75%: the experts respond

The Reserve Bank of Australia today cut the cash rate by 25 basis points to a record low of 2.75%, but some experts have questioned whether the central bank cut too soon. In a statement issued today, central…
Emirates CEO Tim Clark (left) and Qantas CEO Alan Joyce pose for photographs. The ACCC today approved for a period of five years an alliance between the two airlines. AAP/Mick Tsikas

ACCC approves Qantas-Emirates deal: the experts respond

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today granted conditional approval to an alliance between Qantas Airways Limited and Emirates, a move experts say will benefit Europe-bound passengers…
The editorial board of the Journal of Library Administration is the latest group of journal editors to quit over open access issues. http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/wjla20/current

Journal editorial board quits over open access principle

The entire editorial board of a US academic journal has resigned in protest over restrictions that would require scholars to wait up to 18 months before making their published research more widely available…
Kim Carr is showing how researchers can use government data. AAP/Alan Porritt

Come get the data, Carr tells researchers

Human Services Minister Kim Carr is doing the rounds of Australian universities to encourage researchers to dip into the honeypot of data which his department is making available. The material provides…
Nobel Laureate and ANU astronomer Brian Schmidt will teach one of ANU’s first open online courses. AAP/Alan Porritt

ANU joins MOOCs rush with edX partnership

ANU has become the first Australian member of Massive Open Online Course provider edX, with ANU professor and Nobel Laureate Brian Schmidt to teach one of ANU’s first online courses. edX is owned jointly…
Fairfax chief Greg Hywood says The Guardian is not a competitive brand in Australia. AAP/Paul Miller

Fairfax delays paywall, dismisses threat from The Guardian

Fairfax chief executive Greg Hywood has dismissed the threat from the impending Australian launch of UK media group The Guardian, telling shareholders it is not a strong competitive brand in Australia…
Marius Kloppers will retire as BHP Billiton’s CEO in May. AAP Image/Paul Miller

Kloppers retires as BHP chief, leaving corporate and political legacy

Marius Kloppers, who today announced his intention to resign as CEO of mining firm BHP Billiton, leaves behind a formidable legacy in both mining and politics as head of a firm that campaigned for a scaled-down…
The mining tax has raised less in its first six months than the government expected. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Mining tax shortfall: the experts respond

Treasurer Wayne Swan today announced that the mining tax had raised $126 million in the six months following its introduction, well below the $2 billion the government had expected it to yield this financial…
In one of her last acts as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton threw her support behind a project that makes US text books available free to Arabic-speaking students. EPA/MICHAEL REYNOLDS

US backs push for open access text books in Arabic

The United States has backed a project that aims to translate American textbooks into Arabic and make them available without copyrights restrictions to educators and students in the Middle East. The Open…
Qantas has chosen to partner with Emirates in what some see as a shift away from Asia. AAP/Barbara Walton

New travel data shows importance of Asia routes to Qantas

Qantas’ decision to strengthen its ties with Dubai-based airline Emirates and scale back its relationship with British Airways has been placed under a new shadow, following the release of new travel data…
Google has won a High Court case in which the ACCC alleged it engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct. AAP/John G. Mabanglo

Google triumph over ACCC seen as a loss for consumers

Google has triumphed in a High Court case with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, in what experts say is a setback for the competition regulator and a loss for consumers. The ACCC had…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard leaves a media conference with Nicola Roxon (left) and Senator Chris Evans in Canberra, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013 Ms Roxon and Senator Evans have resigned their portfolios. AAP Image/Alan Porritt

Universities welcome Bowen to higher education role

Two senior ministers in the Gillard government resigned today, prompting an unexpected cabinet reshuffle just eight months out from the general election. Nicola Roxon resigned her role as Attorney-General…
Retailers should make it easier for shoppers to buy in-store and online say experts. AAP

Wesfarmers boosts sales, but online still a challenge for retailers

Retailing giant Wesfarmers says it is encouraged by growth in online sales at its Officeworks and Target stores, after the brands posted small lifts in total sales during the last quarter. But retailing…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard delivers a speech outlining Australia’s new National Security Strategy. AAP

Cyber Security Centre planned to target growing threat

“The internet must remain open but also secure,” Prime Minister Julia Gillard said today, flagging plans for the development of a new Cyber Security Centre by the end of the year. Ms Gillard said with…
Student debt levels are at a record high, a Grattan Institute report has found. AAP Image/Paul Miller

Architect of student loan system unconcerned by record debt levels

The architect of Australia’s student loan system has poured cold water on a report highlighting record levels of student debt, saying he would not be surprised if a fifth of all student debt was never…
Verifying student identity, including during online tests, has always been a major stumbling block for Massive Open Online Courses. University of Maryland http://www.flickr.com/photos/umdnews

Online course host Coursera to ID students using typing style

Online course host Coursera will verify the identities of participating students using web cams and technology that can fingerprint an individual’s unique typing style under a pilot project announced this…
Law reform is required to ensure Australian universities remain competitive say educators. Fernando Stankuns

Universities seek copyright law reform to enable MOOCs

Law reform is required to support innovation and enable Australian universities to compete with the rest of the world in online education, say leading Australian educators. In their submissions to the…
Wayne Swan tells journalists the government’s promised budget surplus is now unlikely to be delivered. ABC News

Swan says budget surplus now unlikely: experts respond

Treasurer Wayne Swan has acknowledged it’s unlikely the government will deliver the budget surplus it had been promising for next year, following the release of a disappointing monthly financial statement…
ICANN ICANN is the body that defines policies for how the "names and numbers" of the internet should run.

Open Universities Australia makes the cut in .courses domain bid

Open Universities Australia has made the list in a lottery draw held by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to help assign new generic top-level domains. Open Universities Australia…
Lord Justice Brian Leveson spoke at a UTS symposium on ‘Privacy in the 21st Century’ in Sydney. Lord Leveson is the Chair of the Leveson Inquiry investigating the role of the press and police in the phone-hacking scandal. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Leveson sees future internet publishing laws

New laws to govern publishing on the internet will likely be needed in future, the chair of the UK’s biggest inquiry into media practices and phone hacking has said. Lord Justice Brian Leveson made the…
British Prime Minister David Cameron has rejected Leveson’s ecommendation for a statutory body to oversee the new independent press regulator. AAP/ EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

Leveson inquiry into UK press: the experts respond

Lord Justice Leveson has released the recommendations of the Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press, which was prompted by the Murdoch press phone hacking scandal that erupted last…