A myopic focus on short-term cyclical business cycles has meant successive governments have failed to carry much needed structural reform.
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No sooner had Treasurer Wayne Swan accused the Europeans of “mindless austerity” a month ago than he embarked on a resolute but most likely counter-productive search for cost savings in the coming May…
External economic pressures, including a high Australian dollar, will pose challenges for the Napthine government.
AAP
The last two years for Victorians and the Baillieu government have been challenging, with a flat economy and tight budget constraints. The next few years for the Napthine government are likely to involve…
Outgoing BHP Billiton CEO Marius Kloppers shakes hands with his successor, Andrew Mackenzie.
AAP
The board of BHP Billiton Limited today announced the retirement of chief executive officer and inside director Marius Kloppers.
Dr Kloppers is a 20-year veteran of the company, serving 12 years as a…
As investment in mining projects hits its peak, the Australian economy will undergo a transition to export-led economic growth.
AAP
Various explanations have been offered for Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s decision to announce the date of the 2013 federal election almost eight months in advance. Most commentators, both those who applaud…
Re-run: if the US fiscal cliff has the same feel as last year’s debt ceiling crisis, we’re not surprised…
Different year, same crisis. Around this time last year, the United States was looking down the barrel of economic disaster with the debt ceiling. As we approach 2013, it peers over the fiscal cliff…
Australia must resolve numerous social, economic and environmental obstacles if it wants to reap the benefits of the Asian Century.
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Governments are forever immersed in the daily challenge of responding to what the former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan once knowingly described as “events.” It was he who coined the resounding…
Benefits will become more widespread as the sun sets on the development stage of the mining boom.
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It seems no-one is quite sure what to think of the resource boom anymore.
Long considered the factor that saved Australia from the GFC, the suspension, delay or scaling back of a number of mining projects…
The resources “curse” exists – and to avoid it, Australia must proactively strengthen its public institutions.
AAP
If Australia wants to avoid the “resources curse” it needs to proactively strengthen its institutions. Left unchecked, our increased reliance on the resource sector to drive the economy could lead to a…
BHP Billiton CEO Marius Kloppers is expected to announce the company’s first profit fall in three years.
AAP
It has been an anxious day for Australian investors. Shares have dipped as the market awaits BHP Billiton’s full-year profit report.
It is expected that the market heavyweight will post its first profit…
Technology and globalisation are dramatically transforming the workers and workplaces of the future.
The modern workplace is constantly evolving. The water cooler and the 9-to-5 grind are quickly becoming relics of the past; what is in store for the future?
The Conversation has been running a series…
The changing face of shift work: fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers may be wealthy, but are their lifestyles unhealthy?
Alex E.Proimos
Welcome to the Future of Work, a series from The Conversation that looks at the ongoing evolution of the workplace. Today, Griffith University’s Olav Muurlink looks at how the mining industry is single…
A labour shortage in Australia’s resources sector has led to the rapid growth of a transient workforce in remote mining communities.
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Welcome to the Future of Work, a series from The Conversation that looks at the ongoing evolution of the workplace. Today, QUT’s Alison McIntosh outlines the social, cultural and economic challenges posed…
Australia’s boom investment conditions will begin tailing off by 2014, according to a Deloitte Access Economics report – so what does this mean for current labour shortages?
Much public discussion around the current mining boom focuses on the lack of qualified staff to fill an expanding employment market.
But yesterday’s report by Deloitte Access Economics warning that the…
