Jack Quail

Almost $1bn in taxpayer funds will be poured into a US tech start-up to keep Australia competitive in the fast-moving field to develop quantum computing, an emerging technology that promises to supercharge scientific research.

Shoppers kept their wallets shut last month, shunning spending on clothing, footwear, household goods and in department stores, to erase the recent rise in retail turnover buoyed by Taylor Swift-inspired spending.

Guardrails for Labor’s landmark industry policy will be announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Wednesday — a day after the investment vehicle provided fresh equity to a Silicon Valley-based tech start-up.

Sticking to the planned rollout of the Albanese government’s stage three tax cuts risks further fuelling inflation, making the RBA’s job more difficult, and their delay should be considered, leading economists have cautioned.

Supermarket giant Woolworths faced a “challenging” March quarter, its chief executive has admitted, amid shifting spending by its inflation-weary shoppers and continued criticism over its price settings.

Freshly minted National Australia Bank boss Andrew Irvine has unveiled a double-digit decline in profits in the half year to March but hinted that the ultra-competitive home loan market that was squeezing its margins was starting to ease.

Slashing the structural deficit, easing inflationary pressures, and bolstering productivity must be priorities, the Paris-based organisation has argued.

The OECD has urged the Reserve Bank to keep interest rates higher for longer to help tame inflation, and for the Albanese government to clamp down on the runaway growth of the NDIS to free up funds to support Australia’s energy transition and ageing population.

In its latest Economic Outlook, released on Thursday evening, the Paris-based organisation, led by former finance minister Mathias Cormann, called for measures to ease inflation.