Chalmers readies budget, IFM seeks support for sustainable fuel

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Happy Budget Day from Bloomberg’s Melbourne bureau. Tonight, Jim Chalmers hands down the government’s spending plan, with concessions for property investors in the cross-hairs. But what about the yield curve? We have you covered: it could flatten and the premium over US Treasuries ease, according to strategists anticipating restrained spending from Canberra. Catch Chalmers’ pre-budget interview in case you missed it. Elsewhere, IFM Investors has warned plans to develop sustainable aviation fuel may flounder without government support. — Richard Henderson, Australian Finance Reporter What’s happening now Treasurer Jim Chalmers is expected to crack down on tax concession for property investors when he hands down his fiscal blueprint at around 7:30 p.m. in Canberra on Tuesday. The budget is expected to show an easing of the cash deficit to around A$25 billion, according to economists, from an official estimate six months earlier of around A$34 billion. A plan to develop sustainable aviation fuel in Australia may run aground without government support, IFM Investors has warned. The fund manager may scrap a proposed A$3 billion investment to make the fuel unless the government requires airlines to use it, Danny Elia, IFM’s global head of infrastructure asset management, said in an interview. The extra yield investors reap from Australian government debt relative to its US counterpart may narrow following tonight’s budget. That’s according to investment strategists who are anticipating more restrained fiscal spending and less bond issuance. Commonwealth Bank of Australia analysts forecast around A$115 billion in issuance for fiscal 2027, down from around A$125 billion expected in the current fiscal year. Bloomberg Australian outdoor advertising company oOh!Media has found itself in the middle of a bidding war. I Squared Capital unveiled an all-cash offer for the company on Monday, valuing the company at A$765.9 million. The bid was roughly 15% above a rival offer from Pacific Equity Partners last month. The Sydney-based company’s stock jumped 7.1% Monday. The price of iron ore is climbing. Futures for the commodity trading in Singapore climbed to a the highest since October 2024, reflecting signs of solid Chinese demand. Weekly flows from Australia and Brazil increased for a second week through May 3, according to data from Mysteel. An autonomous vehicle receives ore from a dumper in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Photographer: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg New Zealand is set to introduce a law change to prevent private legal action against climate polluters. The response to climate change is best managed by the government and “not through piece-meal litigation in the courts,” Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said. The retrospective law will derail a current case against companies including Fonterra, Z Energy and New Zealand Steel. Traders that have piled into short positions against the New Zealand dollar may find themselves wrongfooted by a potential hawkish tilt by the country’s central bank, according to currency analysts. Leveraged short positions held by hedge funds hit the highest since 2019 this month by one measure. Those bets may run aground should interest rates edge higher. What happened overnight Rising oil prices sent bonds lower Monday in the US after Washington and Tehran failed to agree on terms to end their war. The news failed to stem a rally in chipmakers, which powered the US S&P 500 benchmark of blue-chip stocks to a fresh high. The US-Iran ceasefire is on “massive life support,” President Donald Trump said Monday, after Tehran responded to Washington’s peace proposal by demanding a lifting of the naval blockade and sanctions relief, while maintaining some control over Strait of Hormuz traffic. Trump called Iran’s reply “garbage,” in comments to reporters. SoftBank Group is considering a multibillion-dollar AI data center investment in France, and may unveil a project in the coming weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. Founder Masayoshi Son has held talks over the project, which would expand the Japanese company’s broader buildout of AI infrastructure. Apple’s Tim Cook, Tesla’s Elon Musk and BlackRock’s Larry Fink are among a group of executives the White House has invited to accompany Trump on his trip to China this week, according to an official. Others include David Solomon of Goldman Sachs and Jane Fraser from Citigroup. What to watch • 11:30 a.m. NAB Business Confidence for April • 7:30 p.m. Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivers the budget One more thing... The Google Cloud logo. Photographer: Angel Garcia/Bloomberg Security researchers at Alphabet Inc.’s Google said they believe a cybercrime group used artificial intelligence to create a hacking tool that can bypass defenses in a widely-used tool to administer computer systems. The scheme, which was foiled when Google alerted the tool developer, would mark the first time that Google’s Threat Intelligence Group caught a hacker using an AI-generated “zero-day” in such a way, according to a report published Monday. Zero-day vulnerabilities are flaws unknown to the developer, leaving defenders no time to patch before they can be exploited. MORE: Explore live streaming news and interviews, documentaries, reporter analysis and more, all in one place. Check out Bloomberg.com/videos. Enjoying Australia Briefing? 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