Australia kicked off the 2026-27 financial year with an OECD report card that landed like a cold splash of water: the nation's productivity went backwards by 0.7 per cent in 2024, ranking it 29th out of 39 advanced economies — and behind New Zealand. Research and development funding has plunged to just a third of the rate recorded in the United States. The finding lands on the very day millions of Australians saw their wages go up, making the gap between...