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The death toll at a coal mine collapse in China's Inner Mongolia region has risen to at least four people, with six injured and 49 missing.

The collapse on Wednesday at an open-pit mine in the Alxa League operated by Xinjing Coal Mining Co left a pile of debris about 500 metres across and an estimated 80m high, state media reported.

"I had just started work at 1.15 in the afternoon when I realised that rocks were falling from the mountain," a miner told state broadcaster CCTV from hospital on Thursday.

"I saw that the situation was getting more and more serious, and an evacuation was organised, but it was too late, the mountain just collapsed."

President Xi Jinping on Wednesday ordered search and rescue efforts, state media reported, although a second landslide in the evening hampered the work to find survivors.

"We must make every possible effort to rescue the missing persons and treat the injured," Xi said.

Premier Li Keqiang also demanded a quick investigation into the cause of the collapse.

Coal is a major source of energy in China but its mines are among the world's deadliest, largely due to lax enforcement of safety standards, despite repeated government orders for improvements in safety over the years.

China's mines have also been trying to boost output over the past year under a government call for greater supplies and stable prices. Inner Mongolia is the country's top coal-producing region.

Three hundred fire rescue personnel, 60 fire engines and 6 search and rescue dogs were at the scene on Thursday to aid the search for trapped miners, state media said.

The National Health Commission said on Wednesday evening six injured people had been rescued and it had sent 15 ambulances and 45 medical staff to help with the rescue.

The previously underground mine was converted into an open-pit operation in 2012, according to state media. It had suspended production for three years before restarting in April 2021, state media said.

© RAW 2023

Qantas is counting on sustained travel demand to continue, driving its recovery after returning to profit for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic started three years ago.

The national carrier posted a statutory net profit of $1 billion for the six months to December 31, compared to a $456 million net loss a year ago.

Its underlying profit was even higher, with a record interim pre-tax gain of $1.43 billion - at the top end of the airline's forecast for an underlying profit between $1.35b and $1.45b in the first half of fiscal 2023.

A rebound in air travel demand helped Qantas notch up revenue of $9.9b, more than three times the figure for the same period a year ago.

The turnaround comes after three years and $7 billion in statutory losses due to the pandemic, as international borders stayed shut for more than 18 months and COVID outbreaks repeatedly disrupted domestic air travel.

"When we restructured the business at the start of COVID, it was to make sure we could bounce back quickly when travel returned," CEO Alan Joyce said on Thursday.

"That's effectively what's happened, but it's the strength of the demand that has driven such a strong result."

Qantas said domestic flying levels had averaged 94 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, while international capacity also doubled to 60 per cent.

It expects travel demand to remain robust this year and in 2024 which will help boost domestic capacity beyond pre-Covid levels in the second half of 2023. International capacity is forecast to reach 81 per cent of 2019 levels in the second half.

"While interest rates and inflation are expected to hit discretionary spending at some point, we have yet to see any signs of that," Mr Joyce said in a post-result media briefing on Thursday.

"The research is telling us that while people are looking at areas to cut back on, they are prioritising air travel and experiences over other forms of expenditure."

Qantas has benefited from high airfares, which Mr Joyce said were up about 20 per cent on domestic routes compared with 2021 levels, and by similar amounts in key markets such as the United States and Europe.

He blamed soaring prices of fuel, which is up 65 per cent compared to 2019 levels amid the disruption caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the imbalance between supply and demand for the rise.

The airline boss expects fares to moderate over the next year as more airlines unlock capacity but warned they would stay above pre-pandemic levels because of the difficulty in adding back capacity quickly.

All segments of its business turned profitable during the half year, led by Qantas Domestic which recorded $785m in earnings before interest and tax, compared to a $613m loss a year ago.

Qantas International and Freight was the second most profitable segment, generating $464m in earnings, while Qantas Loyalty garnered a $220m gain. Jetstar recorded half year earnings of $177m.

The airline said net debt was down to $2.4b at December-end, but it has upgraded its full year capital expenditure guidance by $400 million to between $2.6b and $2.7b.

The national carrier will not pay any interim dividend for the half year but announced an extension to its on-market share buy-back by up to $500 million.

The upgraded capex spending and the lack of a shareholder payout weighed on the Qantas stock. By 1500 AEDT, the group's shares were trading more than 6.0 per cent lower at $6.10, their lowest level in nearly eight months.

© AAP 2023

The prime minister says there will be no major changes to superannuation despite a fight brewing over possible changes to tax concessions to help ease budget pressure.

The debate was sparked this week after the treasurer said superannuation concessions were on track to cost the budget as much as the aged pension by 2050 and questioned the sustainability of the tax breaks.

Jim Chalmers has since hinted at a cap on large super balances as a possible way to make super concessions more "affordable and sustainable".

Several super funds have backed a $5 million limit on account balances, while the Grattan Institute and other groups have called for a lower cap on balances open to super tax concessions.

He said less than one per cent of people have more than $3 million in super and average balances for people in that upper category was about $5.8 million.

But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the priority was defining the objective of superannuation, which the treasurer also outlined earlier in the week, and that there would be "no major changes to superannuation".

"That is the objective to make sure that people can have a quality of life in their later years," he said.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the coalition would block any moves by Labor to change the arrangements around superannuation.

He said the changes would likely be in the May budget and accused the government of bringing the Aston by-election forward to get it "over and done with" before the public was across the detail.

"If the government had a plan, they should have detailed it before the last election instead of springing on people now," he told Sydney radio 2GB on Thursday.

He said the government would likely start by targeting people with large super balances and then work their way down.

"They'll just keep coming back to the well, and all of a sudden you're a couple of rungs down and people who didn't think they were in line, they'll be having to pay additional tax," he said.

Speaking at an SMSF Association conference, a body representing Australia's self-managed super fund sector, Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said he was not singling out the self-managed sector for attack.

"But it is timely to have a conversation about what a dignified retirement means in the context of a sustainable retirement system," he said.

He said the savings needed to fund a dignified retirement were evolving and would continue to change.

"But it seems to me that many people will be able to have a very dignified retirement well into the future with a balance that is significantly lower than $100 million," he said.

"And there will be a time and a place to consider how we might sensibly transition so that it minimises unnecessary disruption."

More than 600,000 super funds are self-managed, amounting to about $870 billion in retirement savings.

© AAP 2023