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A superannuation fight is brewing as the federal government flags the possibility of changes to tax concessions to help ease budget pressure.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says superannuation concessions are on track to cost the budget as much as the aged pension by 2050 and has launched a discussion about their sustainability this week.

The treasurer has since flagged 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.

But the shadow treasurer said superannuation was not a piggy bank for the government to tax and spend.

Speaking at a super industry event on Wednesday, Angus Taylor said the government had "no mandate" to tax super.

"These are private savings. Fundamentally super is Australians' money, not the government's," he said.

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

"We'd seek to block it in the first instance because it's clearly a broken promise," he told Nine's Today Show.

"The difficulty in the superannuation space is that people want certainty around that investment class.

"If you create that uncertainty, then people won't invest, and the whole idea of superannuation is it provides for people's retirement so that they can lead a dignified retirement."

Mr Taylor said the coalition was open to superannuation changes that would allow people to use funds for house deposits.

"With the clarity that super is for retirement, the coalition will support changes that see super work better to deliver retirement outcomes for Australians," he said.

"Housing is essential to this."

Mr Taylor said changes to superannuation must be predictable, certain and consistent with election promises.

"These are long-term investments and shifting the goal posts in ways that take away from super, rather than add to it, leaves Australian retirees in the cold," he said.

Speaking at an SMSF Association conference, which is 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

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Qantas has posted an interim underlying pre-tax profit of $1.43 billion in its first return to profitability since the coronavirus pandemic started three years ago.

The record first-half result was 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.

The statutory net profit for the six months to December 31 was $1b, compared to a $456 million net loss a year ago.

"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."

By 1030 AEDT, the group's shares were trading 3.2 per cent lower at $6.26 each in a weaker Australian market.

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.

"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 media briefing.

"In fact, research shows that travel is one area that people want to prioritise over the next 12 months."

Qantas' profit turnaround comes after three years and $7 billion in statutory losses due to the pandemic, and was delivered despite fuel costs soaring 65 per cent from pre-pandemic levels last year amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

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.

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 continue helping drive the recovery this year and in 2024. Its domestic capacity will exceed pre-Covid levels in the second half of 2023, while international capacity is forecast to reach 81 per cent of 2019 levels in the second half.

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

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Titans captain Tino Fa'asuamaleaui has been set free to focus on his own blockbusting game now that he has veteran playmaker Kieran Foran beside him to call the shots on the field.

The 32-year-old Foran's recruitment from Manly, where he won the 2011 NRL title, may well prove to be one of the shrewdest acquisitions in Titans history.

The Titans had their season launch on the Gold Coast on Wednesday night where a sense of optimism permeated proceedings after a season which ended with them missing finals football.

Titans coach Justin Holbrook told AAP that No.6 Foran's presence, along with that of former Roosters hooker and 2019 premiership winner Sam Verrills, had set his 23-year-old skipper free.

"Kieran will run a lot of the footy stuff along with Sam and (fullback) AJ Brimson and that will free Tino up to do what he does best which is lead by example," Holbrook said.

"That will take the burden off Tino having to worry as much about decisions on the field.

"Tino gives it everything each week. That won't change. Now we have the footy smarts around him which will help our side and help Tino as well."

Fa'asuamaleaui was a tower of strength at prop through tough times last year. He still set standards that led to him winning a State of Origin series with Queensland and a World Cup with Australia, but his demeanour after club losses suggested he was carrying a heavy load as the Titans slipped out of finals contention.

In 2020 he was a young front-rower at Melbourne surrounded by a phenomenal brains trust that included skipper Cameron Smith.

All he had to do was his job in the premiership-winning side. Two years later he found himself having to worry about his own role plus the running of the team on the field.

"Last year was a tough year but to have someone like Kieran Foran come in who has been there and done that in the game is awesome for me and us ," Fa'asuamaleaui said.

"It will allow me to lead from the front and get the team going forward. He will direct the team.

"I played under the best captain and player in the world in Cameron Smith and that experience helped me get through last year which was a huge learning curve. That is only going to benefit me and the team with our resilience.

"No-one likes losing. That desire to win really burns, and I am sure we will get more wins this season."

The Titans finished ninth in Holbrook's first season in charge in 2020 before surging to make the finals in 2021. Last year was a disappointment when they slipped back to 13th.

The start to the pre-season of 23-year-old half Tanah Boyd and electric 21-year-old speed demon Alofiana Khan-Pereira has also added spark to the direction provided by Foran and Verrills.

"I feel really good about our squad this year," Holbrook said.

"The experienced people we have brought in are exactly what we were missing last year and we have got the right balance with really exciting young guys coming through."

© AAP 2023

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Two people have been killed and more than 50 are trapped in a large-scale coal mine collapse in northern China's Inner Mongolia region, state media report.

Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered rescue and search efforts at the site and Premier Li Keqiang demanded a rapid investigation into the cause of the accident.

The collapse occurred at an open-pit mine located in the Alxa League which is owned by Xinjing Coal Mining Company.

A brief video of the collapse posted on the website of the Beijing Times newspaper showed a massive wall of reddish dirt or sand rushing down a slope onto mining vehicles moving below.

Inner Mongolia is among the country's top coal producers and like other regions in China has been producing at a heightened rate over the past year or so under a government call to boost local supply and stabilise prices.

with AP

© RAW 2023