The Susan Ley-led opposition has promised that a future Coalition government would run a ‘smaller’ immigration program that is around 100,000 below current extreme levels and basically the same as excessive pre-pandemic levels: The Coalition will position the cut as a way to ease the pressure on housing, infrastructure, schools and health care, as some
Wall Street continued to selloff overnight but the falls were greater across the Atlantic as European share markets lost around 2% each despite a much lower Euro. US tech stocks made lower lows mid sessions but were able to recover later on, but it seems the wobbles in the AI bubble are deepening. Macro political
DXY is still firming. This may go on until the December Fed meeting. AUD is pinned at 0.65 cents. It looks more likely to break lower given all of those tails. CNY yawn. Gold and oil holding. AI metals are not. This is part of the junk spread widening. Miners struggle. Ditto EM. Junk is
The Victorian government’s recent tax changes—including higher land taxes, expanded levies, and reduced thresholds—have discouraged property investment by significantly increasing holding costs, reducing returns, and prompting thousands of investors to sell or avoid new purchases. In particular, the tax‑free threshold was cut from $300,000 to $50,000, meaning far more investors are now liable for land
Market watchers pivoted on Japanese and Australian central bank words and actions today while some Federal Reserve members went dovish with calls for an actual rate cut in the upcoming December meeting as the US economy shows more signs of weakness (not that we would know given the NFP result hasn’t been printed for two
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s dovish shift, including the larger 50 bp cut at its October monetary policy meeting, saw the official cash rate fall to 2.5%, down 3.0% from its most recent peak: The sharp drop in the official cash rate has been matched in the mortgage market, where rates have fallen back
Given that it appears the Albense government is, once again, set to sell you out to the gas cartel with fake domestic reservation, it falls to me to point out one final irony. Just as Australia moves to do a fake version of what it should have done in 2012, a global gas glut of
Victorians are experiencing acute Stockholm Syndrome, wedded to the failing state Labor government who has been in power for 22 of the past 26 years. Victoria’s nine-month lockdown during the Covid-19 outbreak was among the longest and most severe in the world. It was also brought to us by the state government, whose incompetence with
We all understand the wisdom of Professor Michael Pettis. Today, he returns to discuss the implications for Australia of a severe China adjustment. “I don’t think overly emphasising commodity production is good for long-term growth because I don’t think productivity growth in commodity production compares with productivity growth in manufacturing,” he says. “Many people see
The Albanese government claims it wants to reduce immigration to Australia. However, its actions on the international student front say otherwise. Australia already has the highest share of international students and graduates in the world, accounting for 3.2% of the nation’s population as of Q3 2025, up from the pre-pandemic peak of 2.9%. However, the