The thing about being a groveller is that you invite being bullied. China has accused Australia and Japan of prvoking tensions in the Asia-Pacific region after their foreign and defence ministers met in Tokyo days after Beijing staged its largest military parade in decades. In an editorial on Monday, the state-run China Daily said the
Seriously, who would want to be a renter in Australia? After borders reopened in late 2021 and temporary migrants flooded into Australia in record volumes, rents surged. At the end of 2024, Cotality (now CoreLogic) estimated that rental payments were chewing up a record share of household income. Cotality’s latest Quarterly Rental Review estimated that
The Westpac credit card tracker is better but not much. During the second part of August, the Tracker Index increased by almost 1 point to close the month at 138.5, which is near the upper end of the range that has been in place since April. The quarterly increase remains slow. Base effects from weather
The Australian Labor Party’s 2023 National Policy Platform included the aspiration to progressively increase the Humanitarian Program to 27,000 places per year. The Albanese government already increased the Refugee and Humanitarian Program from 13,750 during the pandemic to 20,000 places in 2023-24 and 2024-25. The Australian Greens have called on Australia to lift the humanitarian
The ferrous complex is very confused as steel prices tumble while iron ore breaks out. The data flow ranges from soft to weak. The latest CISA data for the end of August cratered 8%. Inventories fell 4% so the equilibrium is in the middle. Steel output is down 3.1% year to date and still falling.
Economists have regularly debated the role of government as a driver of the economy since the Covid-19 pandemic. The most common data point is the contribution of the government to overall economic activity. As the chart below illustrates, over most of the last 40 years, the proportion of GDP derived directly from government generally moved
Australians are fed up with the immigration-led economic model. It’s in every poll. Australian Population Research Institute: 54% want lower immigration; Newspoll: 56% want lower immigration; Essential: 54% believe Australia’s population is growing too fast and 64% believe immigration is too high; Lowy: 54% of people think the total number of migrants coming to Australia each year is too
Prime Minister’s are dropping like flies as the French government collapsed overnight, which followed the resignation of Japanese PM Ishiba over the weekend. The market reaction has been contained more or less with traders actually positioning to see how Trump will react on anti-social media to the release of the latest Epstein evidence and try
Real per capita household disposable income is arguably the most accurate measure of individual living standards. OECD data showed that in the decade to the March quarter of 2025, Australia experienced the poorest rise in real per capita household disposable income among major English-speaking nations. Australia’s real per capita household disposable income increased by only
Broadcaster Kel Richards has lamented the “tragic” death of the Australian backyard in a segment on Sky News. “Figures came out … in which they showed there are relatively fewer standalone homes being built and far more high rise apartment blocks being built”, Richards said. “I call the death of the great Aussie backyard, I