Australian Economy

What has become abundantly clear during the COVID-19 pandemic is that the public service, government agencies, and government quangos are loaded with fat cats.

Big business and the federal government are softening Australians up for a quick return to mass immigration once the COVID-19 pandemic passes.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released labour force data for the month of January which has recorded 29,100 jobs growth alongside a 0.2% fall in the headline unemployment rate to 6.4%.

It is hard to deny that the Victorian Government has failed in managing its hotel quarantine program.

Yesterday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released Overseas Arrivals and Departures data for December, which confirmed that net migration into Australia has swung sharply negative.

CBA’s head of Australian economics, Gareth Aird, has given a terrific interview (below) on Radio 2GB discussing the Australian property market.

Via Westpac: The growth rate of the Index continues to point to above trend growth in the Australian economy through 2021.

Via LMIP: Annual Change • In seasonally adjusted terms, the IVI increased by 11.1% (or 17,500 job advertisements) over the year to January 2021. • Job advertisements increased in six of the eight broad occupational groups over the year. The strongest gains were recorded for Labourers, up by 50.7% (or 4,800 job advertisements).

Mid last year, many economists (including us) were concerned about the ‘fiscal cliff’ facing the Australian economy once various coronavirus stimulus support payments were pulled-back.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ daily media briefing yesterday contained an interesting statement illustrating that he does not have confidence in Victoria’s contact tracing system.

Roy Morgan Research has released its inflation expectations survey for January, which reveals that Australians expected inflation of only 3.6% over the next two years, unchanged on December: Inflation expectations remained 0.3% below the same time last year (January 2020).

Over the past year we have heard endless reports of farms suffering acute labour shortages due to an inability to obtain migrant workers, as well as an unwillingness by Australians to do farm work.

From ANZ-Roy Morgan: Snap lockdown dampens confidence  Consumer confidence dropped 1.3% over the weekend of 13–14 February, but remains near its long-run average.

It has become abundantly clear that the dense inner-city hotels used to accommodate international arrivals are inadequate for quarantining purposes.

Earlier this month, the Morrison Government flagged that it would reboot Australia’s mass immigration program at the earliest opportunity under the guise of ‘skills shortages’.

Veteran ABC journalist, Leigh Sales, appeared at Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ coronavirus press briefing yesterday where she accused him of lacking confidence in Victoria’s hotel quarantine system and the government’s ability to manage outbreaks.

In 2017, the Victorian Government agreed to an unsolicited bid from toll giant Transurban to build the West Gate Tunnel Project – a four kilometre toll road currently under construction in Melbourne to link the West Gate Freeway at Yarraville with the Port of Melbourne and CityLink at Docklands.

The Productivity Commission (PC) has released an alarming report warning that Australia’s cities face chronic water shortages in the decades ahead as their populations swell by a projected 11 million people: Looking ahead, climate change and population growth present significant risks to the security of Australia’s water resources.

For years it has been obvious that Australia desperately needs a big rise in the JobSeeker payment.