Unconventional Economist

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also Chief Economist and co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.

Peter Dutton refuses to cut Australia’s worst visa

Elderly parent visas are Australia’s most costly and should be abolished.

Increasing student visa fees is sound policy

The Albanese government announced on the weekend that it will increase the application charge on student visas from $1,600 to $2,000 if Labor is re-elected.

Peter Dutton prays for an election miracle

The latest polling from Resolve Political Monitor shows Labor leading the Coalition 53% to 47% in two-party terms.

Aussie inflation print greenlights May rate cut

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released the all-important Q1 2025 CPI inflation print.

Victoria swings axe amid “catastrophic budget”

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Victorians pay the highest state and local taxes in the nation.

Indian students are imports, Chinese students are exports

The composition of Australia’s international student enrolments has changed drastically over the past 20 years. In December 2005, 288,579 overseas students were studying in Australia. China (63,695) dominated enrolments, with India (24,644) in a distant second position.

House prices fade as Aussies wait on RBA

CoreLogic’s daily dwelling values index, which tracks value growth across the five major capital cities, recorded stalling momentum in April.

Australian housing affordability has never been worse

CoreLogic has released the following snapshot of housing affordability across Australia, broken down by four metrics.

How the Australia Institute transformed into immigration propagandists

Before it turned full-blown woke, The Australia Insititute (TAI) used to talk sense on immigration.

Use pensioners, not migrants, to plug labour shortages

Liberal leader Peter Dutton was questioned about his plans to cut the permanent migrant intake from 185,000 in 2024-25 to 140,000 in 2025-26.

Advertisement