Australian Economy

Australia’s migrant slave economy has been exposed once again with labour hire firms being accused of exploiting seasonal workers in Australia’s agricultural sector.

The hospitality industry yesterday launched a fresh migrant slave drive: Restaurant and Catering, the peak hospitality association, is urging the federal government to allow temporary visa holders to enter the country more easily in response to a nation-wide worker shortage in the industry.

Yesterday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released dwelling approvals data for September, which shows that approvals nationally are falling sharply following the ending of the HomeBuilder subsidy scheme in March: The below charts plot annual dwelling approvals, commencements and completions against population growth nationally and across the five major states.

The ABS today released its Cost of Living Index for the September quarter, which showed solid rises across most cohorts: According to the ABS: Transport was the main contributor for all five population sub-groups.

As we know, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has indicated that the unvaccinated will be barred from accessing all but the most basic services until 2023: “Whether it’s a bookshop, a shoe shop, a pub, cafe, a restaurant, the MCG, the list goes on and on.

Via AIG: Mostly post-lockdown bounce.

For years, Deputy Lord Mayor of Melbourne and principal fellow at Melbourne University, Nick Reece, has vigorously supported the mass immigration ‘Big Australia’ policy.

From Roy Morgan Research: In October 2021 Australians expected inflation of 4.8% annually over the next two years, up 0.3% points, and the highest Inflation Expectations for seven years since November 2014. Inflation Expectations are now a large 1.3% points higher than a year ago in October 2020 (3.5%).

SEEK has released job ads data for October, which surged 10.2% month-on-month to be up 63.2% year-on-year.

Last week, economist Gerard Minack wrote a note warning that rebooting Australia’s mass immigration program will crush wage growth and prevent the RBA from achieving its wage targets, which will keep inflation lower for longer: Stagnant incomes and below-target inflation [over the last decade] were due to low wage growth.

These job ads indicators are unreliable at the moment because the “great resgination” has materially increased job churn.

NSW’s vaccine rollout is well advanced with 86.2% of the state’s 12+ population already double-vaccinated and the 90% threshold expected to be hit this week.

As we know, the hospitality industry has been lobbying the federal government hard for access to foreign workers under the guise of skills shortages.

Earlier today Leith posted some charts from a market jobs provider showing a big jump in job ads post-lockdown.

Callam Pickering, economist at global jobs site Indeed, has updated his job postings series, which shows that job postings on Indeed Australia are now 71% higher than before the pandemic: Recent growth has been driven primarily by NSW and Victoria, which have reopened after months of lockdowns.

Yesterday, the chief executive of Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Andrew McKellar, penned an article in The AFR spruiking a massive increase in ‘skilled’ migration to 200,000 people a year.

By Gareth Aird, head of Australian economics at CBA: Key Points: Remarkably high vaccination rates and an earlier reopening of NSW and Victoria means we upgrade our forecast profile for the Australian economy.