It never rains but it pours, via Herald Sun: Dodgy landlords’ social media accounts will be put under the blowtorch by the ATO as they crack down on incorrect rental deductions. Accommodation booking websites will also be examined to make sure landlords are not making false claims simply to get money back. In the 2017-18
Via The Guardian: At every turn they clapped and cheered, enamored with the candidate’s prescriptions for universal healthcare, a humane attitude toward immigrants and the rejection of climate change denialism. Bernie Sanders was the candidate, and the people clapping and cheering were audience members who turned out in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for a televised town hall on
By Leith van Onselen Migrant communities have stepped up their campaign to loosen Australia’s newly established ‘temporary’ elderly parental visas, which from this month will allow up to 15,000 elderly parents of migrants to live in Australia for a continuous period of three, five or 10 years. Several migrant communities have labelled these “absolutely unfair” because
By Leith van Onselen CoreLogic’s latest dwelling sales data reveals more bad news for those groups heavily reliant on property transactions, including real estate agents and state governments (via stamp duty). It also points straight down for house prices. The next chart plots annual sales volumes across Australia’s capital cities to December 2018, which are
CoreLogic has released its quarterly auction market report, which has reported a combined capital city clearance rate of only 49.9% over the March quarter, alongside tanking volumes: Around half of all homes up for auction across Australia’s capital cities sold during the first quarter of 2019, with the latest CoreLogic Quarterly Auction Market Review showing
Dovish RBA minutes out just now: International Economic Conditions Members commenced their discussion by noting that the slower pace of global economic activity had continued in recent months. This had been particularly evident in the manufacturing sector. Survey measures of conditions in the manufacturing sector had declined across a range of economies, although they had
Via the AFR comes Australia’s secessionist China state: Victorian premier Daniel Andrews will attend Chinese president Xi Jinping’s forum to promote its controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure program next week, as Australia’s relationship with Beijing comes under fresh scrutiny ahead of the federal election. The visit by Mr Andrews and Australian business groups
By Leith van Onselen Greens Senator, Nick McKim, has labelled “horrific” the number of years taken for migrants to bring their elderly parents to Australia under Australia’s permanent migration program. From SBS News: Migrant advocates have voiced outrage and disbelief as it emerged wait times for some Australian family reunion visas are now up to
By Leith van Onselen The AFR’s John Kehoe has penned a highly spurious article claiming Labor’s 49% tax rate will “hit middle-income earners”: Taxpayers earning between $130,000 and $160,000 today could be hit by Labor’s budget repair levy and 49 per cent top tax rate within four years as income growth pushes them into the
From Scummo today: Our plan will build our economy, without increasing taxes, securing the future for all Australians. #BuildingOurEconomy pic.twitter.com/Ao8p6WPeDb — Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) 10 April 2019 Let’s unpack what these five points really mean. Scummo Point 1: 1.25m jobs over five years The Truth: Jobs growth of 1.25 million over five years implies weak
Yuk: In short: lending down; NIM down; costs up; impairments up; profits down; dividend cut, and no relief in sight. This is not only a bank that needs to hike mortgage rates fast, it is a bank that needs rate cuts to absorb them just as fast. If this is a harbinger for broader banks
Via The Guardian: A poll commissioned by the activist group GetUp, which is targeting the seat, found that 64% of Kooyong residents said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate with a plan to address climate change by replacing coal with clean energy. However, a survey by Roy Morgan, published in the Australian Financial Review,
By Leith van Onselen Dr Bob Birrell and Dr Katharine Betts from the Australian Population Research Institute have released a new research paper examining Australian voters’ attitudes towards immigration, which is based on a random survey of 2,029 voters conducted from October/November 2018. Below is the Executive Summary along with the key charts: Previous research
By Leith van Onselen Starting this month, the federal government will issue up to 15,000 sponsored parental visas to migrants who wish to bring their elderly parents to live in Australia for a continuous period of three, five or 10 years. However, members of the Indian community have attacked these visas, labelling “unfair” the need
Via the ABC: Tens of millions of dollars will be offered to the world’s automotive giants to resurrect the Australian car industry, centred around manufacturing electric and hydrogen-powered cars, under a yet-to-be unveiled Labor plan. The ABC has learned the Labor Party has been quietly working on the plan for the past couple of years,
A week or so ago Malcolm Turnbull issues a veiled warning to his former party at the SCMP: They took issue with Turnbull for citing former Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong in December 2017, when he said: “Modern China was founded in 1949 with these words: Zhongguo renmin zhanqilai – the Chinese people have stood up.’” “It
Sure looks like it. Were we in a normal commodity cycle, Australia would be looking down the barrel of disaster. As house prices plunge, the global economy is fading too. A global recession is quite possible and, more to the point, the weakness has been driven by a slowing China. Chinese property construction is weakening
By Leith van Onselen Prosper Australia has released its 2018 Speculative Vacancies Report, which estimates up to 16% of investor-owned residential properties in Melbourne are vacant, based on water usage data. The Chinese mecca Box Hill in Melbourne’s East is estimated to have the highest percentage of vacant investment properties. Prosper Australia recommends Victoria implement
Here’s what former Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull said today about Peter Dutton meeting Chinese national, rampant political donor, alleged CCP agent of influence and currently exiled and disqualified for citizenship on character grounds, Huang Xiangmo: “Look, Peter Dutton has got a lot to explain about this.” “He is supposed to be the minister
It appears Labor is revving up to cut temporary visa workers, via Craig Emerson at the AFR: Add to the 900,000 temporary work visa holders the number of illegal workers in Australia and the total reaches almost 1 million. The Fels report found underpayment of wages to these temporary workers is rife, citing estimates of
Lol, he’s in control, not, via Domain: Prime Minister Scott Morrison has slapped down internal Coalition critics who are demanding swift approval for the Adani coalmine, insisting the government will follow “expert scientific advice” on an imminent environmental decision. Mr Morrison rebuked “senators listening to themselves” on the coal project after Queensland Liberal senator James
Like Australia for instance: Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigns in Oskaloosa, IA: “If you open the borders, there’s a lot of poverty in this world, and you’re going to have people from all over the world. And I don’t think that’s something that we can do at this point. Can’t do it.” pic.twitter.com/INF9GopzIe — The Hill
Crikey sums it up: Taylor far from electrifying. There was considerable fun to be had on the weekend with the government’s and News Corp’s attempts to attack Labor’s electric car plan. Bill Shorten’s claim that electric cars could be charged in 10 minutes was seized on by News Corp to attack him, while Scott Morrison accused Shorten of wanting
By Leith van Onselen Earlier this year, the Victorian Government called for a review of entry requirements into Australian universities after growing evidence that foreign students with poor English language proficiency are badly eroding education standards as well as placing undue strain on university teaching staff. Immediately afterwards, academics admitted to Fairfax that they had
By Leith van Onselen The small seasonal bounce in auction clearances can seemingly be attributed, in part, to a surge in homes being withdrawn prior to auction. From The AFR: Sydney homeowners are increasingly pulling their homes from auction before the big day while some Melbourne properties are now selling for less than their council
By Leith van Onselen For years a multitude of reports have emerged highlighting that the boom in international students is badly degrading Australia’s higher education system. Several years ago, both Fairfax and the ABC reported that international student colleges had taken cash kickbacks in return for helping overseas workers and students win Australian visas using fake
Via the ABC: A local Sydney council bowed to pressure from the Chinese Government and banned an Australian-owned media company from sponsoring an event because it was critical of the Communist Party. A joint investigation by Four Corners, The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald obtained documents showing how Chinese consular officials issued at least
Via the AFR comes the IMF in an unusual break with the tradition of agreeing with whatever the locals say: Australia’s housing market contraction is worse than first thought, says a top IMF analyst, leaving the economy in what he called a “delicate situation” that boosts the need for faster infrastructure spending and even potential interest
CoreLogic released its preliminary auction report yesterday, which reported another weak clearance rate on soft volumes. The preliminary national auction clearance rate was just 57.2%, slightly above last week’s 56.8% but well below the 62.8% final clearance rate recorded in the same weekend of last year: Auction volumes nationally were 1,978, which was actually above
Via the AFR today: As Credit Suisse analysts pointed out recently, investors are genuine net new buyers and invest for capital gains rather than net rental yield. The Labor policies are seen as negative for the investment housing market and sales will slow, leaving residential developers such as Mirvac and Stockland most exposed. On the upside,
